We are always here to help.
These are the most common questions we get about CarWoo! If you can't find what you're looking for email us at support@carwoo.com.
About CarWoo!
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What is CarWoo!?
CarWoo! is a simple and stress free way to receive firm price offers from and engage with multiple dealerships to buy a car “online”.
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How is CarWoo! the simplest way to buy a new car?
The CarWoo! experience automates the best proven way to buy a car and organizes the information for you in a simple and easy to use dashboard. You don’t have to do anything other than tell CarWoo! what car you want to buy and our network of over 9000 dealerships sends you their best price on an in-stock piece of inventory. You can then compare each of those prices in our dashboard, ask questions of the dealers and, if you choose to do so, negotiate with the dealerships from the comfort of your couch with CarWoo! by your side.
Dealerships see each other’s prices, so if you’re a car buyer who hates negotiating you can just let the dealerships price according to the market and you don’t have to worry that you got a bad deal.
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How is CarWoo! stress-free?
No one likes a confrontation. Buying a car is filled with confrontations because dealers want to sell a car and make a profit and car buyers want a price that is fair. Historically there isn’t much trust between the buyer and the dealer because the concept of a “fair” price seems to be a moving target. Every day dealers price their cars differently based on supply and demand and it’s extremely difficult for car buyers to know if dealers are pricing their vehicles fairly.
By creating a transparent marketplace where buyers see multiple sale-prices from dealers and dealers can see those same prices, the marketplace produces a market-driven “fair” prices for both dealers and the buyers. By making the market transparent, we remove the stress associated with car buying.
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Why did you put “online” in quotes?
Because a vehicle purchase is an extremely complicated transaction, it’s generally not possible to buy a car like you would an item on Amazon. With the high price of the item (on average a new car costs $30k), vehicle trade-ins, financing, warranty purchases and sometimes over 20 signatures required when signing the documentation, CarWoo! is a few years away from bringing the entire process online. Today CarWoo! gets you as close to buying a car online as is technically and legally possible. You can negotiate all of the terms of your purchase on CarWoo!, from your computer, tablet or mobile device. You will know that when you show up at the dealership all you have to do is sit in the finance office and sign your papers.
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Where did the name CarWoo! come from?
It's pretty simple really. The name is a reflection of the excitement people feel after buying a new car. We noticed that people said Woo! a lot when they drive away in a brand new car. So we put Car and Woo! together to echo how people feel buying a new car with CarWoo!
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Who are the founders and who else is behind CarWoo!?
CarWoo! was founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneurs Tommy McClung, Erik Landerholm, and Michael Young. A member of the 2009 Y Combinator (ycombinator.com) class, CarWoo! (www.carwoo.com) is based in Burlingame, CA and is funded by Blumberg Capital (www.blumbergcapital.com), Comcast Interactive Capital (www.civentures.com), and Interwest Partners (www.interwest.com).
Also associated with CarWoo! are veteran industry advisors and our board directors.
Our advisory board includes Rob Chesney - Former GM eBay Motors, Tim Weaver - VP Business Development, ResponseLogix, Jeff Fluhr - Founder and Former CEO, Stubhub.com, and Niall Hay - eCommerce Director, Penske Automotive Group.
Our board of directors include Doug Pepper - Interwest Partners, Michael Yang - Comcast Interactive Capital, Dillon McDonald - Former CEO of Jumpstart Automotive, Tommy McClung - CEO and co-founder CarWoo!, and Erik Landerholm - CTO and co-founder CarWoo!.
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How did you come up with the idea? Why did you start CarWoo!?
Tommy McClung, CEO and co-Founder describes how CarWoo! came about: "Erik and I were thinking about industries where people were unhappy with the customer experience and wanted to start a company to fix it. As we were thinking about different ideas, I had to buy a new car as my wife and I were about to have our second son. I shopped online, but all I got was spam email and phone calls from dealers, none of which answered my questions. All they wanted was for me to come into their dealerships. The time that it took me to shop multiple dealerships, compare their quotes, negotiate, and finally settle on a car was overwhelming. At the end of the day, I was still not sure whether I had gotten the best overall deal or if I had just been beaten down. I knew there had to be a better way. There had to be a way to truly shop online and not just be sold off to several dealers as a lead. I wanted a way to be sure that I had gotten the best offer and to have fun while I was doing it. So Erik and I created CarWoo!."
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Who are your competitors?
Our biggest competitors are companies that sell customer information (names, phone numbers and email addresses) to dealerships as leads. Most online websites will ask you to “Request a free price quote” by entering your contact information, which in turn results in your information being sold so service providers can “contact” you to help you with your purchase. What really happens is you get a bunch of spam and phone calls and rarely do you get the free price quote.
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Is CarWoo! a broker?
Absolutely not! CarWoo! does not insert into the specific transaction in any way. It does not provide specific advice regarding the transaction to the buyer or seller. CarWoo! ensures full transparency, buyer privacy, clear and open communication between the buyer and seller and a fun and easy way for buyers and sellers to work with each other. The actual transaction occurs at the dealership. CarWoo! never buys or sells cars-only CarWoo! dealers and buyers do that. CarWoo! never buys or sells cars-only CarWoo! dealers and buyers do that.
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Why would dealers work with you? Doesn’t this hurt them?
The internet has completely changed the way dealers have to operate. Internet buyers are savvy. They do their research. They shop multiple dealerships but they don’t go into the stores. Dealers are handicapped because they don’t know what the buyer knows.
