Talk:TrueCar

Untitled

Hi - I tried to start improving this article by removing some of the promotional copy and making it more concise. It stills needs a lot of help with citations for claims as well as controversies. I will continue to work on it as time permits.Goalloverhere (talk) 21:58, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

advert flag

i went through the article and did some major cleanups. i think that we can remove the advert flag now -- it's not nearly as promotional as it once was. im going to take it off, but if you disagree, let me know and we can discuss it. thanks. GoGatorMeds (talk) 19:09, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

request edit

I am affiliated with TrueCar and noticed inaccuracies in the page. Due to the conflict of interest policies at Wikipedia, I'm requesting that the page be edited rather than making the edits myself.

First, the article states: "In March 2015, TrueCar was sued and the company was found guilty of false advertising of its non-negotiation policy and violations of the Lanham Act. the case was later dismissed, in 2019, and was followed by the filing of an investor lawsuit."

This statement contains three errors:

1. TrueCar was not "found guilty" of anything. The ruling in question was a denial of TrueCar's motion to dismiss; that is, it determined only that a jury should consider the claim. Then, the court later revisited its decision and dismissed the plaintiffs' case.

2. The statement implies a connection to the investor's securities lawsuit. There is no connection. The cases are unrelated and involve different claims.

3. The statement also implies that the investor's suit came after the dismissal of the Lanham Act case, which is also incorrect. The investor's suit was filed before the Lanham Act case was dismissed, although, as noted above, that is an irrelevant fact because the cases are unrelated.

The dockets for both of those cases are publicly available on PACER, and in fact the PACER docket is cited in the current article (footnote 29).

Second, the article states: "In December 2017, Truecar settled with shareholders for an amount in excess of $28 million for violating the Securities Act of 1934 by providing false information to investors. The State of California had filed the suit for violation of state laws."

This statement also contains three factual errors:

1. The statement collapses two separate lawsuits. The lawsuit that was settled in December 2017 was filed by the California New Car Dealers Association for alleged violation of state laws. Here is a link to an Automotive News article on the settlement: https://www.autonews.com/article/20171214/RETAIL07/171219814/truecar-california-dealers-association-settle-lawsuit.

2. The State of California did not file that lawsuit. The State of California has never sued TrueCar for anything.

3. The shareholder litigation was filed in March 2018 and preliminarily settled in August 2019 (not December 2017). A final approval hearing has been scheduled for January 2020. This information is also available on PACER. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.37.138.218 (talk) 00:43, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

Reply 12-NOV-2019

• I appreciate your clarification of these items. However, it is not enough that these nuances exist. They need to be incorporated by you into verbatim sentences which can then be added, once approved, to the article.
• To that end, please devise the appropriate claim statements which lay out this information correctly, and then propose those statements here on the talk page. Those claim statements need to be worded exactly to how they will appear in the article, along with the appurtenant verifying references. Any text which is proposed to be removed should also be stated verbatim in the request. Kindly open a new edit request when ready to proceed with this proposed verbatim text.
• Also note that all posts made to the talk page need to be signed by you by using four tildes.

Regards,  Spintendo  10:39, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

References

Edit request: updates following 2026 take-private and restructuring

Hello. In line with WP:COI and WP:PAID, I'm disclosing that I am an employee of TRUECar, so I am not editing the article directly. I'm requesting the changes below for review by an independent editor. Each change is supported by a published source, and I've tried to keep the wording neutral. Please accept, adjust or decline any of them. Thank you. ~2026-56246-57 (talk) 17:38, 21 October 2026 (UTC)

1. Infobox: remove current stock listing

• Current: Traded as: Nasdaq: TRUE
• Proposed: Remove the traded_as field (the company was delisted when it went private; the listing history is covered in the body).
• Reason: The infobox shows the company as both "Private" and trading on Nasdaq.
• Source:

2. Infobox: update financials to the last public filing

• Current: Revenue US$161.5 million (2022); Operating income US$−65.9 million (2022); Net income US$−60.1 million (2022)
• Proposed: Revenue US$175.6 million (2024); Operating income US$−37.2 million (2024); Net income US$−31.0 million (2024)
• Reason: FY2024 is the most recent annual report filed before the company went private. (The 2022 figures also appear inconsistent with the 2022 column of the FY2024 10-K, which reports a 2022 net loss of US$118.7 million.)
• Source:

3. Infobox: employee count typo

• Current: Number of employees: −340 (2023)
• Proposed: Remove the minus sign, or remove the field if editors prefer not to show a pre-2026 figure (the company reported workforce reductions in 2026; see item 6).

