Fellow Dealers — What’s Your Experience with CarGurus Lately? Premium Value? ROI? Direction of the Platform?

[Honda_fan96]

Hey everyone,

I’m doing some research into CarGurus and wanted to get some honest feedback from other dealers who have used (or are currently using) the platform.

There’s been a lot of talk about changes to their offerings, pricing structure, and future direction — so I’m curious how the dealer community specifically is actually experiencing these changes. A few questions I’d love to get folks’ input on:

1. If you are a current user and have upgraded to their paid services, was it worth it? If not, what held you back?

2. Value of Carguru’s Premium Features
Have the premium add-ons such as pricing tools, market insights, etc. added any measurable value to your operation? Are you seeing real ROI from the premium features, or do they feel more like extra cost without clear performance?

3. For those who started with the free tier — did it actually deliver leads/sales, or just push you toward paying?
Do you think the freemium model devalues the platform or helps get dealers onboard?

4. Have you stuck with CarGurus over time, or dropped it? For those on premium packages, is the ROI still justifying the price?
Have lead quality or conversion rates improved enough to warrant the cost increases?

Would really appreciate your thoughts — even quick bullet points or gut impressions help. Trying to understand how CarGurus is performing from the ground level and how it has improved dealer’s experience.

Thank you in advance.

 

[SethTN]

Hey everyone,

I’m doing some research into CarGurus and wanted to get some honest feedback from other dealers who have used (or are currently using) the platform.

There’s been a lot of talk about changes to their offerings, pricing structure, and future direction — so I’m curious how the dealer community specifically is actually experiencing these changes. A few questions I’d love to get folks’ input on:

1. If you are a current user and have upgraded to their paid services, was it worth it? If not, what held you back?

2. Value of Carguru’s Premium Features
Have the premium add-ons such as pricing tools, market insights, etc. added any measurable value to your operation? Are you seeing real ROI from the premium features, or do they feel more like extra cost without clear performance?

3. For those who started with the free tier — did it actually deliver leads/sales, or just push you toward paying?
Do you think the freemium model devalues the platform or helps get dealers onboard?

4. Have you stuck with CarGurus over time, or dropped it? For those on premium packages, is the ROI still justifying the price?
Have lead quality or conversion rates improved enough to warrant the cost increases?

Would really appreciate your thoughts — even quick bullet points or gut impressions help. Trying to understand how CarGurus is performing from the ground level and how it has improved dealer’s experience.

Thank you in advance.

We had a pretty high package for awhile and they do create a lot of leads (not always our top producer in used car leads, but top 3 or 4 probably consistently).

They kept having price increases and we decided that while we don't want to lose the eyeballs their listings get and the leads they generate, we weren't going to give in the the continuous price increases (some may say on the verge of gouging) so we went to the base package and really have not see much changes in leads or closing.

We have had it for a pretty long time and tried bigger packages, extras, etc. but the pricing is just getting out of hand and have been happy with the base paid package for about 6 months or so now. For us, there just wasn't a lot of extra sales or gross being made to justify the hefty extra costs.

I think we may have tried a free version early on or a very low cost trial but that was years ago when CarGurus was new in the game.

 

[DjSec]

What if local dealerships teamed up and built their own CarGurus?​

Not another listing site… but a dealer-owned, dealer-first platform built to outsmart, outmaneuver, and outperform CarGurus, Cars.com, Autotrader, and every marketplace that profits off dealers.

What would it look like?

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• VIN scan → auto-builds your listing
• Auto-writes descriptions, ads, videos, price recommendations
• One-click photos → automatic backgrounds, 360 spins
• Predicts demand, competitor moves, and price elasticity
• Even runs your ads (Google, FB, IG, TikTok) automatically

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A dealer-to-dealer trading network
Move aged units, find in-demand vehicles, source inventory straight from FB Marketplace/Craigslist/OfferUp (with profit predictions).

Real game-theory intelligence
See what rival dealers are likely to do before they do it.
Adjust your pricing, ads, and inventory strategy automatically.

A marketplace OWNED by local dealerships
Not a middleman.
Not pay-to-play.
Not fighting your own leads.
A platform that helps you win, not a platform you compete against.

What would it look like if dealers built CarGurus from scratch today…