ADF XML Validator and Test Lead Generator

Paste one ADF lead and check it field by field, or fill a synthetic sample to prove a lead route before a real shopper depends on it.

ADF, the Auto-Lead Data Format, is the small XML document most automotive lead providers send when a shopper asks about a vehicle. One file carries the shopper, the vehicle, the comments and the store the lead is for, and it usually travels by email to a CRM's intake address. The background on the format is in what ADF XML is.

An ADF XML validator answers a narrower question: will this one file arrive as a usable lead? It reads the document the way a CRM parser does and shows, row by row, what is in place and what to fix. Three groups use one most:

• Dealership internet managers and BDC managers adding a listing site, a chat tool or an OEM program, who want to see a sample before delivery starts.
• Lead providers and website vendors checking each change to an ADF export before it reaches every store they serve.
• Dealer groups, auto brokers, and RV and boat dealers running several rooftops or less common sources.

Why test at all? A broken lead rarely announces itself. It arrives with no vehicle, a nine digit phone number or no store name, and the first sign is a shopper who asked twice and heard nothing. For how a CRM takes ADF in and sends it back out, see automotive CRM ADF XML integration.

The tool sits at the top of this page, works on one lead at a time and runs entirely in your browser.

1. Paste one lead. Copy the full document, from the XML declaration to the closing </adf> tag, into the box. For an attachment, open the .xml file in a text editor and copy everything.
2. Press Validate. The result reads Valid ADF lead or tells you how many things to fix, with a count of the checks that passed.
3. Read the rows. Each check is marked OK or Fix, and Fix rows carry an amber border. The rows for the request date, the interest, the phone and the email quote the value they read.
4. Fix and repeat. Edit in the box and press Validate until every row reads OK.

No file yet? Press Fill a sample lead. The button works as an ADF XML lead generator: it writes a complete synthetic ADF 1.0 lead into the box and validates it on the spot. The request date comes from your computer's clock, the vehicle is a used Toyota Camry four model years back, and the shopper, store and provider are invented. Change any field to watch the checks respond.

Here is how it plays out. A listing site goes live for your store on Monday. At 4:15 on Friday its onboarding rep emails a sample lead. You paste it and get two Fix rows: an empty vendor name and a phone with an extension glued on. Both fixes go back before the weekend, and Monday's first lead lands with your store's name on it and a number your salesperson can text.

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The checks run in the order a CRM reads a lead. If the XML fails to parse, or there is no <prospect>, the validator stops there.

The phone and email rows read the first phone and the first email in the contact, so list the number your team should text first.

Here is the lead the sample button writes, element by element. Keep it beside a provider's file when you compare the two.

A VIN goes inside the vehicle block as <vin>. The sample leaves it out, since a VIN is optional in ADF; add a 17 character VIN to see that row appear.

An unescaped ampersand

This is the most common reason a lead fails to parse. XML reads an ampersand as the start of a code, so a store name like Smith & Sons Motors breaks the whole document when the ampersand is written bare. Write it as &amp;, so the file reads Smith &amp; Sons Motors, and write a less than sign in a comment as &lt;. Shoppers type ampersands all the time, so a provider should escape every comment or wrap it in a CDATA section.

A missing or empty vendor

A lead with no <vendor>, or an empty <vendorname>, still parses, yet nothing in it says which store it is for. It usually comes from a template copied from one store to the next. Fill <vendorname> with the rooftop's name, and in a dealer group, test each rooftop's template on its own.

Phone numbers in the wrong shape

The validator counts digits, so 916-555-0142, (916) 555-0142, 916.555.0142 and +1 916 555 0142 all pass. What fails is anything that adds or drops digits: an extension such as x204 in the same element, a home and a cell number joined with a slash, or a number missing its area code. Move extensions to the comments and give each number its own <phone> with a type. The row quotes the number it read, so a placeholder of all zeros is easy to spot.

A VIN with the wrong length, or an I, O or Q

Every VIN is 17 characters, and I, O and Q never appear because they look too much like 1 and 0. Typical slips: a letter O typed where a zero belongs, a last character cut off, only the last eight characters, or a stock number dropped into the VIN field. Fix it at the source, or leave <vin> out until you have the full number. For what the 17 characters encode, see what VIN decode is.

Wrong case, wrong place, wrong words

XML is case sensitive and ADF tags are lower case, so <RequestDate> is a different element from <requestdate>. The request date, vehicle, customer and vendor sit inside the prospect, and the contact sits inside the customer. Interest takes exactly buy, lease, sell, trade-in or test-drive, so purchase, or trade in with a space, shows as Fix. For dates, ISO 8601 reads everywhere; free text such as yesterday afternoon reads as no date at all.

A file that passes is ready for the real test: a lead sent to the address your provider will use. In LeadLocate CRM every lead source has its own intake email, and the CRM reads ADF lead emails directly.

