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How to create a car dealer website with WordPress

Put all your cars online with photos, prices and a WhatsApp button. This guide shows what a dealer website needs and how to build it without code.

Cars 5 min read Updated

By the team that makes Vehica

In this guide
  • What buyers look for on a dealer's own website
  • How Vehica puts your cars online with search by make and model
  • How to load your stock from a spreadsheet instead of typing it
  • Five steps from the demo to your own dealer website
  • How to try it free for 7 days, with no card

Many dealers pay a car portal to show their stock. There, your cars sit right next to other dealers' cars. Your own website shows only your cars, under your name.

It does not have to be a big project. A WordPress theme made for car dealers comes with the search, the car pages and the contact buttons. You add your logo, your details and your cars.

What a car dealer website needs

Buyers on a dealer website ask the same few questions. Do you have the car I want? What does it cost per month, and how do I reach you now?

  • Search by make and model that shows only the cars you have
  • A page for every car with large photos, the price and the key specs
  • A phone number, a WhatsApp button and a message form on every car
  • A loan calculator that shows buyers the monthly payment
  • Your currency, kilometers or miles, and your own language
Vehica car page for a blue Porsche Macan with a photo gallery, the price, a list of specs and buttons to reveal the phone, chat via WhatsApp and send a message
A car page on the Vehica demo, with phone, WhatsApp and message buttons next to the specs.

Build your dealer website in five steps

These are the short steps for a dealer who sells their own cars. Vehica also runs a site where other dealers post too, and How to create a website like Cars.com shows how.

Start from the demo

Vehica comes with one demo. It has 7 home page layouts, car pages, a blog, a team page and a contact page. Your free trial site starts with this demo already in place.

Classic home page of the Vehica demo with the headline Find your dream car, a search by make and price that finds 83 cars, and featured cars below
The Classic home page, one of the 7 layouts in the Vehica demo.
Absolutely the best car dealer theme. All the necessary functions are present along with a clean and modern design. alo911, verified Vehica customer

Give it your brand color

Pick one primary color in the Vehica Panel and save. Buttons, prices and labels change on every page at once. Your logo, phone and address go in the same panel.

The primary color goes from orange to blue in the Vehica Panel, and the home page follows.

Load your stock from a spreadsheet

You do not have to type every car again. Save your stock list from Excel as a CSV file and load it with the free WP All Import plugin.

The photos come in from the links in your file, and one click in the Vehica Panel puts each model under its make. The guide Import any XML or CSV File (Free WP All Import Compatibility) shows every screen.

Set up a Sold and a Pending label once. Then mark a car Sold or Pending, and a ribbon shows it on its card. Sold / Pending / Active option

Sold page of the Vehica demo with twelve car cards, each marked with a Sold ribbon in the corner
The Sold page of the Vehica demo, with a Sold ribbon on every card.

Let buyers find a car by make and model

Make and Model are linked, so picking Audi leaves only Audi models. Every filter narrows the next one, and the results update right away. Next to each make and model, buyers see how many cars you have.

A buyer picks Audi, then e-tron, and 83 cars narrow down to 3. See it on the demo

Show the monthly payment and how to reach you

Under each car in the results, Calculate financing opens a loan calculator with that car's price filled in. You set the starting rate, months and down payment.

Every car page has a phone button, a WhatsApp button and a message form. The phone button shows the full number on a click, and your panel counts those clicks for every car.

Vehica Loan Calculator page with fields for price, interest rate, period in months and down payment, and boxes for monthly payment, total interest and total payments
The loan calculator page on the Vehica demo.

Try these steps on your own Vehica site

The trial site comes with the demo, so you can add your first cars right away.

Try Vehica free Free for 7 days. No card needed.

More guides on car dealer websites

Each guide takes one part of a dealer website further, from the stock list to the calls it brings.

Questions

I only sell my own cars. Is Vehica for me?
Yes. Vehica works for one dealer with their own cars. Switch off sign-up and the Add Listing button in the Vehica Panel, and only you add cars. How to turn off “Add Listing” button
How long until my cars are online?
Your trial site is ready in a minute, with the demo in place. Then it depends on your stock. With a spreadsheet and WP All Import, you load all your cars in one go. Import any XML or CSV File (Free WP All Import Compatibility)
Can I show kilometers, my currency and my language?
Yes. You change miles to km in the Mileage field and set your currency in the Vehica Panel. You can translate every text, and the site runs in one language at a time. How to translate Vehica theme?
Do I need to know code?
No. Colors, fields, currency and messages are set in the Vehica Panel, and you change pages in Elementor by drag and drop. A few special changes need a small snippet, and the help center shows each one. How to start customizing Vehica Theme?
What is in the free trial?
You get your own Vehica website for 7 days, ready in a minute, with the full WordPress admin and the demo in place. No card is needed. During the trial, buy the license with one payment, or move to Site Care, our monthly plan where we look after the site. See pricing
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How to import car inventory to your website from an Excel sheet

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Put your cars online with Vehica

Try it with your own cars on a real website, free for 7 days.

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