CarGurus suspends free dealer listing option

[Jeff Kershner]

As you may know, CarGurus suspended the free Restricted (formerly “Basic”) listings program during the COVID-19 crisis to better accommodate shoppers and provide a strong return on investment to paying CarGurus customers. We wanted to let you know about two upcoming changes to that program:

1. Suspended status is ending 6/30
2. The Restricted program will relaunch 7/1 with significant changes

1. The end of suspended status
With dealerships across the country resuming business, we're preparing to retire the suspended status on 6/30. All dealers in suspended status will receive their queued leads via email on that date. To get those leads with full contact information, you must activate or reactivate your paid subscription by Friday, June 26. Dealers who remain in Restricted status will receive those leads anonymously, as usual.

2. Changes to free Restricted listings
On July 1, we are reinstating our free Restricted listings, with some important changes: CarGurus will be capping the number of leads dealers on our free program will receive within a 30 day period. The goal is to drive more connections and a better ROI for our paying customers while still providing a free way for dealers to test out listing inventory on CarGurus. You will still be able to receive and respond to anonymous leads from interested, in-market shoppers on our free program.

You will be limited to either ten or fifteen free leads per 30 day period, depending on the amount of inventory listed at your dealership. Once that number is met, your inventory will be removed from search results pages (SRPs) until the next 30 day period.

As of 7/1, leads you receive will start counting towards your cap, which will reset on a date we set, sometime between 7/2 and 7/28. After July, your cap will reset on the same day each month.

Other changes to Restricted listings include:

• No access to display Deal Rating Badges on dealerships' own websites
• A maximum of 6 photos per vehicle on Restricted vehicle detail pages
• Limited retargeting of Restricted dealers' inventory through CarGurus advertising

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your CarGurus representative about these changes at (844) 994-2898.

 

[Ryan Everson]

You will be limited to either ten or fifteen free leads per 30 day period, depending on the amount of inventory listed at your dealership. Once that number is met, your inventory will be removed from search results pages (SRPs) until the next 30 day period.

A maximum of 6 photos per vehicle on Restricted vehicle detail pages

These 2 restrictions are going to work against each other and force dealers to upgrade to a paid package. Less photos = more leads.

 

[Rick Buffkin]

You will be limited to either ten or fifteen free leads per 30 day period, depending on the amount of inventory listed at your dealership. Once that number is met, your inventory will be removed from search results pages (SRPs) until the next 30 day period.

Dude, they just made it super simple to completely remove your competitors entire inventory on the CG website thats using their free listing service within the first few days at the beginning of the month for the freaking entire month.

Boom!!!

 

[ryan.leslie]

- @Rick Buffkin

 

[Jeff Kershner]

WTF --

Hi there, Your queued leads are going to be delivered soon! All your saved leads will be delivered on June 30 as we end our suspended status program. As a reminder, suspended status has been in place for all dealers on our free Restricted listings since the beginning of April. You have 25 consumer leads coming that have been submitted on your vehicles since you entered suspended status. If you would like to receive these leads with full contact information you'll need to (re)activate, or upgrade, your account by Friday, June 26. Please call (855) 944-3827 to get started. If you don't do anything, your queued leads will be delivered as anonymous email addresses, and your dealership will transition back to our free Restricted listings on July 1. As a reminder, Restricted listings are changing and will now cap the number of leads you receive. Thank you, The CarGurus Team

​

 

[Rick Buffkin]

@ryan.leslie

 

[Michael Hughes]

Got absolutely sick of chasing, what I believe, the 3rd party shell game. Just took the time to build my own funnel. Directed $$ to make my site convert, directed money for SRPs and then put solid conversion tools in place for the finance buyer (that pushed F&I penetration at 4 domestic stores into the high 80s low 90s) and trained my staffs how to handle inbound leads. Then I didn't look back. I now work with dealers to do exactly what I did- and I love it

 

[Jeff Kershner]

On July 1st, CarGurus reinstated our free Restricted listings, and you are now able to receive and respond to anonymous leads from interested, in-market shoppers in real-time.

Restricted listings will operate differently than when you may have last used CarGurus’ free listings. The new, still free, Restricted product will cap monthly leads based on the amount of average used inventory you list on our site.

• If your dealership has a three-month average of 75 used inventory units or less, you will receive up to 10 free leads every 30 days
• If your dealership has a three-month average of 76 used inventory units or more, you will receive up to 15 free leads every 30 days
• Once your dealership reaches its lead cap, your inventory will be removed from CarGurus’ search results pages (SRPs) until the next 30-day period

Progress towards your 30-day lead cap, as well as the day of the month your lead cap will be reset, are now accessible in your Dealer Dashboard.
All consumer interest submitted on your vehicles since we suspended Restricted due to COVID-19 is now accessible and ready for follow-up in your Dealer Dashboard Leads Tab.

If you have questions about Restricted listings, please call (855) 964-3178 to speak to an account representative.
Sincerely,

The CarGurus Team[/B]

 

[Rick Buffkin]

- @ryan.leslie

 

[Dayn Riegel]

<<Cross Posting>> -- didn't see this thread.

LOL --

Guess we are not all "in this together" -- no more free/non-paying leads

Changes to CarGurus free and paid listings products | CarGurus | Dealer Resource Center
The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly reshaping large parts of our daily lives – more quickly than some businesses can adapt. In our industry, dealers, vendors, and OEMs are facing incredible uncertainty and business pressures as consumers stay home and governments shut down operations. CarGurus is...
dealercenter.cargurus.com
Dealers that cancel also go into this "suspended activity" -- leads to be delivered back when things return to normal.... like dealers really want a 4 week old lead?? maybe 6 weeks?? 8 weeks?? "Hey mister customer, that car you requested information on last month?? You still interested??"


Shoppers that submit leads are normally in market/serious ...right? Isn't that what these listing sites pitch?




So basically, using our inventory to seem like they "have all the vehicles" -- but creating a shit-poor user experience, which ultimately passes to the dealer.

If I was a dealer - I would force CarGurus to remove my inventory -- don't let them USE YOU, to make themselves look better!

Exactly what we did. Tired of their attitude, tired of their methods and like another poster here on this thread we removed most of our listings from 3PAs and have not looked back at all! The "conspiracist" in me can tell you why you don't want to use the Big 3PAs... =)