Painter on Buying TrueCar, BizzyCar CEO on Recalls, Auburn Toyota + CNCDA | Daily Dealer Live
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Painter on Buying TrueCar, BizzyCar CEO on Recalls, Auburn Toyota + CNCDA | Daily Dealer Live
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Concept
Formula 1
Formula 1 is a type of car racing where specially designed cars compete in races called Grands Prix. It's known for its speed, advanced technology, and global popularity.
Company
U.S. Autotrust
U.S. Autotrust is a company that buys and sells cars, and they are now focusing on high-end luxury cars.
Concept
luxury cars
Luxury cars are expensive cars that have a lot of special features and are very comfortable to drive.
Company
Boardwalk Auto Group
Boardwalk Auto Group is a company that sells expensive and luxury cars.
Brand
Lamborghini
Lamborghini is another well-known brand that makes very fast and luxurious sports cars.
Brand
Singer
Singer is a company that takes old Porsches and makes them look and perform like new, but in a very special way.
Car
Ferrari 50 Ferrari
The Ferrari 550 Maranello is a fancy sports car made by Ferrari, known for its powerful engine and sleek design. It’s special because it’s one of the last Ferraris with a big engine in the front, and not many of them were made, making it quite rare and valuable. People talk about it because owning a Ferrari is a big deal and a sign of luxury.
Brand
Acura
Acura is a brand of cars that are more luxurious and often have better features than regular Honda cars.
Concept
luxury and premium brands
Luxury and premium brands are car companies that make expensive cars with better quality and features than regular cars.
Term
new car prices
New car prices are how much you have to pay to buy a brand new car from a dealership.
LIVE
We're doing better as a result of social media presence.
It doesn't do those three things, then it's on the chopping block.
It's in return on investment discussion.
Hey everybody, welcome back to The Daily Dealer Live.
I'm your host Sam Dark and this is the space where all automotive comes together to learn,
to share, to grow, to have a voice in what's happening across our industry.
Whether you're a dealer, a vendor or someone just passionate about automotive,
you are in the right place this afternoon. Today I'm broadcasting live from Austin, Texas.
This weekend it's F1, props to Santander for sponsoring the race and making my attendance
here possible. It's going to be exciting to see those cars more on that soon.
But first, let's dive into today's auto industry headlines.
First up today, it's a cdgbicell.com special. You can go to cdgbicell.com for more of these
updates. U.S. Autotrust is making a major move and I just law a U.S. Autotrust is making a major
move into the luxury space by acquiring Dallas-based Boardwalk Auto Group. The deal adds Ferrari,
Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani and Singer franchises to its growing portfolio. The acquisition brings
U.S. Autotrust to nine luxury stores joining Aston Martin, San Diego and Newport Beach,
plus Lotus of San Diego and Cadillac of Pasadena, founder Ed Glazer, who also cones the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers on the other side of the coast, says it's a milestone expansion for the group.
It's a rare transaction, too, as there are only about 50 Ferrari dealerships. I think that actually
might be 42, 43 in the country and they almost never change hands. Meanwhile, in California,
Bacchiari Auto Group has acquired Acura Fremont. That's one of the top performing Acura dealerships
in the western region from longtime dealer Bruce Kavich. Big picture. While affordability
challenges are weighing on mass market brands, dealership buyers are betting that high net worth
individuals seeking luxury and premium brands will keep the upper end of the market strong,
especially in growth regions like Texas and California. And don't forget, you can see these
deal announcements and many more throughout the entire year on the CDG Bicell Tracker at cdgbicell.com.
