NuDMS is an agent-native dealer management system that runs on hardware your dealership owns. Agents do the busywork, managers approve what matters, and your DMS bill drops to roughly zero.
For decades, dealerships have rented their core operating system from a handful of legacy vendors such as CDK, Reynolds and Cox. You pay every month to use your own data. In June 2024, cyberattacks on CDK Global took its systems offline and left thousands of dealerships writing deals and ROs by hand for days.
| Legacy DMS | NuDMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Their data center, their outage | Your hardware, your uptime |
| Your data | Accessible, by arrangement | Standard Postgres on your box |
| Licensing | Monthly, per module, forever | Apache-2.0. Free. |
| Integrations | Certification programs and tolls | Open APIs on an event bus |
| Interface | Green screens and swivel chairs | Agents propose, managers approve |
| Updates | Whenever they ship | Signed, dealer-approved, with rollback |
| Leaving | Call your attorney | It's already yours |
Keep the regulated parts small and boring. Put intelligence on a clean data model and an event bus, and keep people in charge of anything that matters.
A dashboard and chat where managers approve, edit, coach and handle exceptions. Agents propose; people decide.
They draft follow-ups, structure deals, chase recon and prep ROs. Autonomy is set per agent, and every action is written to an audit trail.
Every change is an event: a trade appraised, an RO closed, a deal funded. Modules and integrations subscribe; nothing polls.
One Customer ID and one VIN record across sales, F&I, service, parts and communications.
GL, contracts, title, payroll. Small, auditable and deliberately dull.
One system and one data model, with no per-module invoice. Multi-rooftop from day one.
Acquisition, appraisal, recon, pricing and aging on one VIN record.
Payments, trade equity, and agent-drafted structures for approval.
Menus, contracts and lender funding, with compliance checks built in.
Appointments, ROs, multipoint, and a service-to-sales handoff.
Counter sales, special orders, stock levels and RO allocation.
General ledger, schedules and month-end, tied to the events that created them.
Customer 360 with households, consent and a unified timeline.
Onboarding, staff records, permissions and the paperwork in between.
Phone check-in, photo and video inspections customers approve by text, pickup, drop-off and loaners.
Shoppers price, trade, hold and sign online. Owners book service, track their car and pay from their phone.
Texts, chat, email and calls in one thread per customer. Calls are summarized on your box.
Card, pay-link and bank payments for deposits, ROs and parts, matched to the ledger every day.
Every deal file is checked for missing or mismatched items before it reaches the lender.
Invoices read and coded automatically, company card limits, and pay plans for hourly, flag and commission staff.
Ask a question in plain words and get an answer from your own data, limited to what your role can see.
One view across rooftops, cross-store vehicle search and transfers. Each store keeps its own data.
Documented API and event subscriptions on your box, and a guided move off your current system.
NuDMS runs in your building or on a VM you control. If the internet drops, the showroom keeps working. If a vendor has a bad week, it doesn't become yours.
| Runtime | Signed appliance image, or docker compose up on a dealer-owned VM |
| Database | PostgreSQL |
| Bus | NATS JetStream |
| Models | Local open-weight models by default. Cloud AI is opt-in only, and PII is stripped before any request leaves the building. |
| Backups | 3-2-1 strategy, encrypted, with keys held by the dealer |
| Updates | Signed, applied only after the dealer approves, with rollback |
| Network | Outbound-only integrations, so no inbound ports are exposed |
| Multi-rooftop | Shared Customer ID and VIN records across stores, with per-store permissions |
| Compliance | Audit trail on every human and agent action, built to support your FTC Safeguards Rule program |
| License | Apache-2.0 |
NuDMS runs on a small dedicated computer that lives at your store. It shows up ready to go. Plug it in and it runs.
A small NuDMS box that fits on a shelf, in a closet or in the office. It arrives already set up for your store.
A spot with power and a network jack. A battery backup, so a power blip doesn't shut it off. A backup drive. A second box is optional if you want a spare that takes over automatically.
You can skip the box and run NuDMS on a computer or virtual server you already own.
A NuDMS support provider can install it for you as an optional service. Or your own IT person can do it.
Your data is backed up automatically. Swap in a new box, restore the backup and you're back. Because it runs at your store, it keeps working when the internet goes down.
| Your store | What you'd run |
|---|---|
| Single rooftop | One NuDMS box, a battery backup and a backup drive. |
| Larger store | A larger box, plus a second box as a standby spare. |
| Dealer group | One box at each rooftop, plus a group hub that ties the stores together. |
Customer and deal data live on your box, not in a vendor's cloud. Here's how it stays safe, in plain English.
The box only makes outgoing connections, and only to partners you approve, like lenders, manufacturers and the DMV. Outsiders can't reach in.
It stays off unless you turn it on, for example so your support provider or IT person can help. You can turn it off again any time.
Each employee sees only what their job needs. Everything is logged: who did what, and when.
The AI runs on your box. Outside AI is optional, and personal details are removed before anything leaves.
Backups are encrypted, which means scrambled so only someone with the key can read them. You hold the keys, not a vendor.
Updates are signed, so you know they're genuine. Nothing installs until you say so, and you can undo an update.
| Network | Plug the box into your store network. We recommend giving the box its own separate network. Your IT person or support provider can set this up. |
| Internet outage | The box keeps working. When the internet comes back, it catches up with partners automatically. |
| Safeguards Rule | The FTC Safeguards Rule requires dealers to protect customer information. NuDMS covers technical pieces like access controls, encryption and activity logs. Your dealership still owns the rest: written policies, staff training and naming a person in charge. This isn't legal advice, so check with your compliance advisor. |
Read it, run it, fork it, extend it. There's no "community edition" with the good parts removed.
No license fees and no per-seat or per-module pricing. The cost is roughly the hardware it runs on.
A NuDMS support provider offers appliance setup, remote support, migration and certified connectors. That's the entire business model.
Integrations subscribe to the event bus. Connecting your CRM shouldn't require a toll booth.
Yes. The software is Apache-2.0. Revenue comes only from optional services (appliance setup, remote support, migration, certified connectors) offered by a NuDMS support provider. You can do all of it yourself.
On hardware or a VM your dealership owns. Backups are encrypted with keys you hold. Cloud AI stays off unless you turn it on, and PII is stripped before any request leaves.
No. Managers set autonomy per agent. Anything material, such as pricing, deal structure, customer messages or money, can require approval, and everything is logged.
Your DMS keeps running. It's on your hardware, the code is open, and your data is in standard Postgres. That's the point.
Updates are signed, and nothing installs until you approve it. If something misbehaves, roll back.
Migration is one of the optional services. Because integrations are outbound-only and event-driven, NuDMS can also run alongside your existing system during a transition.
Yes. Multi-rooftop support includes shared customer and VIN records and per-store permissions.