How to build a WhatsApp chatbot for your car dealership

Start from what customers actually send. Buyers ask about on-road price, variants and colours, waiting period, finance and exchange value, and test-drive slots.

Then look at what goes wrong today:

• Car leads go cold without same-day follow-up. Buyer submits "Interested in WagonR" on CarWale at 7 PM. Your team calls next morning. They've booked a test drive elsewhere.
• Test drive no-shows waste showroom time. Sales consultant arranged for a test drive at 11 AM Saturday. Customer never showed. No call, no message. Time wasted.
• Post-test drive follow-up inconsistent. Customer test-drove the car, seemed interested. Sales consultant follows up once, no reply. Assumes not interested. Customer buys from a competitor who followed up 3 times.

Each of these is a conversation with a predictable shape — a question, a lookup, a confirmation. That shape is what a chatbot handles well.

1. Buying or service?
2. Which model? A list of your models.
3. Which variant and fuel? Petrol, diesel, CNG, electric; manual or automatic.
4. Your city — for the on-road price.
5. On-road price, colours, waiting period, with the brochure.
6. Book a test drive — showroom or home.

Notice what the business side does: it answers with the specific detail (time, reference, next step), it asks for one thing at a time, and it gives the customer a one-word way to reply. Those three habits matter more than how clever the bot is.

Ex-showroom price is the same everywhere; on-road price is not — registration, insurance and other charges vary by city and state. The bot asks the city and variant and quotes the on-road price from your price list, with a breakdown on request. Current offers are shown as published; anything more is for the consultant.

Reputoo supports both, and most car dealerships end up using both:

• Keyword flows — a fixed menu or trigger word ("MENU", "BOOK", "STATUS") leads down a set path. Predictable, easy to audit, right for anything with a fixed answer.
• AI chatbot — reads the customer's own words and answers from your knowledge base (website, price list, policies). Right for the long tail of questions nobody wrote a menu item for.

A sensible start for a car dealership: keyword flows for the top two or three tasks, AI for everything else, and a person behind both.

The bot offers slots for the model at the showroom or at home, takes the name and address, and confirms with the consultant's name. The morning reminder has [Confirm] [Reschedule].

Service customers give the registration number; the bot shows the car and last service, offers slots and pickup, and confirms. Status questions are answered from the job card.

• Complaints, refunds and anything where the customer is upset.
• Anything involving money the bot cannot see — a disputed bill, a custom quote.
• Health, safety or legal questions.
• Any customer who asks for a human. Do not make them ask twice.

For car dealerships specifically: price negotiation, finance approval and exchange valuation stay with the sales consultant.

Handover on Reputoo moves the chat into the shared inbox with the conversation so far, so staff never ask the customer to repeat themselves.

1. Connect your WhatsApp number to Reputoo (official API; takes minutes).
2. Add your website and documents to the knowledge base so the AI answers in your car dealership's own terms.
3. Build keyword flows for the top tasks above. What to connect: A dealer management system and the OEM's lead portal; lead status should update from WhatsApp conversations.
4. Choose who gets handed-over chats, and during which hours.
5. Test from a personal phone, then share the number or a QR code with customers.

"How long is the wait for the automatic in white?" — the bot answers from the current allocation estimate you maintain, stated as an estimate. Popular variants change often; keep it updated weekly.

Buyers ask what the difference is between two variants. The bot shows the key feature differences and price gap from the spec sheet, factually, and offers a test drive of both.

The bot collects the old car's model, year, kilometres and photos and passes them to the exchange evaluator, saying the final value follows inspection.

Buyers write in many languages and mixes: "Creta ka on-road price Pune mein?". The AI chatbot handles it and replies in their language.

• Get on-road prices for two cities and two variants.
• Book a home test drive.
• Book a service with pickup.
• Ask for a discount and check the handover.

For electric models, the bot answers range, charging times, home charger options and battery warranty from the manufacturer's published figures, and books a charger site survey or a test drive.

Booked customers ask "when will my car come?". The bot answers from the booking stage — documents, finance, allotment, registration — with the expected delivery date, and hands to the consultant for anything else.

Owners can renew insurance through the bot: it shows the renewal date, the options your dealership offers, and sends the quote and payment link. Claims go to the insurance desk.

Between booking and delivery, the bot can show accessory packs for the buyer's variant with prices, and add chosen accessories to the order for fitment before delivery.

For dealerships with a used-car section, the bot shows available cars by budget and type with photos, year, kilometres and price, and books an inspection visit.

Discount requests, finance questions, exchange negotiations and complaints go to the consultant with the lead's model, variant, city and questions attached.

Watch time to first reply, test drives booked, bookings from chat leads, and service slots booked without calls. Read handovers weekly.

The bot explains the finance options your dealership arranges — partner banks, typical documents, down-payment choices — and offers an EMI illustration from a calculator, clearly marked as an estimate. Eligibility and rates are the lender's decision.

Buyers ask what they need to book and register. The bot sends your checklist — ID, address proof, PAN, photographs, income documents for a loan — and explains how documents are collected securely.

Showroom and service hours differ, and festive days bring extended hours. The bot answers from one place, and offers test drives and service only in real slots.

Before delivery, buyers ask what to bring, how long it takes and whether family can come. The bot answers from your delivery checklist and confirms the time.

The bot sends links for booking amounts, accessories and service bills, confirms payments and sends receipts. Car payments beyond the booking amount go through the consultant and finance desk.

Buyers often decide on colour late. The bot shows colours available for the chosen variant with photos and the waiting period for each, so a buyer who wants white knows it is four weeks while red is available now.

Test-drive reminders carry [Confirm] [Reschedule]; service reminders carry [Book] [Remind me later]. Free-text replies go to the consultant or service advisor with the lead or job attached.

Buyers write model names in many ways and in many languages. The bot maps them to your range and replies in the buyer's language.

Read handovers and unanswered questions weekly. Update prices, offers and waiting periods, and add phrasings the bot missed.

For owners, the bot sends service-due reminders by date or kilometres with booking buttons, and handles "remind me later" by asking the current odometer reading so the next reminder lands at the right time.

The bot explains extended warranty and maintenance packages — what they cover, how long, the price — from the documents, and adds them to a booking or sends a payment link.

Buyers ask for real photos of a colour or a walkaround video of a variant. The bot sends what is in the media set and asks a consultant to record a short video when a buyer wants something specific — a fast, personal touch that often decides the showroom visit.

Owners booking service can choose pickup and drop. The bot takes the address and time window, checks the area, confirms the driver, and notes that the car's condition will be photographed at collection.