The CarGurus Blog

Daily coverage of the world of cars.

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What AWD Sedan Would You Recommend to a Friend?


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The winter of  2010-’11 has so far been defined by blizzards, freezing temperatures and deep snow. Pretty harsh stuff!

There’s been more than once, even in my AWD SUV, when a simple jaunt to the grocery store turned into an epic quest reminiscent of Top Gear’s drive to the North Pole.

This winter I’ve certainly made a lifelong commitment to AWD, and it seems I’m not alone. I got a call from a friend who wanted advice on what used AWD sedan to buy in place of her aging MINI Cooper. She had narrowed her choices to a Volvo S60 AWD, an Audi A4 Quattro, an Acura TL SH-AWD or a Lexus IS AWD.

All are fine choices, but I took the opportunity to point out a car she hadn’t even heard of…

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CarGurus Launches Free Car Listing Tool with “Instant Market Value” Guidance


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Instant Market Value

Helps sellers answer the question “What’s my car worth?”
Pricing guidance based on live data from 2+ million active listings

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., November 29, 2010 — CarGurus® (http://www.cargurus.com/), a leading online automotive community, announced today the launch of a free car listing tool that includes “Instant Market Value” pricing guidance. Based on the analysis of 2+ million active car listings, “Instant Market Value” price guidance takes into account numerous factors including maker, model, year, trim, mileage, options and location to deliver an accurate, up-to-date valuation for consumers looking to sell a car online.

Transparent Information
Unlike other opaque pricing tools, CarGurus’ “Instant Market Value” provides complete transparency as to the value of the seller’s car. Sellers are shown the four most relevant comparable listings that justify the suggested pricing as well as a graph that plots all the price points analyzed to derive the suggested pricing.

Consumers also get additional feedback on the relative merits of their chosen price. As the seller enters different price points for their car, they’ll receive instant feedback on whether their chosen price is a “good deal” or “bad deal” for buyers and where their listing will rank vs. other listings in their area.

Integrated with Free Listings
While the web offers numerous free auto listings services, CarGurus’ is the first to integrate free pricing tools in the listings process to help sellers properly value their cars. Sellers not only get a free car listing on a dedicated automotive site with 3+ million unique visitors a month but also free advice on pricing.

To get started, sellers simply click on: http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/sell-car/, plug in their zip code and then fill in information about their car. As they input this information, sellers immediately get pricing guidance.

“While free listing sites like Craigslist exist, they are not automotive-focused and don’t provide consumers with any pricing guidance,” remarked Langley Steinert, CEO/Founder of CarGurus. “Pricing a car properly will maximize anyone’s chances of selling the car as well as the seller’s eventual realized profits. With CarGurus’ free listings service, we are bringing full transparency to the process of listing and pricing a car.”

About CarGurus LLC and DealFinder
Located in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass., CarGurus LLC is a leading online automotive community founded by Langley Steinert, formerly chairman/co-founder of TripAdvisor LLC, the 2nd largest online travel site in the world.

CarGurus’ DealFinder is an online car shopping service that helps consumers find the best deals on new and used cars in their local area. Indexing over 2 million listings a day, CarGurus’ DealFinder analyzes each car listing and compares the listed price against historic pricing models to gauge whether the listing is a good deal or bad deal. CarGurus’ DealFinder helps consumers save time and money when shopping for a new or used car. For more information about CarGurus, visit us at www.cargurus.com.

Contact: Kerry Metzdorf, Plum Advisors
978-463-2575
kerry@plumadvisors.com

CarGurus’ DealFinder Helps Automotive Consumers Find the Best Local Deals


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DealFinder image

Indexing 2+ Million “live” listings a day, CarGurus helps consumers figure out if a car listing is “under” or “over” its real regional market value.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., October 27, 2010 — CarGurus® (http://www.cargurus.com/), a leading online automotive community, announced today that its DealFinder service has just added Regional Pricing to its offering.

Based on a daily analysis of 2+ Million “live” car listings as well as historic pricing models, DealFinder calculates what a car listing is really worth. This analysis includes factors for mileage, car model, car trim and options and then compares that “instant market value” to the seller’s listed asking price for the car. Consumers can then see first-hand if the car in question is above or below its real “instant market value.” Based on a consumer’s search criteria, the resulting car listings are ranked based on which cars offer the best savings (below the real “instant market value”). Consumers can quickly see which listings are “good” or “bad” deals.

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Best Used Alternatives to Popular New Cars


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What if the perfect new car for you isn’t new at all?

As one of your resident CarGurus, people occasionally ask my advice on what new car they should consider. My answer always begins the same: How will you use it?

Whether the intended use is family hauling, boat towing, weekend getaways or street racing, I always have an opinion and a recommendation. From there the discussion filters down through price, reliability, resale and performance of the vehicle in question.

While I’ll never hesitate to recommend a new car, there are usually some perfectly acceptable (and often forgotten) used options available that could save a buyer boatloads of money without much sacrifice.

Since family sedans are always near the top of the best-sellers list, here are five examples of used models that are proving their worth as alternatives to the perennial top sellers, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

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Oaxaca Cars: from Suburbans to Custom VWs

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Chevy SuburbanCars in Mexico are usually colorful, and a lot of advertising gets done via automobile. This Suburban (I think it’s a Suburban!) is touting Huatulco, a resort community into which the government has put serious money. Most likely some of that ended up decorating this travel firm’s carro.

Oaxaca is experiencing big traffic problems, and you hear lots of horns sounding off, particularly on Friday afternoons as people try to get out of the city. City government is also tearing up and repairing many downtown streets, which creates clouds of dust (polvo) in this dry season and angry reactions from residents. The typical comment is that the repairs are only coming now, just before the elections.

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