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KennySmithAutoUnite

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Jul 9, 2026
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Kenny
Going through our lead bills again and wanted to compare notes.

Cars.com, CarGurus, Autotrader/KBB, TrueCar, OEM leads, whatever you have in the mix.

Not looking to beat anybody up. Some of these work in one market and fall flat in another.

What are you guys running right now?

Roughly what are you paying, and what are they really producing after the duplicates?

I’m less interested in CPL than appointments, shows, sold units and cost per sold.

Which sources are still worth the money?

Which ones are on the bubble?

Anybody cut one recently and realize you didn’t miss it or cut one and regret it?

Rough numbers are fine.
 
Going through our lead bills again and wanted to compare notes.

Cars.com, CarGurus, Autotrader/KBB, TrueCar, OEM leads, whatever you have in the mix.

Not looking to beat anybody up. Some of these work in one market and fall flat in another.

What are you guys running right now?

Roughly what are you paying, and what are they really producing after the duplicates?

I’m less interested in CPL than appointments, shows, sold units and cost per sold.

Which sources are still worth the money?

Which ones are on the bubble?

Anybody cut one recently and realize you didn’t miss it or cut one and regret it?

Rough numbers are fine.
@KennySmithAutoUnite would you just clarify whether you're a dealer or vendor? This question you posed is great, but just wondering the line between your interest in these answers as a dealer going through your expenses or the AutoUnite lens as a vendor researching what dealers are using? Thanks!
 

✨ AI Highlights

A dealer opens a practical discussion about auditing third-party lead sources — Cars.com, CarGurus, Autotrader/KBB, TrueCar, and OEM leads — asking peers to share real performance data beyond cost-per-lead, focusing on appointments, show rates, sold units, and cost-per-sold. The thread invites candid market-specific comparisons, including which vendors were cut without regret and which cancellations dealers came to regret. It's a crowd-sourced benchmarking conversation aimed at helping dealers decide where to trim or double down on their lead spend.

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