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I Tried Free Car CRM Software For My Small Lot — Here’s What Actually Worked

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I run a tiny used car lot with my cousin. Two sales desks. A wobbly Keurig. Thirty-something cars on the line, if the auction treats us nice. I handle leads and follow-ups. It’s me, a phone that won’t stop buzzing, and a whiteboard that lies. I’ve lived through environments where every ring is logged and graded—my reflection on that chaos is in I Lived in Call Center Land: Here’s My Take on Call Center Monitoring Software.

So I tested free CRM tools. Not car-only apps. Just free CRMs I bent to fit car sales. I didn’t pay a dime. I did the setup myself on a slow Tuesday and a few late nights. And yes, I used them for real buyers. There’s an even more granular blow-by-blow of the free CRM experiment in this detailed walkthrough if you want every screenshot.

Let me explain what helped, what hurt, and a few odd little wins I didn’t expect.

What I Needed (And What I Thought I Needed)

  • Pipeline that shows me where each shopper sits: New Lead, Contacted, Appt Set, Test Drive, Finance, Sold, Lost
  • A simple way to catch leads from Facebook Marketplace and email
  • Reminders so I don’t forget “Call John about the Tahoe after his shift”
  • Email tracking would be nice; texting too, but free tools make that tricky
  • A mobile app for lot life and rainy test drives
  • Basic notes for trade-ins, down payment, and credit talk

You know what? I did not need fancy dashboards. I needed fewer no-shows and less “Wait, who is Hannah again?”

My Setup In Plain Talk

I tried each tool for real on real weeks:

  • HubSpot CRM Free for 6 weeks
  • Zoho CRM Free for 3 weeks
  • Freshsales (Free) for 2 weeks
  • Bitrix24 (Free) for 2 weeks with my two sales folks

I kept Google Sheets for inventory and QuickBooks for receipts. For texting, I used WhatsApp Business and Google Voice. Not pretty. But it worked.

HubSpot CRM Free — The Clean Start

I liked the look. Fast, friendly, not scary. Explore the full HubSpot CRM offering.

What I did:

  • Built a simple deal pipeline: New Lead, Contacted, Appt Set, Test Drive, Finance, Sold, Lost
  • Installed the Gmail add-on. Emails to buyers logged to the right contact
  • Used tags like “Truck shopper,” “Subprime,” “Trade-in,” and “Tax time”
  • Set tasks with reminders, since I forget stuff mid-chaos

Real example:

  • Jenna P. messaged us on a 2015 Civic from Facebook Marketplace.
  • I made a contact in HubSpot, pasted her message, and dropped the Civic link in the note.
  • Set an Appt for Thursday at 5:30. HubSpot pinged me that morning.
  • She drove it. Loved it. Insurance snag. She needed two days.
  • I set a follow-up call. She bought a week later after a better quote.

Good things:

  • The Gmail plugin saved me. No hunting for emails.
  • Tasks kept me honest.
  • The pipeline view made Saturday mornings calmer.

Not so good:

  • No built-in SMS on free. I copied notes into WhatsApp. Clunky, but fine.
  • You can’t get cute with automation without paying. I kept it manual.

Surprise:

  • Our no-shows dropped. I sent simple “See you at 5:30?” emails. People showed.

Zoho CRM Free — The List Lover

Zoho felt like it was built by someone who likes checklists. That’s not a bad thing. Here’s the current Zoho CRM pricing page for reference.

What I did:

  • Custom fields: Down Payment, Trade-In Year/Make/Model, Credit Talk (Yes/No)
  • Used the mobile app to add notes right after test drives
  • Color-coded stages so the team didn’t squint at the board

Real example:

  • Miguel S. wanted a 2013 F-150 for hauling tools.
  • He said, “I have 2k cash now.” I added that to Down Payment.
  • We set a Saturday morning slot. I set a task to call Friday night.
  • He showed, drove, bought, and sent his cousin the next week.

