Cartelligent
Cartelligent is a California-only auto broker founded in 2000 that pairs individual buyers, fleet customers, and employer affinity groups with advisors who source, negotiate, and deliver new vehicles through four delivery centers on a tiered fee structure.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersSausalito, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Cartelligent does
Cartelligent is a California-based auto broker founded in 2000 that intermediates between new-vehicle buyers and the state’s dealer network on a fee-for-service basis. The company matches each client with a dedicated advisor who sources the requested make/model across California dealerships, negotiates terms, manages paperwork, and delivers the vehicle through one of four delivery centers (Sausalito HQ, Menlo Park, Walnut Creek, Irvine) or via home/office delivery. Pricing is tiered: a free Consultation, a $595 Full-Service tier, and a $995 White-Glove tier; a separate Fleet package starts at $395; and a Sell My Car service books the seller side. The company also operates a structural moat through advisors with prior dealership experience at brands including Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Audi, Land Rover, Subaru, Volvo, Ford, and Lincoln.
The business model is professional services revenue plus transaction fees: consumer fees for buyer brokerage, fleet package fees, and B2B partnership revenue from dealerships and OEMs receiving closed sales and qualified trade-ins. Go-to-market is sales-led with personalized consultation, supplemented by affinity partnerships with employers (B2B2C), dealer and OEM channel partnerships, and a partnership with Drive Clean Bay Area for EV/clean-vehicle rebate participants. The operating geography is strictly California, with all deliveries and registrations required to occur in-state.
The technology layer is minimal: a website intake form, a published pricing page, and human advisors using dealer network relationships accumulated over 25 years. There is no public API, no proprietary AI/ML capability, no mobile app, and no disclosed patents or trademarks. The 15+ named advisors plus support staff support a service model that has cumulatively delivered 50,000 cars against a 2025 customer satisfaction rating of 9.80/10 and BBB A+ accreditation. The company is a privately held California LLC, founder-led and bootstrapped, with no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or acquisition activity.
Cartelligent firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cartelligent
- Legal name
- Cartelligent, LLC
- Website
- https://cartelligent.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cartelligent is a California-only auto broker founded in 2000 that pairs individual buyers, fleet customers, and employer affinity groups with advisors who source, negotiate, and deliver new vehicles through four delivery centers on a tiered fee structure.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cartelligent industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Auto Brokerage Services
- NAICS
- Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers (42512)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Automotive / Vehicle Transport Brokerage (TLADAMAM)
Keywords
Where Cartelligent is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sausalito
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
Cartelligent business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Full-Service Auto Brokerage Fees: Three-tier fee structure for car buying and leasing services. Consultation is free, Full-Service costs $595, and White-Glove service costs $995. Fees cover vehicle sourcing, expert negotiation, paperwork handling, and delivery coordination.
- Fleet Services Fees: $395 base package for fleet vehicle acquisition services, with additional vehicles purchased at $100 each. Includes consultation, vehicle sourcing, negotiation, and delivery.
- Dealership and OEM Partnership Revenue: Partnership fees from dealerships and OEMs who receive closed sales and qualified leads through Cartelligent's client base. Cartelligent generates sales for dealer partners at lower acquisition costs.
- Vehicle Trade-in and Remarketing: Revenue from facilitating trade-ins and fleet remarketing services, including picking up and disposing of vehicles clients no longer need.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | One-time | Consultation - Free |
| Unit Pricing | One-time | Full-Service - $595 |
| Unit Pricing | One-time | White-Glove - $995 |
| Unit Pricing | One-time | Fleet Package - $395 base |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Cartelligent product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cartelligent operates as a human-assisted auto broker that helps California consumers and businesses buy, lease, or sell new vehicles without visiting dealerships. Experienced automotive advisors source vehicles across California's dealer network, negotiate below-market pricing, manage paperwork, and arrange delivery to one of four regional delivery centers or to a home/office location.
