ADF XML Explained for Dealership Leads: Sample Lead and Troubleshooting

ADF XML, short for Auto-lead Data Format, is the XML standard that dealer websites, listing sites and manufacturer programs use to send a shopper's inquiry into a dealership CRM. An ADF lead packages the customer's contact details, the vehicle of interest and the lead source, and is commonly delivered by email to a lead address the CRM reads.

At a glance

• ADF 1.0 is an open XML standard for automotive customer leads; the final specification is dated May 3, 2000, and lead providers still send leads in its structure in 2026.
• An ADF lead only has to include a request date, a vehicle year, make and model, a customer name with a phone number or email, and the dealer's name; everything else is optional.
• Common causes of missing ADF leads are delivery setup problems, such as a mistyped CRM lead address or a bounced address that the provider stopped sending to, rather than the format itself.
• Leads that arrive incomplete or in the wrong place usually come from fields the sender and the CRM interpret differently, or from custom data stuffed into the comments field.
• A short troubleshooting checklist, run with a test lead from each provider, finds most ADF problems faster than waiting for a provider's support team.

What ADF XML is and where it came from

ADF XML is a shared way of writing down a vehicle shopper's inquiry so that one company's system can send it and another company's CRM can read it. The full name in the specification is the Auto-lead Data Format, described as an industry standard for the export and import of automotive customer leads using XML.

The ADF 1.0 specification (a copy hosted by lead provider Modal) is dated May 3, 2000, and its revision history starts with a first draft in December 1998. The document does not name individual authors. It says the standard was developed openly by industry representatives, and it lists reviewers including Reynolds and Reynolds, Cobalt, Microsoft, Cars.com and Kelley Blue Book. The specification is more than 25 years old, which is worth keeping in mind: it predates chat, text messaging and digital retailing tools, so the way modern lead sources fit their data into it varies.

A 2018 Digital Dealer article reported that an ADF 2.0 committee of 18 automotive vendors had started revising the standard in November 2017 and expected a release later in 2018. This article could not confirm whether ADF 2.0 was published or widely adopted. The 2018 article is more than three years old. What can be seen is that a lead provider's help page updated in January 2026, the Launch Labs ADF example, still uses the 1.0 structure of prospect, vehicle, customer, vendor and provider.

The name is not always spelled out the same way. Some vendor pages expand ADF differently (Launch Labs' lead delivery page calls it "Automotive Digital Format"), but the specification's own title is Auto-lead Data Format.

How an ADF lead travels from a lead provider to the CRM

An ADF lead travels in five steps: a shopper submits a form, the lead provider writes the inquiry as an ADF XML file, the provider sends that file to the dealership's CRM, the CRM reads the file into a customer record, and the CRM assigns the lead to a salesperson or BDC agent.

1. The shopper submits an inquiry. The source can be the dealership's website, a third-party listing site, a manufacturer lead program, a chat tool or a trade-in tool.
2. The provider builds the ADF file. The provider maps the form's fields into ADF elements. Orbee's ADF setup guide (2019) explains that providers ask which CRM a dealer uses, because CRMs accept leads in slightly different ways, and a new CRM may need the fields remapped.
3. The provider sends the file. The ADF 1.0 specification describes two email methods: a multipart email with the lead attached as an application/xml part (plus an optional readable text or HTML version), or a plain email whose entire body is the ADF lead. Providers ask the dealer for the CRM's lead email address for this reason. Some providers also offer other routes; the Launch Labs lead delivery formats page lists ADF alongside webhook (JSON over HTTP), plain email and text alerts.
4. The CRM reads the lead. The CRM parses the XML, matches it against existing customers and creates or updates a record. The specification says a lead that cannot be accepted should be bounced back to the sender with a note describing the error, although whether a given CRM does this varies.
5. The CRM routes the lead. Routing rules decide who owns the lead. The site's guide to round robin lead distribution and ownership rules covers that step in detail.

A problem at any of the five steps produces the same symptom on the sales floor: a shopper who says they sent an inquiry that nobody has seen. Speed matters because a lead that sits in a failed queue is not being answered; the dealership lead response time benchmarks explain how to measure that delay.

