- Apr 28, 2009
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They still need to go. If they survive, ALL dealers & manufacturers would be better off adopting one price shopping and making it about the value proposition of the dealership.
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- Thread starter Jeff Kershner
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- May 1, 2005
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- Jeff
Is this true?
[h=3]TrueCar: Don’t get f’d by the dealer[/h] [h=2]Wednesday, January 11th, 2012[/h] TrueCar registers domains about getting f@%&ed by the car dealer.
If there’s one site that has made waves in the retail auto business over the past few years it has to be TrueCar.
Before TrueCar if you wanted to get negotiating leverage at the car dealer you had to just try to figure out how much the dealer paid for the car. But with TrueCar you find out what other people actually paid based on tax and loan records. It’s a slam dunk for negotiating a car purchase.
Of course, when you disrupt a car dealer’s normal negotiating tactics you can really piss them off. The company has been getting a lot of exposure lately since it started providing leads to dealers where the dealers quote a firm price and TrueCar takes $300 for the sale. There was an article in the most recent Economist about how car manufacturers are warning dealers away from offering cut rate pricing on the service.
What does this have to do with domain names? Well, take a look at these domain names TrueCar just registered:
F*ckedbytheDealer.com
F*ckedbytheDealer.net
F*ckedbytheDealer.org
This was found here and thanks to Jim
TrueCar: Don’t get f’d by the dealer - Domain Name Wire
[h=3]TrueCar: Don’t get f’d by the dealer[/h] [h=2]Wednesday, January 11th, 2012[/h] TrueCar registers domains about getting f@%&ed by the car dealer.
If there’s one site that has made waves in the retail auto business over the past few years it has to be TrueCar.
Before TrueCar if you wanted to get negotiating leverage at the car dealer you had to just try to figure out how much the dealer paid for the car. But with TrueCar you find out what other people actually paid based on tax and loan records. It’s a slam dunk for negotiating a car purchase.
Of course, when you disrupt a car dealer’s normal negotiating tactics you can really piss them off. The company has been getting a lot of exposure lately since it started providing leads to dealers where the dealers quote a firm price and TrueCar takes $300 for the sale. There was an article in the most recent Economist about how car manufacturers are warning dealers away from offering cut rate pricing on the service.
What does this have to do with domain names? Well, take a look at these domain names TrueCar just registered:
F*ckedbytheDealer.com
F*ckedbytheDealer.net
F*ckedbytheDealer.org
This was found here and thanks to Jim
TrueCar: Don’t get f’d by the dealer - Domain Name Wire
- May 1, 2005
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- Jeff
One of my favorite magazines The Economist published an article on TrueCars earlier this week...
The TrueCar challenge
A price-comparison website causes ructions in the motor trade
AMERICANS looking for a new car nowadays often use online price-comparison sites such as AutoTrader, Edmunds and eBay to find the best deal. Most such sites charge dealers a small fee for passing on sales leads from shoppers who have submitted their details. TrueCar, a relative newcomer, does things differently. It charges dealers $300, but only when its introduction of a customer results in a sale, and it makes its dealers guarantee to honour their quotes, no excuses.
TrueCar taps into data from state vehicle-registration offices, car-loan providers and other sources to compile what it says are the most accurate figures available for what motorists pay for the same car locally. This can be several hundred dollars less than the sticker price, and is often below “invoice”—the price that, according to the paperwork sent by the carmaker, represents the wholesale price the dealer paid. In fact dealers receive various rebates from carmakers, and make money from such things as loans and service contracts, so a modest profit is still possible… continue reading on The Economist
The TrueCar challenge
A price-comparison website causes ructions in the motor trade
AMERICANS looking for a new car nowadays often use online price-comparison sites such as AutoTrader, Edmunds and eBay to find the best deal. Most such sites charge dealers a small fee for passing on sales leads from shoppers who have submitted their details. TrueCar, a relative newcomer, does things differently. It charges dealers $300, but only when its introduction of a customer results in a sale, and it makes its dealers guarantee to honour their quotes, no excuses.
TrueCar taps into data from state vehicle-registration offices, car-loan providers and other sources to compile what it says are the most accurate figures available for what motorists pay for the same car locally. This can be several hundred dollars less than the sticker price, and is often below “invoice”—the price that, according to the paperwork sent by the carmaker, represents the wholesale price the dealer paid. In fact dealers receive various rebates from carmakers, and make money from such things as loans and service contracts, so a modest profit is still possible… continue reading on The Economist
One of my good friends, that is a GM with Group 1 Automotive, told me that the CEO said that none of their 143 dealerships are allowed to sign with TrueCar.
