Find the help you need.

1. Open LotTrail in Safari.
2. Open Share and choose Add to Home Screen.
3. If shown, leave Open as Web App enabled, then tap Add.

Open the LotTrail icon from your Home Screen.

Open LotTrail in Chrome and choose Install app or Add to Home screen from the browser menu. Follow the confirmation shown by your browser.

Open LotTrail in Chrome or Edge. Use the install icon in the address bar or the browser menu's app installation option. Once installed, pin LotTrail from your operating system's taskbar, Start menu or Dock. The installed icon opens your main LotTrail workspace.

Deal Builder, the product tour and Trail Buddy showcase are open. The registered owner can sign in to the real workspace. See access & status for account availability.

Save the name, phone, email and city you want customers to see. Preview your contact card. These details appear in the customer links, cards and listing material you choose to share. Standalone Trail Buddy has its own Profile & card settings.

On iPhone, open LotTrail in Safari, use Share and choose Add to Home Screen. On Android, use Chrome’s Install app or Add to Home Screen. An internet connection is required to load and save your workspace. Marketplace form preparation requires desktop Chrome.

Install only an approved build provided by LotTrail support. This is a manual Chrome installation.

1. Extract the ZIP into a permanent folder.
2. Open chrome://extensions in desktop Chrome and enable Developer mode.
3. Choose Load unpacked and select the folder containing manifest.json.
4. Open Your Trail Buddy and save your own public contact details.
5. Refresh open LotTrail, dealership and Marketplace tabs.

Use a separate Chrome profile for each salesperson. Installing Trail Buddy does not grant website account access.

Keep the same Chrome profile and installed folder. Do not click Remove.

1. In the old extension, open More → Setup → Export Trail Buddy Data. Older versions call it Download backup. Keep the JSON file private and note your listing count.
2. Find the existing unpacked source folder in Chrome Extensions → Details. If you cannot identify it, contact support before replacing files.
3. Keep a copy of the old program folder for rollback. This is separate from your data backup.
4. Once you have an approved update, extract it and copy the contents of its trail-buddy folder into the original installed folder. Replace files; do not create a nested folder.
5. Click Reload on the existing extension. Confirm the version, profile and listing count. Refresh open website and dealer tabs.
6. If records are missing, check the Chrome profile and installed folder first. Import Trail Buddy Data restores the JSON backup by replacing local records, not merging them. Review settings and re-enable monitoring if used.

LotPilot 1.4.x backups are supported. If an older version cannot export or its backup is rejected, preserve the installation and contact support with the version. Updating does not delete Facebook posts or reconstruct history that was never recorded.

Open a vehicle, choose Prepare for Marketplace, review the details and choose Open Marketplace draft. Default preparation uses the fresh dealer description and gallery order. Turn on Customize this listing to add an introduction or arrange photos.

In Profile & card → Listing photo border, choose the first photo or all photos, the fields to show and the footer height. Preview its coverage. Original images stay unchanged. Enable “Add my card as the last listing photo” to use the last of up to 20 photo slots for your card.

Check every field and photo in Facebook before publishing. After it publishes, record publication in Listings. Opening a draft never counts as a published listing.

In an approved private phone workspace, choose Send to Trail Buddy and select your connected desktop. The request stays saved when Chrome is closed. When that desktop reconnects, Trail Buddy checks the saved inventory identity and price and prepares a local draft. Missing source details, changed prices and old inventory checks need review before work can continue.

Watch the request status on your phone. You can cancel waiting work. Requests expire after seven days; a prepared result still needs your review in desktop Chrome. The standard Send to Trail Buddy option does not open Facebook. A separate Create Facebook draft action, where enabled, asks your connected desktop to fill Facebook and attempt one Save draft after checking the intended Facebook profile and photos. Nothing is published for you. If saving is uncertain, review Facebook on desktop before doing anything else; automatic repeat attempts are blocked. A saved confirmation does not prove the draft is available in the iPhone Facebook app. Copy vehicle facts or share available photos from the phone when you need a manual fallback.

This connection is available only in workspaces where an approved desktop has been activated. Phone Profile & card and appearance settings are separate from the extension profile.

1. In LotTrail, open the vehicle’s listing tab. Edit the introduction and photo order, then choose Continue on desktop. Wait for the saved confirmation.
2. On your computer, sign into the same LotTrail account in Chrome. Open Listings and resume the saved draft. Trail Buddy’s popup also links to Website drafts.
3. Choose Open saved draft in Trail Buddy. The extension checks the fresh dealer price, identity and photos before opening Facebook.

The saved introduction, selected photo order and public contact details transfer. Contact details and contact-card choices come from your website profile. Photo-footer layout preferences come from that Chrome installation. Private customer notes and financial inputs do not transfer to Facebook. After publishing, return to LotTrail to record the listing. Older standalone extension history remains separate.

Open Find a fit, enter must-haves and preferences, then select up to three cars. The customer’s requirements and private recap save to your account. Open a vehicle to compare, draft a reply, work the numbers or prepare a listing.

Shared comparisons preserve what you sent and show newer checked prices separately. Choose an expiry of 1, 7 or 30 days, or revoke a link early. Private notes are excluded. Replies are copied and sent by you; no CRM messaging is connected.

Open Deal Builder without signing in, or open it from a selected vehicle. Enter selling price, cash down and annual interest rate. Add a trade; expand Fees & rebates for additional amounts.

Kentucky tax is estimated at 6% after additional rebates and trade credit. Other states require your manager’s tax amount. The rate is an interest assumption, not a quoted APR. Choose Preview & print estimate. A manager confirms final figures and prepares the official agreement.

Saved drafts retain financial inputs. Customer names and handout contact fields remain in the open calculator.

The platform owner configures approved Dealer.com inventory URLs and the doc-fee policy. Complete refreshes update the shared list; failed or partial checks preserve the last successful snapshot.

Owner dashboard → Approved dealership answers holds dated process instructions and recurring wording. Expired entries stop appearing in vehicle workflows. These entries do not verify equipment on a specific car.

Website checks run when inventory is refreshed. Unattended server checks and push notifications are not connected. Trail Buddy’s optional desktop monitoring runs while Chrome is open. A missing vehicle prompts confirmation after two complete checks at least an hour apart; it is not marked sold automatically.

Use desktop Chrome. Enable the existing extension, click Reload in Chrome Extensions and refresh the LotTrail tab. Connection detection means the extension answered; each inventory or Marketplace action reports its own result. See update instructions if saved-draft support is unavailable.

A 403 response means the source refused the request. The owner can use Sync from desktop on Inventory with Trail Buddy. A complete sync updates the website inventory, including on phones. If that reader is also blocked, an approved feed or source permission is required.

For customer sharing, Use last saved source facts creates a dated comparison without a new source request. It says no new check was made. Confirm price and availability before quoting.

Wait for “Saved across your devices” or the desktop-ready confirmation before leaving. Unsynced changes may recover in the same tab, but are not available elsewhere. If another device saved a newer revision, load that version before editing.

If Trail Buddy reports a changed price, vehicle identity or gallery, review the current car and save the draft again. It will not silently post old facts.

Facebook’s form can change. Review and complete missing fields yourself. If preparation fails, copy the listing text and use the dealer gallery manually. Do not record publication until you can confirm the post is live.

Guided replies use rules and known vehicle details. Optional local rewriting requires supported desktop Chrome and local model setup; no hosted AI service is connected. Keep sensitive credit and identification information in the dealership’s approved systems.