Good things:

  • Easy custom fields for car stuff
  • Mobile app is quick. I typed notes in the lot, in the wind, with oil smell in the air

Not so good:

  • The look is a bit busy. My cousin got lost and clicked the wrong thing.
  • Email setup took me a bit. Not hard, just… fiddly.

Surprise:

  • I liked the search. I’d type “silver Accord” and find my notes fast.

Freshsales Free — Smooth And Simple

Freshsales felt calm. Like a fresh coat of paint.

What I did:

  • Set a tidy pipeline, used the app, and kept notes very short
  • Used their web form for “Book a Test Drive” and stuck it on our Facebook page bio

Real example:

  • Kim saw our 2017 CR-V on a marketplace listing and filled the form.
  • I got a ping, called her, and set a 4 pm test drive.
  • She brought her kid, tested car seats, and liked the trunk space.
  • She didn’t buy that day, but came back after payday and signed.

Good things:

  • Form-to-lead was easy
  • The phone app didn’t freeze on me

Not so good:

  • Reporting on the free plan felt thin
  • Again, texting is DIY

Surprise:

  • The simple setup helped new team members more than I thought. Less “which button?” talk.

Bitrix24 Free — So Many Tools, So Many Pings

Bitrix24 tries to be everything: CRM, chat, tasks, even phone. On free, it’s a lot at once.

What I did:

  • Set a shared Kanban for “Reconditioning” next to the CRM pipeline
  • Used built-in chat to nag my cousin: “Photos for the Malibu, please”
  • Made a quick web form for trade-ins

Real example:

  • Sam T. wanted a Tahoe. He filled the trade-in form for his 2010 Odyssey.
  • We got the lead in CRM and a task in the recond board to grab new Tahoe pics.
  • He came in. No Tahoe deal that day. But he liked us and left a 5-star note on our page.

Good things:

  • Team chat tied to the deal was handy
  • Having tasks next to deals helped with photo and detail work

Not so good:

  • It felt loud. Notifications everywhere.
  • Setup took longer. We kept asking, “Where is that setting?”

Surprise:

  • For a growing team, it could shine. For two to three people, it might be extra.

What I Could Do On Free (And What I Couldn’t)

Could do:

  • Track every lead and where they stood
  • Set clear tasks and reminders
  • Log calls and emails in one place
  • Grab leads from a simple web form
  • Keep notes on trade-ins and down payments

Couldn’t do well:

  • Real SMS inside the CRM (unless you pay or hack)
  • Deep reports, like close rate by source, month over month
  • Finance stuff, forms, DMV, credit pulls — that’s dealer software land

If you’re drowning in spreadsheet updates, I compared a few helpers in I Tried Three Data Entry Tools So You Don’t Have To.

My workaround:

  • Google Voice for texting on a shared number
  • WhatsApp Business for quick “Here’s the pin to our lot” messages
  • Google Sheets to track recon status and cost
  • Dropbox Sign free tier for simple “Sold as is” notes

It’s tape and string, sure. But it held.

Speaking of keeping costs at zero, there are also totally different corners of the internet where “free” matters just as much—like in the world of adult entertainment. If you’re curious, this rundown of free sex sites lists reputable, no-cost platforms and highlights which ones keep the pop-ups and spam to a minimum so you can unwind off-the-clock without reaching for your wallet.

Real Numbers From My Lot

Over 6 weeks with HubSpot Free:

  • 113 leads tracked (Facebook, phone, two web forms, a couple walk-ins)
  • 37 set test drive slots
  • 21 showed up
  • 9 closed
  • Average lead response time dropped from “whenever Kayla remembers” to about 25 minutes, because tasks poked me

During tax season, I added a “Tax Return” tag. Those folks moved faster. That tag helped me focus calls in late February and March.

Little Habits That Made It Work

  • One pipeline, clear stages. No fancy names.
  • Every new message gets logged right away, even if it’s copy-paste.
  • One nightly cleanup: 10 minutes to merge dupes, close dead leads.

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