Inside MOTO(acquire)

Most dealers never see how the software they rely on gets built. This hub changes that. In short videos, Mike Crothers, CEO of MOTO(acquire), walks through our automotive software startup culture: how the team decides what to build, who builds it, and why every decision starts with one question. Will this help a dealer buy more cars from the people already in their database, on their website, and in their service drive? If you are a GM, used car manager, or dealer principal, this is your look inside a dealership software company that works with hundreds of dealers.

What Automotive Software Startup Culture Means for Your Store

Culture sounds soft. It is not. The way a software team works shows up directly in the tools on your desk. A team that listens to used car managers builds features that fit how stores actually acquire inventory. A team that builds for its own convenience creates extra clicks, bad data, and logins nobody uses.

At MOTO(acquire), the products came out of real acquisition problems:

MOTO(convert) puts a trade tool on your website with instant valuations, firm offer requests, and monthly value tracking, plus the free buying power tool.
MOTO(retain) sends past sales and service customers their vehicle's value every month.
MOTO(drive) uses DMS data and automated texts in the service drive, pushes VIN and miles to your inventory tools, and alerts your sales team when a customer is ready.
MOTO(social) gives each person posting on social their own link, with leads attributed in the CRM.
MOTO(insite) is a consumer site with free vehicle history information.

Each one exists because someone on the team sat with a dealer problem long enough to understand it. That is the culture Mike talks about in these videos.

Why It Matters to Your Used Car Gross

Cars bought from your own customers usually carry better margin than cars bought at auction. You skip the bidding war, the fees, and the transport. But private acquisition only works if your tools run quietly in the background and your people trust them.

That is where the way a vendor builds software becomes your problem or your advantage. When engineers at a car dealer software company understand the store, you get things like integrations that just work. MOTO(acquire) integrates with all major DMS platforms and many others, including Tekion, Dealertrack, CDK, Reynolds, and Auto/Mate. If you use a DMS we do not integrate with yet, we will build the integration. That commitment comes straight from how the team thinks about dealers.

What to Measure

Do not judge any vendor by its pitch. Judge it by the numbers it moves in your store. Here is what we watch, and what you should ask any partner to show you:

Email reach and engagement. MOTO(retain) value tracking emails have a 36% open rate and 99.5% deliverability. If customers never see the message, nothing else matters.
Service drive buys. MOTO(drive) stores consistently buy about 1% of their repair orders without dedicated service acquisition hires. Track your own rate against your repair order count.
Lead attribution. Know which salesperson, which post, and which page produced each acquisition lead.
Cars bought from your own customers. Track private acquisitions month over month and compare the gross on those units to your auction units.

How the Videos Below Help

The clips in this hub are short and direct. Mike covers how MOTO(acquire) builds dealer software, what our engineers are working on, how product decisions get made, and what working at an automotive software startup looks like when the customer is a car dealer. You will hear why we build what we build, and why we say no to things that would not help a store buy more cars.

Who should watch

If you are evaluating vendors, these videos show you what kind of team sits behind the product. If you already work with us, they explain the thinking behind features you use every day. If you are curious about automotive SaaS team culture in general, they give you a plain look at one company doing it.

Pick a video below and start where your questions are.