The forecourt runs on margin, not gut feel.
CarDealerIQ puts Auto Trader demand, your real cost prices and correct UK VAT maths behind every buying and repricing decision — with the deal desk, workshop and accounts to run everything else.
- 25 units free, forever
- The full DMS on every plan
- Cancel anytime
| Vehicle | Price | Margin | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
Range Rover Evoque MJ23 UYHLand Rover | £33,000 | £4,745 | 95 |
X3 CK23 UEUBMW | £40,100 | £4,390 | 34 |
Model 3 YP23 BCWTesla | £34,000 | £4,331 | 51 |
Evoque at 95 days. Retail is £1,150 above the market and demand has fallen 18% this month. Reprice to £31,850 to hold margin-per-day.
Aged stock watched daily
Refresh follows stock age. A car that landed on Tuesday is checked weekly; a 70-day unit is checked every day, because that is where the repricing money is.
VAT margin scheme, in pence
Second-hand margin scheme and VAT-qualifying handled properly, computed in integer pence. Your gross profit is what HMRC would call it, not an approximation.
Observed and modelled, labelled
Anything predicted rather than measured says so, on the screen, next to the figure. You should know which numbers you can take to the bank.
Two halves of the same job
One knows what a car is worth. The other knows what happened to it. Neither is much use on its own.
What the market says, against what you actually paid
Auto Trader knows demand. It does not know your cost price, your prep spend or the allowance you gave on the part-exchange. CarDealerIQ holds both sides, which is the only way to get a margin figure worth acting on.
- Retail, trade, part-exchange and private valuations
- Demand Index and local competitor supply
- Price position and confidence of sale per unit
- Ageing buckets, overage alerts and repricing prompts
The system you run the business on, not one you check weekly
Stock, enquiries, deals, adverts, workshop, invoicing and reporting in one place. Included on every plan, including free — we meter the Auto Trader data, because that is where the cost is, not your paperwork.
- Leads and CRM with reply-time tracking
- Deal desk, finance quoting and Consumer Duty evidence
- Workshop job cards, VHC and technician utilisation
- Invoicing, VAT returns and margin-scheme reporting
The three that change a decision
Everything else is table stakes. These are the ones dealers tell us paid for the subscription.
Buy-It Calculator
Type the bid you are about to make. Get projected net margin, predicted days to sell and margin-per-day, with a verdict. It pays for itself the first time it stops you buying the wrong car.
Velocity Variance
Your actual days-to-sell against the market's prediction, by model. Not a vanity chart — it tells you which cars you are genuinely better at selling than everyone else, which is a sourcing decision.
You sell Golfs 11 days faster than the market and Q5s 14 days slower. Buy more of the former.
Consumer Duty, enforced
Handover is blocked until affordability, suitability and the fair-value assessment are evidenced against the deal — in the database, not just the interface. A deal that has not been evidenced cannot be marked delivered.
- Affordability assessedEvidenced
- Suitability recordedEvidenced
- Fair value assessmentEvidenced
- Vulnerability checkOutstanding
The database refuses the delivery, not just the button. One gap is one gap too many when the FCA asks.
Priced on the data you use, not the paperwork you file
Every allowance is a published number — nothing here is sold as unlimited. Go over and a block is added; the meter steps up, it never stops.
Stock Manager
Any dealer, any size
Get the forecourt into one list and see what is ageing.
- Stocklist import with the mapping wizard
- Ageing buckets and aged-stock alerts
- Manual cost and prep entry, self-reported margin
- DVLA MOT history and VES lookups
- The full dealer management system
- CSV export
Appraiser
Independents, 20–60 units
Should I buy this car, and at what price?
Everything in Stock Manager, plus
- Auto Trader Retail, Trade, Part-Ex and Private valuations
- Buy-It Calculator — bid price in, go/no-go out
- 15 tracked vehicles on adaptive refresh
- Correct UK VAT margin-scheme maths
- Price position against the market
- One scheduled feed import
- Email support
Retailer
Most dealers start hereEstablished dealers, 60–200 units
Run the whole portfolio, not one car at a time.
Everything in Appraiser, plus
- Margin Explorer, Sales Performance and Stock Health
- Velocity Variance — your days-to-sell against the market, by model
- Repricing what-if slider
- Confidence of sale on every unit
- Demand Index and local competitor supply
- Two-site comparison
- Roles, saved views, scheduled PDF and CSV reports
- SFTP and multiple feed sources
- Weekly performance digest and priority support
Group
Groups, 3+ rooftops
Allocate capital across rooftops.
