In today’s digitally driven automotive landscape, convenience, transparency, and speed are no longer luxuries—they’re essential. Service departments that fail to keep up are missing critical opportunities to retain customers and boost profitability. Enter Xtime, a cloud-native service experience platform from Cox Automotive, poised to modernize fixed operations and create seamless, customer-centric service journeys.
1. Introducing Xtime Spectrum: A Unified Platform for Fixed Ops
Xtime offers a cohesive suite—the Spectrum—comprising four integrated modules: Schedule, Engage, Invite, and Inspect. Each tool is designed to address a distinct stage in the service journey, working in harmony to deliver a seamless digital ecosystem—from scheduling to inspection to follow-up marketing.
2. Schedule: Empowering 24/7, Transparent Appointment Booking
Xtime Schedule revolutionizes booking with its 24/7 mobile and online interface:
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Real-Time Availability & Capacity Management: Customers choose convenient times, and staff align scheduling with technician availability.
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Customizable Menus & Recall/Warranty Alerts: Personalized pricing menus and auto-generated alerts foster trust and clarity.
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Multimedia Uploads & Lyft Integration: Customers can submit vehicle issue photos or videos at booking and book rides seamlessly.
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ROI and Results: Dealerships report up to 27× ROI and improved retention via optimized scheduling.
3. Engage: Digital Check-In, Texting, and Streamlined Checkout
Once a vehicle arrives, Xtime Engage takes over:
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Self Check-In & Tablet Reception: Customers can check in digitally, while advisors access service history and visuals.
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SMS Updates & Intelligent Diagnostics: Real-time communication helps keep customers informed, while multimedia diagnostic prompts aid upselling.
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Flexible Service Financing & Digital Payment: Payment can be made in-lane or via online links, facilitating smoother checkout.
These features help dealerships deliver faster and more personalized service—upgrading the customer experience and boosting revenue.
4. Inspect: Multipoint Inspections That Build Trust—Fast
Xtime Inspect brings transparency and speed to inspections:
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Technicians perform structured multipoint inspections, enhanced with photos and videos.
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Multimedia-powered ASRs can gain customer approval in as fast as 7 minutes.
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Integrated chat, tracking dashboards, and ASR management streamline in-dealership collaboration.
By making inspection findings clear and immediate, Inspect accelerates decisions and increases trust.
5. Invite: Targeted Service Marketing That Works
When services are declined or visits are delayed, Xtime Invite steps in with purposeful outreach:
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Sends personalized messages or offers via email or SMS to re-engage customers—powered by appointment history and recall data.
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Helps fill empty capacity and generate incremental revenue with minimal effort.
Invite makes recovering lost service opportunities a strategic, automated process.
6. 2025 Upgrades: Multimedia, Messaging, Reporting, and More
Xtime has continued to evolve—announcing key enhancements in early 2025:
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A centralized Messaging Center allows bulk texting and branded communication.
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Upgraded Multimedia Capabilities offer noise-canceled, high-res videos with subtitles and branding, driving faster ASR approvals.
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Performance Dashboards and Scoring Tools enable dealerships to analyze ASR success and track ROI in real-time.
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Seamless DMS Integration improves workflow and boosts operational efficiency across fixed ops.
These updates reinforce Xtime’s ability to deliver efficient modern service while empowering decision-makers with actionable insights.
7. Proven Performance and Industry Adoption
Xtime’s impact is backed by adoption and performance metrics:
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7,000+ franchise dealerships and 20+ OEM partners rely on Xtime’s platform.
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Fixed ops contribute increasingly to dealership profit—up to 49% of gross profits.
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Dealers report up to 50% higher dollars per repair order with Xtime.
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A 13.3% increase in service retention, combined with notable ROI per RO—approximately $110 extra—demonstrate tangible value.
These metrics showcase Xtime’s proven impact on dealership efficiency and profitability.
8. What Makes Xtime Stand Out
Several key strengths position Xtime ahead of its peers:
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True End-to-End Coverage: From scheduling to inspection to follow-up, across one integrated suite.
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Customer-First Focus: Digital check-ins, messaging, multimedia, and flexible payments align with expectations.
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Trust Through Transparency: Clients see and accept repair needs fast—thanks to visuals and live updates.
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Automated Marketing: Declined services become future opportunities.
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Deep Integrations: Syncs with DMS, CRM, parts systems, reducing manual work.
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Quantifiable Results: Clear returns—from retention to RO revenue to efficiency gains.
Xtime blends strategy, technology, and real-world performance to transform fixed ops.
9. Dealer Voices and Sentiment
Reddit users provide real-world perspectives—finding both praise and criticisms:
Praise:
“I personally liked xtime… I thought it was great.” and “It allows seamless communication across departments.”
Constructive Criticism:
“Populating parts takes ages… buggy, requires constant refreshing.”
“Inspections can confuse customers; quoting lacks tax/shop supplies breakdown; errors occur frequently.”
“Integration with CDK is often clunky and duplicative.”
These insights highlight that while Xtime delivers modern tools, the implementation and integration details often define the user experience.
Xtime as the Future of Fixed Ops
In a world where digital convenience and transparency shape customer expectations, Xtime provides the toolkit dealerships need to keep up—and excel.
By transforming the service lane into an efficient, trust-building, and data-driven journey—from appointment to approval—Xtime elevates fixed ops into a strategic, profitable advantage.
