Artificial intelligence learns through iteration; the more data it has, the “smarter” an AI program becomes. One dealer’s experience suggests AI has some learning to do. It also reinforces the importance of doing thorough due diligence on any new vendor.

“We fell short of what I was hoping to accomplish on our first play” with AI, says Nathan Shaver, general manager and dealer principal at Shaver Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Thousand Oaks, CA. 

Shaver, who recently acquired the dealership, calls himself a “big believer” in technology. He was excited to try service department appointment-setting software by a startup, Hiremyai.

When he and his staff mystery-shopped the software, they were impressed, Shaver says. They called a phone number and had conversations with the AI-powered assistant, giving it difficult issues to solve, such as how to ship his car to the dealership if he was two hours away in the rain. It performed well. So, they signed on with Hiremyai and were excited to use it, he says.

But in actual use, “it didn’t execute quite as well,” Shaver says.

The AI assistant, whom they named Kyle, turned out to be a great first date but a crummy boyfriend. Customers thought Kyle was a real person, Shaver says, and would complain, “Kyle knows who I am, and he’s avoiding me anytime I try to reach him. He hangs up on me.”

The dealership started getting “a high volume” of customer complaints about Kyle, who, besides hanging up on customers, would not follow up, and failed to integrate with the dealership’s Customer Resource Management system, so appointments didn’t get booked.

Kyle did perform well some of the time, says Jose Murcia, Shaver Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram’s fixed operations director. But the software “encountered challenges when it came to handling a high volume of calls,” he says. “It often struggled to keep up.”

After four months, the dealership stopped using the software, which had been costing $2,000 a month. Appointment bookings increased by 20% overnight, Shaver says.

Don’t Put Me on Hold

Booking service over the phone with a real human is not hassle-free. According to the CDK Service Shopper 4.0 study, nearly four in 10 customers experienced “serious” issues with the experience, according to CDK.

A majority booked their appointments by phone and being put on hold was the biggest friction point for those customers.  

Indeed, 31% of respondents say they would prefer to book with an AI agent rather than be put on hold, including more than half of Gen Z respondents.

The study, released in October 2024, surveyed more than 2,500 dealership and independent repair shop service customers. An exact count of how many were dealership customers was not available.

Dealerships “really need to do their due diligence” when selecting an AI-based service appointment provider, Skyler Chadwick, director of product consulting at Cox Automotive, tells WardsAuto.

Some dealers have had great success with using AI while others, like Shaver, have reverted back to using real people, says Chadwick. However, AI service department technology is overall improving, he says.

“AI is learning, and these systems are learning really quickly,” says Chadwick.

The customer base sometimes makes a difference in the acceptance of AI-based assistance, says Chadwick. A Porsche or Audi customer may adapt to using the technology faster than, say, a Toyota customer, he suggests.

AI-based customer service systems are going to get better and better over time, says Chadwick, and as they do, the use of AI “will give dealerships the ability to focus on things that really matter, (such as) the customer experience.”

AI Help Still Wanted

Shaver Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram hired a second person to work in its business development center but is still “getting steamrolled” trying to answer all inbound calls, says Shaver.

“We still don’t have outbound tactics,” he says.

Shaver hasn’t given up on AI, however: “We will try again in six months.”  

Meanwhile, Hiremyai seems to have gone out of business. The website shows an error code when a visitor tries to click through to the “About” page, and the phone number is answered by ABC Autos, which tried to sell a car to a caller.