The Cars.com Bump

[joe.webb]

Just a quick question. One of my dealer clients just received an email stating that there would be a price increase from Cars.com. While all price increases are inevitable (as any AutoTrader client knows all too well), I find the percentage of increase that Cars.com is asking for to be quite aggressive.

Going from what was a $1,500 package to a $2,375 package for the same value. Their "offerings" were in the typical finance department menu option format of Bronze, Silver, Gold. (Sure, I understand they have online reviews now, but I don't think anyone could value that worth at $875, do you?)

Has anyone else yet receive the email about the price increase? Is it in the same ballpark as this 60% bump? I've always been a huge fan of Cars.com, they know I have, and regardless of the ROI they show, I feel such a significant increase all at one time is a touch garish. Let me know your thoughts.

 

[lightnup]

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[Jeff Kershner]

That doesn't sounds right Joe. We experienced a small increase several months ago but video was included with the bump. As far as I know and I'm positive when I say this - Cars.com is not charging extra for the dealer reviews.

 

[joe.webb]

I have the email and the numbers I provided were right on. We called them and double-checked. We asked, what is different than what we currently have? They told us that now we have online reviews and video (which we had before, as they had given it to us for free during negotiation, but not charged us for it.) Now they are bumping.

Not to worry. My dealer client and I will take a close look at the ROI and determine if a 65% bump is worth it. The sad part is that it is based on the amount of vehicles you have in stock. 100 - 150 cars are on this higher package and my dealer continuously keeps between 100-105. Right now they have 102. Sort of stinks, but even having less cars still has them paying $600 more.

Joe

That doesn't sounds right Joe. We experienced a small increase several months ago but video was included with the bump. As far as I know and I'm positive when I say this - Cars.com is not charging extra for the dealer reviews.

 

[Alex Vetter]

Joe -

I'm sorry your client had a bad experience. We do renew contracts when they expire and in almost every case we ad products/value to the package. Chat, reviews, mobile, reporting upgrades and video are just some of the things that we've done in the past year. Please give me a call directly so we can help you through this situation.

Alex Vetter, Cars.com
312-601-5017

 

[joe.webb]

Thanks, Alex. The experience with Cars.com has always been good, but the large bump in price is the concern. I've passed your reply over to the dealer principle at the store and we will coordinate a time to call you together.
Thanks,
Joe Webb