CarGuru's calls Dealers CHEATS

[Lstein]

Joe,

I'm the CEO/Founder of CarGurus. I've taken a look at the blog post you mention.

I agree that the tone of the blog post is not appropriate and have asked our editorial team to revise the post. I have also asked the editorial team to speak with the blogger who placed that post and ask them to be more balanced in the future when publishing on the blog. I agree that the post carried a stereotypical view (much outdated and unwarranted) of dealers.

The post is supposed to speak to the pros/cons of trading in a used car. The post, actually concludes that in most cases it makes more sense to trade-in the car in vs. selling it yourself.

We know that we have a responsibility to serve both consumers and dealers and do take the responsibility seriously.

The revised blog post is now live on our site. I think you will find the revised post to be more balanced.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any further concerns.

Langley Steinert
CEO/Founder
CarGurus LLC

 

[joe.pistell]

Langley Steinert just called me directly. He offered up an apology and explanation. He wanted it known that dealers and community members are needed for this all to work. He told me the blog entry has been edited and the word has been put out to to his bloggers to not go down this OLD and tired path again.

 

[JCollins]

I must say that I am impressed with the action taken, or reaction if you will on the part of Mr. Steinert. It's obvious his ear is close to the ground. It seems as though he understands how important the dealer body is and how it can impact the growth curve for start-ups like cargurus.

 

[Craig]

Joe,

I'm the CEO/Founder of CarGurus. I've taken a look at the blog post you mention.

I agree that the tone of the blog post is not appropriate and have asked our editorial team to revise the post. I have also asked the editorial team to speak with the blogger who placed that post and ask them to be more balanced in the future when publishing on the blog. I agree that the post carried a stereotypical view (much outdated and unwarranted) of dealers.

The post is supposed to speak to the pros/cons of trading in a used car. The post, actually concludes that in most cases it makes more sense to trade-in the car in vs. selling it yourself.

We know that we have a responsibility to serve both consumers and dealers and do take the responsibility seriously.

The revised blog post is now live on our site. I think you will find the revised post to be more balanced.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any further concerns.

Langley Steinert
CEO/Founder
CarGurus LLC

Langley,
Although I do appreciate the apology, explanation and your Landcruiser business.......statements like "Be warned, though: Some dealers will use commercial wholesale price guides not available for consumer use, such as the Manheim Market Report, which will likely be lower than the price you want." that remain in the blogpost are the type of media hype that unfortunately we as Dealers get angry with....maybe I'm just sensitive as a Toyota guy, the media has done their share of sensationalizing our news lately, maybe I just feel like fighting with vendors that exist because of dealers (Carfox,Autotrader etc...) I just think that "consumer" sites that are paid by Dealers (whether directly or indirectly through the use of our inventory so you can then sell us our leads) should be smarter about trying to find the good Dealers out there to write about instead of following the media's lead of only reporting misery.

I would like to thank you for getting into the conversation and for the actions you've taken so far, these show your good intent which is more than I can say for many vendors.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

@ Jeff. I would like to see a vender / Dealer Refresh round table at this years Digital Dealer. What would it take to get the right players from Cars.com and Dealix as well as any other vender associated with CarGuru and a few representatives (Dealer Refresh members) from the dealerships and have a discussion about this issue?

I like the idea - but it would need to be off site somewhere. a few folks over at DD have never been raving fans of mine. LOL.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

I like the idea - but it would need to be off site somewhere. a few folks over at DD have never been raving fans of mine. LOL.

With the prices Digital Dealer is charging, I say we start a Dealer Refresh non profit convention and put Digital Dealer out of business. I was going to get a booth but they wanted 5G's for a 10x10 piece of real estate.

I'll be on the committee to help organize this. I bet we can have a great event planned for spring! Who's on board with me?

 

[Jeff Kershner]

With the prices Digital Dealer is charging, I say we start a Dealer Refresh non profit convention and put Digital Dealer out of business. I was going to get a booth but they wanted 5G's for a 10x10 piece of real estate.

I'll be on the committee to help organize this. I bet we can have a great event planned for spring! Who's on board with me?

Jerry, shhhhhh

 

[Tom Kelly]

Each time a free and often times paid provider of inventory listing services gets a hold of my inventory it puts one more layer between me and the consumer. I prefer to put my resources into making sure my inventory is associated with our dealership and all the offerings we have. I want to offer warranties, I want to buy or trade for their vehicle, I want the consumer to see only my dealership when they search my dealerships name or my vehicles. Carefully research everyone you consider working with. Dealer Rater offers to list your inventory for "free" on YOUR Facebook account ( my inventory is fed to my Facebook account daily, automatically for free, by ME). If you go to someones Facebook that uses Dealer Rater's "free" service, you will see a link to Dealer Raters own site where they give your customers every opportunity to shop elsewhere and market directly to your customer. How much does a free service cost you? Could be thousands is my guess. If you do not have the time or resources to research and implement a strategy to safeguard your dealerships inventory and brand, you may want to consider contracting with folks like Brian Pasch, David Kain and Larry Bruce. Each of these guys are passionate about putting their clients best interests first. If you are not in a position to hire them, Google the heck out of each one of them, read everything you can get your hands on that they have written and you will be off and running in the right direction. Each one of these fellas have given freely of their knowledge. Just this old mans opinion, it and a buck will get you a coffee most places.

Tom Kelly

 

[Deliala]

I went to that site and put a post of my own on it staing the how and why dealers come up with trade numbers.