OEM Websites Are Costing Dealers Millions—Here’s the Fix

A dealership owner pulled me aside not long ago.

Polite. Smart. You could tell he knew his stuff.

Said he was “shopping around” for someone to rebuild his site.

So I asked the only question that matters:
“What’s the actual goal of your website?”

He paused for a second and looked surprised.

“You’re the first person who’s ever asked me that.”

Not “What’s your budget?”
Not “What’s your inventory size?”
Just… “What’s your goal?”

That hit me.

Because how are you supposed to build a site that works if you don’t even know what success looks like?

He took a deep breath and said:

“I just want to sell more cars.”

And that’s where most websites fail.

This isn’t about colors, logos, or widgets.
This is about how fast your site loads—and how much money it’s quietly burning if it doesn’t.

Here's what most dealers don't know:

✅ 1. Dealer Inspire found:

Websites that load in under 2 seconds generate 40% more leads than those taking 4+ seconds.

That’s not just theory. That’s a massive increase in real-world performance.

✅ 2. Cloudflare, Walmart, and Mobify studies show:

• Amazon loses billions from just 1 second of delay.
• Walmart gains 2% more conversions per second saved.
• Mobify reports 1.11% more conversions for every 100ms of improvement.

These are retail giants, but the math works the same: faster = more leads, more sales.

✅ 3. Dealer Inspire also reports:

Typical conversion rates for dealer sites range between 0.55% to 1.5%.

That’s incredibly low and even small speed gains can multiply those numbers.

And yet...

The average OEM-mandated dealership site on mobile still loads in 20 to 40+ seconds.

It's not just a tech problem—
It’s a conversion problem. A profit problem. A trust problem.

You spend $10K–$12K/month out-of-pocket on ads…
But if your site loads like it’s 2009, you’re just burning money.

Take Koons Automotive, for example:
They cut load time from 26 seconds to 2.6—and saw a 1,400% jump in conversions.

Let that sink in.

That’s like going from 1 lead to 14 with the exact same ad spend.

And yet… most dealers feel trapped.

OEMs force them into long-term contracts with outdated tech, broken funnels, and zero accountability.

I’m telling you this because I care.
Because I’ve seen good businesses lose tens of thousands without even realizing why.

So what do you do?

Here’s my thoughts on it:

🔧 Launch a Second, Blazing-Fast Website

Treat it like a paid ad channel. It’s an extension of your marketing strategy not a replacement.

You can:

1. Keep your OEM site for compliance and co-op.
2. Use the fast site for PPC, retargeting, SEO, and direct traffic.
3. Capture leads you would’ve lost forever.

Same ad spend.
Faster load times.
20x better ROI.

You don’t have to settle for bleeding traffic, burning cash, or staying stuck.

If no one’s told you this before, I just did.
Because you deserve to know the truth.

And if you’re ready to talk about how fast your site could be—
You know where to find me.