Reservation Deposit Consumer Terms and Conditions

The below terms govern your participation in CarGurus Reservation Deposits service. In connection with your participation in this service, either as a customer or a dealer, you agree to the below terms as they apply to you and will cooperate with CarGurus and the service providers as is reasonably necessary to allow CarGurus to provide such service. These terms shall supplement the CarGurus Terms and Conditions of Use, to which you have previously agreed if you have used our site. Any capitalized terms not defined herein are defined as set forth in the CarGurus Terms and Conditions of Use.

Processing a Reservation Deposit

With CarGurus Reservation Deposits, customers may place a deposit on certain vehicles through the Platform and CarGurus will manage receipt of such deposit on behalf of a dealer (such management described herein as "reservation deposits" or similar references).

For vehicles offered for a deposit on the Platform by dealers using reservation deposits, such vehicles may be reserved by customers by placing a $500 deposit through our Site, subject to the dealer’s confirmation. The dealer shall confirm the reservation within a reasonable period of time after the customer requests such reservation and, if available, reserve the vehicle for a period of 72 hours after the dealer confirms reservation. The dealer shall regularly check their dashboard in order to timely respond to reservation requests. During this time, the deposit will display as a hold on the customer’s method of payment and the hold will remain on the customer’s method of payment for up to 7 days. If the sale is not completed within 7 days, the reservation will be cancelled and the $500 deposit will be returned to the customer. If the customer chooses to purchase the vehicle after the reservation has been cancelled, the customer should contact either CarGurus or the dealer and the dealer may still capture the $500 deposit through the payment method provided by the customer.

Once the vehicle purchase is confirmed, the dealer shall mark the sale as confirmed and the $500 deposit will be charged to the method of payment provided by the customer. The $500 deposit, less any credit card and processing fees and taxes, shall be paid to the dealer. Upon successful purchase of the vehicle from the dealer, the $500 deposit shall be applied to the down payment of the vehicle.

CarGurus will manage settlement of the payment to the dealer. However, the contract for the purchase of the vehicle is solely between dealer and the customer in the same manner as transactions for which CarGurus does not manage payments.

The deposit shall be fully refundable up until the sale is marked as confirmed on the dealer’s dashboard or, where required by state regulation, until vehicle delivery is complete. Prior to entering into a final purchase agreement, the dealer or the customer may cancel the reservation for any reason. If the dealer cancels the deposit in their dashboard, the dealer shall provide a reason for such cancellation. Upon cancellation, the hold will be removed from the customer’s credit card. You, as a customer, may cancel a reservation by contacting the dealer and request a refund of your deposit or by contacting CarGurus via the options here.

CarGurus may use third-party payment service providers to assist in providing the managed payments experience, including companies that process payments, perform risk assessments or compliance checks, verify identity, and validate payment methods. For example, Stripe, Inc. (“Stripe”), its affiliates and service providers process the payment of the deposit and complete the transfer and management of deposits between the customer and the dealer.

By completing purchases from dealers who use reservation deposits, customers authorize CarGurus to initiate payments through Stripe and place a hold on the customer’s credit card of choice of the reservation deposit amount of $500 on behalf of dealer. CUSTOMERS AGREE AND UNDERSTAND THAT THE RESERVATION DEPOSITS SERVICE IS FOR THE LIMITED PURPOSE OF RECEIVING  DEPOSITS ON BEHALF OF DEALER. Accordingly, payments received by CarGurus from customers are considered a deposit for the vehicle a shopper agrees to purchase.

Privacy

We will collect personal and financial information and any other documentation necessary for the completion of the reservation deposit, including, but not limited to, the customer’s name, email address, phone number and credit card information.  The customer is responsible for maintaining the accuracy and completeness of the information we have on file, and the customer will only provide information about payment methods that the customer is authorized to use on the Platform. THE CUSTOMER AGREES THAT IT HAS THE AUTHORITY AND ELIGIBILITY TO COMPLETE THE DEPOSIT RESERVATION WITH THE METHOD OF PAYMENT IT PROVIDES ON THE PLATFORM.