1. Create or open the source. From the Billing and Admin menu, choose Account Settings and click Lead Source Settings. Click New Lead Source or pick the provider from the list, set the Feed Label and Lead Assignment, and click Save Feed.
2. Copy the intake address. The What happens next panel shows the source's intake email with Copy Address.
3. Build the test lead. Press Fill a sample lead, change the vendor name to your store and the comment to a clear test note, and validate until every row reads OK.
4. Send it. Email the ADF to the intake address as the plain text body of the message or as an .xml attachment. Ask the provider to send its own sample there too.
5. Watch the Activity Log. Each delivery on the source shows its time, the sender and a result. Success carries the ID of the lead it created, and the lead appears in Leads with the source's label on the row.

Any other result points the way. Parse failed means the email held no readable lead, so run the provider's file through the validator again. Feed inactive means the source is paused: tick Active and save. Intake unknown means the address matches no source, so compare it character by character. The full troubleshooting tree is on dealership CRM leads not arriving, and every source setting is on automotive lead source integration.

A test lead runs the source's assignment, alerts and first messages just like a real one, so warn the next rep in the rotation, and put your own cell in the phone field if you want to watch the first text arrive. LeadLocate also reads plain notification emails, so a file with a Fix row may still become a lead; fixing it at the source keeps every field in place.

The ADF XML validator runs entirely in your browser. What you paste stays on your screen: nothing is uploaded, sent or saved, and closing the tab clears it. The bigger habit is yours to keep: test with synthetic leads.

A real shopper's lead is personal information, and sample files travel. They get attached to support tickets, pasted into chat threads and forwarded between vendors, and a test sent into a CRM creates a lead record that can text or email that real person.

• Start from the sample. It uses invented names, an example.com email and a phone number from the range reserved for fiction.
• Label every test with an ID such as TEST-0001 and a comment that says test, so nobody calls it.
• Ask providers for synthetic samples built from their template, never a copy of a recent shopper's lead.
• Clean up. Delete the test lead when you are done. It moves to the Trash Bin with your reason.
• Share lead IDs, not people. When you trace a real lead that went wrong, send the provider its lead ID and delivery time rather than the shopper's details.

The ADF XML validator is the first step of a bigger job: every lead source in one inbox with its source attached. In LeadLocate CRM that job lives in Lead Source Settings, with an intake email and a form intake link per source, an assignment rule, alerts, a first message and an Activity Log of every delivery. The setup is in how to set up lead feeds, and our team connects any provider whose format needs special handling.

ADF shows up in two more places. Contact Import accepts ADF files alongside XLSX, CSV, JSON and vCard, and when a store keeps another CRM beside LeadLocate, Instant push to CRM email sends each lead to it as a branded copy with ADF attached. Once leads are flowing, the Phone Validator under Marketing Tools checks a list of real numbers before your team calls or texts it.

Lead sources, intake addresses and the Activity Log are part of the LeadLocate CRM subscription on every plan. Each plan includes a login to start and more users are an add-on, and usage credits cover bulk texting, phone and email validation and voicemail deliveries. Plans are on the pricing page.

Is it safe to paste a lead into this ADF XML validator?

Yes. The validator runs in your browser, and nothing you paste is uploaded, sent or saved. Still, use synthetic test leads rather than a real shopper's details, because sample files travel into tickets and other vendors' inboxes.

Which version of ADF does the validator check?

The ADF 1.0 structure most lead providers send: a prospect with a request date, a vehicle, a customer contact and a vendor, plus the provider when one is named. The sample generator writes an ADF 1.0 lead.

Why does my file say Not valid XML?

The document is not well formed, so the later checks have nothing to read. The usual causes are a bare ampersand in a store name or comment, which has to be escaped, and a tag that opens and never closes. Fix that, then press Validate again.

Does a valid result mean my CRM will accept the lead?

It means the file is well formed and carries what a salesperson needs: the shopper, a way to reach them, the vehicle and the store. The final proof is a test lead sent to the real intake address. In LeadLocate CRM, the source's Activity Log shows Success and the new lead's ID within moments.

Can I check a file that holds several leads?

Paste one lead at a time. When a document holds more than one prospect, the validator shows the count and checks the first. Most CRMs read each lead as its own document, so ask the provider for one prospect per file.

What is in the sample lead the generator creates?

An invented shopper, Maria Lopez, with an example.com email and a 555 phone number, a used Toyota Camry four model years back, a short comment, Sample Motors as the vendor and Test Provider as the provider. The request date comes from your computer's clock.

How do I send a test ADF lead to LeadLocate CRM?

Open Account Settings, then Lead Source Settings, create or open the source and use Copy Address for its intake email. Email the validated ADF there as the message body or an .xml attachment, then watch the source's Activity Log for a Success entry.

Watch the demo to see a lead source, its intake email and its Activity Log at work, compare plans on the pricing page, or call our team at 844-376-2274 to connect your providers.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.