When you ask a prospective ad agency, “What will my cost to sell a car be?” It is a completely fair question. You need to know your numbers to run a business. But if an agency gives you an exact percentage or amount before they even launch your ads, they are lying to you. Here is the simple truth about why nobody can predict that number upfront and why it’s not easy even after they’ve worked with you for a while.
Part of the sales cost is based on Your dealership
An agency can write great ads and target the right people (and we do). But once someone clicks the ad, the agency’s job stops and your website and your sales process takes over. The final sale depends on:
- How easy your website is to use
- Your price point compared to competitors
- Your reviews and finance offers
- Your sales process
Because the agency cannot control your website, your product value, or your sales team, they cannot guarantee the final cost to sell a car.
However, a specialist automotive agency doesn’t stop at the click; we actively analyse the enquiries we generate and the clicks that drove them.
Digital ad costs change every second (like a stock market)
Ad space on Google is bought through a live auction that changes every second. If three of your competitors suddenly double their ad budgets tomorrow, the price to show your ads can go up. No one can predict what your competitors will do next week.
At AdFeeder we don’t just set and forget your campaigns, we actively monitor auction insights daily and pivot your budget or targeting to exploit gaps where your competitors aren’t looking, ensuring your spend stays efficient.
An “Online Lead” means different things to different agencies
When agencies talk about your “cost to sell a car”, they usually track “online leads.” But there is no single standard for what an online lead actually is. For example:
- One agency might count an enquiry only when a customer submits a hard enquiry while another might count a simple phone call.
- A third might count someone looking up your physical location or visiting a dealership.
Because every business tracks enquiries differently, any agency claiming they have a “standard cost” is comparing apples to oranges.
Customers Don’t Buy in a Straight Line (They Research Everywhere)
Rarely does a customer click a single ad and buy instantly. In the real world, a buyer’s journey looks more like this:
- They see your Google ad while searching
- A few days later, they see an organic post on social media
- They search your name on Google and look at your Google reviews
- They finally click your organic website listing and make a purchase
Which platform gets credit for that sale? Different tracking tools will say different things, meaning the data gets heavily skewed. Because customer journeys touch so many different places, predicting a clean, standalone “ad cost to sell a car” is impossible.
Showroom visits are the Real Goal not just online forms)
- 49% to 52% of car buyers do all their research online, see the ads, and then drive straight to the dealership without ever converting into an online “lead.” If you only measure online form fills, you are completely blind to half of the foot traffic your ads are generating. Google uses store visits to estimate how many walk-ins you get but it’s just an estimate.
- Globally, 95% of all final car purchases still physically happen at the dealership showroom.
- Consumers spend an average of 14 hours researching online (watching YouTube test drives, checking Google reviews, viewing inventory ads), but they only visit an average of 1.4 physical dealerships before buying
The bottom line
An honest agency will look at your industry benchmarks and give you a realistic estimate. They will tell you that the true cost to sell a car can only be found by defining what a “sale” actually means to you, launching the ads, looking at the data, and fixing what isn’t working. Anyone promising a guaranteed number on day one is just trying to close the deal.
How AdFeeder Helps You bridge the gap
By working together, using AdFeeder Converts we can help bridge the gap between enquiries and sales. This requires commitment from both sides but the potential payoff is massive.
Here’s what we CAN promise: real-world results
Here are some real life case studies:
- Client is a multi franchise, multi location dealership running AdFeeder for both new and used cars. A lead in this instance is when a customer fills out a car enquiry form or calls the dealership. Cost per lead was £1.67.
- This is a national leasing client who only counts completed deal enquiry forms. Cost per lead is £4.30.
- Franchise dealer selling new and used cars. A lead is a completed enquiry form. Cost per lead is £1.20.
- Franchise dealer selling cars. A lead is a completed enquiry form. Cost per lead is £1.93.
- Single location, used car supermarket calculating a conversion as Calls, Forms and dealership visits. Cost per lead is £4.51.
