CarGurus was founded in 2006 by Langley Steinert, a co-founder of TripAdvisor. