Lead provider
Lead spend is only the beginning. Your true acquisition cost also includes the people and time required to chase, qualify, and close those leads.
- Monthly lead volume
- Cost per lead
- Lead close rate
- Employee time and payroll
Free dealer ROI calculator
See what every acquired car is really costing your dealership.
Compare your lead-provider spend, auction costs, and Clairvo side-by-side. In about 60 seconds, see your cost per acquired car — and what the difference could mean over a full year.
Compare My Acquisition Costs
100% free
No email required
Uses your numbers
Example calculator result
10 IPAs / month
Potential annual acquisition savings
vs. auction
$96,660
per year
vs. lead provider
≈$25,400
per year
Clairvo$426
Lead provider$708
Auction lane$1,500
Illustrative result using the calculator defaults: 10 IPAs/month, 75% close rate, and the cost assumptions shown in the calculator. Your results will vary.
165K+cars acquired
$3B+vehicle value
1M+consumer cars / month
Start your free comparison
What are you paying to acquire cars today?
Start with your lead-provider economics. Next, we'll compare your auction costs and Clairvo.
1Lead Provider
2Auction
3Clairvo
Let's start with what you're doing today.
No email required. Leave a field blank and the calculator uses the example assumption shown in that field.
The real acquisition cost
Your cost to acquire a car is bigger than the invoice.
Lead providers can hide labor inside the process. Auctions add fees and transport. The calculator turns each sourcing channel into one number: cost per car acquired.
Auction lane
Even before recon, auction-sourced inventory comes with friction that directly increases the amount you have invested in every unit.
- Buy fees
- Transportation
- Competitive bidding pressure
- Time before the car reaches your lot
Clairvo
Clairvo brings qualified private-party sellers to your store for in-person appraisals, helping your team spend its time on real acquisition opportunities.
- 6 IPAs included each month
- $1,995 monthly subscription
- $300 additional IPAs
- 75% average IPA close rate
One clean comparison
See the monthly picture. Then annualize the difference.
The calculator shows the true per-car acquisition cost for each channel, your expected number of cars acquired with Clairvo, monthly break-even, and estimated net profit.
12×
Monthly savings become an annual budget decision.
A few hundred dollars per acquired car can become tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a year.
What public dealer groups are saying
The industry is already putting a dollar value on sourcing away from auction.
Recent public dealer earnings calls show a widening profitability gap between auction-sourced inventory and units sourced through customers or other non-auction channels.
≈$1,500
GPU sourcing gap
Lithia said the difference between customer-sourced and auction-sourced units had widened to roughly $1,500 per vehicle.
Lithia Motors, Q1 2026 call≈$1,200
More GPU on non-auction units
Sonic reported that its non-auction sourced vehicles generate about $1,200 more GPU than auction vehicles.
Sonic Automotive, Q1 2026 call11%
of sourcing from auction
Group 1 said only 11% of its sourcing comes from auctions and emphasized the importance of organic sourcing.
Group 1 Automotive, Q1 2026 callSource: Clairvo Quarterly Dealer Earnings-Call Brief, Q2 2026 cycle. Dealer-group statements describe their own sourcing economics and are not Clairvo performance claims.
Why Clairvo changes the math
More direct-from-consumer opportunities. Less sourcing friction.
Clairvo is not another list of leads. The model is built around qualified sellers and in-person appraisal opportunities at your dealership.
Clairvo finds the sellers
Clairvo reaches private-party sellers and routes qualified consumer-direct opportunities into your market.
Your team gets the appraisal
Your store receives high-intent sellers for in-person appraisals instead of asking staff to spend their day chasing raw leads.
You decide what to buy
Appraise the vehicle, confirm the deal, and acquire the inventory that fits your store. No auction buy fee or lane transport required.
Calculator FAQ
Know exactly what you're comparing.
The calculator is designed to give dealership operators a fast apples-to-apples view of acquisition channel costs.
Is the ROI calculator really free?
Yes. There is no charge to use it and no email address is required to see the comparison.
What numbers do I need?
Your lead volume, cost per lead, close rate, staffing cost and time allocation, plus your typical auction buy fee and transport cost. Fields left blank use the calculator's example assumptions.
What is an IPA?
IPA stands for in-person appraisal appointment: a seller who arrives at your dealership so your team can inspect the vehicle and make the final purchase decision.
What Clairvo assumptions are used?
The current calculator uses $1,995 per month for 6 included IPAs, $300 for each additional IPA, a 75% average IPA close rate, and a $4,500 average gross-markup benchmark for the profitability illustration.
Does the calculator guarantee savings?
No. Results are illustrative and depend on the numbers entered, local market conditions, inventory mix, engagement, and actual close rates.
