How to Capture a Trade in in LeadLocate

Get the VIN, the miles, the photos and the paperwork onto the record, then put the allowance and payoff on the worksheet.

1. Add the trade row

   Expand the lead card and click Add a Trade-In. A Trade-In row appears with a label, an odometer field and a camera control. A second car gets its own row with Add Second Trade-In.

2. Scan the VIN and enter the miles

   Use the camera control to read the VIN from the door jamb with a phone, then type the Odometer reading the scanner asks for. The row fills with year, make, model and trim. On the deal, Load trade vehicle details from this VIN confirms the decode.

3. Collect the paperwork by QR

   Open the Trade Info scanner on the lead card and show the QR code. The customer photographs the registration, the title and the payoff letter, front and back, and adds vehicle photos from a private single use page on their phone. The scanner reads the payoff amount, lienholder and good through date, and you apply them to the trade with one action.

4. Value the car

   On the deal view, click Open Trade Values to open the store's own trade values source, then enter the Trade Allowance and the Trade ACV (Actual Cash Value). If the customer still owes on the car, enter the Payoff Amount and the Lienholder.

5. Set the tax treatment

   Check the Trade-In Tax Credit Method on the deal: Credit on Full Trade Allowance (Most States), Credit on Net Trade Equity Only or No Trade-In Tax Credit. It starts from the default in your Dealership Profile, and the worksheet applies the credit and taxes negative equity where required.

6. Ask the customer for photos if needed

   Turn on Require trade-in photos from the customer when the manager has not walked the car. The 2. Trade-In step on the customer's deal page then asks for walk around photos with Upload photos of your vehicle.

7. Mark it done

   When the desk has what it needs, click Mark trade-in complete on the Road to Sale checklist and save the deal. The trade prints on the customer sheet with the allowance, payoff and net equity.

You need the customer's lead or deal open in LeadLocate CRM, a phone with a camera for the VIN scan and the document QR, and the car in front of you or the customer on the other end of a deal page. Any user can capture a trade; nothing is turned on. Two settings make the desk side faster and a manager sets them once: the store's trade values link, so Open Trade Values goes to the source your desk uses, and the default Trade-In Tax Credit Method in the Dealership Profile for your state.

Every customer record holds up to two trades, and a record can hold a trade with no vehicle for sale at all, which is how a store buys a car outright; the worksheet has an Acquisition tab for that. A customer who has not visited yet can start from your store's public Trade-in Form, whose link you copy from the calendar settings popup with Copy Trade-in Form link to clipboard. The trade in capture page describes the whole flow from the lot to the worksheet.

On the lead card, the Trade-In row shows the year, make, model and trim with the odometer beside it, and the mobile app shows the same row. On the deal view, the trade section carries the VIN, the Odometer reading, the Trade Allowance, the Payoff Amount, the Lienholder, the cash value and book value fields, the Trade-In Tax Credit Method and a per deal trade credit cap for states that limit it. The summary rows from the Trade Info scanner show vehicle, VIN, plate, owner, lienholder, payoff amount, payoff good through and odometer, with the original images one click away.

On the worksheet, the trade credit is applied by the method you set and the net equity flows into the structure. On the customer's deal page, the 2. Trade-In step shows the trade vehicle, offer, payoff, notes and photos. On the printed customer sheet, the trade line shows allowance, payoff and net equity, and the odometer carries a footnote marker so a printed mileage is never read as a certified disclosure. Removed trade documents sit in the trash bin under Trade Info Documents with restore.

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The trade credit on the worksheet looks wrong. The Trade-In Tax Credit Method is set for another state's rule, or the per deal cap is on. Check the method on the deal against your state, clear or correct the cap, and the tax line recalculates. The EZ Desking worksheets page explains each method.

The payoff did not fill from the documents. The payoff letter photo was not readable, usually a blurry shot or a missing back page. Have the customer retake it on the same phone page; document slots replace within the session, and apply again. You can always type the Payoff Amount and Lienholder by hand from the letter image on the deal.

The customer's page does not ask for photos. Require trade-in photos from the customer is off on the deal. Turn it on and save; the 2. Trade-In step shows the photo request the next time the customer opens the page.

There is a second car. Use Add Second Trade-In on the deal for the second row; each customer record holds two.

The trade is one input to the deal. How to desk a deal covers the structure the trade feeds, and how to scan a VIN covers the camera read in more detail. The customer's own identification comes in the same way through how to scan a driver license, and anything else the customer hands you goes into the deal jacket by QR. For a store buying cars from the public, the acquisition deal type on the worksheet and the opt in seller leads described on what to expect from car sales leads fit together.

The Help Center lists every task in order, and the LeadLocate CRM page shows where trade capture sits in the platform.

Scan the VIN in the parking lot before the customer sits down, and type the miles from the dash while you are standing next to it. Show the Trade Info QR code at the desk for the registration the customer has in the glove box, and let the title and payoff letter come in that evening from the couch; the link works from home the same way. Ask for photos through the customer's page rather than a text thread, so the walk around is on the deal and not on somebody's personal phone. And remember what the CRM does and does not do here: it captures the VIN, miles, photos and documents the valuation needs and applies the number the desk enters. The store values the car, from its own source.

How many trade ins can a customer have?

Two per customer record, each with a label, an odometer and a camera control for the VIN scan, and a record can hold trades with no vehicle for sale when the store is buying the car outright.

How do I get the title and payoff letter from the customer?

Show the Trade Info QR code. The customer photographs registration, title and payoff on a private single use phone page, adds vehicle photos, and the scanner reads the payoff amount, lienholder and good through date so you can apply them to the trade.

Does LeadLocate value the trade?

The store does, from its own trade values source, which the deal opens with Open Trade Values. The CRM captures the VIN, miles, photos and documents the valuation needs and applies the number the desk enters.

Can the customer send trade photos from home?

Yes. Turn on Require trade-in photos from the customer on the deal and the trade step of their deal page asks for walk around photos from the phone.

Trade in capture with VIN scan, photos and document intake is part of every LeadLocate CRM plan, month to month. Capture the next trade from the lot.

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