In an era where digital convenience and transparency are non-negotiable for consumers, traditional automotive service departments face growing pressure to keep pace. That’s where Xtime steps in. As a fixed operations platform under the Cox Automotive umbrella, Xtime is designed to modernize dealership service workflows, strengthen customer relationships, and drive profitability.
By combining detailed inspection tools, seamless scheduling, dynamic communication, and integrated marketing, Xtime helps service teams operate more efficiently, while giving vehicle owners a smoother, more trusting service experience.
Core Pillars of Xtime
Xtime structures its offering around several interconnected modules. Dealerships can adopt the full suite or select modules tailored to their needs. Here are the foundational elements:
Schedule
The Schedule module enables customers to book service appointments online—via mobile or desktop—by viewing real-time shop availability. It displays suggested services, associated costs, and financing options if applicable. This transparency helps build trust from the first interaction.
From the dealer’s perspective, Schedule helps optimize shop utilization, reduce gaps in capacity, and avoid overbooking. The system integrates with back-end systems to reflect accurate availability and prevent conflicts.
Engage
Once a customer is in the service lane, Engage is the tool to keep them informed and engaged. It supports digital check-in, keeps customers updated via text messages, and allows online payment before the service is even complete, making checkout faster and smoother.
This module helps reduce friction during the service visit and provides a clearer, more modern experience.
Inspect
Transparency is a major trust-builder, and Inspect delivers by enabling technicians to capture high-quality photos and videos during vehicle inspections, annotate findings, and present recommendations visually to customers.
By giving customers a visual window into the condition of their vehicle, Inspect improves approval rates for additional recommended services.
Invite
Invite serves as Xtime’s marketing and retention engine. Through Invite, dealerships can send targeted messages and offers to past customers—especially those whose recommended services were previously declined or those due for periodic maintenance.
This helps fill idle shop time, recapture lost service revenue, and encourage return visits.
Integrations & Ecosystem
One of Xtime’s strengths is its ability to fit into a dealership’s existing technology stack without demanding wholesale system overhaul.
- Xtime supports integration with many dealer management systems (DMS) and CRM platforms.
- An example is the integration between Xtime and Autosoft’s DMS: appointments, customer details, and vehicle information sync back and forth to reduce manual entry and errors.
- Another integration is with Auto/Mate, which now links Xtime’s ServiceCRM to exchange data bi-directionally, enhancing scheduling, reminders, and service workflows.
These integrations make it easier for a dealership to adopt Xtime gradually and reduce friction in data handoffs.
Furthermore, Xtime has partnered with Clutch Technologies to enable mobility enhancements: customers can schedule vehicle pickup and delivery, and loaner availability can be managed through a connected workflow.
Financing Innovation: FlexPay
One challenge in fixed operations is that many customers hesitate to approve recommended work due to cost. Xtime addresses this through FlexPay, a built-in service financing tool integrated across scheduling, inspection, and engagement.
With FlexPay, customers see financing options directly during their interaction with the service platform—meaning service advisors don’t need to jump between systems. This integration tends to drive higher approval rates and higher dollars per repair order (RO).
By reducing up-front cost barriers, FlexPay helps dealers recapture value from additional service recommendations that might otherwise be declined.
Services, Support & Customization
Xtime doesn’t stop at software. To help dealerships get the most from the system, it offers a robust set of support services.
- Dealer Performance Consulting: On-site or remote visits to help shops improve show rates, balance workloads, and increase profitability.
- Dealer Performance Specialists: Ongoing coaching and periodic reviews to help dealerships get up to speed and continue extracting value.
- Product Solutions: Custom integration of telematics, recall feeds, dealership branding, and other tailored enhancements to make Xtime more aligned with a dealer’s identity.
- Managed Services: For dealerships that prefer to outsource parts of their outreach, Xtime can run Invite campaigns and monitor performance.
Together, these services help ensure that dealerships make full use of the platform and see measurable results.
Measurable Outcomes & ROI
Xtime emphasizes that its platform can generate tangible returns. According to data from dealers between August 2023 and July 2024:
- Dealers saw increases in additional repair orders (ROs) generated each month.
- Dealers realized increases in dollars per RO.
Moreover, Xtime claims that by making communication more transparent and letting customers see the vehicle’s condition, customers respond more positively to repair suggestions.
In fact, the site says that dealers can increase approval time to as fast as 7 minutes when sending video with additional service recommendations.
By improving throughput, boosting service sales, and reducing friction, dealers using Xtime aim to transform their service lanes into more profitable, customer-friendly operations.
The Future of Fixed Ops & Xtime’s Vision
Xtime recognizes that the automotive ownership experience is changing rapidly. In its “Future of Fixed Ops” guide, the company highlights technologies and trends that dealers must adapt to remain competitive.
Emerging priorities include:
- Digital service management tools that streamline workflows end-to-end
- Enhanced convenience services, like pickup, delivery, loaners
- Text and video communication to increase clarity and customer engagement
- Virtual assistants or AI tools to assist in diagnostics, scheduling, or customer support
Dealers that adopt such innovations early can better serve customer expectations, improve loyalty, and gain operational edge.
Xtime is more than a software suite—it is a transformation engine for fixed operations. Its modular architecture, integrated financing, multimedia inspection tools, and strong support framework make it a compelling choice for dealerships seeking to modernize their service lanes.
However, success hinges on proper implementation, buy-in across service, parts, and management teams, and continuous optimization. For dealerships ready to embrace digital change, Xtime offers a roadmap to improved efficiency, higher revenues, and stronger customer trust.
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