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: “Transparency and trust have defined CarGurus since day one,” CarGurus CEO Jason Trevisan told CDG. “It's why we introduced Deal Ratings and built IMV. It's why dealers trust us to represent their inventory fairly, and to connect them with better-informed, ready-to-buy shoppers who rely on us for the most transparent pricing experience in auto.
“All-in pricing is the natural next step. We're proud to extend our industry leadership by making this the standard and creating a more upfront marketplace for consumers and dealers alike.”
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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.
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