Vehiso vs Car Dealer 5
Vehiso bundles a customisable website, full DMS, customer-facing workshop, branded social posting, AI background replacement, online payments, and MTD-ready Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage accounting from £49/month. Here is how it compares to Car Dealer 5. Vehiso now has a free forever plan too, with paid plans from £49/month.
Vehiso is from £49/month for a customizable website, full DMS, customer-facing workshop, branded social posting, AI tools, online payments, and Making Tax Digital accounting that posts straight to Xero, QuickBooks, or Sage - with the full DMS in every plan, supporting single-site, multi-location, used and new car dealerships. Car Dealer 5 publishes four packages from £44+VAT/month, but a DMS is only included on its Symphony tiers - starting at £77+VAT/month (≈£92.40 inc VAT) for Symphony Lite. Compared like-for-like with a DMS included, Vehiso is roughly £43/month cheaper and adds workshop, branded social, AI background replacement, direct online payments, and MTD accounting that Car Dealer 5 does not list on its packages.
Car Dealer 5 at a glance
Car Dealer 5 offers four packages: Responsive (£44+VAT, website only - no DMS), Responsive Plus (£60.50+VAT, no DMS), Symphony Lite (£77+VAT, DMS included), and Symphony (£110+VAT, DMS included). For a fair comparison with Vehiso, which always includes a DMS, the relevant entry price is Symphony Lite at £77+VAT (≈£92.40 inc VAT). AI vehicle descriptions ("DeepSeek Intelligence") are included on all packages.
Strengths
- Stock feeds to multiple platforms
- AI vehicle descriptions on all packages
Where Vehiso wins
- Free plan, then £49/month, published pricing
- Customer-facing workshop module: job cards, health checks, and online service bookings
- One-click branded posting to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok with logo and finance-from overlays
- AI background replacement for stock photography
- In-app AI assistant that runs admin from a chat, plus daily AI recommendations
- Direct Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Blink payments - no platform fees
- MTD-ready Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage accounting integrations
- No setup fees on any plan
- Google Vehicle Ads-compatible feed at no extra cost
- Self-serve onboarding - live in 5 minutes
- A customer portal on your own website, where buyers follow their order, download documents and see MOT and service dates
- Expense management in the DMS: overhead costs with receipts and VAT, costs put against inventory vehicles, and every expense sent to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage as a bill
- A documented public API and webhooks, so your own website, tools and partners can work with your inventory, inquiries and sales
- The Vehiso DMS app for iPhone, iPad and Android, free with a paid plan, for inventory, inquiries, paperwork and inspections away from the desk
Why dealers pick Vehiso
Lower price, more included
Like-for-like with a DMS included, Vehiso is from £49/month against Car Dealer 5's Symphony Lite at £77+VAT (≈£92.40/month) - and adds customer-facing workshop, branded social overlays, AI background replacement, direct online payments, and Making Tax Digital-ready Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage integrations at no extra cost.
Customer-facing workshop, end-to-end
Digital job cards, vehicle health checks with photos, online service bookings, time tracking, and workshop invoicing are part of every paid Vehiso plan. Car Dealer 5 does not list customer-facing workshop management on any package.
Branded one-click social posts
Vehiso publishes to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok in one click with branded overlays carrying your logo, colors, and finance-from price. Car Dealer 5 distributes stock through feeds rather than as branded social posts.
Provenance checks that stay with the car
Connect your own MotorCheck trade account and run history, specification and condition alert checks without leaving Vehiso. Each report files itself against the car it is about and downloads as a PDF. MotorCheck bills the checks at your own trade rates and Vehiso adds nothing per check.
Bring your current look with you
Switching usually means starting from a blank page and rebuilding everything you had already got right. Point Vehiso's bespoke theme designer at your existing Car Dealer 5 site and it reads your pages for tone, services and selling points, then designs a theme to your brief that still sounds and looks like you. Or pick one of 18 core themes instead.
Vehiso vs Car Dealer 5 side-by-side
How the two platforms compare on price, setup, and what is included.
| Feature | Vehiso | Car Dealer 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price with DMS (inc VAT) | Free plan, then £49/month (DMS always included) | ≈£92.40/month (Symphony Lite, £77+VAT) - £44+VAT entry has no DMS |
| Setup fee | None | None on Responsive tiers; £110+VAT on Symphony |
| Free trial | Free plan + 7-day trial, no card | Trial available |
| Used and new car dealerships | Both supported | Both supported |
| Multi-location dealerships | Built in (website + back office) | Supported |
| Marketplace listings | AutoTrader, Motors, eBay Motors, Cazoo, Gumtree + more | AutoTrader |
| AI vehicle descriptions | Included | Included (DeepSeek) |
| AI background replacement | Included | Not available |
| AI assistant & daily recommendations | Included - in-app assistant + daily insights | Not native |
| AI Agents (automated customer outreach) | Included - scheduled & triggered outreach | Not available |
| AI lead replies | Included - AI-drafted replies to new inquiries, optional out-of-hours auto-send | Not advertised |
| AI follow-up agent | Included - personalized email and SMS follow-up that stops when the customer replies | Not advertised |
| Customer portal | Included on paid plans - orders, documents, MOT and service dates | Not advertised |
| Bespoke website design | Included - 18 core themes, or a theme designed to your brief | Not advertised |
| Branded social media posting | Included with branded overlays | Not native |
| Facebook & Instagram inventory ads | Included on paid plans - a Meta vehicle catalog feed of your stock | Not advertised - Facebook timeline sharing only |
| Customer-facing workshop | Included (job cards, health checks, online service bookings) | Not listed |
| Workshop parts management | Included - parts cost, stock and gross profit, with no stockholding required | Not advertised |
| Online payments | Stripe, PayPal, Square, Blink direct | Via finance partners |
| Accounting & MTD | Xero, QuickBooks, Sage - all MTD-ready | Not advertised as native |
| Expense management | Included - overhead costs with receipts and VAT, sent to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage as bills on paid plans | Expense tracking, no accounting sync advertised |
| Public API & webhooks | Included on paid plans - documented, for your own website and systems | Not advertised |
| Mobile app for staff | The Vehiso DMS app for iPhone, iPad and Android | Mobile web admin, no native app advertised |
| Google Vehicle Ads | Export available (direct integration coming soon) | £50+VAT/month add-on |
| Visual website editor | Included | Not advertised |
| Multi-language support | 7 languages (EN, DE, FR, ES, IT, NL) | English only |
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from dealers comparing Vehiso with Car Dealer 5.
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Switch to Vehiso →This comparison is based on publicly available information about Car Dealer 5 at the time of writing and reflects our understanding of each platform. Features, plans, and pricing change over time, and Car Dealer 5 is not affiliated with or endorsed by Vehiso. Always confirm the latest features and pricing directly with each provider before making a decision.