In today’s digital-first automotive landscape, car buyers and service customers expect more than just speed and convenience—they expect transparency, communication, and personalized experiences. For dealerships, delivering on those expectations while managing service efficiency, repair order profitability, and retention can be a challenge.
Enter Xtime, a powerful fixed operations software platform designed to modernize the service lane and provide an elevated customer experience from start to finish. Backed by Cox Automotive, Xtime is trusted by thousands of dealerships across North America to streamline operations, increase revenue per repair order, and strengthen customer loyalty.
This article explores what Xtime is, how it works, and why it’s become a critical part of digital transformation in automotive service.
What is Xtime?
Xtime is a cloud-based Service Experience Platform built to transform how dealerships manage and deliver their service operations. It integrates scheduling, service lane check-in, inspections, customer communications, marketing, and payments into one connected platform.
Xtime’s core goal is to enable dealerships to provide a better, faster, and more transparent service experience for customers—while also boosting revenue, operational efficiency, and service retention for the dealership.
According to Xtime.com, the platform helps manage over 7 million service appointments per month and works with more than 7,500 dealerships, making it one of the most widely adopted service technologies in the industry.
The Xtime Platform: Key Solutions
Xtime is made up of several integrated modules, each designed to support a specific part of the service process. These include:
1. Xtime Schedule
This module simplifies the appointment booking process by allowing customers to book service online, through their mobile device, or over the phone. Schedule integrates directly with the dealership’s capacity and technician availability to ensure that service bays are optimized and overbooking is avoided.
Customers can also view available services, pricing, and estimated time in real-time, leading to fewer no-shows and more informed visits.
2. Xtime Engage
Engage modernizes the customer check-in and write-up process using tablet technology. Service advisors can greet customers at their vehicle, review service history, and digitally capture concerns. Engage also allows for personalized service recommendations, real-time status updates, and digital signatures—eliminating paper and speeding up the experience.
A standout feature is the ability to send text updates to customers and allow them to approve or decline recommended work digitally, reducing phone calls and enhancing customer trust.
3. Xtime Inspect
Inspect replaces the traditional pen-and-paper inspection with a digital multipoint inspection tool. Technicians can take photos or videos of wear-and-tear items, annotate them, and send them directly to customers. These visual proofs increase transparency and lead to higher approval rates for additional work.
Dealers report that using Inspect can increase upsell revenue by over $100 per repair order, thanks to the effectiveness of real-time visual communication.
4. Xtime Invite
Invite is Xtime’s marketing engine. It helps bring customers back with automated service reminders, declined services follow-up, seasonal campaigns, and OEM program integration. By leveraging customer data and service history, Invite helps dealerships maintain high retention rates and drive more revenue.
Campaigns can be tailored for specific services, such as oil changes, tire rotations, or recalls, and delivered through email, SMS, or direct mail.
5. Xtime Payments & Service Tracker
With Xtime’s payment integration, customers can pay online or in-store via tablet. This reduces cashier wait times and allows for a seamless checkout. Meanwhile, the Service Tracker gives customers real-time updates on where their vehicle is in the service process, increasing transparency and reducing “status-check” calls to the dealership.
Benefits of Using Xtime
Improved Customer Experience
Customers love the convenience of online scheduling, digital communication, and real-time vehicle updates. With Xtime, dealerships provide an experience that mirrors what today’s customers expect from retail and tech companies like Amazon or Apple.
Increased Revenue
Visual inspections, easier upsell approvals, and targeted marketing combine to boost revenue per repair order. Dealers using Xtime have reported increases in average ROs by up to 25% thanks to additional work being approved and completed.
Higher Service Retention
With personalized follow-up reminders and easy appointment booking, customers are more likely to return for regular maintenance and future repairs.
Operational Efficiency
Xtime helps eliminate double-booking, reduces no-shows, and gives service managers greater visibility into shop capacity and performance. Advisors can process check-ins faster, and technicians spend less time waiting on approvals.
How Xtime Integrates with Dealerships
Xtime integrates seamlessly with most Dealer Management Systems (DMS) and OEM platforms, including CDK, Reynolds & Reynolds, Dealertrack, and Auto/Mate. It also supports third-party tools like Lyft for shuttle scheduling, and can incorporate video platforms for technician recommendations.
Because it lives in the cloud, updates are automatically delivered, and access is available across devices—desktop, tablet, or mobile.
Real-World Results: What Dealers Are Saying
Dealerships using Xtime frequently cite improvements in customer satisfaction, RO profitability, and team communication.
“Since we’ve incorporated Xtime Engage into our service lane, we’ve transitioned the write-up process and improved advisor performance.”
— Dawn Newsome, Director of Fixed Ops, Vaden Automotive Group
“With the Lyft and Xtime integration, courtesy rides take 3 to 4 minutes to arrive, which improves the experience for our customers.”
— Scott Haddock, Service Director, Chapman Honda
“We’ve seen faster approvals, more upsells, and better transparency. Xtime helps us operate like a modern service center.”
— Luke Ammann, Service Manager, Manly Honda
Challenges and Considerations
While Xtime offers many benefits, its success depends heavily on full adoption and proper training.
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Learning Curve: Service advisors and technicians may need time to adjust to using tablets, video tools, and the digital inspection workflow.
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Integration Complexity: While integration is strong, syncing with legacy DMS systems can sometimes create data mapping issues.
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Cost: Xtime is a premium service. Smaller dealerships may need to weigh its ROI carefully or start with core modules before expanding.
Xtime vs. the Competition
Compared to competitors like Dealer-FX, MyKaarma, and Quik, Xtime stands out for its deep Cox Automotive integration, broad module suite, and proven scalability. Where some platforms offer standalone tools for scheduling or inspections, Xtime provides an end-to-end service lane solution.
For dealerships committed to delivering a better service experience, Xtime is more than worth the investment. It transforms the service lane into a digital, transparent, and revenue-generating hub—one that improves efficiency while meeting the expectations of modern car owners.
By adopting Xtime, dealerships are not just upgrading software; they’re upgrading their customer relationships, their profitability, and their competitive edge in a fast-changing industry.
