The step up from Dealer Car Search
Dealer Car Search gets independent lots online affordably. DealerForge is for the store that's outgrown a shared template — a custom site that outranks the lot across town, with AI answering every lead in seconds.
Credit where due
What Dealer Car Search does well
Dealer Car Search is one of the most widely used website providers among independent dealers for a reason: it's affordable, the inventory tools work, and thousands of lots run on it every day. If a starter website is all your lot needs right now, it does the job. The comparison below is about what changes when your website needs to win shoppers, not just exist.
Why dealers switch
Dealer Car Search vs. DealerForge, line by line
The line items dealers actually ask about, side by side.
Why stores switch
Three numbers that decide it
What changes the day a dealership moves to DealerForge.
Used-car shoppers bounce from slow template sites straight to Marketplace. Sub-second pages keep them on YOUR lot online.
When hundreds of dealers share one template, Google can't tell them apart. A custom-built site gives it a reason to rank you first in your market.
Pair the site with the AI CRM and the 9pm lead gets answered at 9:01pm — not tomorrow morning after they bought elsewhere.
See it in action
A real dealer site, live today
Good Miles Auto — an independent store in Nine Mile Falls, WA — runs on DealerForge. Live inventory, payment-based search, and lead capture on every screen, mobile-first.
FAQ
Switching from Dealer Car Search, answered
Can I keep my current inventory tools if I switch?
Yes — DealerForge syncs from whatever runs your lot today: Homenet, vAuto, DealerCenter, Frazer, or a plain CSV. You don't have to change how you manage inventory to change your website.
Isn't Dealer Car Search a lot cheaper?
Often, yes — and that's the honest trade. A shared template is priced like a utility; DealerForge is priced like the thing that sells your cars. At a flat $799/month, one extra car sold a month typically covers the difference several times over.
Will my rankings survive the switch?
Every URL on your current site gets mapped and 301-redirected, and structured data is rebuilt and verified before launch. Most independents see rankings improve within weeks because the new pages are dramatically faster.
How long does it take to go live?
Two to three weeks for most lots, including design, inventory integration, migration, and training. Your current site stays up until the moment you flip the switch.
Comparison reflects publicly available information as of June 2026 and may change. Dealer Car Search is a trademark of its respective owner and is not affiliated with DealerForge. Found something outdated? Email us and we'll correct it.
See your store on DealerForge
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