Costar Computer Systems

02/16/2022

Cyber attacks are no joke, have a look at this video from Federated insurance.

By being aware of cyber risks, tire dealers and members of the automotive industry can be prepared to protect against cyber attacks.

12/20/2021

To all of our valued Customers, Suppliers and Friends, happy holidays from the gang here at COSTAR! Stay safe and tangle free this Christmas season.

12/20/2021

A good article from MTD and Hankook Tire. Happy holidays!!

Get your digital marketing rolling.

01/11/2021

Check out this video - some great points made here. Use your COSTAR system to track declined work and do customer follow up. Happy New Year - lets make it a great year!

The new year is here! So, we’ve put together a few ways to streamline shop processes and gain more profitability for independent tire dealers in 2021.Tire Re...

12/15/2020

This is a good article! As we head into the beginning of a new year, dealers will have time to work on their business to introduce improvements to pricing and procedures. A COSTAR system is the place to start when making improvements to your business.

With 2020 drawing to a close, it’s time for you to work "on" your business, not "in" your business, according to tire industry expert Jeff Morgan, who shares practical, profit-generating action items that will set your dealership up for a successful 2021.

12/08/2020

The Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) provides interest-free, partially forgivable, loans of up to $60,000, to small businesses and not-for-profits, that have experienced diminished revenues due to COVID-19 but face ongoing non-deferrable costs, such as rent, utilities, insurance, taxes, and wages.

The Canadian Federal Government has recently expanded CEBA to include an additional interest-free $20,000 loan, 50% of which would be forgivable if repaid by December 31, 2022.

This means the additional loan effectively increases CEBA loans from the existing $40,000 to $60,000 for eligible businesses, of which a total of $20,000 will be forgiven if the balance of the loan is repaid by December 31, 2022.

CEBA requirements and deadlines have changed:
• As of December 4, 2020, CEBA loans for eligible businesses will increase from $40,000 to $60,000.
• Applicants who have received the $40,000 CEBA loan may apply for the $20,000 expansion, which provides eligible businesses with an additional $20,000 in financing.
• All applicants have until March 31, 2021, to apply for $60,000 CEBA loan or the $20,000 expansion.
Business owners can apply for support through their banks and credit unions.

12/08/2020

Two good deeds completed this week for former customers. We restored a shop's historical COSTAR database after a PC crashed so they can continue to view their history. We reactivated OK Tire Espinola's COSTAR DB so they could print some old unpaid invoices even though this shop closed over 6 months ago. We all need to help each other stay strong in the automotive aftermarket and at COSTAR we always try and help!

12/04/2020

Here's a new article highlighting the Tire Storage functionality in COSTAR and the good folks at OK Tire St. George!

These three factors are key to success for winter storage. In a typical winter season, Carla Lindsay, Owner of OK Tire in St. George, near Brantford, Ont., stores about 3,500 tires. “I keep the regular tires in a Quonset,” she explains. But the nicer tires, with alloy wheels, go in a container w...

10/30/2020

The next extension of right to repair!

Who has direct access to and control of your car data? Not you. Demand control: http://bit.ly/2QiQNVV Cars today are essentially smartphones with wheels. For...

10/14/2020

COSTAR Acxiom Service Retirement: For many years COSTAR has offered an optional connection to the Acxiom telephone look up service. This service would provide a white pages look-up of Customer information by leveraging the home telephone number. This service has reached its end of life and will be retired as of October 31, 2020. Customers who currently subscribe to this option can expect the function to stop working at the end of this month. No replacement to this service is planned.

10/08/2020

DVI or Digital Vehicle inspections save the shop time and greatly increase consumer confidence. Are your Tech's doing their inspections using our App?