Most tools that put your car inventory on WordPress start by asking for one thing: a feed URL. And that’s exactly where a lot of dealers get stuck. You know your vehicles live in your DMS. You know they already show up on Cars.com, AutoTrader, and CarGurus. But where’s the actual file a website plugin can read — and how do you get its link?
Here’s the honest version: if you use a DMS, a website provider, or marketplace syndication, structured inventory data almost certainly exists somewhere in your setup. The catch is that turning it into a feed URL you can actually paste sometimes takes a request or a little setup. This guide explains what a feed is, where yours likely comes from, and how to get a usable one.
What an inventory feed actually is
An inventory feed is a single file — or a web link to one — that lists your vehicles in a structured format, almost always XML or CSV. Each record is one vehicle, with fields like VIN, make, model, year, price, mileage, colors, and photo URLs.
Software reads that file and builds your inventory pages automatically. When your lot changes, the feed changes, and a good import tool re-syncs your website to match. No manual data entry — the feed does the work.
You may already have a feed — but it might not be a plug-and-play URL
If your vehicles appear on AutoTrader, Cars.com, CarGurus, Facebook Marketplace, or Google’s vehicle listings, then structured inventory data is already being generated and sent somewhere — by your DMS, your website provider, or a syndication partner such as HomeNet or Dealertrack.
That’s the good news. The caveat: that existing feed isn’t always a public link you can reuse. It may be:
- delivered by FTP/SFTP rather than a public URL,
- vendor-controlled and provided only on request or after approval,
- tied to a specific marketplace’s format (for example, a Google or Meta catalog),
- limited by your package, contract, or region.
For example, Google’s vehicle listings are typically delivered as uploaded feed files, usually CSV or TSV via SFTP — not as a public URL you can hand to another tool. Meta catalogs may use uploaded files or scheduled feed URLs, but those feeds can still be marketplace-specific. So a Google or Meta catalog is proof your data is structured; it is not proof you already have a reusable CSV or XML feed URL that will work directly with your WordPress importer.
Bottom line: you rarely need to build inventory data from scratch. What you usually need is to get it delivered as a URL — or a file on your own server — that you can point an importer at.
How to get your feed URL
Pick the situation that matches you.
Situation 1 — You use a DMS or website provider (most dealers)
Feeds are usually provided on request — there often isn’t a self-serve “download feed” button. Contact your DMS, website provider, or syndication partner (or your account rep) and ask for an inventory feed you can use on another website.
Here’s a copy-paste request that gets you exactly the right thing:
Subject: Inventory feed URL request
Hi [provider],
Please provide an inventory feed for our vehicle inventory that we can use on our own website. We need it as an XML or CSV file, accessible from a public HTTPS URL (no login required), updated at least daily.
Please send us the feed URL and the update schedule. Thank you.
Three things to ask for, because they’re what make a feed usable anywhere:
- XML or CSV format (a flat list, one record per vehicle)
- A public URL — no password, no login wall
- Updated daily or more often, so your site stays in sync with your lot
If your provider can only deliver the feed by FTP/SFTP, that’s fine too — have it dropped onto your own web server and point the importer at that file. (This plugin reads a feed from a public URL or a server file path.)
Who to ask, by platform. Availability and delivery depend on your package, contract, approval, and region — so the reliable move is to ask. This table is a starting point for where to ask, not a promise that every feed is free or self-serve:
| Provider | Where to ask about a feed |
|---|---|
| vAuto | Your vAuto / dealer rep |
| HomeNet | HomeNet feed/export support, or your rep |
| Dealer.com | Dealer.com’s inventory feed setup/request flow (through support) |
| CDK Global | Your CDK rep or support |
| Reynolds & Reynolds | Your Reynolds rep |
| Dealertrack | Your rep or support |
| VinSolutions | Your rep or support |
| DealerCenter | DealerCenter support / export settings |
| Frazer | Frazer support / export tools |
| Tekion | Your Tekion rep |
If your platform isn’t listed, the same approach applies: contact your provider and request an XML or CSV inventory feed you can use on your own website.
Situation 2 — You track inventory manually (no DMS)
No DMS? You can create your own feed. Keep a simple CSV file of your vehicles — one row per car, with a header row naming each column — and host it on your own website (or place it on your server). Update it whenever your lot changes, and point the importer at its URL or file path. That’s a complete, working feed with no extra software.
What format makes a feed “work”
The importer reads a feed from a public URL or a file on your server. The feed itself needs to be one of these:
- CSV — a standard CSV file with a header row (the first row names each column).
- XML — a flat, two-level structure: a root element containing one element per vehicle, with the vehicle’s fields directly inside it (
root > vehicle > fields).
Photos are included as image URLs in the feed. If your provider only offers a login-protected or FTP-delivered feed, ask for a public URL — or route the file to your own server and use that path.
“I pasted my link and got an error” — the #1 gotcha
This trips up almost everyone. If you paste a link and see an error like “could not read the file” or a “tag mismatch,” your link is returning a web page, not the file itself. This commonly happens with share or preview links from cloud-storage services, which open a viewer page instead of handing over the raw file.
The 5-second test: paste your feed URL into a browser tab.
- If you see plain comma-separated text (or a file downloads) → correct, it’ll work.
- If you see a web page → wrong link. Get the raw-file version of it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a DMS to use an inventory feed? No. If you don’t use a DMS, you can create a simple CSV feed yourself (one row per vehicle, with a header row) and host it at a public URL or on your server.
I have a Google or Meta catalog — can I use that as my feed? Maybe, but do not assume it will work automatically. Google vehicle feeds are commonly uploaded as CSV or TSV files through SFTP. Meta catalogs may use uploaded files or scheduled feed URLs. If you can access the actual raw CSV file and its fields can be mapped to vehicle listings, it may be usable. If the feed is TSV, marketplace-specific, login-protected, or only available inside a dashboard, ask your DMS, website provider, or syndication partner for a reusable CSV or XML inventory feed instead.
Is my inventory data private if it’s in a feed? Your feed contains the same public listing details already shown on your website and on marketplaces — make, model, year, price, mileage, and photos. It does not include internal cost or margin unless you add those, so simply keep those fields out of any feed you publish.
How often does a feed update? As often as it’s refreshed — commonly several times a day for a DMS feed. Your import tool then re-syncs your website on a schedule you choose, so listings appear and disappear automatically as your lot changes.
What if my feed is behind a login or delivered by FTP? Ask your provider for a public-URL version, or have the file routed to your own web server and point the importer at that file. A public link (or a server file path) is what most import tools need.
Which DMS platforms are compatible? Any platform that can provide a standard CSV or flat XML feed can usually work. Most major DMS, website, and inventory syndication platforms can provide some kind of export, but availability depends on your provider, package, and approval process.
Turn your feed into real WordPress pages
Once you have your feed URL (or file), the Automotive Inventory Importer reads a standard CSV or flat XML feed — from a public URL or a file on your server — and turns it into real, indexable WordPress vehicle pages. No DMS lock-in, no theme lock-in, no marketplace subscription. Smart field mapping helps detect and map your feed’s columns, so the plugin can adapt to many standard feeds from DMS providers, website providers, and syndication partners.
The free version is available on WordPress.org — install it, point it at your feed, and your inventory syncs itself.