Product overview
Cartelligent is a California-based auto broker offering a tiered human-assisted car buying and leasing service. The core offering spans three service tiers: a free Consultation tier, a $595 Full-Service tier (including vehicle location, expert negotiation, and delivery center pickup), and a $995 White-Glove tier (adding home/office delivery). Supporting services include a Sell My Car program, a Fleet program at $395, an Affinity Program for employee benefits, and Dealer & OEM Partnerships. The company has operated since 2000 with delivery centers across California (Sausalito, Menlo Park, Walnut Creek, Irvine).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Consultation
Quantifiable outcome
- 9.80 out of 10 customer satisfaction rating (2025)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Cartelligent
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Cartelligent technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Cartelligent partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- California DealershipscoreCartelligent partners with individual dealerships and dealership networks throughout California. Dealerships receive closed, qualified new car sales rather than just leads, with lower acquisition costs than traditional marketing. Cartelligent also delivers quality trade-ins and lease returns to partner dealerships.
- Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)coreOEMs partnering with Cartelligent ensure their vehicles reach dependable buyers who understand brand loyalty and convenience. Shoppers using Cartelligent tend to be brand-loyal and return for future purchases, helping OEMs maintain customer relationships.
- Employer Affinity PartnersminorCompanies offering Cartelligent as an employee benefit. Employers receive a discounted rate to offer employees, with no contracts or long-term obligations. Cartelligent provides a dedicated web page and marketing collateral for the employer's team.
- Drive Clean Bay AreaminorPartnership with Drive Clean Bay Area providing car buying services to participants in clean vehicle rebate and incentive programs. Cartelligent services are offered as a perk for eligible EV buyers.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cartelligent competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- TrueCar: Online platform that delivers transparent pricing and dealer connections for new and used vehicles. Touches Cartelligent's pricing-transparency and dealer-intermediation value propositions at significantly larger national scale.
- AutoNation: Largest U.S. auto dealer group with growing digital and home-delivery capabilities (including its 2022 acquisition of Roadster, a direct Cartelligent-style concierge). Competes both as a dealer channel partner and increasingly as a direct concierge provider.
- CarMax: Largest U.S. used-vehicle retailer with home delivery and a no-haggle pricing model. Operates at national scale against Cartelligent's California-only, advisor-mediated new-car offering, and offers a competing 'skip the dealership' value proposition.
- CarGurus: Leading U.S. car-shopping marketplace with pricing analytics and dealer-directory listings. Overlaps Cartelligent's informational and search-discovery benefits at much larger consumer reach, with national inventory breadth.
- Cars.com: Major online vehicle marketplace with research tools, dealer reviews, and inventory search. Competes for the consumer-empowerment and information-asymmetry niche Cartelligent monetizes through pricing-transparency content.
- Carvana: Pure online used-car retailer with home delivery and a streamlined, no-haggle buying experience. Replicates much of Cartelligent's convenience value prop digitally, though focused on used vehicles rather than new-car brokerage.
- AutoTrader: Long-running national vehicle listings and consumer-research marketplace (owned by Cox Automotive alongside Kelley Blue Book). Provides the scale-driven discovery and pricing-benchmark alternative to Cartelligent's advisor-led model.
Direct peers
- Your Auto Advocate: New-vehicle buying concierge service that pairs buyers with advisors to negotiate pricing and handle paperwork with dealerships. Direct closest competitor to Cartelligent's white-glove advisor model, though not regionally bound to California.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cartelligent social profiles
Digital presenceCartelligent financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cartelligent leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles15 records
Cartelligent funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cartelligent M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cartelligent
What does Cartelligent do?
Cartelligent operates as a human-assisted auto broker that helps California consumers and businesses buy, lease, or sell new vehicles without visiting dealerships. Experienced automotive advisors source vehicles across California's dealer network, negotiate below-market pricing, manage paperwork, and arrange delivery to one of four regional delivery centers or to a home/office location.
Is Cartelligent a public or private company?
Cartelligent is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cartelligent founded?
Cartelligent was founded in 2000. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cartelligent based?
Cartelligent is headquartered in Sausalito, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cartelligent make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Full-Service Auto Brokerage Fees are the primary driver. The others are fleet Services Fees, dealership and OEM Partnership Revenue and vehicle Trade-in and Remarketing.
Who are Cartelligent's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are TrueCar, AutoNation, CarMax, CarGurus, Cars.com, Carvana and AutoTrader. Your Auto Advocate is listed as a direct peer.
Does Cartelligent have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cartelligent.
What industry is Cartelligent in?
Cartelligent's product category is Auto Brokerage Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is TLADAMAM, Automotive / Vehicle Transport Brokerage. Its NAICS code is 42512.