DealerHub.ca

How DealerHub works: from VIN to signed deal, in one system

DealerHub follows the vehicle. Here's what a typical unit's journey looks like for a small used-car dealership, and what DealerHub does for you at each step. No re-typing, no second catalogue, no hunting for the paperwork.

Before you start: set up in under an hour

Create your account, add your logo, choose your website subdomain and invite your team. Already using another system? Use DealerHub's import for your inventory and documents, and our team will help you migrate.
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    Step 1: Add the vehicle

    A unit comes off a trade, an auction or a wholesale purchase. Open DealerHub on your phone and scan the VIN barcode on the windshield or door jamb. DealerHub decodes the 17-character VIN and fills in the available specifications. If the barcode won't scan, type the VIN instead. The vehicle starts as Incoming, so your team can see it's on the way before it's front-line ready.

    What DealerHub does: decodes the VIN, creates one vehicle record and gives it a status everyone can see.

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    Step 2: Merchandise and price it

    Add photos (with watermarking if you use it), set a price or leave it blank to show Call for Price, and add dealer notes for your team. The CARFAX Canada integration connects the vehicle's history information to the record. Decide whether the unit is for retail, wholesale or both.

    What DealerHub does: keeps photos, price, notes, vehicle history and visibility on the same record that feeds everything else.

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    Step 3: Publish it

    Mark the vehicle Available. Retail units appear on your DealerHub dealer website with their photos, details and CARFAX Canada information. For marketplaces, switch AutoTrader.ca and CarGurus on or off for that vehicle. Enabled Available, Incoming and Pending vehicles go out in the nightly feed. If it's a wholesale unit, list it in the Wholesale Network for other DealerHub dealerships to see.

    What DealerHub does: updates your website from inventory and sends the vehicles you've chosen to AutoTrader.ca and CarGurus every night.

  4. 4

    Step 4: Answer shoppers, day and night

    A shopper finds the car on your website at 10 p.m. and has questions. The AI sales chat holds a natural conversation and answers questions about the vehicle using real information from CARFAX Canada, 24/7, so shoppers aren't left waiting until morning.

    What DealerHub does: keeps your website answering questions about your inventory when your team is off the lot.

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    Step 5: Work the lead

    When a shopper reaches out, the lead goes on your pipeline, where you move it through your sales stages. The customer's profile keeps their details, files, ID, activity and any deals together, so whoever picks up the phone has the full picture.

    What DealerHub does: keeps the lead and the customer connected to the vehicle, without a separate CRM.

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    Step 6: Build the deal

    Start the deal from the vehicle record or the customer profile, and the details you've already entered come with it. Choose a cash or financed worksheet and see clear totals. For financed deals, use the built-in Dealertrack-compatible credit application forms. Record deposits or holding deposits, payment methods and any refunds. Then generate the Bill of Sale, branded with your dealership logo. For Ontario dealers, it's OMVIC-compliant.

    What DealerHub does: carries vehicle and customer details into the deal and the paperwork, and moves the vehicle to Pending.

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    Step 7: Close it and keep the lot accurate

    When the deal closes, the vehicle moves to Sold. Your website reflects it, and it drops out of the next nightly feed. Your deal records are QuickBooks-ready for your bookkeeping.

    What DealerHub does: keeps your status, website and listings in step with the deal.

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    Step 8: Review the results

    Open Reports to see sales for the period you choose, inventory status and aging, lead pipeline activity and outcomes, and summary views you can export.

    What DealerHub does: turns the records you already keep into reports, with no spreadsheet rebuild at month-end.

The same flow, wholesale

Selling to another dealer? List the unit in the Wholesale Network, with no wholesale fees. A buying dealer finds it by make, model, year, stock number or VIN, reviews photos, wholesale price, mileage, colours, seller details and dealer-only notes, and starts a wholesale deal with the vehicle, seller and price already attached. The deal uses DealerHub's wholesale flow and wholesale Bill of Sale.

Who does what

DealerHub uses role-based access with owner, manager and salesperson roles, so each person works with the tools that fit their job. Dealer groups can give authorized users access to more than one rooftop and let them switch between stores without signing out. Add more users whenever your team grows.

Getting started

  1. Create your account. Enter your dealership's legal and operating name, address, phone, desired subdomain (yourdealership.dealerhub.ca) and logo. A custom domain and GST/HST number are optional.
  2. Bring in your inventory. Add vehicles by VIN, or import your existing inventory and documents. Moving from another platform? We'll help.
  3. Set up your website. Choose a template and set your logo, colours and theme. Hosting is included.
  4. Turn on your feeds. Choose which vehicles go to AutoTrader.ca and CarGurus.
  5. Invite your team. Give each person the right role.

Setup takes under an hour.

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