How one Subaru store turned AI appraisals into 30 extra car sales a month
General Manager Devin Kaulback didn't expect an instant lift. "I didn't think it was going to sell cars for me, but I thought it would start the conversation that people are having at their dinner table earlier, and it's moving up their buying cycle, which we've seen."
After rolling out an AI-driven appraisal tool at Subaru of Niagara in Ontario, his team added 20-30 extra retail units per month. Over 70% of those deals included a trade. Most of it came from automated outreach that ran in the background.
The quick win
"The Drive AI technically does 2,000 appraisals per month of my database and knows my service customers coming in and appraises their vehicles on its own," Kaulback said. That's a private sale, every month, without extra human lift.
The tool identifies who's likely ready to trade, then sends personalized texts and emails with an appraisal and an "upgrade my ride" payment preview based on the customer's current vehicle.
How the system works
The platform connects to the store's CRM and DMS, scanning for signals that suggest a trade cycle. If you're new to CRM, here's a clear primer on what it is and why it matters: Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
"There are eight different campaigns that go out through SMS and email," Kaulback explained. His team champions the process and handles responses fast-resulting in 20-30 extra cars per month.
Why it converts before the visit
Service-drive mining is tough to execute manually. Sales teams get burned out on rejection, and outreach becomes sporadic.
By automating that first touch-before the customer even arrives for service-you create intent earlier. That moves people up their buying cycle and shifts "someday" into "this month."
Steal this playbook
- Connect your CRM and DMS to an outreach platform that can appraise inventory and match offers to each VIN.
- Define trade signals: mileage bands, term remaining, equity windows, service visits, and aging models.
- Build 6-8 automated campaigns across SMS and email: trade-in appraisal, upgrade payment offers, equity alerts, service-to-sales handoff, and lease-end reminders.
- Show the numbers: estimated trade value, projected new payment, and a clear, low-friction CTA (Book appraisal, See offer, Reply YES).
- Route replies to a live rep with a sub-5-minute SLA. Speed-to-lead is the difference between interest and indifference.
- Pre-game service appointments: send an appraisal and upgrade offer 24-48 hours before the visit.
Metrics that matter
- Outreach to reply rate (per campaign)
- Replies to appointment set
- Appointment show rate
- Trade-in ratio and gross per copy
- Time-to-first-response
- Opt-out rate and compliance health
Pitfalls to avoid
- Vague offers: if the payment math isn't visible, interest dies.
- Generic messaging: use VIN, mileage, equity position, and service history to make it feel 1:1.
- Slow follow-up: automation warms the lead; humans close it.
- Compliance blind spots: confirm consent for SMS/email and keep a clean audit trail.
The bottom line
Dealers love to talk about "mining the database." Kaulback's store proved you can systemize it and get paid for it. In his case, that's 30 extra cars a month-most tied to trades-without adding headcount.
If you want to build similar, scalable outreach in your sales motion, consider sharpening your AI and automation skills: AI courses by job.
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