Another local take-private deal has closed.
TrueCar Inc., a Santa Monica-based car shopping platform, announced on Wednesday it closed a $227 million deal with Fair Holdings Inc. to take the company private. The deal was backed by a slew of investors including AutoNation Inc., one of the largest automotive dealers in the U.S.; insurance company Zurich American Insurance Co.; and PenFed Credit Union.
The deal, which was first announced in October, values TrueCar at $2.55 a share. TrueCar’s shares were trading at $2.17 each on Wednesday before it was taken off the market.
TrueCar founder Scott Painter is returning as the chief executive of the company more than a decade after stepping down in 2015.
“Nearly 10% of everyone who buys a car goes through TrueCar,” Painter told the Business Journal. “One of the things that we will be focused on is bringing TrueCar into the current technology stack.”
A windy road
Founded in 2005 with Painter at the helm, TrueCar was a first mover in the online car buying space, allowing prospective drivers to comparison shop new and used cars online and connect them with dealers who may have never otherwise made the sale at a brick-and-mortar dealership.
TrueCar pinpointed a growing pain in the car-buying experience – buyers, some unfamiliar with the necessary car jargon that sets different vehicles apart, had to visit multiple dealerships, talk to workers eager to make a sale, and haggle on pricing. According to a 2026 survey from Cox Automotive Group, 75% of vehicle buyers preferred shopping via third-party websites rather than searching through dealerships’ online presence.
The company raised $125 million when it went public in 2014. Around that time, new entrants into the online vehicle marketplace like Vroom Inc., Carvana Co. and Shift Technologies Inc. came onto the scene.
But as online car marketplaces became more popular, dealerships struggled to meet their quarterly or yearly financial projections. By 2013, a third of all dealers on TrueCar decided to cut ties with the company because they believed TrueCar’s price comparison feature forced them to slash their prices, cutting into their profit-making abilities. The move opened an investigation from the Federal Trade Commission on whether companies intentionally worked together to cut out TrueCar.
Painter stepped down as the chief executive of TrueCar in 2015, following unfavorable earnings and skirmishes with California New Car Dealers Association and AutoNation, two of the largest car dealer institutions in the U.S.
“Delivering a better car buying experience and savings for consumers isn’t anti-dealer, because when a customer is ready to buy, they’re well informed and they have trust. You sell more cars. It’s just that simple,” Painter said. “And so both things must be true. Customers have to have a better experience, they have to save time and money, and dealers have to sell more cars.”
Full speed ahead
Today, companies like TrueCar are navigating the shifting tariff landscape, a shortage of materials delaying the production of new cars and the shuttering of franchise dealerships.
Nonetheless, TrueCar has held onto its piece of the car buying marketplace while navigating the tariff landscape. The company developed new tools to help car dealerships gain insights on their customers. It’s leveraging artificial intelligence to make the vehicle selling and buying process easier.
Painter said he’s implementing a return-to-office culture to reinvigorate TrueCar internally as well as externally.
“I’m excited to have a place where we can all gather again and talk about these ideas,” Painter said. “And I think that’s going to help the culture and get us back on track.”
