What is CarGurus?
CarGurus has been around longer than you think. It was launched in 2006 by Langley Steinert, who’s co-founder of TripAdvisor.
The company looks at car shopping through a big-data lens, using data analytics and proprietary algorithms to answer the questions shoppers have: What’s a fair price? Is this the best deal around? Can I trust this dealer? Its best-known feature is the CarGurus Instant Market Value (IMV), which is the site’s own calculation of the fair retail price for a particular vehicle, based on comparable listings. It’s free for dealerships to post their cars, so CarGurus has a whopping 5 million vehicles listed, on average.
The model is working for CarGurus. Not only does the site see more than 30 million unique monthly visitors, it’s making big bucks from car dealers. But does it work for you, the consumer?
CarGurus Customer Reviews
CarGurus has a decent reputation in the auto industry. So, while you can be fairly confident in using its services and trust it’s a good company, it’s important to look into what customers say and consider other buying or selling options as well before you make a decision.
CarGurus Reviews: BBB and Trustpilot
CarGurus has an A+ rating from the BBB, but customer reviews are fairly low. The company has a 4.1-star rating on the BBB’s reviews section from 1,200+ former customers and 3.8 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, out of 700+ reviews. It’s important to keep in mind that there are fewer than 100 customer reviews on both sites, which is a small fraction of CarGurus’ consumer base.
Positive CarGurus Reviews
Customers who were happy with their CarGurus experience mostly cite ease of use as the biggest positive factor. Some reviews mention getting prompt payments and higher offers than other online car dealerships.
Negative CarGurus Reviews
Negative CarGurus reviews tend to center on a confusing process that often ended up with a canceled sale. Some people report receiving a decent offer, only to have it lowered during the selling process.
Our review team reached out to CarGuru for a comment on its negative reviews and the company’s low review scores and received the following response:
“As the most visited automotive shopping site in the U.S.*, customer trust and satisfaction is a priority. CarGurus is proud to be recognized as a national leader in customer service, earning the No. 3 rank on Newsweek’s 2023 America’s Best Customer Service Awards list in the online automotive marketplace category.
“To support this commitment to customer service, we have measures to help enable an experience that is as transparent and efficient as possible. This includes steps to mitigate fraudulent private listings, policies against misleading or fraudulent dealer listings and guidelines for our Sell My Car feature, which states that offers are subject to a verification inspection and may change based on the vehicle’s condition.
“Our team also monitors all reviews and conducts a robust user outreach program to gather feedback and identify opportunities to enhance the ways we support customers along the automotive journey. Through this customer research, nine out of 10 customers who found a car through CarGurus would recommend our platform to a friend**, and those who have sold through Sell My Car provided a 4.7-out-of-5 average rating.”
*Similarweb: Traffic Insights, Q1 2023, U.S.
**CarGurus Buyers, 2023, Likelihood to recommend score 8-10, Sample size = 477
CarGurus App Reviews
CarGurus has one of the best car buying and selling apps on the market. It’s very highly reviewed by consumers. On the App Store, over 370,000 customers rated the CarGurus app 4.8 stars out of 5. Google Play has fewer reviews, but the CarGurus app still earns a very high 4.7-star rating.
Is CarGurus Legit?
In our research, we found that CarGurus was a legitimate place where people can go to buy or sell their car. The company claims it’s the most visited auto shopping website in the U.S. and has more listings than similar online vehicle marketplaces like Autotrader, TrueCar and Cars.com.
In addition, the company has a somewhat solid online reputation. It has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), though scores from customers are low. Customers who were happy with their experience cited ease of use as the biggest reason why they used the company.
Is CarGurus a Good Place To Sell Your Car?
CarGurus can be a great option when it comes to selling your car as you have the option to get an instant offer from the company or list it on the site for 30 days. The company also gives you the option to consider the offer. Your offer is good for at least seven days or 250 miles.
Where CarGurus Falls Short With Selling a Car
There are two different areas where CarGurus fall short with selling a car – its listing fee and instant offer availability. If you decide to list your car on the CarGuru’s website privately, you have to pay a fee of $4.95. While this may not seem like a lot, it’s still an additional expense to consider when selling your car.
In addition, CarGurus doesn’t offer instant offers in several states. These include:
| Alaska | Hawaii | Idaho | Kansas |
| Kentucky | Maine | Mississippi | Montana |
| New Hampshire | North Dakota | South Dakota | Vermont |
| West Virginia | Wyoming |
Is CarGurus a Good Place To Buy a Car?
