TrueCar using Zag Dealer Data to Create Value???
- Thread starter chevydealer
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Amen but a little scary at the end, Jerry.
I wanted to see which of my old competitors are signed up with TrueCar. Less than half were. I noticed, in TrueCar's disclaimer, they excluded doc fees and dealer installed options. For these dealers, the doc could be $495 and installed options would average $1795.
I wanted to see which of my old competitors are signed up with TrueCar. Less than half were. I noticed, in TrueCar's disclaimer, they excluded doc fees and dealer installed options. For these dealers, the doc could be $495 and installed options would average $1795.
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Wow!!! Hiding up here in Canada throwing Snowballs with Mitch Gallant has left me in the dark about this service. I did a little research and came up with this comment on a blog. Pretty scary stuff. How many times is the below situation going to happen?
Blog: http://hackingthebank.com/truecar-review-truth-about-car-industry
Frederick says:
[URL="http://hackingthebank.com/truecar-review-truth-about-car-industry#comment-200"]April 1, 2011 at 3:49 am
I have used Truecar several times with outstanding results. Recently I assisted my child to buy a new Nissan. I first contact several dealers and obtained internet pricing. One dealer responded with a price of over $23,000, which was the lowest I received. I then went to Truecar and used their service. The Truecar price for this vehicle was $22,000. The Truecar dealer was the same which had provided the internet price of $23,000. The only additional fee (not tax and tag) was the dreaded $100 documentation fee. Clearly, in this case my use of Truecar saved a considerable amount of money and, as important, a lot of haggling. This dealer also provided full KBB for the trade and the low Nissan financing. One other dealer offered the Truecar price by attempted to lowball the trade value. My suggestion is for people to use Truecar to identify those dealers who want to sell but still shop for other aspects of the deal (trade, financing). As always, a good price can be offset by a bad trade-in value.
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Blog: http://hackingthebank.com/truecar-review-truth-about-car-industry
Frederick says:
[URL="http://hackingthebank.com/truecar-review-truth-about-car-industry#comment-200"]April 1, 2011 at 3:49 am
I have used Truecar several times with outstanding results. Recently I assisted my child to buy a new Nissan. I first contact several dealers and obtained internet pricing. One dealer responded with a price of over $23,000, which was the lowest I received. I then went to Truecar and used their service. The Truecar price for this vehicle was $22,000. The Truecar dealer was the same which had provided the internet price of $23,000. The only additional fee (not tax and tag) was the dreaded $100 documentation fee. Clearly, in this case my use of Truecar saved a considerable amount of money and, as important, a lot of haggling. This dealer also provided full KBB for the trade and the low Nissan financing. One other dealer offered the Truecar price by attempted to lowball the trade value. My suggestion is for people to use Truecar to identify those dealers who want to sell but still shop for other aspects of the deal (trade, financing). As always, a good price can be offset by a bad trade-in value.
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From an end user/Internet manager vantage point, I find them to be a time consuming waste of time (redundancy intentional). They do buy, but when you're 1 of 3 dealers, and a lot of my truecar leads come from a neighboring state/city 2 hours away, I don't really have much to offer the customer to get them in here. Meanwhile, I get hammered on my closing % and productivity. Lose/lose.
Nice video Jerry.
I have been stressing to dealers since June to double check their inventory feeds, Cancel ZAG and quick feeding the beast.
Dealers, wake up! Edmunds TMV and TrueCar Has Your Transactional Data
Wow - I was on the phone with a dealer a few weeks ago and he told me straight up he was OK with sending his transactional data to Zag/TrueCar. As long as he gets a few deals from them each month.
Dealers - maximize your ad budget. Using these services is not to the way to do it.
AND while we are it -- Have you signed up with Edmunds.com for their leads? If so - be careful. They too want your transactional data! Edmunds use of the word perpetual in their dealer contract - The PureCar service is a direct competitor to Edmunds.com True Market Value. Edmunds.com could never get this service up off the ground due to not having sufficient transactional data. They have seen how TrueCar was going about it and decided to get in to the game by selling direct to dealers while doing their best to obtain their transactional data as well.
I'm not against our industry changing and becoming more transparent but I do NOT agree with the way they're are going about it. However, most dealers have not taken the time to truly educate themselves on technology and its effect on their business.
I have been stressing to dealers since June to double check their inventory feeds, Cancel ZAG and quick feeding the beast.
Dealers, wake up! Edmunds TMV and TrueCar Has Your Transactional Data
Wow - I was on the phone with a dealer a few weeks ago and he told me straight up he was OK with sending his transactional data to Zag/TrueCar. As long as he gets a few deals from them each month.
Dealers - maximize your ad budget. Using these services is not to the way to do it.
AND while we are it -- Have you signed up with Edmunds.com for their leads? If so - be careful. They too want your transactional data! Edmunds use of the word perpetual in their dealer contract - The PureCar service is a direct competitor to Edmunds.com True Market Value. Edmunds.com could never get this service up off the ground due to not having sufficient transactional data. They have seen how TrueCar was going about it and decided to get in to the game by selling direct to dealers while doing their best to obtain their transactional data as well.
I'm not against our industry changing and becoming more transparent but I do NOT agree with the way they're are going about it. However, most dealers have not taken the time to truly educate themselves on technology and its effect on their business.
It's one thing to be transparent and another to be an exhibitionist. http://app.reference.com/click/rtxt...dictionary.reference.com/browse/exhibitionist
Handing this data over to me sounds like a very short term benefit with long term costs. Arm them with data may later use to compete against you? You may be able to "guess" transaction data through other data points -- but I think this, as well as other similar services, really just creates a race to the bottom on margins. :/
Didn't see this video shared here..... Hope I'm not duplicating it. I don't know you the guy who did it is but it is an awesome video that speaks to TrueCar in a familiar tone!
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