We've got our own jingle. I love it. Next up today, auto demand among middle-income Americans
is climbing again, despite new car prices still high and plenty of economic uncertainty in the
mix. A new third quarter study from Santander found that more than half of households earning
between $53,000 and $161,000 planned to buy a vehicle in the next year. That's up sharply from
43% a year ago and nearly three out of four say they're willing to cut back on their expenses
just to keep access to a car. Much of that demand is shifting towards used vehicles,
about eight in 10 buyers say they'd consider buying used and most say their interest in
pre-owned cars has grown over the past year. The study also found that middle-income households
are feeling a bit more confident financially. More are keeping up with bills and feeling secure
in their jobs, even though inflation is still a concern. What's the bottom line here? Well,
affordability is the name of the game, but buyers are finding ways to stay mobile. Next up today,
GM Financial is rolling out a new app designed specifically for dealers. That's not a surprise,
giving them mobile access to their captive lending data and performance metrics. I think this is
fascinating because is it a new tech or is it a trend among buyers? The app was first teased earlier
this year, but at the Auto Finance Summit in Las Vegas, CEO Susan Sheffield confirmed the pilot
is launching by the end of the week. It'll let dealers track volume, floor plan balances and
GM Financial dealer dividend points all in one place. The goal here is to make it easier for
operators to monitor performance in real time and make quicker financial decisions without having
to dig through separate systems. Bottom line here, the new app fits into GE Financial's broader,
GM Financial's broader push to modernize dealer tools, but its success will hinge on whether it
truly saves time and streamlines workflows on the showroom floor. From a dealer perspective,
we welcome anything that brings all these disparate systems together and makes access to
them so much easier, particularly in an AI world. You should be able to think it, ask it,
and get information as quickly as possible, but that's just my perspective. Finally up today,
Truecar is going private again and its original founder, Scott Painter, is back in the driver's
seat. Painter's fair holdings has agreed to acquire the company in a $227 million all cash deal
valuing Truecar at $2.55 a share. Most of the financing, that's about $164 million,
comes from Alpha Auto, an affiliate of Miami Lakes Automall with another $60 million from a group
of industry vets and investors known as, quote, the syndicate. Once the deal closes,
expected late next year, early 2026, Painter will return as CEO 10 years after stepping down,
zooming in. Truecar's revenue grew more than 10% last year, but the company still has profitability
issues and has seen its stock drop more than 90% from its post-IPOP. You can see it on the screen
here for those live years. Shares did rebound slightly on the news of the deal. Bottom line here,
completion of this transaction is subject to approval by Truecar stockholders and gaining
the appropriate regulatory approvals, but Truecar's return to private, founder-led ownership
could mark the start of a more dealer-focused era. And that's a wrap on today's industry news and
headlines. So next up, I want to welcome back Yuli. Welcome back to the show.
Looking like a million bucks, Sam. Hey, you look even better, man. How do I look in Austin? It's
and Yuli, as everybody knows, for those joining our live stream, we're live across all CDG social
media platforms. Post your comments in. We'll bring them into today's show. We'd love to know
where you are on this Friday, October 17th. And we'd love your feedback on our topics. We just
talked about Truecar's going private again, big news. And actually, our first guest up today,
it will lend some perspective into that. But we've also got a great conversation coming up on
recalls. We've talked about Ford being the number one most recalled OEM on planet earth so far year
to date. Our guest today will provide some perspective on that. And then we'll also talk
a little bit about some charitable giving and things that are going on in California.
Supervisor Dan says $1.1 billion between the two of you. Thank you. So post your comments
into the notes. We'd love to bring them into today's show. So without for how are you doing,
Yuli? Like we haven't seen you for a few days. We missed the heck out of you. We're glad to have
you back. So I'm super excited to be here. This is going to be a great episode. Yeah. All right.
Well, first up today, let's go to founder of Truecar and returning owner Scott Painter. Welcome to
the show. Sam, thanks for having me. We're excited to have you. We're excited to talk about some of
the news. Before we go into it, Scott, let's start with how's biz in your world? How do you
define biz and what does it look like? Well, you know, I think it's a pretty exciting time to be
an innovator and entrepreneur in the car space. Obviously, we've seen not just the introduction
of new technologies, but you know, electric has just transformed how we think about the business
across the board. For me personally, I've been, as you know, a longtime entrepreneur trying to
really innovate how people buy shop for and own cars. And for me, you know, this comeback is really
about recognizing that I think there's just a tremendous opportunity still out in front of us.
And clearly, the landscape is shifting the introduction of artificial intelligence. I think
has so many great opportunities to really transform and elevate the conversation between
customers and dealers. You know, having been through this before, I think I learned a lot
in true car 1.0. But one of the things we're seeing right now is just a real opportunity to bring
transparency and really digital solutions forward in a way that can elevate the customer
experience in a way that really works for dealers. So looking forward to this next chapter for sure.