An annotated sample ADF lead

A sample ADF lead is the quickest way to see what a CRM actually receives. The example below is illustrative: the names, numbers and vehicle are made up, and it follows the element order in the ADF 1.0 specification's document type definition. A real file usually begins with an XML declaration and a version line reading <?ADF VERSION "1.0"?>, which the specification's examples include and some providers' examples leave out.

<adf>
<prospect status="new">
<id sequence="1" source="ExampleListingSite">48213</id>
<requestdate>2026-10-24T19:42:10-05:00</requestdate>
<vehicle interest="buy" status="used">
<year>2022</year>
<make>Example Make</make>
<model>Example Model</model>
<stock>U1234</stock>
</vehicle>
<customer>
<contact>
<name part="first">Jordan</name>
<name part="last">Sample</name>
<email>jordan@example.com</email>
<phone type="cellphone">555-0100</phone>
</contact>
<comments>Is this still available? Could I see it Saturday?</comments>
</customer>
<vendor>
<vendorname>Example Motors</vendorname>
<contact><name part="full">Internet Sales</name></contact>
</vendor>
<provider>
<name part="full">Example Listing Site</name>
<service>Used vehicle listing</service>
</provider>
</prospect>
</adf>

Reading the sample from top to bottom:

• adf and prospect: adf wraps one or more leads, and each prospect is one lead. The status attribute is "new" by default or "resend" when the provider sends the same lead again.
• id: the sender's own reference number for the lead. The specification says the source attribute is required, which makes the id element one of the more reliable places for a CRM to read where a lead came from.
• requestdate: when the shopper made the request, written in an ISO 8601 date format with a time zone offset.
• vehicle: the unit the shopper asked about. The interest attribute can be buy, lease, sell, trade-in or test-drive, and status can be new or used. Stock number and VIN are optional but are what let a salesperson find the exact unit.
• customer and contact: the shopper's name, plus an email address, one or more phone numbers, or both. The phone type can be voice, fax, cellphone or pager.
• comments: free text. The shopper's actual question usually lands here, and so does anything the sender could not fit elsewhere.
• vendor: the dealership receiving the lead. Dealer groups rely on this block, or on the address the lead was sent to, to put the lead in the right store.
• provider: the company that generated the lead, which is what source and cost reports depend on.

Which ADF fields matter most to a dealership

The ADF fields that matter most to a dealership are the ones that decide whether a salesperson can act on the lead and whether the lead is credited to the right source. The specification requires very little, so a lead can be fully valid ADF and still be hard to work.

The required minimum

According to the ADF 1.0 specification, the minimum content is a request date, the vehicle's year, make and model, the customer's name with a phone number or email, and the vendor's name. Everything else is optional. A lead with only that minimum tells the salesperson almost nothing about which unit the shopper saw or what they asked.

Fields worth asking every provider to send

• Stock number or VIN, so the lead points at a specific unit rather than any vehicle of that make and model. This matters most for used, RV, boat and powersports inventory, where two units of the same model can differ a lot.
• Vehicle status and interest, so new, used, trade-in and test-drive requests can be routed to the right person.
• A consistent id source and provider name, so reports credit the right lead source.
• Both phone and email where the shopper gave them, so the team has a second way to reach the shopper.
• The shopper's actual question in comments, separate from marketing boilerplate where possible.

Each of those items is a recommendation, not a rule of the standard. Providers can only send what their forms collect, so it is worth asking a provider which fields it fills in before assuming a missing stock number is a CRM problem.

Why ADF leads go missing, duplicate or arrive incomplete

ADF leads go missing, duplicate or arrive incomplete for a handful of repeatable reasons, and many of them sit in the setup between the provider and the CRM rather than in the format itself.

Why do some ADF leads never arrive?

Leads that never arrive are usually a delivery problem. Rollick's help article on lead delivery lists typos in the destination address, full mailboxes and unresponsive mail servers, and a missing dealer contact as causes, and notes that after a hard or soft bounce its system stops sending to that address until the status is reset. That last point is easy to miss: one bad day on the receiving side can quietly stop a provider's leads until someone notices and resets the address. Modal's support article (2020) tells dealers to check with their CRM provider first and then to confirm the CRM email address the provider has on file. Both are vendor help pages describing their own systems, but the causes they name apply to any provider sending ADF by email.

