Misrepresented ads by new car dealers on your website.

Asked by Jeff May 10, 2020 at 09:34 PM

Question type: General

This is really a general ethics question for Cargurus.   I have purchased 2
cars which I found on your website, both for the advertised price on your
website, and both experiences were satisfactory.   One was used, and the
other was new, and both were at a huge discounts off of MSRP.   Therefore I
assume your website is providing honest ads with pricing which the
advertising dealer should be willing to sell for.  However I have unfortunately
found that MANY of the new car dealers will not honor their advertised
pricing without also charging for "Add-ons" on top of the advertised price.   
This is a separate issue from whatever available factory rebates or
intensives they may be offering, but with regards to dealer packs such as
paint protection, glass etching, alarms, wheels, and other such extras which
are NOT listed on the Manufacturer's window sticker, nor mentioned in the
ad.  To me this is flat out unethical.  IF people in my industry were to do this
they would be sued and face jail time.   These are sales tactics which no
other industry can get away with.  I think that if Car Gurus agrees that this is
unethical, then you should police this and either add the packs to the
advertised price or DO NOT SELL advertising to such unethical dealers.   
That was simple....Now let's see if you respond so I can decide to continue
using your website or not.  This has been very frustrating for me, and I really
don't want to call any more dealers unless they can tell me I can actually
purchase the car for the advertised price.  Thank you and stay safe...

4 Answers

40,180

One can assume Cargurus doesn't have the time to police ads. If you want to know where Cargurus stands with the way the ads are placed and information is conveyed on this sight, I suggest you read the Terms of use, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

There is an ethical car dealer in the land of unicorns and free everything but I think they went out of business 100 years ago.

1 people found this helpful.

You do know all the price padding is only paid for by suckers. If you flat out tell them you will not pay for any of it they will probably back down.

20

There are many dealerships in the country that do not employ these tactics. Trouble is, nobody knows who they are.

1 people found this helpful.

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