TRUECAR and KBB--Are the dealership gaming the system with these websites.

[Tigremalo2001]

I recently watched a video in this training session for car salesman. They are teaching to push the truecar and kbb price. I believe these have been rigged to help out dealerships. So for example, I am looking at a used KIA Sorento and they are asking $18000 on True car. I print out the True car certificate- get my $225 savings coupon and then take the certificate to the dealer. Is this stupid of what? How much off that $18000 asking price do you think I can take off using old negotiating techniques like in the past.? How much wiggle room the dealerships have on a 2016 Kia Sorento with 40 k miles?

[Appleman]

I agree with you, TrueCar is a referal system that car dealers pay for. Take in your saving certificate and they have already won the negotiating game. If you are willing to do your homework and play the car dealer game you can easily beat the prices found at Truecar and KBB. 

I wish more people buying cars would spend some time watching YouTube videos that cover auto sales training techniques. Knowing the techniques as the saleman is trying to use them can be invaluable during the negotiation.

[Watchmann]

Truecar charges the dealer a fee for every buyer who ends up buying a car through a referral.  In return the dealer has to report ALL car sales to Truecar whether the sale was generated from a referral or not.  Many dealers are realizing that this sales data is very valuable and they are starting to balk at having to hand it over to Truecar since only about 5% of sales come from a referral, so they are giving a lot of good information that can theoretically be used against them as people become more aware of what customers are paying.  It remains to be seen whether that business model is sustainable over the long haul.

[Anonymous]

When it comes to Used vehicles the True Car value is just that...what a bunch of people sitting in a room full of computers looking at (incomplete)data and giving a value on a vehicle. Everything is negotiable and everything is for sale!!! Everything!!!! If you are looking at a vehicle offered from True Car and decide it's the one you want at a price that is obviously competitive with the other dealers that offer vehicles....then what is there to negotiate? Why does the dealer need to negotiate? I know I'm opening myself up to a lot of critics and nonbelievers when I say that most dealers that list cars on True Car make very little to no profit when selling from advertised price. Unless the vehicle was a trade in and they "stole" it from the previous owner by not giving them the full value of the trade. When True Car or KBB starts offering to write a check for a consumers trade on the spot and offering more than the dealer...then they are a part of the buying process...until then they are just a bunch of people telling people things they are not willing to do themselves to earn a living!

[Anonymous]

True Car pricing was real good 2 and a half years ago; right now it is not.  KBB has always been a joke. 

[Sandman771]

Something else that hasn't been mentioned is that pre-owned cars are bringing a premium. We just bought some this morning at a big auction for clean book. You generally want to be back of clean in order to recondition the unit and still make a profit. Good thing is if they are bringing these prices at auction then I can allow more for a trade. 

And yes KBB is a joke. Customers used to always say to me that KBB says their trade is worth such and such. I would make them very angry but I'd ask them to look for the buy my car button on KBB's website. Not there doesn't exist. CarMax was making over $2000 per car they bought from the public. It is simply perception of the customers. Much like we have taught them to wait until the end of the month. That works well if I have a number to hit, but if I already hit it or worse case am in no danger of hitting it then I'm not giving my car away. I'll wait and play again next month. 

[Anonymous]

instead of starting a new thread, i figured i'd bring this one back.. But when purchasing a used car, how much wiggle room do you really have to get the price lower? And also, when a dealer has a lot of those rented cars for sale, i am assuming they go for a lower price due to being rented. I'm looking at 2015 and 2016 Dodge Chargers. Here in Alabama they are going for basically 18K everywhere i look. Though in GA, the starting price seems to be 14-15K