<b>No DMS Integration, but Toyota Dealers Prefer AutoSoft</b>

WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa.--Today’s new-car dealership is built for speed. Fast computers provide online connectivity to just about every solution a dealership could desire.

So given this, why would a number of Toyota dealers choose to use a dealer management system (DMS) that requires the dealer to manually enter data from the DMS into the factory’s online interface?

Many Toyota dealers – and many dualed with other makes that do have direct DMS integration to their factory systems -- say the convenience of the DMS, its simplicity and its affordability make the trade off, to use the vernacular, a no-brainer.

“If I could get Toyota integration I would go from completely satisfied to extremely satisfied with my DMS, but it already delivers more capabilities and more reporting than anyone can use,” said Cliff Wheeler, principal at Wheeler Toyota, Grants Pass, OR, the oldest Toyota franchise in the state. “We might have one additional employee because we don’t have this integration, but this system is still much less expensive than other systems.”

How less expensive? “We save $9,000 a month by not using one of the Big 2,” said Craig Marr, fixed operations director and IT administrator for Chuck Patterson Auto World, a Chico, CA store dualed with Dodge-Jeep and Mazda.

These Toyota dealers and others say they have individually asked Toyota Motor Sales USA why it did not have integration with the AutoSoft DMS. “They don’t really give me answer,” said Kim Hudson of Hudson Toyota Chrysler, Madisonville, KY.

Said a Toyota spokesperson when queried, “I was unable to get the information you requested. Evidently, it's not something that is given out to the public and is considered proprietary.”

Toyota dealers seem willing to forego hands-off data transfer in exchange for an easy to use, affordable DMS.

“We can so easily look up invoices and histories, service and parts – even special orders –which makes up for the lack of integration with Toyota’s Dealer Daily,” said Chuck Spadafora dealer principal at Colonial Toyota, Indiana, PA. “The system’s overall convenience makes up for the time we take to manually enter data into Dealer Daily.”

For more information, contact Jeff Harmer, vice president, Sales and Marketing, at 877-427-4367, Ext. 1201 or jeff_harmer@autosoft-asi.com.