Why does an ADF lead arrive but fail to load?

A lead that arrives but fails to load is usually an interpretation problem. The ADF usage guide for the LeadDriver Trade-In tool, hosted on a Kelley Blue Book domain, states that parts of the specification are open to interpretation, so a lead may not parse correctly depending on how the CRM vendor reads it. The specification itself contains small inconsistencies, such as an example that uses a units value its own rules do not allow. The specification also says custom tags are not conformant, yet senders add them: the Launch Labs sample includes a leadtype element that does not appear in the 1.0 specification. A CRM that reads strictly may ignore or reject a field like that. The plain-email method can also cause character problems, because the specification notes it does not support UTF-8, which can garble names with accents or non-English characters.

Why do ADF leads arrive with information missing or in the wrong place?

Leads with missing or misplaced information usually come from data the standard has no slot for. The 2018 Digital Dealer article describes chat transcripts placed in the customer comments field and custom source and salesperson nodes added to leads for reporting and routing. The same article warns that this kind of non-standard data can make reports unreliable and make it harder to change CRMs later, because the new CRM may not read the custom fields. The article is more than three years old, but the 2026 Launch Labs sample still places conversion details and a profile link inside comments, so the pattern continues.

Why does the same shopper show up as several leads?

The same shopper shows up as several leads when they inquire through more than one site, or when a provider resends a lead. The ADF standard does not define duplicate detection; its only related mechanism is marking a prospect as "new" or "resend". Matching is left to the CRM. AutoPlay's July 2026 support article, for example, describes an optional setting that matches an incoming electronic lead to an existing customer with an open lead, plus alerts and a merge function. A repeat inquiry is often a shopper who is getting closer to buying, so the recommendation here is to merge duplicates into one record with one owner and keep the newer inquiry visible, rather than delete them.

Why are ADF leads credited to the wrong source?

Leads are credited to the wrong source when the CRM reads the source from a different place than the provider writes it, for example from the provider block in one feed, the id source attribute in another, and a custom node in a third. Cost per lead and cost per sale reports are only as accurate as that mapping, so source attribution is worth checking with a test lead whenever a new provider is added.

A troubleshooting checklist for missing or broken ADF leads

The fastest way to troubleshoot ADF leads is to send a test lead from each provider and follow it through every step, rather than waiting for complaints from salespeople or shoppers. The checklist below is a suggested method based on the delivery steps and failure causes described above.

1. List every lead source. Write down each provider that sends leads, the CRM lead address it sends to and the date it was set up.
2. Confirm the address with each provider. Ask the provider to read back the exact CRM lead address it has on file and whether any bounces have paused delivery.
3. Send a test lead. Submit a real form on the provider's site with an obvious test name and a phone number and email the team controls.
4. Time it. Note when the form was submitted and when the lead appeared in the CRM. A long gap points to delivery or parsing.
5. Compare field by field. Check that the name, phone, email, vehicle, stock number, comments and source arrived in the right CRM fields. Anything in the wrong place is a mapping issue for the provider and the CRM vendor to settle.
6. Check the owner. Confirm the test lead was routed to the expected person and store.
7. Send it twice. Submit the same test shopper again and see whether the CRM merges it, flags it or creates a second record.
8. Record and repeat. Keep the results and repeat the test quarterly and whenever a provider, website or CRM changes.

If the test shows leads arriving but sitting unanswered, the problem has moved from data to process. The complimentary Revenue Leak Audit from Shiftix Cloud looks at lead response, follow-up and accountability to show where inquiries are slipping.

ADF leads and customer data security

ADF leads carry customer contact details, so they fall within a dealership's customer information security program. Leads sent by plain email travel through mail systems the dealership does not control, and the 2018 Digital Dealer article advises that sensitive personal information should never be sent through ADF email. A practical rule is to keep credit application details out of ADF lead emails unless the provider and CRM vendor confirm how that data is protected. The site's guide to the FTC Safeguards Rule for dealerships explains the wider obligations, and this section is general information, not legal advice.

