Motor Dealer Management Software DMS

EZduzzit

Hi,
I'm trying to identify an affordable software system for managing motor dealer sales, stockbook, VAT etc.
I'm aware of three main options; ADP/Kerridge, Autoview and Avonbrook/Fortuna but they all seem to cost tens of thousands up-front, plus annual fees.
Does anyone know of any other good options? Or have any tips on how best to manage motor sales accounts without incurring major expense?
Thanks.

Kevin!

EZduzzit wrote: »

Hi,
I'm trying to identify an affordable software system for managing motor dealer sales, stockbook, VAT etc.
I'm aware of three main options; ADP/Kerridge, Autoview and Avonbrook/Fortuna but they all seem to cost tens of thousands up-front, plus annual fees.
Does anyone know of any other good options? Or have any tips on how best to manage motor sales accounts without incurring major expense?
Thanks.

Fortuna is cloud based so it doesn't require on site servers etc so it's probably the most affordable option for a startup

dbrunson

EZduzzit wrote: »

Hi,
I'm trying to identify an affordable software system for managing motor dealer sales, stockbook, VAT etc.
I'm aware of three main options; ADP/Kerridge, Autoview and Avonbrook/Fortuna but they all seem to cost tens of thousands up-front, plus annual fees.
Does anyone know of any other good options? Or have any tips on how best to manage motor sales accounts without incurring major expense?
Thanks.

Do an excel course, has pretty much everything you need and costs nothing. Used it for years in a small motor dealership.

EZduzzit

Kevin! wrote: »

Fortuna is cloud based so it doesn't require on site servers etc so it's probably the most affordable option for a startup

Thanks for that. I didn't realise that Fortuna was now cloud based. I must have a look at it again.

Do you know of any other systems or is it a case of either make do with Excel or jump to one of the three main options?

EZduzzit

dbrunson wrote: »

Do an excel course, has pretty much everything you need and costs nothing. Used it for years in a small motor dealership.

Did you use excel just for stock and car deals (buy-ins, sales, trade-ins and vat) and have an accounting package for the 'normal' stuff or was it excel all the way?
I'm trying to avoid having a bunch of spreadsheets.
Thanks.

drver1

I emailed garagemanager.ie a few months back, still know reply, looks to be affordable with good recommendation. if you email them, let me know if you get a response, I'm currently in your situation.

EZduzzit

drver1 wrote: »

I emailed garagemanager.ie a few months back, still know reply, looks to be affordable with good recommendation. if you email them, let me know if you get a response, I'm currently in your situation.

Thanks a mil, that looks like a great solution, the website says all the right things. Though the fact you haven't been able to get a response dents confidence a bit.
I'll let you know how I get on with my own enquiry.

I came upon another system in my web searches which I hadn't heard of before: dms.ie
The fact that it's built on MS Dynamics NAV might make it a bit more pricey and the screenshots don't look the most intuitive but it's another one for the list.

dieselbug

Not sure if these are any help but....


http://www.garagedatasystems.co.uk/data.html

https://www.sws-solutions.co.uk/software_products.php

http://www.mamsoftware.com/en/autowork-online

dbrunson

used excel for everything, tabbed, if your not doing huge volume its perfect and free, for me being self employed is all about low overheads.

suchafunkymonke

You could try StarGarage

http://sourceforge.net/projects/stargarage/

I haven't used it before, but its Open Source (free) so maybe worth a try.