4. Infobox: key people

• Current: Scott Painter (CEO), Leopold Visser (President), Jeffrey J. Swart (general counsel)
• Proposed: Keep Scott Painter (CEO) with the citation below. For the other two names I could not find coverage in independent reliable sources, so editors may wish to tag or remove them per WP:V.
• Source:

5. History: expand the take-private paragraph

• Current: On January 21, 2026, it was announced that Fair Holdings, Inc. had completed the purchase of TRUECar in a take-private transaction. Fair Holdings is a company formed by a group of investors led by co-founder Painter and which has Zurich North America and AutoNation as some of its partners.
• Proposed:

In October 2025, following a strategic review that began in late 2024, TRUECar agreed to be acquired by Fair Holdings, Inc., a company led by founder Scott Painter, for $2.55 per share in cash, an equity value of about $227 million. Stockholders approved the deal on December 23, 2025, and it closed on January 21, 2026, after which TRUECar's shares were delisted from Nasdaq and Painter returned as chief executive officer. The investor group included PenFed Credit Union, Zurich North America, AutoNation and Atlantic Coast Automotive, and PenFed chief executive James Schenck joined the board of Fair Holdings.

• Reason: Adds the deal terms, timeline and delisting, and replaces the sole press-release citation with independent sources.

6. History: add 2026 restructuring

• Proposed (new paragraph after item 5):

In February 2026, TRUECar said it would wind down three initiatives: TrueCar+, an end-to-end online car-buying service; TrueCar Marketing Solutions; and its wholesale subsidiary, TrueCar Wholesale Solutions, which stopped buying vehicles. Later that month it announced an organizational realignment that included a reduction of about 30% of its workforce.

7. Neutral wording: 2023 CEO change

• Current: On June 14, 2023, CEO Michael Darrow resigned after leading the company to four straight years of declining financial results.
• Proposed: On June 14, 2023, CEO Michael Darrow resigned.
• Reason: The evaluative clause is not supported by the cited TechCrunch article as far as I can tell (WP:NPOV, WP:V). Editors may also want to check Reigersman's prior title against the source; some coverage describes him as chief operating officer rather than CFO.

8. Lead: description of the business

• Current: TRUECar, Inc. is an American car retailing website company...
• Proposed: TRUECar, Inc. is an American online automotive marketplace...
• Reason: The company does not sell, broker or lease vehicles itself; independent coverage describes it as a digital automotive marketplace.

9. Style and citation fixes

• The Seeking Alpha citation ("TrueCar Has No Profits But Billion Dollar Valuation") is dated June 17, 2004; it should be 2014 (the company was not public until 2014).
• The Austin, Texas sales office claim is supported only by 2014 sources and may be outdated; editors may wish to add {{Update inline}}.

References

Response: 2026-10-25

1. Infobox: remove current stock listing

Partly done: noted as former.

2. Infobox: update financials to the last public filing

Partly done: I updated the revenue and I removed the other two fields as I did not see those literal values in the source (and I am not an accountant)

3. Infobox: employee count typo

Partly done: I have removed this

4. Infobox: key people

Done

5. History: expand the take-private paragraph

Partly done: I have added the source provided but otherwise I think that the current form is more clear and less puffed up.

6. History: add 2026 restructuring

Partly done: I have added the reduction to the workforce. The rest seems like rather routine changes to organizational hierarchy.

7. Neutral wording: 2023 CEO change

Done

8. Lead: description of the business

Partly done: I have preferred the more straightforward description in "AN2026"

9. Style and citation fixes

Done

I have marked this request as partially done. Packrat3860 (talk) 20:21, 25 October 2026 (UTC)