I am a car guy who got tired of the problem, not a software company looking for a market.
Auto Oracle AI is built and run by Matt Botsford. Thirty years in retail automotive — general manager, general sales manager, used car manager. I have sat in every seat and run stores.
Why this exists
I still buy used cars. Off the street, off the service drive, and off Facebook Marketplace, for a dealer group here in Michigan. That is not a founder story I put together for a website — it is what I did last week.
And the thing that kept happening is the thing that happens to every buyer in this business: you work a listing, you set the appointment, and the appointment turns into a dud. The car was never a private-party car. It was a dealer, or somebody’s salesperson working the side, posting from a phone with a lot behind him. Half the morning, gone.
Nobody had solved it. The tools in this category all say they filter dealers. Ask them what happens the second time the same seller posts. So I went and built the thing I wanted to have — a board where the dealers are already gone and somebody has already looked at the photographs.
What that means for how this is built
- It is built around a buyer’s morning, not a demo. The board is what a used car manager can work top to bottom before the doors open.
- The numbers on this site are measured, and they carry their method. When we say what share of sellers in a market turned out to be dealers, the count and the dates are next to it. See the proof page.
- It says “not assessable” instead of guessing. If the photograph will not support the call, the software says so rather than inventing tread depth.
- You can reach me. Not a support queue. hello@autooracleai.com is the person who wrote it.
Where it runs today
Auto Oracle is running on live boards in Michigan and in Québec. Two of those markets are worth naming, because a buyer deserves to know whether anyone is actually using this.
- HGrégoire — Montréal. A paying customer, working a private-seller board in a market where, on the night we measured it, 62% of the sellers turned out to be dealers (256 of 414 sellers, one sweep).
- Champion Automotive Group — Michigan. This is my own store, and I would rather say that plainly than let you work it out later. It is where the tool gets used hardest and where every change gets tried first.
That is the whole list. It is short because the product is new, and a short true list is worth more to you than a wall of logos belonging to companies that never signed anything.
Who this is not for
Nobody in this category will tell you this, so I will.
- If nobody at your store is going to work the board, do not buy it. This is a tool for a buyer or a used car manager who will actually call people. It does not buy cars by itself.
- If you want a guaranteed number of cars a month, do not buy it. A market has the private-party cars it has. Anyone who promises you a unit count before they have run your ZIP is selling you something they cannot know.
- If you want it to tell you what to pay, it will not. It is a demand read, not a price guarantee. Keep your appraisal tool and keep your number.
The 14 days are free and there is no card, precisely so you can find out which of these you are before anyone pays anything.
The company
Auto Oracle AI, LLC — a Michigan limited liability company. Patent pending. Contact: hello@autooracleai.com.