So it's interesting. Well, we'll just go right into it. We'll go right into it. So
you talk about your reacquisition of true car. What's your thought? What do you see in true car
today that your expertise could lend to that company that would bring it back to,
I don't want to say relevancy, because I don't want to poke the word in there, but
would make it great again, for lack of a better way of putting it. Well, first of all, I think that,
you know, it's important to note that, you know, we're acquiring a publicly traded company. So I
almost talk about everything but true car to some degree. You've covered the news and the press
announcement speaks for itself. But I think it certainly reflects that we think that true car
has tremendous intrinsic value and a place in the auto industry. It really does provide a very,
very valid bridge between in-market car shoppers and forward-leaning dealers. And, you know,
really premier dealers that tend to be very forward-leaning, love technology and want customers
that are also leaning into technology as a way to get their next car. And I think that
where we sit in the world today, we think there's tremendous potential. I'm personally excited just
because, you know, we see so many technologies that just didn't exist five years ago. So,
you know, in terms of, you know, where we see the world going, I think we're going to be positioned
to be very relevant in that conversation. But we're also, you know, always open-minded and want
to hear from dealers who are thinking about what's next. And so, you know, since this announcement
went out, I have literally heard from everybody that's ever worked for me. I've also heard
just about everybody who's been a dealer partner. And I can say that, you know, one of the things
that is really important to get out there is how we really do want to hear from everybody. You know,
I'm pretty much an open book. I'll just publish right here on the site. My phone number is 310-200-2000.
There you go. It's got it, fair. I get so much inbound. And we are just right now really looking
at this as an opportunity to extend the partnership with the industry and in particular with
forward-leaning dealers. We've seen obviously some of these runaway successes in terms of being able
to take the conversation with a customer, make it more digital, make it more transparent, more
streamlined. I think that, you know, as cars become more autonomous, connected and electric,
and cost a little bit more, that's going to be even more important.
So let's get into what the future looks like in just a second. But let me just ask you the
question that are on some people's mind, right? So you built TrueCar. You sold it. You've built
other companies, cars direct, fair autonomy where you are now. Why not just go start over and create
TrueCar 2.0? Why invest a quarter billion dollars into the company?
Well, I'll tell you, I think the company is an incredibly valuable player in the overall
landscape. And it's much harder to break into a crowded space that has low barriers to entry,
really. I think that the auto space is something that we all have a big sort of set of feelings
about. And I think great entrepreneurs and great companies solve a real problem.
And the mission that we set out to solve on that journey is still out there as an opportunity.
I think that there is more opportunity to really provide a bridge between consumers and
dealers today than ever before. And I personally have learned so much about how to do that. I mean,
it's been a hard journey at times, but it's also been really sort of a remarkable one that gives
me a lot of perspective about what's possible. But we're not as much wanting to be a startup
as we are wanting to be a really legitimate at scale partner to the industry. And one of the
things that I personally believe in is the value of goodwill that comes through affinity
relationships. All the companies that I've ever focused on have really been built from a brand
point of view that starts with introducing trust transparency and fair play. And so whether it
was true car or fair or autonomy or any of these businesses, it's always been built on,
can we bring trust into the relation? So let's talk about that trust, right? And actually trust
was troublesome early on in true cars history to many dealers like a lot. Many dealers pushed back
on it, but you've always pushed for that transparency, even when it started controversy.
