David Sturtz
Founder & CEO
Today we launch CarMagic, a project I started more than 2 years ago and have dreamt about for more than a decade. What began as a quest to apply predictive analytics to improve mechanical risk underwriting has led to a complete reinvention of the car ownership experience. We’re building CarMagic to deliver Effortless Ownership™ to tens of millions of drivers. Our first product, the Gold Plan, a professionally managed maintenance and repair subscription service, represents the first step on this journey.
Since founding RepairPal in 2007 and holding leadership positions at Xtime, TrueCar and Dealer-FX, I’ve spent many, many hours thinking about how to make life easier for car owners. It’s almost 2023 and most people still find maintaining and repairing a car to keep it running safely and efficiently an inconvenient, risky, and frustrating experience. Whether you go to a dealership, chain, or independent shop, all operate on outdated, non-integrated, poorly maintained systems that deliver a disjointed, mostly-analog, and frustrating customer experience.
Does anyone want another multi-page stapled repair invoice to store in a folder somewhere? Care to play phone tag with and decipher voicemails from a service advisor? Are you still getting service reminder emails for a car you sold five years ago but nothing for the car you actually own? I am.
What’s surprising is that the industry has allowed this frustration to persist despite rising consumer expectations to be able to manage everything important in their life on their phone. CarMagic changes the game by delivering a revolutionary ownership experience, one that’s never been available before. We’ve taken a data-driven, customer-first approach to the entire vehicle ownership cycle, initially focused on maintenance and repair, and integrated all of the pieces required to deliver a radically convenient, stress-free, and affordable experience — we call it Effortless. With CarMagic, it takes just 4 taps to get through every service visit with confidence, and this includes scheduling the next visit.
Today we go live with our first product, the Gold Plan, which covers all of a car’s regular maintenance and 50% of needed repairs, as well as convenient access to expert help and emergency roadside assistance. Like all CarMagic plans, each car’s care is overseen by our team of automotive experts who manage every service visit to ensure each car gets exactly what it needs to stay in tip top shape at the best price. We make it effortless and affordable to manage all your family’s cars, keeping each on schedule, managing every service visit, automagically applying coverage and storing all service records in the app (rates start at $54.95/mo). We’re initially targeting out-of-factory-warranty cars with under 120K miles, a 100+ million vehicle opportunity in the US, and will expand coverage over time.
With CarMagic, drivers can finally put their auto care on autopilot™, and it’s going to change how people maintain, repair, and own their vehicles. In time, we’ll add plans for tires, washes, valet delivery, and every other piece of the ownership experience. The customer-first revolution in car ownership has finally arrived.
We couldn’t have created CarMagic without our fantastic partner Ensurety, the parent company of Omega Auto Care and DriveAmerica. In business since 1968, it’s been a leading provider of automotive protection and service products that deliver 5-star service to more than 15 million customers nationwide. Together, we’re working with large private-label partners to deliver effortless ownership to their members and customers.
As we kick off our public debut, I want to thank the many people who’ve contributed to our launch, most of all my incredible team of startup ninjas including Aaron Tavistock, Pat O’Brien and Brian Fox, Brian Abrams, Arthur Krupsky and Greg Adams, our investors and our serious-value-adding advisors Adam Galper, Gaurav Kohli, Dina El Toukhy, Bob Dubow, David Dwelley, David Coolidge, and Erica Sietsma.
Learn more about CarMagic and sign up for a plan today! Or inquire about how your business can partner with CarMagic to bring effortless ownership to your customers.
