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Xtime, a brand within Cox Automotive, offers a cloud‑based automotive service experience platform designed to help dealerships optimize their fixed operations. Its goal is to enhance customer satisfaction, boost retention, and ultimately grow revenue by modernizing how service departments interact with vehicle owners .

Background & Company Profile

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, Xtime is part of the Cox Automotive family (which also includes Dealertrack, Manheim, vAuto, and others) . With an estimated 200+ employees and annual revenue of about $92 million, Xtime processes over 44 million service appointments and 120 million repair orders each year. It serves more than 7,500 dealerships across three continents, converting roughly $9 billion of service revenue annually .

The Xtime Spectrum Platform

What Is Spectrum?

Spectrum is Xtime’s integrated suite, launched in 2016, comprising four key modules Invite, Schedule, Engage, and Inspect designed to deliver seamless service experiences from appointment booking through payment and follow‑up .

Core Components

1. Schedule: Online service appointment booking tailored for convenience, aligning dealer capacity and customer availability.

2. Engage: A digital check‑in/check‑out process via tablet or desktop, featuring menu pricing, history review, service offers, multimedia, and upsell tools integrated with menus and video explanations .

3. Invite: Text and email marketing campaigns aimed at promoting overdue, declined, or interval service working with customer opt‑ins and compliant with TCPA regulations .

4. Inspect: Digital vehicle inspections (MPIs) allowing technicians to create detailed reports including photos, videos, and recommendations visible to both service advisors and customers, boosting transparency and trust .

Payment Integration

Xtime supports both in‑lane payment (via tablet or desktop) and online payment links sent by email or text. Compatible with processors like Global Payments, Worldpay (formerly Vantiv), and CenPOS, the Payment module is integrated in Engage and Schedule and offers seamless, secure payment processing for credit/debit cards, Apple Pay, Android Pay, and more .

Recent Product Updates

• KPI Insights Dashboard (launched Oct 2023): consolidates key fixed‑ops metrics (Schedule, Engage, Inspect) in one place so dealerships can monitor performance without juggling multiple reports .

• Web Address Migration (Dec 2023): moving from “.xtime.com” to “.xtime.app.coxautoinc.com” domains to maintain compatibility with browser cookie‑blocking changes; customers using domain whitelists are advised to update .

• Flex Ride (late 2023): enables customers to choose a rideshare option during online booking, enhancing convenience at minimal operational cost .

Value Proposition & Business Impact

For Dealerships & Service Teams

• Efficiency & Productivity: Automating check‑in/check‑out, payments, and inspections can streamline workflows and reduce reliance on manual processes.

• Revenue Generation: By automating declined service follow‑ups and interval reminders, Invite helps recover potential lost repair opportunities. Combined with upsells via Engage and Inspect, Xtime can drive higher dollars per repair order and more repeat visits.

• Data‑Driven Insights: The KPI Insights Dashboard helps managers pinpoint bottlenecks or underperforming areas in their fixed‑ops operations .

For Customers

• Transparency: Inspections with photos, videos, and clear explanations reduce friction and improve trust.

• Convenience: Mobile booking, digital approvals, contactless payment, and rideshare options cater to modern expectations.

• Communication Preferences: Text marketing and alerts cater to the growing preference for SMS engagement—text response rates reportedly as high as 45% per Gartner, and studies show 89% of consumers prefer text with businesses .

Client Feedback: Strengths & Weaknesses

Community input, particularly from service and parts professionals on Reddit, reflects a mix of praise and criticism:

???? Pros

• User-friendly interface: Many find Xtime clean and intuitive, especially on the advisor/customer side.

• Communication: Great for advisor‑tech collaboration, notes, and visual attachments (photos/videos) .

• Built‑in upsell automation via declined service reminders and interval marketing .

???? Cons

• Integration issues: Some report poor syncing between Xtime and third‑party DMS (especially CDK), requiring double entry or manual reconciliation .

• Performance problems: Users describe lag, crashing, and buggy parts quoting—especially with large lists. One described that adding a part resets the page, requiring scroll resets each time .

• Lack of flexibility: Shortcomings in quoting labor or part details, inconsistent features across user configurations, and missing fields lead to confusion or rework .

Ecosystem & Integration

DMS and CRM

Xtime integrates smoothly with a broad array of dealership management systems (DMS), CRM platforms, and payment processors ensuring a seamless data flow across schedule, service, parts quoting, and payment modules .

However, integration quality varies. For example, many users citing CDK DMS note synchronization gaps especially in parts quoting and order status even after approval resulting in double work or missing updates .

Marketing & Campaigns

The Invite module allows for interval service, recall outreach, and declined service campaigns via email or text. Some dealerships also utilize Xtime for Facebook and other channels. Pricing varies, and smaller operations may find costs high for example, users mention campaigns pricing near US $4,000/month though others report ROI in thousands per month in uncovered service dollars .

Use Cases & Scenarios

Scenario 1: Improving Customer Trust & Engagement

A dealership technician performs an MPI using Inspect. Using the tablet interface, they add photos and video to explain recommended work. The customer reviews and approves via Engage within minutes. Payment is collected via Payment module in-lane. The customer appreciates transparency and convenience.

Scenario 2: Recovering Revenue from Declined Services

Invite automatically targets customers who previously declined maintenance, sending them a credible offer via SMS. The customer books via Schedule, comes in, and the service advisor picks up where the prior recommendation left off leading to redeemed revenue.

Scenario 3: Monitoring Performance & Responding to Bottlenecks

Dealership leadership uses KPI Insights Dashboard to find that quote approval closing rates in Engage are sluggish on Saturday afternoons. They identify staffing or process improvements and see immediate uplift over following weeks.

Summary of Features

Recommendations & Best Practices

• Train thoroughly: Dealers that invest in onboarding see smoother adoption—Reddit users note training and on-site setup support make a difference in early days .

• Align with DMS: If using CDK or similar, ensure integration settings are optimized to minimize duplication or syncing errors.

• Start small with campaigns: Begin with essential service intervals or declined reminders; measure ROI before expanding to broader marketing spend.

• Regularly review metrics: Use the Dashboard to track key trends MPI penetration, average dollars per RO, service retention to guide strategy.

• Ensure domain whitelisting: Especially after the move to “*.xtime.app.coxautoinc.com” domains, dealerships using content filters should update whitelist settings.

Xtime offers a mature, well-integrated service department platform built around the Spectrum suite of modules. With tools for digital check-in, inspections, marketing, appointments, and payment, dealerships gain the ability to deliver a modern, transparent, data‑driven experience to customers helping drive retention, upsell, and fixed-ops profitability.

There are valid critiques: integration with some DMS systems (notably CDK) can be uneven, and large parts quoting can feel sluggish to backend users. Best results come from proper setup, continuous training, and close alignment between service, parts, and management.