Auto Soft Computer Vendor

[checkme]

I have read with interest the recent articles about computer vendors ADP and R&R. I would like to hear from anyone out there who has had expierence with a company called Auto Soft. We are a GM dealer currently using R&R ERA System. Our lease expires in November and the owner has been searching for a more competitive priced vendor. His calculations show that the dealership could save more than $30,000 a year with Auto Soft over R&R. Is it worth it?

For those of you that have used the Auto Soft system - how was the initial set-up, how well do you like the system, how good is the tech support, etc. I would like to know how the parts dept, service dept, and office staff like or dislike the system. Any comments would be appreciated to help us determine which path to take.

[Mike Davis]

I have talked to several people that have utilized Auto Soft over the years and some have like and some disliked. The ones that didn't like were dissatisfied with the setup and flexibility. They have said that it is more basic than what R&R and ADP are. Just a thought on switching, I spoke with Chuck Hartle a couple of days ago about this subject. If you have been on ERA for a long time what is it going to do to employee productivity and comfort if you switch? It is possible that all savings on system will be lost in gross/net profit through switching. We contemplated a switch a couple of years ago and with 50 employees using the system and having been on ERA since 1992 we decided that losses would outweigh the gains, you have a lot invested in employee training on ERA and this isn't to be given up lightly. Chuck was talking about a dealer that saved $10,000.00 a month in system cost and still lost out when they switched. It comes down to more than the system cost when contemplating this type of change.


Mike

[Chuck Hartle]

Hello Checkme,

As much as I hate to be blunt about this, you get what you pay for! In a nutshell, there is ERA and ADP, then there are the pretenders. UCS is the only one that offers anything close to these two. EDS is an up and coming contender, but it will take some time.

Two thoughts. As for changing from ERA to anything else, remember what you have invested in over the past years. You might have bought a hardware and software package called ERA from Reynolds & Reynolds, but from that point on you invested in the two most valuable assets that the computer offered; people and information. Going from ERA to anything else will be a major change, like going from English to Chinese.

The difference in pricing these days is not worth the headaches and the loss in revenue while your employees go through the training and learning curve of another system.

As for Autosoft, I have had several experiences with them and both were negative. Everything is sold in "modules" and both dealers that I worked with were far short of the total modules they needed. For instance, I went to help out a dealership with Autosoft. They could only run about 7 'canned' reports. I called up Autosoft and inquired about writing custom reports and they informed me that it was another module and that is was around $4,000 for the reporting module. Autosoft also contracts with installers and software support individuals around the country. Each one has a territory that they are in charge of.

Bottom line, if you are on ERA, going to Autosoft would be a major step backwards in my professional opinion.

Chuck Hartle'