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Hey everyone,
Yesterday we had Matt Leone, CEO at DriveCentric, on the CDG Podcast.
He dug into why one dealer group ditched a $100K Salesforce contract and why building your own software rarely pays off the way it promises.
— CDG
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More than 90% of CarGurus listings now include disclosed fees
After giving a July 14 deadline for dealers to update listings, CarGurus now reports that more than 90% of its inventory includes disclosed fees.
Driving the news: In late June, in reaction to the Federal Trade Commission’s scrutiny on price transparency, CarGurus issued a notice to dealers.
Dealers had to add fees to their listings or risk receiving a “no rating” and being moved down the search results.
Additionally, dealers were required to use the platform’s fees setup tool to toggle “fees included in my inventory feed” if they sent all-in prices.
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Dealership communication issues mentioned in 42% of negative Google reviews
U.S. car dealerships saw a 15% drop in Google reviews from the previous year in the first quarter of 2026, but a majority of brands saw their ratings stay the same or rise.
Widewail, a customer intelligence company, analyzed 1.2 million Google reviews left for nearly 18,000 dealerships in the first quarter of the year. The company credited the double-digit drop in reviews to the market normalizing after a robust 2025 due to tariffs and the expiration of the clean vehicle credits.
The number one complaint in the dealership reviews was communication, showing up nearly 42% of the time in negative reviews.
Stellantis sends infraction letters to some dealers, lists timeline to get websites in compliance
Stellantis dealers whose websites are not in compliance with the manufacturer’s guidelines received infraction letters on July 10, the company confirmed to CDG News.
For context: No changes were made to the existing rules, according to Stellantis. The infraction, instead, gives those not in compliance a July 31 deadline to clean up their sites.
A dealer who received the notice, but wished to remain anonymous, sent CDG News the company’s 27-page website guidelines and highlighted some of the requirements.
What they’re saying: “These are elements of Stellantis’ current Certified Digital Program Guidelines, aimed at providing a positive and consistent customer online shopping experience for customers,” a company spokesperson said via email.
