How "True" Is True Car's Transparency Approach?

"Tom McParland" (tommcparland)
01/10/2014 at 09:50 • Filed to: Car buying, Automatch Consulting, True Car, Dealerships, Stealerships

TTAC republished an excellent !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Full disclosure, True Car is a competitor of mine and while I respect their business model, we differ greatly in our approach. True Car is essentially a "broker" they charge the dealerships a "fee" for participating in their website in return those dealers get the leads that True Car generates. Of course those dealers have to agree to sell a vehicle at a specific price. I have found these prices to be pretty good deals, but not awesome ones. What consumers need to understand is that the sale price of the car is only one way the dealer will take your money. Often dealerships will discount a car to undercut their competition only to make the difference up with "back-end" fees and charges.

For my customers I have the sale price, tax and paperwork fees, detailed with a final cost all laid out in writing so that they can see how much they are paying.

Of course my other advantage over True Car is that do not deal with used cars or leases. Most of my business usually is lightly used, CPO or leased, luxury cars. While negotiating leases is not much different than a new sale, the used car market can get much trickier.

I will say that True Car and I do share one major similarity, some dealers just won't play ball. I have had many dealers blow me off and give me some line of BS on why it's policy "not to send price quotes via email." These dealerships usually have a reputation for not being the most "transparent." However the smart ones, are aggressive with their pricing and get me the info I need quickly. They understand that even though they won't make a ton of money off of this deal today, their interaction with me means more deals in the future.

DISCUSSION (5)

For Sweden > Tom McParland
01/10/2014 at 09:57

FINE, we'll contact you before we buy another car.

How much to find a clean Grand Torino wagon on Craigslist?

Tom McParland > For Sweden
01/10/2014 at 10:01

Too much :D

Can I tell you I hate Craigslist

/hidesincorner

efme > Tom McParland
01/10/2014 at 14:28

I really wonder what their net cost is on cars. I don't want transparency. I quite honestly don't care about it. I just want to pay the same amount as everyone else.

The dealership network doesn't want the manufacturer to get involved because they are a bunch of snakes. they operate under the idea of being a wholesaler. Lets parallel it to Microsoft. A new game always retails at 59.99 no matter where you got. Sales are what determines the difference. Imagine seeing an ad for a car and said 10% off MSRP on EVERYTHING or 12% off whats on the lot

you could walk in there order a custom car exactly how you want it, get a good deal and feel comfortable with it. next guy who walks in gets the exact same thing. If that were to happen, I wouldn't be surprised if you get campers before a sale!

zeontestpilot > Tom McParland
03/06/2014 at 13:16

Hope I'm not too late to the party, but for my Job, we have access to True Value. Would you recommend to use them or not?

Tom McParland > zeontestpilot
03/10/2014 at 17:06

True Value is a good tool but not the only tool.