CDK Two-Way Texting: What Text Connect Does and What to Add

Last updated: October 9, 2026

Quick answer: Yes, CDK has two-way texting. It's called CDK Text Connect, and it lets your team text customers from the dealership's landline numbers, send videos and PDFs, and monitor conversations from a manager view. If you want texting tied to video inspections, estimates, payments and campaigns, you can add a service lane platform on top of CDK. Today, only Kimoby Pay payments write back to CDK. Estimate write-back is still in development.

Does CDK have two-way texting?

Yes. CDK's texting product is Text Connect, and CDK describes it as two-way texting built into CDK Service.¹ If you're on CDK, ask your CDK rep whether it's part of your package.

So the real question isn't whether you can text from CDK. It's whether texting alone covers what your service lane needs, or whether you want more around it. That depends on your store, and we'll go through both below.

What can you do with CDK Text Connect?

Here's what CDK lists on its own pages for Text Connect:^1,2

• Text from your dealership's existing landline and toll-free numbers
• Send and receive texts from a phone, laptop, PC or tablet, with a mobile web app that needs no download
• Messages backed up in the cloud and synced across devices
• Store View, where managers can see conversations, reply for an employee or take one over
• Video attachments and PDF attachments, including PDFs the customer signs off on before work starts
• Text templates picked from a drop-down menu
• Alerts for new messages

That's a solid base for advisors who mainly need to reach customers by text, from the store's number, with a manager watching response times. If that's your need, Text Connect is a reasonable place to stay.

For the latest feature list, check with CDK directly. Products change, and we only describe what CDK publishes.

When do service departments add a texting tool on top of CDK?

Usually when the text is only one step of what the advisor needs to do. The customer gets a text, but the video, the estimate, the payment and the loaner live somewhere else.

Here's what stores tend to look for when they add a platform on top of CDK:

• A video inspection the tech records in the bay, sent in the same thread
• An itemized estimate the customer approves line by line from their phone
• Payment by text, before the customer reaches the counter
• Automated status updates triggered by what happens on the RO
• Internal notes with techs and parts inside the customer's thread, hidden from the customer
• Campaigns built from service history, like declined work and recalls
• Missed calls turned into a text conversation

Why does it matter? Speed, mostly. In our Cost of Silence report, the median digital estimate was approved in 6 minutes, and 88.2% within an hour. Phone approvals take 22 to 23 hours.³ ROs with a digital conversation also averaged $455.08 in customer pay, against $291.12 without one. That's a correlation, not proof, since bigger jobs naturally create more conversation.³

And most stores have room to grow. 76.3% of repair orders still close with no digital conversation attached.³

How does Kimoby texting work with CDK?

Through the CDK integration, your advisors work from the same repair order, customer and appointment data they see in CDK. They text from the Kimoby screen, and every conversation is tied to the open RO.

Here's what runs on that connection:

• Texting from your dealership's number. One thread per customer, with translation both ways when the customer prefers another language.
• Internal notes. Techs, parts and advisors talk inside the customer's thread. The customer doesn't see it.
• Video inspections and estimates. The tech's video and the estimate both reference the same RO. On Service Lane OS Pro, the estimate is drafted from what the tech says on camera, and the advisor reviews it before it goes out.
• Automations. Advisor intros, status updates and payment requests go out based on what happens in CDK.
• Missed calls. Kimoby Voice matches the caller to their CDK record and open RO, and drops the message in their advisor's thread.
• Campaigns. Declined work, recalls and maintenance reminders built from the same customer and vehicle history.

Honda & Toyota of Seattle automated their appointment confirmations, reminders and vehicle-ready texts with Kimoby. They save over 160 hours a month on appointment confirmations alone, and more than 75% of customers pay by phone before pickup. Here's the Honda & Toyota of Seattle story.

What writes back to CDK, and what doesn't?

Only payments, for now. When a customer pays through Kimoby Pay, by text or at the terminal, the payment writes back to CDK and is allocated to the right RO.⁴

A few details your office will care about:

• The RO is marked Paid but stays open. Your team still makes the final close in CDK.
• Each payment type (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Affirm) maps to your own CDK codes, so the general ledger matches your structure.
• It syncs as the payment clears, not in an overnight batch.
• Write-back is free for CDK dealers using Kimoby Pay.

Now the part to be clear about. Approved estimate lines don't write back to the RO yet. RO-line write-back is in development, and it isn't live on any DMS, CDK included. Today, your advisor still adds approved work to the RO in CDK. More on the boundary in our Kimoby and CDK integration post and on the CDK payment writeback page.

Where does Kimoby fit, and where doesn't it?

We make Kimoby, so weigh this accordingly.

With Kimoby on top of CDK, your advisors handle the text, the video, the estimate and the payment from one screen. CDK stays your system of record for parts, billing and accounting. You don't migrate anything. See the full CDK integration page for details.

What it doesn't do yet: estimate lines don't write back to CDK, as covered above. There's no native online scheduler, so most stores keep the one they have. And Kimoby Voice catches missed calls but doesn't book appointments yet.

If your advisors only need to text, Text Connect may be enough. If you want the rest of the visit in the same thread, book a demo and we'll show you a CDK RO from text to payment.

FAQ

Does CDK have two-way texting?

Yes. CDK Text Connect is CDK's two-way texting product. It lets your team text from the dealership's landline numbers, send videos and PDFs, and gives managers a Store View to monitor conversations.

Can I use Kimoby texting with CDK?

Yes. With Kimoby on CDK, your advisors text from the same repair order, customer and appointment data, and every thread is tied to the customer's open RO.

What writes back to CDK from Kimoby?

Kimoby Pay payments, by text or in person. Each payment is marked Paid and allocated to the right RO in CDK, and the RO stays open for your team to close.

Do approved estimates write back to the CDK repair order?

Not yet. RO-line write-back is in development and isn't live on any DMS, including CDK. Your advisor still adds approved work to the RO in CDK.

Do I have to stop using CDK Text Connect to use Kimoby?

No. You can run both. But two texting tools means two threads for the same customer, so pick the one your advisors will work from all day.

Sources
[1] CDK Global, Text Connect update.
[2] CDK Global, CDK Text Connect.
[3] Kimoby, The Cost of Silence: Dealership Service Report (August 2026). 871 dealerships, 16.8 million repair orders, 12 months ending February 2026. Phone approval times are industry data as cited in the report. Revenue figures are observed correlations, not controlled experiments.
[4] Kimoby, CDK payment writeback and Kimoby integrates with CDK.