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Cars.com Wants to Increase Prices

Don't forget Site Referrals... @carmart.mustafa shoot me a DM and I can walk you through a couple of things.
You should ABSOLUTELY take Dan up on that offer. You're guaranteed to learn something from him!

It's been almost 18 years since I worked for Cars. Rate increase month used to be March.

One of my best dealers let me take him to lunch the last week in Feb. We laughed, we talked about the store's performance and goals, we talked about his family... You see, I'd spent hours in his office learning from him that year. He was gracious with his time, he answered all of my questions, even the truly stupid ones. He let me be a fly on the wall and I have him to credit for much of my base of knowledge and love of this business all these years later.

My first visit back in March was with the rate increase letter in hand. He didn't say a word, he didn't even look at me, he handed me a letter of his own and pointed at the door. His letter had one sentence and his signature. "This is your 30-day notice. Paul"

Why do we look back fondly at what could be described as psychological warfare? ;)

Happy Friday and Good Luck!
 
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✨ AI Highlights

A dealer frustrated by a 20% Cars.com price increase shares that the rep justified it by citing an unusually low $5 cost-per-lead compared to the $40 industry average — essentially penalizing good inventory and photos. Responses confirm Cars.com has adopted CarGurus-style flex pricing tied to performance metrics, and the consensus is to push back hard, demand a full breakdown of lead quality and ROI data, and be willing to cancel if the numbers no longer make sense.

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