Turning Solidus into a Full Stack Car Dealership and Rental Platform

A New Blueprint for Car Dealerships and Rentals

I am currently working on one of the most exciting and technically rewarding projects of my career. It turns the Solidus ecommerce framework into a powerful, automated platform for car dealerships and rental businesses.

The project is designed to be a repeatable blueprint for smaller private dealerships who need more than just a website. They need a growth ready backend, accurate data, and automation that saves time and converts better.

Let me walk you through what this platform does.

Rentals with Real World Flexibility

The rental module is built to reflect how car rental actually works, not how generic ecommerce systems imagine it.

  • Dynamic pricing lets you define higher rates for weekends, public holidays, or peak seasons (e.g. Christmas, summer break, ski weeks). You can also set discounted rates for low demand periods, like midweek rentals or off season months.

  • Customisable rental addons are available per vehicle. Examples include:

    • Coolboxes or camping kits
    • Trailer boxes for extra storage
    • Reduced insurance excess (e.g. lowering the deductible from €2,500 to €500)
    • Pre cleaning or disinfection fees
    • Winter tyre surcharge for legal compliance in alpine areas

  • Down payments and deposits can be tailored per car. Some luxury or commercial vehicles may require a higher pre authorisation than others.

  • Admin fees such as one time processing or paperwork charges can be defined globally or per booking, ensuring full cost transparency for both the customer and your accounting.

  • Free daily kilometres are configurable, with smart handling of overage:

    • If a vehicle includes 200km per day, extra distance is billed at a fixed per kilometre rate.
    • Prepaid bundles (e.g. 100km blocks) can be offered at a discount, added during checkout.

  • Licence and age checks can be applied:

    • Vehicles can require a specific minimum age (e.g. 23+ for vans)
    • Driving licence categories (e.g. B or BE) are displayed and validated during booking
    • Vignette and insurance coverage details are shown automatically to comply with regulations

  • Availability logic and calendar rules:

    • Real time sync ensures that a vehicle cannot be double booked
    • Custom pickup and return windows (e.g. Mon to Sat, 08:00 to 18:00) with buffer time handling
    • Same day turnaround and minimum rental durations can be enforced

Everything is editable via the admin backend and tailored per vehicle, no one size fits all rules. Whether you are renting out city cars, luxury SUVs, or trailers, the system adapts to the operational realities of your dealership.

Sales and Finance Options

For dealerships focused on vehicle sales, the platform offers an end to end solution that goes far beyond static listings.

  • Structured vehicle specs and options are pulled from a global automotive database. This ensures every listing includes accurate information such as:

    • Engine performance, fuel type, emissions, and drivetrain
    • Exterior dimensions, tyre size, and towing capacity
    • Trim levels, optional equipment, and visual extras

  • Financing and leasing logic is integrated directly into the vehicle page:

    • Customers can view monthly instalments based on real pricing logic
    • Down payments and balloon payment options are configurable
    • Leasing details (duration, mileage, residual value) can be displayed for business clients
    • Voucher based payments are supported, useful for gift purchases, promotions, or insurance backed schemes

  • Smart vehicle listings allow customers to filter by:

    • Fuel type (e.g. petrol, diesel, electric, hybrid)
    • Body style (e.g. estate, SUV, van, coupe)
    • Optional extras (e.g. heated seats, parking assist, infotainment)
    • Financing eligibility or availability
    • Price range, age, or mileage

  • Lead tracking and booking workflows are baked into the system:

    • Interested buyers can request test drives or a callback
    • Admin users see exactly where the lead came from (campaign, organic search, direct)
    • Quote generation and follow ups are automated with internal status updates

  • Marketing attribution tracking connects the dots from ad click to lead:

    • UTM parameters are recorded and tied to each enquiry
    • Channels like Google Ads, Facebook, or email campaigns are linked to conversions
    • Reporting dashboards help dealerships understand which campaigns generate the most qualified leads

Dealerships can also fine tune which features appear on each vehicle listing:

  • Enable or disable trade in evaluations
  • Offer referral bonuses for customer acquisition
  • Highlight seasonal incentives or special financing conditions

Every component is designed to be flexible, GDPR compliant, and fully customisable per dealership.

Garage Booking System

The garage module transforms traditional phone based service bookings into a modern, automated, and trackable digital experience. It is designed to support the unique operational needs of each dealership or workshop.