Overall, the buying process at CarGurus can be worth it if you’re looking to buy a new, used or CPO vehicle. For used cars, the company offers three ways to browse vehicle listings, making it as easy to shop as possible. On the other hand, if you’re looking to buy a new vehicle, there’s a landing page that lets you browse by make and model or by body style.
Where CarGurus Falls Short With Buying a Car
If you’re looking to buy a car through CarGurus, there’s a few things you should look out for. CarGurus connects customers with local dealerships, sellers and buyers in their area. In some instances, communication with dealerships can be hit or miss. There are reviews online that show that some people entered their information online to be contacted by a dealer for a vehicle and never heard back or received a late response.
*We reached out to CarGurus for comment on its negative reviews but received no response.
Selling to CarGurus
Selling a used car with CarGurus is a relatively simple process. You can get an instant offer or choose to list your car on the CarGurus site for 30 days. If you list the car, you’ll have to pay a fee of $4.95.
How Much Does CarGurus Pay for Cars?
In our research, we found that CarGurus tends to offer below the KBB value for vehicles sold to them. For a 2016 Honda Accord, the company offered $2,833 less than the KBB value for the car. The table below shows the offer from CarGurus and compared to the KBB value.
| Vehicle | CarGurus Offer | KBB Trade Value |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 Toyota RAV4 with 40,000 miles | $18,150 | $24,018 |
| 2016 Honda Accord with 90,000 miles | $8,750 | $11,583 |
The Pros Of Using CarGurus
- It truly is unbiased. More than half of American car dealerships pay to post listings on CarGurus. The rest don’t. But CarGurus doesn’t discriminate by putting paying customers’ vehicles first. Instead, the best deals are listed at the top, followed by fair deals and then those that are priced over the Instant Market Value. (They do have sponsored listings, but these are clearly labeled.) Listings also get a boost if the dealer is rated highly by users.
- You can read dealer reviews. Never heard of a particular dealer? Reading CarGurus’ reviews by other buyers can tell you what to expect. “The sales crew was very courteous and they responded back to me in a timely professional manner” = good. “Stopped all communication once I told them I wanted to pay cash and not finance” = not good. You can also see how a dealer responds to negative reviews.
- CarGurus helps you negotiate. Maybe you feel a little queasy at the thought of haggling with the dealer over a car. Maybe you relish the thrill of hammering out a deal. Either way, a CarGurus listing can give you some valuable information when you’re buying a car. You’ll see how long it’s been listed on the site — if the car has been sitting there for months, you have some leverage. You’ll see how much the price has dropped, if at all, which may reveal how much lower the dealer is willing to go. And you’ll see how many other people have saved a car, too.
- You can get an Instant Market Value for your own car. Before you trade in or sell your vehicle, check its IMV on CarGurus.com. You might be surprised by the difference between that price and the Kelley Blue Book estimate, which is the traditional way to assess used-car values.
- You can sell your car with peace of mind. When private sellers list their car on CarGurus, they get up to $75,000 in protection for their secure, online transaction. CarGurus also can provide financing for the buyer.
The Cons Of Using CarGurus
- Communication with dealers can be spotty. The appeal of CarGurus is that it instantly connects buyers and dealers. When you see a car you like, you can enter your email and/or phone number to have the dealer contact you. But this system doesn’t always work to buyers’ satisfaction. Read enough reviews on CarGurus.com, and you’ll find lots of people who say they never heard back from a dealer or received a response too late.
- Car listings aren’t always accurate. Many CarGurus reviews tell the same story: A would-be buyer shows up at the dealer and then finds the advertised car has already been sold. Bummer. Our advice: If you really want a particular car, immediately follow up your online request with a phone call to the dealership to express interest and schedule a test drive. (Don’t be too enthusiastic, though, or you’ll lose your negotiating power.)
- There are few private auto sellers. Sometimes, the best deals on used cars come from private sellers. But most vehicles listed on CarGurus are on dealers’ lots. Private auto sales do have some downsides — like used car buying scams — but it’s nice to have the option.
- It costs money to sell your car on CarGurus. Listing your car is free — but you’ll have to pay $99 when you actually sell it.
- You have to jump through some hoops to sell your car. Some sellers complain about CarGurus’ requirement that you verify possession of the car. This means the site will pull your listing until you fulfill a very specific request: You have to send a photo of your car with one door open and a verification code either printed or written on a piece of paper in the windshield. CarGurus does this to deter scammers, but it’s still a pain.