In 2025, when consumers already know invoice prices online, what does transparency mean now
today when you say that word? Yeah, I think first of all, when anything changes, it's scary. And I
think that true car 1.0 is really very much at the forefront of that transformation. And a lot
of people didn't know how to take advantage of it. I think where we stand today and the opportunities
I see in front of us, and this isn't in particular a true car thing. I think that one of the things
that was fascinating to me when I was building that company in the first round, I had to convince
investors that the internet was going to be a big deal. Was that a hard out? Was that a hard
out? I mean, we had a large number of slides in our presentation committed to the adoption curve
of the internet. Obviously, today, 100% of consumers that go shopping for a car start their
journey online. 100% rely on technology. We have a much greater trust in what we see online,
but more importantly, 100% of cars that are currently for sale are digitally discoverable
today. And there's a lot of constraints in terms of how that's evolved. We think that AI opens up some
really big questions about, you know, talk about the fear that one of the things I get
from dealers more than anything right now is how is AI going to affect me? Is it going to
eat our brains, right? AI search in particular has been a hot topic on this show
past few episodes, right? Like how do you maximize AI search so that you compliment true car,
all these other lead providers, but then also represent yourself as a dealer best?
I think there's a bigger question for the modern dealer and modern retail. Is AI going to make
my business better? Because of course, process improvement and greater efficiency, better go
to market strategies, better pricing strategies, all of that is going to be enabled by AI. And
I think we all see it in everyday life. And for me, I just find myself using AI more than I ever
thought possible. But really, what we're about to see and what I think is really going to need to
be embraced by the industry is that we're about to see the rise of agentic AI, which is really
a consumer optimization tool. And I think the fear is that if you're a retailer, will that
agentic AI optimize against my best interests? And what I believe having been through this battle
firsthand is that an ecosystem needs to find balance. It's got to be good for all. And these
things cannot be erased to the bottom. There has to be efficiency that comes from transparency,
and there has to be not just one-sided efficiency. It is interesting to have gone to NATO the last
couple of years and see how much AI is coming for process improvement and business development and
CRM improvement at the dealership, but not the revolution that's coming next. The revolution
that's coming next is a consumer driven revolution, where a consumer is going to basically say,
help me to get the entire transaction done. It's not going to just be shopping for a good deal.
It's going to be, how would Captain Kirk buy a car? And clearly, Captain Kirk is going to be
on his spaceship in a galaxy far, far away, and he's going to be able to talk to his computer.
So we're going to see the rise of natural interface computing. We're going to see the need for
retail to embrace technologies that don't even have penetration today in the same way that AI is
becoming a bigger and bigger part of daily life. Just think about the migration away from the web
and to the smartphone. Today we live on our phones. These phones are computers. They are so powerful,
but we're also very quickly moving to a reality where we're not going to be
moving sliders around in filters to see what choices we have. We're going to be simply talking
to the technology. And the technology will then go talk to the dealership and it will
finalize and complete. So is that part of your vision with these different acquisitions is to
kind of complete that process? Well, I do think that there is an exciting future state where
you're going to be able to talk to your technology and you're going to be able to, for the first
time, handle the four big elements of buying a car. It's going to be getting a good deal on the car.
It's going to be handling your trade-in, your down payment. It's going to be handling all of the
transaction tax, title registration, and actually payment of that vehicle and insurance of that
vehicle because 93% of people don't pay cash for their car, but 100% of people who buy a car must
ensure that car. Yeah. So Scott, in the beginning of true car, you were a true disruptor in the
industry and I alluded to that in the very beginning. I remember the early days, right?
Dealers pushed back on that change and many argued it was a race to the bottom. You were kind of the
first to take that approach. Do you see a similar disruption as you come in with 2.0 and this vision
of connecting these right now disparate systems to create this ecosystem where a consumer can
interact, engage, and what advice would you give to dealers about kind of leaning into that change?
It was fought initially when you did it 1.0. Do you see pushback in 2.0?
