# How much does AI cost for a car dealership?

> AI for a single-rooftop car dealership costs $1,500-$3,000 CAD per month, depending on lead volume and feature tier. Multi-rooftop and franchise pricing is custom. Most rooftops recover the annual cos
- **Author**: Joshua
- **Published**: 2026-04-16
- **Modified**: 2026-05-15
- **Category**: pricing
- **URL**: https://automotiveai.ca/blog/how-much-does-ai-cost-for-a-car-dealership

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# How much does AI cost for a car dealership?

AI for a single-rooftop car dealership costs $1,500-$3,000 CAD per month, depending on lead volume and feature tier. Multi-rooftop and franchise pricing is custom. Most rooftops recover the annual cost before the second monthly invoice through one or two incremental deals.

## tl;dr

- Single-rooftop AI: $1,500-$3,000 CAD/month.
- Multi-rooftop / franchise: custom.
- Comparable BDC headcount cost: $30,000-$45,000/month all-in.
- Payback period: typically 1-2 incremental deals.
- Most vendors are month-to-month, no long-term contract.

## Typical tier structure

- AI Essentials ($1,500/mo): core text agents, Database Reactivation Agent, Paid Lead Agent, WhatsApp support (72h SLA).
- AI Fast Track ($2,500/mo): 1-week Done-With-You launch, Co-App Agent, marketplace campaigns + automations, 5 hrs/mo team support.
- AI Growth ($3,000/mo): 2-week DWY launch, full inbound lead automation, Service Campaign Agents, 2h SLA, monthly CS calls.
- Enterprise (custom): onsite implementation week, multi-rooftop packaging, bespoke builds, custom integrations, pricing on request.

## What changes the price

- Monthly lead volume per rooftop
- Number of rooftops
- DMS used (Tekion native vs custom integration)
- Outbound campaign volume
- Whether you need a dedicated performance lead

## How to ROI it on the back of a napkin

Take your current close rate. Apply it to the leads you miss because nobody followed up. A 5% recovery on 200 monthly leads at $4,500 average front-end gross is $4,500 in extra GP, enough to cover the highest AI tier with margin to spare.

The bigger lift usually sits one layer deeper: reactivating the aged database. Those leads are already paid for. The marketing spend happened months ago. The only cost to work them now is the SMS pass-through fee.

## FAQs

### Is AI cheaper than hiring more BDC reps?

Substantially. A 3-rep BDC team runs roughly $135,000 loaded annually. AI runs $18,000-$36,000 annually per rooftop and covers 24/7, including the 53% of leads that arrive outside business hours (Visquanta).

### Is there a contract or can I cancel monthly?

Most credible AI dealership platforms are month-to-month. Watch for vendors pushing 12-24 month commitments, that is usually a signal that customers churn off them at month 3.

### What hidden costs should I look for?

Twilio / messaging carrier fees pass through (small, usually under $50/mo). A2P verification is one-time. Some vendors charge setup or per-integration fees; reputable ones do not.
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