TOGETHER WITH:
Howdy, Fam!
Nothing brings out a dealership’s competitive streak quite like a little friendly rivalry between departments.
At Greenwood Chevrolet in Austintown, Ohio, sales, service, and the body shop are going head to head this fall to see who can collect the most for the Extra Mile Food Drive. Every donation goes to Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, and customers can pick which department gets credit for theirs.
Last year, the drive helped serve more than 130,000 meals, with 300 pounds of turkey and over 5,700 pounds of non-perishables. This year, the team wants to beat it.
The best part? Everything gets loaded into truck beds and delivered just in time for Thanksgiving.
“It’s such an amazing thing when you see how many people want to give back,” said business manager Tracy Briden.
My money’s on the body shop. Let’s go, Greenwood fam!
In today’s email...
New York City sues CarGurus over how it displays dealer prices
TrueCar’s CEO predicts the end of different prices for identical new cars
Lexus sends 35,000 more vehicles to US dealers, used prices hit a three-year high, and Tesla’s Roadster wins over a skeptic
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
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New York City Sues CarGurus Over How It Displays Dealer Prices
The push for honest pricing has reached the listing sites. New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has filed a lawsuit against CarGurus, alleging its deal ratings and AI chatbot presented misleading prices that hid dealer fees, according to Automotive News.
What the city alleges | What CarGurus says |
|---|---|
More than 2,000 violations of the city’s consumer protection law | It rejects the claims and will “vigorously” defend itself |
Deal ratings like “Great Deal” hid required fees or made them hard to find | Its ratings are based on a transparent, objective review |
Its AI chatbot left fees out of the deal lists it generates | Its ratings now require dealers to disclose fees |
It failed to enforce its own listing guidelines | The allegations ignore its “decades-long track record” on transparency |
The city is seeking penalties of up to $3,500 per violation, which could add up to millions.
“New Yorkers should be able to trust that a ‘Great Deal’ is actually a great deal.” Samuel Levine, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
What the CarGurus lawsuit means for dealers
Listing sites tightened their policies after the FTC warned 97 dealer groups in March that advertised prices must include mandatory dealer fees. This case shows regulators are now looking at how those prices appear on third-party platforms, too, including AI tools.
Your price shows up in a lot of places you don’t directly control. Check how your inventory appears on every site you list on, and make sure the fees match what customers actually pay.
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TrueCar’s CEO Predicts the End of Different Prices for Identical New Cars
On Friday’s show, TrueCar CEO Scott Painter shared a bold forecast: “At some point, the arbitrage around what people pay for a new car is going to be over.” He expects AI agents to start contacting dozens or even hundreds of dealers at once for their best price, and he predicts more dealer consolidation as a result.
He also had a simple reminder about how people actually buy. “Consumers tend to be price shoppers, but payment buyers,” he said. Read our full breakdown of what that means as affordability gets tighter.
How dealers can prepare for more transparent pricing
“It’s going to be harder and harder for the single-point family store to be competitive.” Scott Painter, TrueCar
Scale isn’t the only advantage in this business. When every price can be compared in seconds, the experience is what customers remember. Read Painter’s full predictions.
Lexus is sending 35,000 more vehicles to US dealers.
After months of tight supply, Lexus will redirect roughly 35,000 vehicles originally headed to slowing markets in China and the Middle East, with most arriving in the fourth quarter and early next year.
About 3,500 will be the popular GX. Lexus ended September with just 16 days’ supply but still had its best September ever, and it hopes to come close to last year’s sales record.
“It will be close. Very close,” said Lexus chief DeJuan Ross.
Used prices hit their highest level since 2022, and affordable inventory is shrinking.
The average used listing price reached $27,235 in September, up nearly 6% from a year ago, according to Cox Automotive.
The tightest spot is at the bottom:
vehicles under $15,000 had only 34 days’ supply, and their share of inventory fell from 19.4% to 15.7% in a year.
How Tesla’s flying Roadster won over our resident skeptic.
One of our writers skipped Tesla’s livestream entirely and challenged the team to make them care. They did.
The best reaction came from producer Spencer Wright, whose wife saw the car flying and said, “That’s AI.”
The lesson for dealers: when customers assume anything impressive on a screen is fake, something real happening right in front of them carries extra weight.
A pricing mistake can sit on your lot for 10 days before anyone calls it one.
This Wednesday at 2:00pm EDT, Kyle Pisani of Drive Point Auto Group and Josh Gonsenhauser of vAuto are showing what happens when vehicle pricing starts moving with the market instead of waiting on someone's calendar.
You'll see how Drive Point uses dealer-set rules and market data to adjust prices, how the team handles exceptions, and what changed in turn rate and profitability after they put the process to work.
They'll also get into where AI takes pricing next.
If your current workflow still depends on someone remembering to make the next move, give us 30 minutes.
(Schedule already booked? Register anyway and we’ll email the recording.)
🚘 Car Stuff
Nearly 12,000 Californians have used the state’s new EV rebate, which offers $3,500 on new EVs under $50,000 and $1,750 on used EVs under $25,000. Still, EVs made up just 18% of California sales through September, down from 23% last year.
1781: British General Charles Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, effectively ending major fighting in the American Revolution.
1953: Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” is published.
1987: The stock market crashes on “Black Monday,” with the Dow falling more than 22% in a single day.
