Automotive Texting
Business Texting for Automotive Dealers
Multi-Department, Two-Way Texting for Dealerships, Service Centers & Body Shops
Bring your sales floor, service drive, parts counter, and BDC together on a single shared business line. Reach buyers instantly, get diagnostic approvals in minutes, and let customers text-to-pay from their mobile wallets, all from your existing store number with Captivated's conversation management platform.
Why Missed Calls & Unread Emails are Limiting Your Revenue & Customer Satisfaction
Today’s drivers expect immediate responses. Yet, most dealerships remain tied to the phone, leaving technicians waiting on hold while cars sit idle in service bays.
Missed Sales and Cold Leads
Prospects refuse to pick up screened, unrecognized phone numbers. Your BDC and sales reps waste hours leaving voicemails that are never returned, allowing valuable hot leads to cool down and look elsewhere.
Stalled Bays and Idle Lifts
Service advisors spend up to half their day chasing repair order (RO) approvals over the phone. Every minute a vehicle occupies a lift waiting for a callback directly limits your shop’s daily volume and ARO.
The Pain of Credit Card Fees
Taking credit card numbers verbally over the phone is insecure and subjects your dealership to high card-not-present merchant fees, cutting directly into your parts and service profit margins.
A Unified Inbox to Manage Your Real-Time Customer Conversations
Two-Way Repair Order (RO) Approvals & VIN Capture
- Advisors can instantly text detailed estimates, repair descriptions, and high-resolution photos of worn parts directly from the active bay. Customers review the details on their native texting app and click to authorize the work in seconds, even if they are off-site.
- Parts counters can request and receive photos of VIN plates or components over text to check inventory immediately, dramatically reducing hold times and ordering errors.
Express Pay Invoicing
- Request and collect down payments, retail parts invoices, and service balances securely by text. Customers complete transactions using Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit cards, or direct bank transfer (ACH).
- Protect your bottom line by opting to pass card convenience fees directly to the customer, or encourage low-cost ACH payments to bypass high transaction overhead completely.
Sales QR Codes & Database Protection
- Equip your floor with custom QR codes on vehicle window stickers. When scanned, prospects receive targeted vehicle specs or custom welcome videos instantly
- Because all prospect interactions are logged within your centralized dealership account, your customer relationships and lead data stay with the store, even if a salesperson leaves.
Zero-Download Video Diagnostics
- Build unshakeable trust and lift your CSI scores. Text a secure, one-click invitation link to launch a Video Chat.
- Enjoy a high-definition chat right in the customer's mobile browser, showing them exactly what the technician sees under the hood.
Turn Your Dealership Line into a Real-Time Collaboration Hub
Bring your sales, F&I, service, and body shop teams onto the same page. With a shared business number, multiple departments can monitor, route, and respond to incoming customer messages concurrently.
Private Internal Notes and @Mentions
Tag specific colleagues privately within any active customer text thread. An advisor can message and tag the parts counter (e.g., @Parts) to check component availability, or a sales rep can loop in F&I without the customer ever seeing the behind-the-scenes dialogue.
Multi-Department Queues & Routing
Organize incoming communications into designated department folders—such as Sales, Service, F&I, or Parts. Instantly assign and transfer conversations to the right specialist without dropping context or placing anyone on hold.
Proven Success from the Dealership Sales Floor & Service Drive
Prestige Subaru
"Captivated is a great communication platform for our business. It has automatic follow ups, reminders to book and reschedule, if needed. And it's an all around easy way to communicate with our customers. It has really helped with scheduling more appointments. Captivated also has great customer service and support."
– Manager
Monaco Ford
“I would absolutely recommend Captivated to other dealerships. It has helped us communicate more effectively and keep things streamlined.”
– Human Resources
What Captivated Delivers for Auto Dealers, Service Drives & Body Shops
BDC Lead Response Time
Traditional Baseline:
30 to 45 minutes average
With Captivated:
Answers high-intent traffic with near-immediate response times
Practical Impact
Prevents inbound lead drop-off and keeps hot buyers engaged
Service Drive RO Approvals
Traditional Baseline:
1 to 2 hours of phone tag
With Captivated:
Under 15 minutes via text photos
Practical Impact
Boosts technician bay utilization and average repair orders
Cash Flow & Billing Velocity
Traditional Baseline:
30+ days via paper statements
With Captivated:
Receive payment within minutes via Express Pay
Practical Impact
Saves thousands in card-not-present merchant fees
DMS Review Generation
Traditional Baseline:
Under 5% average organic collection
With Captivated:
Up to a 40% response rate via post-appointment texts
Practical Impact
Builds dominant local SEO and organic search traffic
Get Started
Up and Running in No Time
Every automotive business is different. What stays the same is our commitment to helping you create better customer experiences, streamline communication, and drive measurable growth, with a team invested in your success every step of the way.
Subscribe
Partnering with Captivated is just the beginning. From day one, our team works alongside you to ensure your account is configured for success and positioned to deliver immediate value for your business.
Train
Personalized onboarding, guided training, and self-service resources help your team discover just how much Captivated can do, building confidence and expertise that empower your business for years to come.
Launch
Go live quickly with a tailored implementation plan, then continue building momentum with ongoing guidance, new capabilities, and professional services designed to help your dealership or service center grow alongside Captivated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. We text-enable your existing landlines or toll-free numbers within an hour with zero disruption to your standard voice calling, interactive voice response (IVR) phone trees, or call routing.
Captivated offers robust APIs and a dedicated Chrome extension, allowing your sales and service staff to initiate and log conversations directly from your web-based CRM or DMS without switching tabs.
Through our secure Express Pay portal, you can customize your billing workflows so that customers assume the card convenience fee at checkout. You can also offer direct, low-cost bank transfers (ACH) to bypass standard merchant processing fees altogether.
When your employees use our mobile or desktop apps, all outbound texts, pictures, and calls route directly through the dealership's official business line. Your staff's personal cell phone numbers remain completely hidden and protected.
Captivated believes every employee who communicates with customers should have access to the same conversations and tools. Per-site licensing encourages organization-wide adoption instead of limiting access to only a handful of users. The result is better customer service, faster response times, and stronger collaboration across sales, service, office staff, and management.
Important Note: Captivated provides the messaging infrastructure and carrier registration tools to support secure, compliant communication. Dealerships are solely responsible for obtaining proper customer consent under TCPA and carrier guidelines, registering their legal brand with the Campaign Registry, and defining internal communication policies.