How Shiftix Cloud handles lead sources

Shiftix Cloud lists lead providers as lead sources on its integrations page, including RV Trader, Cycle Trader, Boat Trader, ATV Trader, Cars.com, AutoTrader, CarGurus, Facebook Lead Ads, OEM lead programs and website leads. The page does not name ADF as a format, and it says availability, data direction and setup are confirmed during implementation, so dealers should confirm how each of their providers will connect.

Once a lead is in, the Shiftix Cloud CRM keeps customer details, lead source, vehicle interest and ownership together in the opportunity record, and offers condition-based routing by source, vehicle type, location or round robin, with assignment gap monitoring. Shiftix Cloud is not a dealer management system; it works alongside a dealership's DMS.

Next steps

The right next step depends on what the dealership is seeing today.

• Leads are missing: run the checklist above with a test lead from each provider, starting with the provider that has gone quiet.
• Leads arrive but look wrong: send the provider and the CRM vendor a test lead's raw ADF file and the CRM screen it produced, and ask them to agree on the field mapping.
• Reports credit the wrong sources: decide which field the CRM should read for source and ask each provider to fill it consistently.
• Leads arrive but response is slow: review routing and ownership with the internet sales manager guide and measure response times.
• The CRM itself is the limit: the automotive CRM guide and the explainer on CRM vs DMS cover what to look for.

Frequently asked questions

What is an ADF lead?

An ADF lead is a single vehicle shopper inquiry written in the Auto-lead Data Format so a dealership CRM can read it automatically. Instead of a salesperson retyping a website email, the CRM takes the shopper's name, contact details, the vehicle of interest and the lead source straight from the file and creates a record. Website form tools, listing sites and trade-in tools are common senders of ADF leads.

Does every dealership CRM accept ADF leads?

Many dealership CRMs accept ADF leads, and Digital Dealer described ADF in 2018 as the format most automotive leads use to enter a CRM, but each CRM reads the format in its own way, so dealers should confirm support before connecting a new provider. Launch Labs tells customers to confirm their CRM or DMS supports the ADF XML standard first, and Orbee builds a separate lead profile for each CRM because requirements differ. A test lead after setup is the only reliable confirmation that fields land correctly.

Can lead providers send leads to a CRM without ADF email?

Yes, some lead providers can send leads without ADF email, using a webhook or a direct integration instead. A webhook posts the lead data, often as JSON, straight to a web address the receiving system provides. Launch Labs, for example, offers webhook, plain email and Salesforce delivery alongside ADF. Which options work depends on what the dealership's CRM accepts, so the CRM vendor should be asked first.

Can someone read an ADF lead without a CRM?

Yes, an ADF lead can be read without a CRM, because the file is plain text with labeled fields. Opened in an email client or text editor, the customer's name, phone number, vehicle and comments are visible between the tags. Reading leads this way is fine for checking a test lead or a disputed inquiry, but working leads from raw files loses the routing, history and reporting a CRM provides.

Missing and misrouted leads are one of the places a dealership can lose sales without noticing. The Revenue Leak Audit is complimentary, carries no obligation and requires no software purchase: Shiftix Cloud reviews lead response, follow-up, conversion, customer retention, accountability and workflow, then walks through the findings with the dealership.

Leads only start once shoppers find a dealer's inventory. Searchshop, a vehicle marketplace run by the same team as Shiftix Cloud, is where buyers search dealer inventory, and its dealer listing packages put a dealership and its inventory in front of those shoppers.

Sources

• Auto-lead Data Format (ADF) 1.0 specification, May 3, 2000 (copy hosted by Modal)
• Launch Labs: ADF Example XML Lead Format (updated January 2026)
• Launch Labs: Lead Delivery Formats (updated February 2026)
• Digital Dealer: How Much Do You Really Know About ADF Automotive Leads? (June 2018)
• Orbee: Setting Up ADF Leads (December 2019)
• Rollick: Determine if Leads Are Being Delivered to Dealers
• Modal: Leads Not Transferring to CRM (2020)
• Kelley Blue Book LeadDriver Trade-In: ADF Usage Guide
• AutoPlay: How to Manage Duplicate or Similar Leads (July 2026)
• Shiftix Cloud: Integrations
• Shiftix Cloud: CRM