For dealers: what to ask your vendors

Your customers are starting to shop with AI agents. Those agents need to read your inventory, book your service appointments and hand off to your people. Right now every vendor exposes that differently, or not at all. The fix doesn't start with a vendor pitch. It starts with you asking. Vendors move when their customers ask.

Being part of this is free for dealers, always. There's nothing to buy and no membership needed to ask.

First, check the directory

The agent-ready directory tracks which dealer tools have an MCP today, which have an API agents could use, and which are closed. Start by checking the tools you already pay for.

Three levels of ask, pick one

Level 1: one question in your next vendor review

No commitment. One line on the agenda.

Do you have an MCP server today? If so, which MCP revision is it on? If not, what's your timeline, and what would speed it up?

A vendor who can't name a revision doesn't really have one.

Level 2: a requirement for new vendors and renewals

Put this in your vendor requirements.

Agent access. Vendor shall provide a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server covering the services it provides to Dealer, scoped to Dealer's own data. Vendor shall tell Dealer at least sixty days before any change that breaks a working connection. Vendor shall not charge Dealer a per-integration, per-agent or per-call fee for access to Dealer's own records through this interface.

The last sentence is the one that matters commercially. Get it in early.

Level 3: score it in an RFP

Agent readiness (weighted 10%). A live MCP server we can test against a sandbox (pass or fail), which areas it covers, how agents sign in on a customer's behalf, and the notice period for breaking changes. Vendors with no MCP and no timeline score zero on this item, they are not excluded.

Questions that separate a real answer from a sales answer

1. "Show me it working." Ask them to connect an agent on screen.
2. "Which MCP revision?" No answer means no real implementation.
3. "What happens if an agent asks for another store's data?" You want a hard wall, not a filter.
4. "How does an agent act for one specific customer?" If the answer is "we give it an API key", that key can do anything to anyone.
5. "Can I reach my own data this way without a per-call fee?"

What it costs your vendor

Less than they'll tell you. If they already have an API, an MCP server is a thin layer on top of it. If a vendor says it's a major project, ask them to walk you through which part.

What you get

• Agents that work across your whole stack, not one tool at a time.
• Leverage at renewal: a vendor whose tools are open is a vendor you can replace.
• Your data stays yours, and reachable.

Want help with a vendor conversation? Join the movement as a dealer. It's free.