- May 1, 2006
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- Alex
Hmm. Wonder why they think TrueCar owns these domains. WHOIS info says they're owned by MarkMonitor.com ("Protecting Brands In The Digital World") so I guess it's still possible...
- Jul 20, 2010
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- Jeremy
He guys just had a customer email me this and he told me I was fool for not signing up with Truecar. What do you think?
Thanks for reaching out. TrueCar does not ask for your Social Security Number or personal credit information at any time. TrueCar provides consumers with free, transparent local pricing information about new cars and match consumers with Certified Dealers (Dealers that have been through our program and have agreed to honor the upfront pricing they provide to TrueCar customers) in their area offering a haggle-free buying experience for their vehicle of interest.
In order to generate a Price Protection Certificate for a Certified Dealer, you need to submit your contact details (valid name, phone number, email and address) so the Certified Dealer can contact you to discuss the vehicle and has you in their system as a TrueCar customer (the dealer then knows that the customer is part of our program and therefore must honor the program pricing and customer service guidelines). This is the only information TrueCar asks of you. You can check out our Privacy Policy here.
TrueCar has not been deemed illegal in PA or any other state. We are engaged in a dialogue with the regulators of several states, working to ensure that TrueCar’s business model will conform to each state’s different regulatory requirements. Nothing like TrueCar has ever existed; it is not an advertising company, a broker, or a lead generation company, but rather an Internet marketing company. Regulators are curious and feel obligated to scrutinize a new business model to ensure that it meets the needs of consumers and dealers and, of course, the laws and regulations of their state. That said, the business model is new and does not easily fit into the historic regulatory framework, which was developed prior to the advent of the Internet. We are committed to working with regulators to build a consensus that will allow TrueCar’s model to conform to the various state regulatory schemes.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions or if I can help you with anything else.
Have a great day!
Kind regards.
Bri Kapellas
Thanks for reaching out. TrueCar does not ask for your Social Security Number or personal credit information at any time. TrueCar provides consumers with free, transparent local pricing information about new cars and match consumers with Certified Dealers (Dealers that have been through our program and have agreed to honor the upfront pricing they provide to TrueCar customers) in their area offering a haggle-free buying experience for their vehicle of interest.
In order to generate a Price Protection Certificate for a Certified Dealer, you need to submit your contact details (valid name, phone number, email and address) so the Certified Dealer can contact you to discuss the vehicle and has you in their system as a TrueCar customer (the dealer then knows that the customer is part of our program and therefore must honor the program pricing and customer service guidelines). This is the only information TrueCar asks of you. You can check out our Privacy Policy here.
TrueCar has not been deemed illegal in PA or any other state. We are engaged in a dialogue with the regulators of several states, working to ensure that TrueCar’s business model will conform to each state’s different regulatory requirements. Nothing like TrueCar has ever existed; it is not an advertising company, a broker, or a lead generation company, but rather an Internet marketing company. Regulators are curious and feel obligated to scrutinize a new business model to ensure that it meets the needs of consumers and dealers and, of course, the laws and regulations of their state. That said, the business model is new and does not easily fit into the historic regulatory framework, which was developed prior to the advent of the Internet. We are committed to working with regulators to build a consensus that will allow TrueCar’s model to conform to the various state regulatory schemes.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions or if I can help you with anything else.
Have a great day!
Kind regards.
Bri Kapellas
Rather, the business model clearly violates certain state advertising laws which apply to both print & web. I'd say that sort of compliance was probably an important thing to consider before pushing the product so much.
This is obviously written by a PR person with no fault admitted whatsoever. Am I surprised? Nope.
False.
If saying:
"Regulators are curious and feel obligated to scrutinize a new business model to ensure that it meets the needs of consumers and dealers and, of course, the laws and regulations of their state."
Is legal PR gargon for:
"At it's January 9, 2012 meeting, the Virginia Motor Vehicle Dealer Board felt obligated to vote 10-0 that TrueCar was illegal."
then yes, that statement might be accurate based on the added context.
Here is the link to the entire MVDB ruling:
http://mvdb.vipnet.org/pdfs/Guidance Memorandum (TrueCars) to All Dealers_1-11-2012.pdf
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✨ AI Highlights
This thread documents TrueCar's regulatory troubles across multiple states (Virginia, Maryland, California, Oklahoma, and others) where dealer boards and motor vehicle commissions determined that its pay-per-sale billing model violated state licensing and brokering laws, resulting in business suspensions and demands for compliance changes. While TrueCar adapted its billing model to survive regulatory scrutiny, participants highlight that the real underlying issue—TrueCar's collection and use of customer and transaction data—remains unresolved and represents the core threat to dealers. The thread's conclusion suggests the industry would be better served by dealers adopting transparent, one-price models rather than relying on third-party platforms that exploit dealership data.
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