I have always believed there is a valid reason why dealership website designers include a “Used Vehicle Specials (UVS)” page in their master plan. Because if I were a used vehicle prospect cruising dealers’ websites, when I click on “Used Vehicles” and a drop-down appears with one of the choices being “Specials” (or “Featured Vehicles”), I would certainly go there first before taking a deep dive into the overall used vehicle inventory. However, most dealership managers must not think that the normal used vehicle prospect is like me; if so, they’d pay more attention to their UVS page, if the dealer even still allows them the luxury of having one!

I’ve always encouraged my client-dealers to regularly maintain and update this particular web page. (And most know that when I use the term “regularly” in the used vehicle arena, I mean “daily.”) I also harp on my clients about letting the browsing internet prospect know WHY we say a vehicle is special.  Is it the price? Is it the scarcity? Is it distressed merchandise? Are we overstocked in this year/make/model? Our UVS page must clearly define and SCREAM what Special means for each vehicle listed.

Before taking the time to write this article, I decided to conduct some research. Although I accurately predicted the results of this brief study, I had sincerely hoped to be wrong. From my list of nearly 500 past and current client-dealer rooftops, I checked out 30 dealership websites…big dealers, small dealers, private mega-dealers, public cap dealers…and looked at their UVS pages. The sample size was statistically significant to me. I've categorized what I learned here:

Category #1:  Only five of the dealerships (less than 20%) did what I considered to be at least an adequate job on their UVS page. The positive components on those pages included statements such as:

“Must Go Now, Note the Huge Price Drop” 

“Lowest Price on Like Vehicles Within 500 Miles” 

“All Vehicles On This Page Eligible for Additional $500 Coupon Discount. Click Below!”

“Bad CarFax, Bad Paint, A/C Not Cold, Runs Like a Top, And Really, Really Cheap!”

Category #2:  Three of the dealerships (10%) no longer had a UVS page. When I called the dealer operator (or GM), each said in his or her own way that they simply couldn’t keep it up on a continual basis, so they just eliminated it completely. 

Category #3:  When I clicked on the UVS on six of the dealerships, the resulting message took a form similar to the following:

“Look for great Used Car Sales coming soon!”

“See all 82 vehicles in inventory.”

“Sorry, no specials are available at this time. Please check back later!”

Category #4:  The remaining 16 rooftops (more than 50%) had myriad different offerings on their UVSs, none of which were Special. A few examples: Copies of their display ads (one was unreadable); a half dozen pictures with year/make/model, stock number and price; a reproduction of their normal used vehicle listings with 25+ vehicles featured.

In which above category is your dealership? If you don’t know, check out your UVS page.  I hope you won’t be disappointed.  If your page is in category 1, congratulations!  If not, I hope this message will illuminate an opportunity to drive more selling opportunities through your website.

Need help developing a response-generating Used Vehicle Specials page?  This is just one of the processes discussed in the Principals of Used Vehicle Management II class at the NCM Institute Center for Automotive Retail Excellence.