Starting July 14, CarGurus will require fee disclosures on inventory listed on its platform or the vehicles will be noted as “no rating” and moved lower in search results.
Driving the news: The new requirements follow the well-covered scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission on price transparency.
For those unfamiliar, the FTC sent 97 warning letters to dealers in March on violations of advertising misrepresentations.
The regulatory agency followed with guidance during webinars with the NADA and NIADA, voicing the need for price transparency and for all fees to be disclosed in the total price.
Changes for listings: In the notification to the dealers, CarGurus also stated “after July 14, CarGurus IMV and Deal Ratings will be calculated based on all-in price, inclusive of disclosed fees.”
On the CarsGuru Dashboard, dealers can add their included charges with the fee setup tool.
Dealers must use the fees setup tool to toggle “fees included in my inventory feed” if they are sending all-in prices or risk losing deal ratings.
For consumers, CarGurus will be adding “badging on search results and vehicle detail pages, a dedicated search filter for transparent pricing.”
What they’re saying: “As the Federal Trade Commission makes fee disclosure imperative, all-in pricing is becoming the industry standard. Using the simple fee set up technology we built, the majority of dealers have already provided all-in pricing on their used inventory on our platform,” CarGurus said in a statement about the changes.
“We're now requiring fee disclosure to continue to provide the most trustworthy car shopping experience — one that levels the playing field for dealers and consumers.”
OUTSMART THE CAR MARKET IN 5 MINUTES A WEEK
Get insights trusted by 55,000+ car dealers. Free, fast, and built for automotive leaders.
Takeaway for dealers: CarGurus is one of the largest digital retailing sites used by dealers. The change is to comply with the FTC guidance. Dealers should be checking with third-party listing sites to see how they can make sure their listings include all fees in the pricing.
A quick word from our partner
CDG Recruiting is the go-to recruiting partner for the automotive industry.
Whether you’re hiring for dealership leadership, C-suite positions, F&I, fixed ops, or automotive SaaS roles, we handle the heavy lifting. We leverage our industry network, source and vet thousands of candidates, and only introduce the people worth your time.
Our team brings decades of automotive recruiting experience and has successfully filled more than 1,000 roles across the industry. Every placement is backed by a guarantee.
If you’re looking for your next great hire, CDG Recruiting has you covered.