  • Customisable services per dealer:

    • Dealers can define their own service offerings such as oil changes, annual inspections (Pickerl), tyre swaps (seasonal or emergency), brake checks, battery diagnostics, or air conditioning maintenance
    • Each service includes pricing, estimated duration, required vehicle type, and optional descriptions for upselling

  • Flexible payment logic:

    • Services can be offered as prepaid online bookings to reduce no shows and secure commitment
    • Alternatively, customers can choose on site payment by invoice or card, depending on the dealer's preference
    • Optional admin fees or weekend surcharges can be set per service

  • Voucher integration:

    • Customers can redeem prepaid service vouchers (e.g. winter check, service packages) or buy them as gifts
    • Vouchers can be limited to certain services or timeframes, supporting promotional campaigns and repeat business

  • Real time appointment calendar:

    • Dealers define their available working hours, blocked times (e.g. lunch breaks, holidays), and service specific slots
    • Customers see only valid time options for the selected service and car type
    • Each booking automatically respects service duration and technician availability

  • Automated notifications and reminders:

    • Customers receive confirmation emails instantly upon booking
    • Reminder emails or SMS can be triggered 24 to 48 hours before the appointment
    • The admin dashboard allows team members to add internal notes, reschedule bookings, or mark them as completed

The system supports multiple garages or locations and can adapt to seasonal workloads (e.g. tyre season or winter checks). It creates a seamless booking flow that benefits both the customer and the service team, reducing administrative effort and increasing service reliability.

Contextual Email Automation

The platform includes a powerful email automation engine that blends transactional reliability with marketing flexibility, all while staying compliant with GDPR and local data protection rules.

  • Contextual automation flows:

    • Custom built email sequences can be triggered for different user journeys: new leads, rental confirmations, booking reminders, test drive follow ups, or voucher purchases
    • Logic branches allow dynamic adaptation based on what the user did, e.g. viewed a vehicle but did not convert, cancelled a booking, or completed a service

  • Dynamic content personalisation:

    • Emails automatically adapt based on vehicle type (e.g. car, bus, trailer), extras selected, and customer preferences
    • Templates can include dynamic fields like booking times, dealership address, salesperson name, or next best offer
    • Seasonal promotions or inventory based messages can be included based on availability (e.g. "Only 2 vans left for the weekend")

  • Support for transactional and promotional emails:

    • The system separates transactional communications (e.g. confirmation emails, password resets, invoice delivery) from promotional campaigns, ensuring compliance and deliverability
    • Admins can schedule promotional campaigns (e.g. winter service reminders, rental specials) with segmentation by user action, location, or customer status

  • Full GDPR compliance and consent tracking:

    • Each user action is logged with a timestamped consent record, and every promotional message includes clear opt out mechanisms
    • The admin can see consent history per user and define rules for when and how certain messages are allowed
    • Separate consent is managed for newsletters, service reminders, and partner offers

Data, Tracking and Growth

The platform is designed with growth, analytics, and compliance at its core, giving dealerships and marketers full visibility into performance, user journeys, and campaign outcomes.

  • Deep event tracking across the full stack:

    • Every critical interaction, from page views and filter clicks to add on selections, form submissions, and checkout confirmations, is tracked in real time
    • Events are tied to individual sessions and users (when allowed), enabling a full funnel view from ad click to post purchase or post service engagement

  • Reliable server side tracking:

    • In addition to standard frontend analytics (e.g. GA4, Meta Pixel), events are also captured server side for greater accuracy, especially in environments with ad blockers or restricted cookies
    • Server events include verified conversions (e.g. booking confirmed, payment received), enabling better attribution and retargeting logic

  • Strict privacy compliance with geographic logic:

    • Users are classified as EU or non EU using IP based geolocation
    • Tracking scripts and cookie behaviour are dynamically adjusted to comply with GDPR, ePrivacy, and other local laws
    • Consent is tracked at event level granularity, with full audit trails available in the backend

What Comes Next

This project will be launched in August 2025, and once it is live I will share more details and results. But already it is clear: this is more than just a store. It is a growth engine for smaller dealerships ready to professionalise their digital operations.

If you run or support a dealership and are frustrated with clunky websites or generic software, get in touch. This project could be the start of something much bigger.

Building or scaling an online store? I help eCommerce businesses grow revenue through better tech and strategy.

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