If they hit me with a bill for $1800, this will be a consideration.
Carfax Pricing
- Thread starter Blake Arbogast
- Start date
If they hit me with a bill for $1800, this will be a consideration.
- Apr 16, 2009
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- Blake
- Apr 7, 2009
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- Joe
Sure would be interesting to see the SRP/VDP data of CarFax vs Non-Carfax inventory.
Thoughts Alex Vetter?
Just FYI, Autocheck shows more accidents than carfax . I've had several occasions where a car had clean carfax but a bad autocheck. Maybe it has to do with autocheck being owned by Experian; those credit companies know everything 
We got a huge increase and are not happy about it.
They produce commercials that imply if the dealer doesn't provide Carfax reports that they are not "reputable." So we pay them so they can afford to run commercials that cast us in a poor light if we don't pay them to provide Carfaxes to our customers. Doesn't this seem odd (other words could be used).
My concern is that all of these Carfax commercials only help Carfax make more money, and they don't really help the dealers. Without Carfax reports available to anyone, then customers would be much more aware of the dealer's reputation, so no Carfax at all would help all of the dealers with strong brands and good reputations while hurting smaller dealers with weak brands and iffy reputations. Even with Carfax, iffy dealers hide behind a positive Carfax report and fail to disclose sometimes material facts about the vehicle's condition that Carfax failed to learn. I just don't see the value proposition that Carfax provides to DEALERS, especially when Autocheck provides substantially the same information much, much cheaper.
I'd like to know if any dealers have had any experience not providing Carfaxes to customers. How have the customers responded? What feedback have you received? Do you think it impacted your sales?
They produce commercials that imply if the dealer doesn't provide Carfax reports that they are not "reputable." So we pay them so they can afford to run commercials that cast us in a poor light if we don't pay them to provide Carfaxes to our customers. Doesn't this seem odd (other words could be used).
My concern is that all of these Carfax commercials only help Carfax make more money, and they don't really help the dealers. Without Carfax reports available to anyone, then customers would be much more aware of the dealer's reputation, so no Carfax at all would help all of the dealers with strong brands and good reputations while hurting smaller dealers with weak brands and iffy reputations. Even with Carfax, iffy dealers hide behind a positive Carfax report and fail to disclose sometimes material facts about the vehicle's condition that Carfax failed to learn. I just don't see the value proposition that Carfax provides to DEALERS, especially when Autocheck provides substantially the same information much, much cheaper.
I'd like to know if any dealers have had any experience not providing Carfaxes to customers. How have the customers responded? What feedback have you received? Do you think it impacted your sales?
We just switched over to AutoCheck full time last week and already had a customer that was very adamant about seeing the CarFax. So much so that our GSM pulled out his own CC and paid for the report himself. Got the deal but I have to agree with this:
"They produce commercials that imply if the dealer doesn't provide Carfax reports that they are not "reputable"."
Almost the exact words I uttered to upper management when we made the switch. I curse the commercials when they come on. Never on the commercials to they even try to sell their direct to consumer services. At the very tail end of the spot the say "....or go to carfax.com." It puts all the pressure on the dealer to shoulder the cost. Would it be that bad for them to show a consumer researching on their home computer and buying a CarFax?
It's a similar feeling I have with consumer review websites. Everything is setup for the consumer to use easily and then a business has to pay to get a fair shake. At least the BBB only charges when you want to apply for accreditation.
"They produce commercials that imply if the dealer doesn't provide Carfax reports that they are not "reputable"."
Almost the exact words I uttered to upper management when we made the switch. I curse the commercials when they come on. Never on the commercials to they even try to sell their direct to consumer services. At the very tail end of the spot the say "....or go to carfax.com." It puts all the pressure on the dealer to shoulder the cost. Would it be that bad for them to show a consumer researching on their home computer and buying a CarFax?
It's a similar feeling I have with consumer review websites. Everything is setup for the consumer to use easily and then a business has to pay to get a fair shake. At least the BBB only charges when you want to apply for accreditation.
We just went through a sales call with them. Offered us unlimited CarFaxes for $700 a month, but if we sign up today they'll reduce it to $350 a month for the first year.
- May 1, 2005
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- Jeff
Seems as if the pricing with CarFax is inconsistent across dealers and maybe regions. I find this a little concerning.
Maybe CarFax will do a DealersUnited deal and we can all get unlimited for $199.00 month??