First of all, I think I'm 57. I am not the same entrepreneur I was and I've learned a lot. I have
no interest in being a disruptor per se. I think I want to take what I've learned and apply it to
the benefit of the industry. I do think this is about really connecting consumers and dealers in a
way that's going to be more efficient, more effective. I do want to move away from the mentality of
we're just a business that processes leads or we're just a business that's trying to provide
information. I believe that all these businesses that I've created touch on different points of
the overall transaction, but at the end of the day, the Holy Grail here is a more efficient
leaning in customer that results in a better transaction for the dealer that it generates
higher grosses, believe it or not, and generates in more profit. Really, the ability to reduce cost
and be more efficient is at the heart of this revolution that's coming right now. I have no
interest in being either labeled or in fact a disruptor. I want to be an enabler in the same
way that this technology, while scary, can make a dealer and make anybody in this business much,
much, much more efficient. Scott, two questions for you on that. Number one,
you mentioned takeaways and lessons learned from 1.0. I would love to get one or two big
lessons and then two, advice to a dealer today in 2025 about how to move forward in this new world,
because I think you are right. There's a big change coming, but first the lessons. What are
some of the biggest lessons? Well, I think the first lesson is to collaborate instead of trying
to take on a system. It's funny because great entrepreneurs and great companies solve a real
problem and there's no better way to define yourself by to contrast yourself as a solution
to a particular problem that people can identify with. While early days, I did a lot of that and
certainly we became a hero brand with consumers, I think what we missed in the first round is saying,
how can we collaborate with the industry? One of my partners early on, when I left
Truecar and went to FAIR and started FAIR was George Bauer, who is the former CEO and founding
CEO of Mercedes Credit Corporation, the Community Financial Services. The first thing that George
said to me is, how are we going to work with dealers? The first call he made was to our friends
at Automation. I think for me, there's been a lot of maturity and a lot of aging that has come with
how do you collaborate? I think we also have a deep understanding of auto retail, whereas
being an innovator in the early days where we were learning a lot of that in real time,
I think we're on the other side of that now. It is a big revolution of sorts that's coming.
It's a big change and many dealers get nervous at the thought of it. They need to understand it.
They need to know how to lean into it. As you come into this world of 2.0 and you seek to connect
these systems, what's your advice to dealers today in October of 2025? What's step one, step two,
step three? As we say that, Yossi, the car dealership guy just posted to social. Scott,
congrats on the acquisition. Excited to see what you do with Truecar. What advice do you give to
dealers in 2020? I would say be open-minded and curious, pull the string, but prioritize the
solutions that are going to focus on customers, not just back off as stuff. This is not just a
process improvement revolution. This is a transformational moment for consumers, how we buy
everything and how we interact with mobility. I think that whether it's the fleetification of
cars, the introduction of electric, moving to an entirely new powertrain, we are going to rewrite
all of the rules. I think the auto industry, more than anything, is safe because of its complexity
to some degree. Not as though you can even take AI today and say, go and do me, get a whole
transaction done and work around the system. The only way we're going to unlock the real value of
artificial intelligence as a superpower for consumers is to collaborate with the constituents
that are deeply embedded in that journey. That means dealers, finance companies, leasing companies,
insurance companies. That overall set means that we're also going to be 100% digital.
I think what happened in the pandemic, I spent most of my life trying to say, no, really, we
want to appeal to a modern customer. The old way of thinking about it was that a modern customer
doesn't want to confront the dealer. Well, the truth is the modern dealer isn't confrontational.
They want to help you with a good experience. What we really see is an opportunity for that
for that experience to be very efficient, very consumer friendly, but I wouldn't look at these
solutions as how is it going to necessarily make the dealership better? I would say start with,
ask the question, and this is how I come at it as an entrepreneur, everything. How is it going to
optimize and make buying and owning a car easier? I go back to this really silly analogy of how
would Captain Kirk buy a car and
About this episode
Scott Painter, the founder of TrueCar, returns to discuss his acquisition of the company and the future of automotive retail. He emphasizes the importance of transparency and collaboration between dealers and consumers, especially as technology like AI transforms the industry. Painter shares insights on the growing demand for luxury vehicles, the rise of used car purchases among middle-income Americans, and the launch of GM Financial's new dealer app. The episode also touches on the challenges of recalls and the evolving landscape of automotive sales.
Original notes
Today's show features:
Scott Painter, Founder of TrueCar
Ryan Maher, CEO of BizzyCar
Ryan Toohey, Service Manager at Auburn Toyota
Felicia Palombi, Fund Development Manager at CNCDA
This episode is brought to you by:
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Car Dealership Guy is back with our second annual NADA Party—happening in Las Vegas on Thursday, February 5th. It’s the hottest ticket at NADA 2026. Spots are limited and unfortunately we can't invite everyone —so RSVP today at https://carguymedia.com/cdglive and we hope to see you in Vegas!
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