Everything in Retailer, plus
- Sourcing Recommendations — ranked what-to-buy-next, with reasoning
- Group roll-up and site league tables
- Stock transfer suggestions between rooftops
- Buyer performance — margin-per-day by whoever sourced it
- API access and outbound webhooks
- SSO (SAML / Entra ID) and DMS connectors
- Custom Demand Index weights
- Named account manager, SLA, quarterly review
Prices exclude VAT. Above the Group plan, pricing is a bespoke contract quoted against measured consumption rather than a published number. Talk to us.
Every plan, side by side
Tracked vehicles and spot appraisals are the meters that matter — everything else is generous because everything else is cheap to serve.
| Plan | Stock Manager Free | Appraiser £79/mo | Retailer £250/mo | Group £1,000/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AllowancesPublished numbers, enforced in code. | ||||
Sites | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
Stock units managed | 25 units | 250 units | 1,500 units | 7,500 units |
Tracked vehicles Under continuous Auto Trader watch — valuation, demand and competitor refresh | None | 15 | 50 | 300 |
Spot appraisals One-off lookups on a car at auction or coming in as a part-exchange | None | 100 / month | 500 / month | 1,500 / month |
Users | 1 | 3 | 10 | 50 |
History retained | 90 days | 12 months | 3 years | 7 years |
Payment method | — | Card | Card | BACS Direct Debit |
| Stock intelligenceWhat the market says a car is worth, and how fast it will go. | ||||
| Stocklist import and mapping wizard | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Ageing buckets and aged-stock alerts | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| DVLA MOT history and VES lookups | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Auto Trader valuations | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Buy-It Calculator | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Adaptive refresh on tracked stock | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Price position against the market | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Margin Explorer and Stock Health | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Velocity Variance by model | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Repricing what-if slider | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Demand Index and competitor supply | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Sourcing Recommendations | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Stock transfer suggestions | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Group roll-up and league tables | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Dealer managementThe operational system. Included on every plan — we meter the Auto Trader data, not your paperwork. | ||||
| Stock records, photos and paperwork | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Leads and CRM | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Deal desk and finance quoting | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Consumer Duty evidence gate | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Workshop, job cards and VHC | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Invoicing and VAT margin-scheme returns | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Advertising and listing drift | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Reporting | Basic | Basic | Full | Full |
| Team and supportWho can get in, and who picks up when you call. | ||||
| Roles and permissions | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Saved views and scheduled reports | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| API access and webhooks | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| SSO (SAML / Entra ID) | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Support | Community | Priority | Named manager, SLA | |
Add-ons, so the meter steps rather than stops
Hitting a cap mid-month should never take the system away from you. We warn at 80%, prompt at 100%, and keep serving. Add a block when it makes sense — and when the add-ons approach the next plan, move up.
The things dealers ask before signing up
Including the awkward one about Auto Trader entitlements, which is better answered now than later.
Do I need my own Auto Trader Connect subscription?
Auto Trader Connect capabilities are chargeable against your own advertising package, and you have to authorise the integration before anything syncs. We record that authorisation against your account and refuse to sync without it. Talk to us before you subscribe and we will tell you exactly where you stand.
What happens when I go over my tracked vehicles?
Nothing breaks. We warn you at 80% of the allowance, prompt at 100%, and keep serving. Add a block of 25 or 100 when it suits you. A dealer who hits a wall on a busy Saturday is a dealer we have failed.
Is the dealer management system really on the free plan?
Yes. Stock, leads, deals, workshop, invoicing and reporting are all there on 25 units and one login. What the paid plans buy is Auto Trader enrichment — valuations, demand, competitor supply and tracked refresh — because that is where our costs actually are.
Can I bring my existing stocklist?
Upload a CSV or XLSX and map the columns once; we remember the mapping. Paid plans add scheduled feed imports and SFTP, and the Group plan adds connectors for the common DMS platforms.
What happens to my data if I stop paying?
You drop to the free plan, you do not get locked out. Your stock list, deals and history stay readable within the free plan's retention. Losing access to your own records is not a retention strategy, it is a reason never to come back.
Is my data separated from other dealers?
Every table is scoped to your organisation and enforced at the database, not in application code — so a query that forgets the filter returns nothing rather than someone else's stock. We test that isolation as part of the build.
Tell us what you are running and we will tell you what fits
Multi-site groups, Auto Trader entitlement questions, anything above the Group plan — or just whether the tracked-vehicle allowance covers your stock. We reply the same working day.
Or skip the form
Twenty-five units, one login and the whole dealer management system, without talking to anyone first.
LKM Software Ltd · Company no. 15805131
West Midlands, United Kingdom