Updated January 6, 2019
Vin Viper was a pioneer in car dealership technology. Almost a decade ago, Selig Technologies unveiled Vin Viper as one of the first mobile appraisal apps. It was an instant success and quickly became a top appraisal tool for car dealerships.
However, the company grew too quickly and had trouble scaling. After years of technical issues, Vin Viper finally closed shop. This has left dealers wondering, “What tool should I use to replace Vin Viper?”
Luckily, dealers today have their choice of new software products that are more powerful and versatile than ever before. One of those tools is VINCUE, the pricing and appraisal product from DealerCue.
In this article, we’ll do a side-by-side comparison Vin Viper and VINCUE. We’ll look at the features and benefits to help you determine if VINCUE is the Vin Viper alternative for you.
Rise and Fall of Vin Viper
Vin Viper allowed dealers to quickly scan a VIN barcode with their smartphone and return extensive information about the vehicle:
- Make, model, year, trim level
- Pricing from Kelley Blue Book, NADAguides, Black Book and other industry sources
- Auction prices and run lists
At its peak, Vin Viper grew into a suite of tools which gave its users unprecedented access to valuable information:
- Market data from 34,000 dealerships and classified ads
- Information from all major auctions, run lists, & postsale reports
- VIN specific footprint of past online performance and pricing history
However, in recent years, the service was plagued by frequent and prolonged downtimes. Users could hardly contact support and receive information. No solution was found to these problems and eventually, the company shut down.
Learn how VINCUE stacks up against other tools like vAuto, Laser Appraiser, Autoniq, and CDK Global
VINCUE: The New Pricing and Appraisal Solution
VINCUE is a pricing and appraisal tool for new and used cars markets, developed by DealerCue.
VINCUE’s key selling point is market intelligence. It offers real-time data about the auto market on the local, regional, and national level. Dealers can analyze their own inventory data, as well as data on their competitors.
VINCUE Highlights:
- Market data from more than 40,000 dealerships and industry guides like KBB, NADA, AutoCheck and more. Data is synced and processed in real-time so users can get insights on-demand.
- A dozen real-time interactive reports. Look at the national trends or spy on your competitor’s stock– anything you need to make informed decisions.
- Data-driven vehicle appraisals. Get an accurate market value for any vehicle within seconds. Book values are a thing of the past. VINCUE performs real-time price analysis using data from your next door competitor and everybody else.
The DealerCue Suite
DealerCue offers a fleet of tools that live inside the VINCUE platform and expand on it’s functionality. These include:
- RevCue – Inventory management and website management
- BidCue – Intelligent auction sourcing
- AdCue – Online ad management
Vin Viper vs. VINCUE
Let’s look at the features and benefits of both tools to determine if VINCUE is a worthy alternative to Vin Viper.
Reliability and Support
Vin Viper’s VIN scanner and real-time reports were phenomenal at their time and were accessible on all devices.
However, the service became unreliable in the last 3 years of existence. Users constantly experienced downtimes of up to a week, with limited or no contact to support. In fact, Vin Viper’s Twitter account was primarily used to notify users when the app was up and running again.
In comparison, VINCUE has extremely reliable service, so far maintaining 100% uptime. The same app works on all devices: mobile, tablet or desktop. Additionally, DealerCue offers 24/7 customer support, so you can get help even if you’re working in the late hours.
If you’re looking for a Vin Viper alternative, you’re going to love how VINCUE is always there when you need it.
Real-Time Market Data
Vin Viper offered real-time market data that was the industry standard at the time. However, thanks to big data and better algorithms, VINCUE’s real-time data capabilities go above and beyond.
VINCUE gives you an abundance of information and a very friendly user interface. It gives you a detailed analysis of national and local trends, as well as reports and charts to help you visualize the data.
Vehicle Appraisals
Vin Viper was one of the first mobile VIN scanners on the market. It offered integrations with vehicle history reports and pricing books like KBB and NADA.
All the data was neatly presented within seconds of scanning the barcode. This gave dealers plenty of information to work with and appraise vehicles with confidence.
VINCUE may be a newcomer, but its VIN scanner and vehicle browser offer stellar experience. It integrates with the same 3rd party services and more.
With lighting fast offers and mountains of data behind each appraisal, VINCUE allows you to develop a solid appraisal strategy that will help you sell more vehicles and earn more profit.
Vehicle Sourcing
Vin Viper integrated data from the major auction houses, run lists, and post-sale reports in the country. Together with the VIN scanner, it made it very quick and easy to stock great vehicles.
For vehicle sourcing, DealerCue offers a native app — BidCue. Just like Vin Viper, BidCue also provides data from all major auctions. BidCue lives on VINCUE platform, allowing dealers to utilize real-time market data to make better sourcing decisions.
You can even place bids inside of BidCue, giving you a one-stop shop for all your sourcing activities.
Beyond Vin Viper
Vin Viper was so beloved that dealers still ask about it, even years after its closing. For those looking for a Vin Viper alternative, you have several options, but few have the quality and favorable price point of VINCUE.
DealerCue’s fleet of tools– RevCue, BidCue, and the latest addition, AdCue– gives you everything you need to build a winning strategy for your dealership. From appraisals to ad spend, DealerCue offers it all in one beautiful package