How we use AI at the Clever Car Collection (and why it’s brilliant)

So… AI. Love it, fear it, or still think it’s just robots and sci-fi, we’re here to tell you – we’re using it. A lot. And it’s not taking over – it’s helping. Helping us run our business smarter, quicker and, most importantly, helping you – our customers – get a better experience every time you interact with us.

Let’s take it from the top.

It all started with a name…

Yes, really. Clever Car Collection was a name born with a little AI input. We’d been throwing around ideas for a while and decided to get a bit of artificial inspiration. It delivered. We loved it. The logo? AI had a crack at that too. We had a proper human designer polish it up, but the bones of it? AI again.

Buying smarter cars

If you’ve ever sold cars, you’ll know it’s all about buying the right stock and getting it sold – quickly. That’s where AI gets properly clever. We use it to analyse data from marketplaces like Auto Trader to work out what cars are hot right now, how fast they’re likely to sell, and what kind of demand they’ve got.

This means we don’t just guess what people want – we know. So when you browse our stock, you’re looking at hand-picked, data-backed motors chosen because people like you are already searching for them.

Smarter ads, better info

Now, here’s a little secret – I (James) write all of our car ads myself. Can’t help it. I’m a motoring journalist by trade (I run Car Dealer Magazine), so getting the detail right really matters to me.

But AI’s still in the mix. It helped us refine the layout, the flow, and the info we include – so you get everything you need in one go: mileage, spec, history, quirks, and the bits we love about each car. No waffle. No fluff. Just the good stuff, clearly explained.

Content creation? You bet

From YouTube video captions to walkaround scripts to social media posts, AI helps us streamline it all. It’s like a very clever assistant – suggesting what to say, what to post, when to post it, and even how to make it all look better.

It’s even had a hand in helping us create catchy little jingles for our videos. (Yep, AI-generated music is a thing – and it’s surprisingly good.)

We’re also testing AI-generated images and clips to bring some punch to our posts. Let’s face it – if a robot can help make a car look sexier on Instagram, we’re going to let it try.

Chatting to you when we’re asleep

We get enquiries all the time – day and night. So we’ve added an AI-powered chat system to our website that helps answer your questions 24/7. It can tell you if a car’s still available, what spec it’s got, help you book a test drive, and more.

Don’t worry – if you want to speak to an actual human (like me or Joe), you can. The AI will let us know and we’ll be in touch personally. But for those quick-fire, middle-of-the-night “Is that car still there?” queries – it’s pretty handy.

Even our back-end systems are clever

Behind the scenes, we use AI to handle the boring-but-essential stuff too. When we prep a car, we rack up receipts. Lots of them. Our dealer management system scans them all in, logs the right costs to the right cars, and gets them ready for the accountants – no manual faffing required. Saves us hours.

Award-winningly good (if we do say so)

We’re not just saying this – we’ve picked up some proper recognition for our AI efforts. We won Auto Trader’s Retailer Innovation Award in 2024 and also bagged the Dealer Chat Awards’ Most Innovative Dealer award for our clever use of tech.

So yes – we’re proud of how we use AI. But here’s the thing…

We’re still a people business

All of this clever tech? It’s only there to make our human service even better. We still show you round the cars ourselves. We still take the calls. We still offer you proper customer service – the old-fashioned way.

We’re a small team, running a business we love, and we care about every customer who walks through the door (or lands on the website). Don’t just take our word for it – check our five-star reviews on Google and Auto Trader.

So that’s how we’re using AI. Not to replace people. But to help us be cleverer, quicker, and more helpful – so you get the car you want, faster and with more confidence.

James Baggott, founder, Clever Car Collection