The current third party lead system just exacerbates the issues facing dealers. Dealers pay for these leads knowing that they are being multi-sold and also knowing that, for the most part, the leads do not convert to buyers. It is extremely frustrating for dealers and makes it hard for them to do their best by the buyer, even though they do want to.
CarWoo! provides the data and tools for dealerships to flourish in an ecommerce experience appropriate for the automotive purchase.
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How many dealers does CarWoo! work with?
The CarWoo! dealer network includes over half of all new car dealers nationwide, and it is growing every day.
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Does CarWoo have dealers in every state?
CarWoo! has dealers in all 50 states and we have dealers covering every make and model (except for the exotics).
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Are the testimonials true?
Yes, all testimonials are quotations from individuals who have used CarWoo.
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Where do you get your vehicle specifications, equipment data, and images from?
Vehicle specifications, equipment data, and images are:
Using The CarWoo! Service
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How does it work?
First, you tell us what kind of car you want. Then, we go out and contact dealerships near you and let them know that a buyer near them is waiting on an offer from them. The dealers have a dashboard that they can login to where they can see your first name, the vehicle and the options you want to purchase and we let them create a custom tailored price offer for a vehicle they have on their lot. As the offers come in (most buyers usually get an offer within 24 hours) we present them to you in a standardized, easy-to-understand format.
Once you've received an offer you really like, you can reserve it, at which point the dealer will guarantee the vehicle and the deal for you for 24 hours. Then all that's left to do is go to the dealership, present your CarWoo! Claim Certificate, sign some paperwork, and drive off in your brand new car, woo!
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How much does it cost?
CarWoo! is free to use for in-market car buyers. We’ve built some pretty cool technology to help us understand if buyers or dealers abuse the power of CarWoo!
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How does CarWoo! make money?
We have a product we sell to dealerships called Dealer Plus. Dealers who choose to pay CarWoo! get a dedicated CarWoo! Performance Manager who provides ongoing support to help the dealership be their best on CarWoo! They also get data about the marketplace that helps them make better pricing decisions, understand a buyer’s car buying journey and insights into their performance in the marketplace. CarWoo!’s Dealer Plus dealerships are also taken through our CarWoo! Certified Dealer training and are held to a high standard of customer service. You will always know when you’re working with a CarWoo! Certified Dealer when you see the “Certified” badge next to the dealers name.
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Do I have to buy a car if I sign up?
Nope! But once you see how easy and hassle-free it is to get a great deal on CarWoo!, it’ll be hard not to!
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Can I use CarWoo! to get a lease?
Absolutely. CarWoo! can be used to negotiate a lease on a new car as well.
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Is my information protected? If so, how do you ensure that?
Dealers don't get to see any of your personal information when they give you offers—we only show them what kind of car you're looking for and your first name. We keep your full name, email address, and phone number hidden from the dealers until you've picked the offer you want to accept, at which point we only give the winning dealer your contact information so that you can arrange a time to pick up the car. Dealers can only communicate with you through an email and phone proxy provided by CarWoo! that keeps all of your personal information hidden.
Unlike other auto sites, we do NOT sell your information to dealers.
How far away are the dealers that give me offers?
It varies based on what type of car you're trying to buy. The most common cars have many dealerships in most cities so you won't have to travel far. There are two important things to remember, though: (1) you can get your car serviced ANYWHERE, it doesn't have to be at the dealership from which you bought it. Your local dealership will be more than happy to service your car, even if you didn't buy it there; and (2) you're buying something that is worth thousands of dollars. Driving for a couple hours is totally worth it if it means having a great experience at a great price, right?
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Can I use your service with a dealer near me?
CarWoo! will always try to contact the dealers closest to you. If there is a specific dealer that a buyer wants included in the process, CarWoo! will include that dealer. The CarWoo! process cannot guarantee that any specific dealer will be the most competitive on any given deal though. The value of CarWoo! is that we get dealers to participate in an open marketplace.
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What if I get a list of dealers who are nowhere close to me?
This happens very rarely. And we're adding dealers all the time, so the odds of this happening are getting smaller and smaller.
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How do I pick the best deal?
It's a personal decision and the best deal is different for everyone. CarWoo! provides you with offer comparison tools you can use to help make a decision (e.g. we'll tell you what we think is the best offer), but at the end of the day it's completely up to you. Just remember, the offer with the lowest price isn't necessarily the best deal--you should choose based on which one gives you the most "bang for your buck."
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Is CarWoo! available outside of the US?
At this time CarWoo! is only available in the United States.
Paying For & Picking Up Your Car
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Where and when do I pay for the car?
You pay for the car at the dealership after we've connected you with the dealer through CarWoo!
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How does the dealer know what price I'm supposed to pay?
Once you've accepted an offer, we tell the dealer that you'll be coming in to pick up the car and that you should pay the agreed upon price. We also give you a printable CarWoo! Claim Certificate with the car's specs and the final price on it to present to the dealer and that is what they will charge you.
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Will dealers haggle with me when I go to the dealership?
No. CarWoo! has relationships with all of its dealers and they have agreed not to haggle with CarWoo! buyers since you've already agreed on the price of the car. If for some reason a dealer tries to haggle with you when you go to pick up your car, you should leave, then report it to us immediately. We will call the dealer for you and make sure that they understand that they're not allowed to do that. Then you can either go back, or you can pick a different offer to accept if you really didn't like the dealer.
Your CarWoo! Account
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I forgot my password, how can I log in?
The easiest thing to do is reset your password. Click here to reset your password.
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When I try to log in, it says my password is wrong. What's up?
If you're 100% sure you're typing it right and it's still not working then the easiest thing to do is reset your password. Click here to reset your password.