True to His Word, Chip Perry is Revamping TrueCar

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

TrueCar, the prolific third-party car shopping site, is changing the way it does business in the hopes of mending dealer relations and reversing the company’s flagging fortunes.

When TrueCar president and CEO Chip Perry took the helm of the site last December, his stated goal was to make amends with ornery partners and bring the company out of a period of turmoil.

Spending the winter mulling it over, Perry has returned with a plan.

A pledge issued to members of the TrueCar Certified Dealer network on March 27 outlines a laundry list of changes aimed at improving transparency for consumers while bringing dealers onside.

“Our goal is to provide the best value for car buyers and dealers among all third-party automotive sites, but it was apparent to me that there were aspects of TrueCar’s service that were suboptimal,” Perry said.

“It was also apparent that we could make a series of modifications to improve the value we provide to dealers without diminishing in any way our usefulness to consumers.”

At the top of the list of changes is more accurate pricing information for vehicles and more local comparison pricing. Detailed information on dealer incentives will be provided, while estimated pricing from unnamed dealers will be scrubbed. Also, an outside monitor will make sure TrueCar doesn’t play fast and loose with data.

TrueCar’s subscription billing model will also be rolled out nationwide.

Perry said when he took over the vacated post, dealers let him have it, assailing him with their “brutally honest” opinion of TrueCar. That feedback laid the groundwork for the changes, one of which will be to purge the site and its advertising of language that casts dealers in a bad light

The news of the coming changes didn’t have a positive impact on TrueCar’s stock, which sank over four percent the morning after the announcement.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Jthorner Jthorner on Mar 29, 2016

    Once again the unpaid contributors have to ask the hard questions and insert much needed skepticism and reasoned critique into what was otherwise little but a rewritten press release.

  • SearMizok SearMizok on Mar 30, 2016

    I look at TrueCar and the other sites such as Edmonds, KellyBlueBook, NADS Guides, and come up with a number that I think is the best realistic price I shouldn't pay more than. Than I stuck to that number, no matter how much the dealer cried, and before he let me walk out of the dealer, I got that number.

  • Jalop1991 The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged due to suspected improper assembly by the supplier. Over time, partial engagement can cause damage to the intermediate shaft splines. Damaged shaft splines may result in unintended vehicle movement while in Park if the parking brake is not engagedGee, my Chrysler van automatically engages the parking brake when we put it in Park. Do you mean to tell me that the idjits at Kia, and the idjit buyers, couldn't figure out wanting this in THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLE????
  • Dukeisduke I've been waiting to see if they were going to do something special for the 60th Anniversary. I was four years old when the Mustang was introduced. I can remember that one of our neighbors bought a '65 coupe (they were all titled as '65 models, even the '64-1/2 cars), and it's the first one I can remember seeing. In the '90s I knew an older gentleman that owned a '64-1/2 model coupe with the 260 V8.
  • SCE to AUX "...the complete Mustang model lineup to peruse"Will the fake Mustang show up, too?
  • SCE to AUX We don't need no stinking badges.
  • SCE to AUX I've never been teased by a bumper like that one before.
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