The customer consents to us, our affiliates, the dealer and necessary service providers, including Stripe and certain payment method providers, such as Visa and Mastercard, (i) collecting, using, retaining and disclosing such customer’s personal and financial information for the purpose of providing the deposit reservation service, (ii) contacting them using the contact information that is provided to us and (iii) processing payments, including charging the customer’s chosen method of payment, to complete the deposit reservation. Stripe, our payment processor service provider, may share the customer’s information with its affiliates and third-party service providers in order to provide the service, but Stripe will not send the customer’s information to unaffiliated parties for marketing purposes. CarGurus, its affiliates or necessary service providers may automatically save payment information, such as credit card or debit card numbers, and card expiration dates, or financial and banking account numbers shared by the customer with CarGurus in connection with the managed payments. All parties have agreed to keep such information confidential.

CarGurus will use and share the information you provide consistent with the written instructions you provide to CarGurus to manage the reservation deposit and in accordance with its Privacy Policy, available at: www.cargurus.com/Cars/privacyPolicy.html.

Stripe will use and share the information you provide consistent with the written instructions you provide to CarGurus to process the reservation deposit and in accordance with its Privacy Policy, available at:  https://stripe.com/privacy.

Any payment method provider, such as Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express, will use and share the information that you provide consistent with the written instructions you provide to process the reservation deposit and in accordance with its applicable privacy policy.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

By participating in the CarGurus Reservation Deposits service, you, as a customer, agree to abide by and be bound by the dispute resolution process, as set forth in Reservation Deposit Policy

ADDITIONAL CUSTOMER TERMS

If you are a customer completing a purchase from a dealer that is using the reservation deposit service:

  • In certain instances, your transaction may be declined, frozen, or held for any reason including for suspected fraud, AML compliance, high risk or potential violation of any CarGurus policies, or a policy of one of CarGurus’ third-party payment services providers.
  • You represent that you have the authority and eligibility to complete the deposit reservation with the method of payment you provide on the Platform.
  • You may dispute a transaction or seek returns or cancellations for a reservation deposit in the same manner as you would for transactions through the Platform for which CarGurus does not manage payments.
  • You agree not to reverse, stop or otherwise interfere with the processing of a reservation deposit once it is initiated via the Platform. Please reach out via the contact options here if you have a managed payment issue.
  • You agree to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, rules and terms and conditions in connection with the use of CarGurus Reservations service. You understand that some third parties, such as credit and debit card issuers, credit and debit card networks and payments services providers, may have their own terms and conditions for the payment or settlement methods you choose to use in connection with managed payments transactions. Failure to abide by third party terms and conditions may result in fees assessed to you (for example, currency conversion fees from your credit card issuer if the transaction currency is different from your credit card currency) or other actions taken by such third parties, and you agree that CarGurus has no control over, or responsibility or liability for, such fees or actions. You access and use any third party service based on your own evaluation and at your own risk. You understand that your use of any third party service is not governed by these terms. We expressly disclaim all responsibility and liability for your use of any third-party service.

    YOU USE THE CARGURUS RESERVATION DEPOSITS SERVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK AND NEITHER CARGURUS, INC. NOR ITS AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY SORT ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF SUCH SERVICE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, OR OTHER DAMAGES OF ANY KIND. BECAUSE SOME STATES/JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CARGURUS ALSO DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR ANY DIRECT DAMAGES BASED ON YOUR USE OF THE CARGURUS RESERVATION DEPOSITS SERVICE. IF CARGURUS IS FOUND TO BE LIABLE UNDER THESE TERMS, INCLUDING FOR DIRECT OR ANY TYPE OF DAMAGES, OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY IS LIMITED TO $500.YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY CARGURUS AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, PARTNERS, AND LICENSORS, AND HOLD ALL OF THE FOREGOING HARMLESS, FROM AND AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, LIABILITY AND EXPENSES, INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEY’S FEES, ARISING FROM OR RELATED IN ANY WAY TO YOUR USE OF THE CARGURUS RESERVATION DEPOSITS SERVICE OR ANY BREACH OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

    Did this answer your question? Thanks for the feedback There was a problem submitting your feedback. Please try again later.