At a glance
- The link
- Your dealer key plus DealerSocket's VIN field, dsVINds, in any email or text template
- The leads
- Car Page questions emailed to DealerSocket in ADF/XML
- Needs
- Car Pages Pro at $149 a month per rooftop
- Not
- A certified DealerSocket integration, or an API connection
On this page
Two ways Car Pages reaches DealerSocket
Car Pages Pro reaches DealerSocket the way many outside tools do without a partnership: through the templates your team already sends, and through the lead email DealerSocket already reads.
- Out: a link in a template opens the Car Page for the car named on the customer's record, with its photos, video, window sticker, history link and price.
- In: when a shopper asks a question on a Car Page, a copy goes to DealerSocket as an ADF/XML lead.
Neither half needs DealerSocket to install anything, and neither touches your DMS.
Add a View this car button to a DealerSocket template
You don't need a new template. iPacket's public DealerSocket guide gives a short HTML snippet just for adding its button to a template you already use, and the same approach works for a Car Page link:
- Open the template in the DealerSocket CRM template builder, and paste your button wherever the builder takes HTML or a link.
- Point the button at carshots.ai/c/d/, then your dealer key, a slash and dsVINds, the VIN field that guide places in its links.
- Give the button plain words, such as View this car, so shoppers know what they'll see.
- Save it, then send it to a test customer before anyone else uses it.
DealerSocket swaps dsVINds for the VIN on the customer's record as each email goes out. The same guide's subject line names the car with DealerSocket's own fields; it's in the box below, under your link.
https://carshots.ai/c/d/{your dealer key}/dsVINds
- For example
- https://carshots.ai/c/d/k7m2qx/dsVINds
- The VIN merge field
dsVINds, as iPacket Help Center: How to set up your DealerSocket integration writes it. Pick it from DealerSocket's own list of merge fields if yours looks different.- A subject line that names the car
~Year~ ~Make~ ~Model~ from ~Sales Person~, from the same guide.
This is a link you paste into your own templates, not a certified DealerSocket integration, and DealerSocket doesn't endorse it. Car Pages Pro shows your link with your dealer key filled in. Send a test to yourself before your team uses it.
Have Car Page questions arrive as DealerSocket leads
DealerSocket, like most dealer CRMs, takes internet leads by email in ADF/XML, an XML format with fields for the shopper, the car and the message. Car Pages Pro sends one for every question a shopper submits from a Car Page:
- Ask your DealerSocket administrator for the store's ADF lead address.
- Ask them to add CarShots as a lead source, so these leads are easy to report on.
- Paste the address into your Car Pages Pro settings in CarShots.
- Submit a test question from one of your Car Pages and look for it in DealerSocket.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?adf version="1.0"?>
<adf>
<prospect status="new">
<id sequence="1" source="CarShots Car Pages">4821</id>
<requestdate>2026-10-30T19:05:00+00:00</requestdate>
<vehicle interest="buy" status="used">
<year>2021</year>
<make>Toyota</make>
<model>RAV4</model>
<vin>2T3P1RFV8MC000000</vin>
<stock>T1234</stock>
<trim>XLE</trim>
<odometer units="mi">38412</odometer>
<price type="asking" currency="USD">27995</price>
</vehicle>
<customer>
<contact primarycontact="1">
<name part="first">Jordan</name>
<name part="last">Lee</name>
<email>[email protected]</email>
<phone type="voice">512-555-0100</phone>
</contact>
<comments>Question from a CarShots Car Page. Message: Is it still available? Car Page: https://carshots.ai/c/2021-toyota-rav4-xle-4kq9</comments>
</customer>
<vendor>
<vendorname>Your Dealership</vendorname>
<contact primarycontact="1">
<name part="full">Your Dealership</name>
</contact>
</vendor>
<provider>
<name part="full">CarShots Car Pages</name>
<service>Car Pages</service>
<url>https://carshots.ai</url>
</provider>
</prospect>
</adf>What changes for your salespeople
Very little, which is the point. They pick the same templates and send them the same way, and the email now opens a page with the car's studio photos and walkaround video instead of a list of specs. When a Car Page lead comes in, it's already in DealerSocket with the car attached.
Two things stay in CarShots. Opens of the template link count toward each car's views but don't name the shopper, since every customer gets the same link for that car. And who's looking, with each shopper's hot score and live alerts by email and text, comes from personal links your team sends from CarShots on Car Pages Pro.
What this isn't
This isn't a certified DealerSocket integration. DealerSocket hasn't reviewed or endorsed it, there's no API between the two, and CarShots doesn't read anything back from DealerSocket. The VIN field comes from iPacket's public setup guide; if your account's field list shows another VIN field, trust your account. For the bigger picture, see how Car Pages compares with iPacket, or the plans on our pricing page.