A used car dealer in rural Georgia gets 30 leads a week from Facebook Marketplace, Cars.com, and walk-ins. His 'CRM' is a spiral notebook and a good memory. When he forgets to call back a hot lead for 3 days, that customer bought from the dealer down the road. He loses 2-3 sales per month to slow follow-up — that's $2,000-6,000 in gross profit walking out the door.
The auto industry has sophisticated CRM systems — VinSolutions, DealerSocket, Elead — that cost $500-2,000/month and require IT support to configure. These tools are built for franchise dealerships with 10+ salespeople and complex workflows. But there are 18,000+ independent used car dealers in the US, many with just 1-5 employees, selling 15-30 cars per month. For them, enterprise CRM is overkill, but spreadsheets mean lost sales.
The gap is a dead-simple lead tracker at $49-99/mo for small independent dealers: capture leads from all sources (Facebook, Cars.com, walk-ins), automatic SMS/email follow-up sequences, test drive scheduling, simple deal pipeline. No complex DMS integration, no F&I workflow, no inventory management — just lead follow-up done right. Position it as 'the CRM that actually gets used' because sales staff at small dealers won't learn VinSolutions. Every sale saved from better follow-up pays for a year of the tool.
💰 Revenue Blueprint
Three-tier value ladder to monetize from day one
100 active leads, SMS/email automation, basic pipeline, 1 user
Unlimited leads, lead source integration, test drive scheduler, 3 users, reporting
Multi-location, unlimited users, custom automation, phone system integration, priority support
📊 Market Evidence
The Market Gap
Enterprise dealer CRMs cost $500+/mo and require IT. No simple $49-99/mo lead tracker for independent dealers with 1-5 salespeople. Clear ROI: one saved deal pays for a year of the tool.
🏆 Competitor Landscape
How existing players stack up in this market
| Competitor | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| VinSolutions | Contact sales | Cox Automotive, enterprise CRM |
| DealerSocket | Contact sales | Dealer CRM + marketing |
| Elead CRM | Contact sales | CDK Global dealership CRM |
| Autosoft | Contact sales | Dealer management system |
| DriveCentric | Contact sales | Modern dealer CRM |
Cox Automotive, enterprise CRM
Dealer CRM + marketing
CDK Global dealership CRM
Dealer management system
Modern dealer CRM
🛠️ Recommended Tech Stack
Suggested tools and technologies to build this idea
Why this stack: Simple mobile-first design (dealers are on phones). Twilio for automated SMS follow-up. Focus on ease of use over features.
Strengths
- ✓18,000+ independent dealers in US alone
- ✓High willingness to pay for tools that close deals
- ✓Low-tech industry ripe for disruption
Score Breakdown
Good market signals with room for growth
Market (20%) + Revenue (20%) + Trend (15%) + Competition (15%) + Build (15%) + Pricing (15%)
🚀 Start Building
Copy a prompt into your favorite AI coding tool and start building this idea right now.
Build a SaaS product called "Auto Dealership Lead Tracker". ## Product Overview Capture, score, and follow up on car buyer leads automatically. Built for independent dealers. ## Problem Independent car dealers lose leads to spreadsheets and slow follow-up. Enterprise DMS systems cost $500+/mo ## Solution Simple lead tracker with SMS/email automation, test drive scheduling, and deal pipeline built for small dealers ## Target Audience indie hackers, small businesses, and solopreneurs ## Tech Stack - Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript - Tailwind CSS v4 for styling - Supabase for auth, database, and storage - Vercel for deployment - shadcn/ui for UI components - Framer Motion for animations ## MVP Features to Build 1. Landing page with clear value proposition 2. User authentication (sign up, sign in, forgot password) 3. Core product functionality based on the solution above 4. Dashboard for users to manage their data 5. Pricing page with at least 2 tiers (free + paid) 6. Basic settings/profile page ## Known Competitors VinSolutions, DealerSocket, Elead CRM, Autosoft, DriveCentric ## Key Risks to Address Standard market entry risks ## Deployment 1. Set up Supabase project and configure environment variables 2. Deploy to Vercel with `npx vercel --prod` 3. Set up custom domain 4. Configure Supabase RLS policies for security ## Instructions Start by creating the project structure, then build the landing page first. Use server components where possible. Make it mobile-responsive from the start. Focus on getting the core value loop working before adding polish.