FAQ
Questions, answered straight
The product
It is the entire point. Describe your life - budget, commute, kids, road trips - and Carlyle translates it into a search, explains every assumption it makes, and rates each result in plain English. You never need to know what a drivetrain is.
Live franchise and independent dealer inventory across the US, refreshed continuously. When you see a car in Carlyle, it is a real listing at a real dealer, linked so you can verify it yourself.
"Exceptional Deal" through "Overpriced" - the model weighs the asking price against the useful miles the car realistically has left, so a cheap car with no life left rates worse than a pricier one with years ahead. The estimated out-the-door total includes tax, registration, and typical fees.
No. We take no dealer money - no advertising, no referral fees, no lead sales. Rankings come from the value model alone.
Pricing & billing
A real chat is free every day. Plus is $10/month (3 chats a day with negotiation data), Unlimited is $50/month. The human negotiation service is a flat $250. Inventory alerts are $1 per new vehicle found, capped at $25/month. Everything is on the pricing page.
From your account, anytime. Plans stay active through the period you paid for and then stop. Alerts can be paused or deleted instantly.
No - it buys the negotiation work, not a guaranteed outcome, and we say so up front. We also tell you before you pay when a car is already priced so well that negotiation isn't worth it. Details on the negotiation page.
Trust & data
Not because of us. Most "free" car sites sell your phone number to dealerships as a lead - that is their business model. Carlyle never shares your contact information with dealers. The only time a dealer hears from us is when our negotiator contacts them, on your behalf.
Your email, your searches, and your conversations with the consultant - used to run the product, nothing else. Payments are handled by Stripe; we never see your card number. The full policy is in the privacy policy.
No tool can promise that. Ratings and out-the-door estimates are statistical models, listings change by the hour, and the final price is always between you and the dealer. Carlyle exists to put better information and leverage on your side of the table - verify anything that matters before you sign.
Something else? support@carlyle.vin - a human reads it.