DealerSocket API
Documented API families exist behind a sales gate: outbound Deal Push and Lead Forwarding, inbound activity and customer sync, plus a GLBA Secure API registered through Solera. There is no public developer portal, OpenAPI spec, or sandbox, and credentials are issued per rooftop.
Frequently asked questions
DealerSocket scores F on the API Report Card. Documented API families exist behind a sales gate: outbound Deal Push and Lead Forwarding, inbound activity and customer sync, plus a GLBA Secure API registered through Solera. There is no public developer portal, OpenAPI spec, or sandbox, and credentials are issued per rooftop.
Without a usable official API, teams fall back on manual exports, file drops, or one-off vendor integrations. The other option is an unofficial API layer like Supergood that automates the authenticated web app directly.
DealerSocket is the dealership-technology business unit of Solera Holdings (acquired June 2021 alongside Omnitracs and eDriving).
Auto Dealer Management. Buyers are franchise new-car dealers (single rooftops up to large dealer groups like Herb Chambers, Ken Garff, Larry H. A prospective car buyer submits a lead through a DealerFire-built dealer website or third-party listing; the lead lands in DealerSocket CRM and is auto-routed to a salesperson and BDC rep.
Very high inside auto retail. DealerSocket publicly cites 9,000+ clients across its CRM, DMS, websites and inventory products, and is consistently ranked in the top three auto-dealer CRMs alongside VinSolutions (Cox Automotive) and Elead (CDK).
DealerSocket holds the operating record of a car dealership: every lead and customer (with full contact, household, credit-prequal and CTI call history), every sales activity and BDC touch, every desked deal (vehicle, trade, F&I products, lender, financials, contracts), every used-vehicle inventory line and its pricing/aging history, every website visitor session (DealerFire), every equity-mining and service-to-sales campaign (RevenueRadar), and via Auto/Mate / IDMS the full DMS book, repair orders, parts inventory, accounting GL, payroll, OEM warranty submissions, floorplan and F&I.
Mature. DealerSocket was founded in 2001 and grew through nearly two decades of acquisitions before being rolled into Solera in 2021.
API access is sales-gated and requires partner agreements or per-dealer enablement; there is no public developer portal or self-serve onboarding. GLBA Secure API registration is a separate, manual process routed through Solera's resource center rather than an automated developer signup. Full sourced list under Sources below.
Common alternatives include VinSolutions (Cox Automotive), Elead CRM (CDK Global), CDK Global DMS / Drive, Reynolds & Reynolds (ERA-IGNITE, Power), Tekion ARC, Dealertrack DMS (Cox Automotive). Graded alternatives appear under "More from the report card" below.
Grades measure one thing: can a customer's engineering team get their own data out programmatically? We check six things (whether a real API exists, how access is gated, data coverage, auth quality, docs and developer experience, and stability) and roll them into a letter grade. Grades get re-verified, and they only move on evidence.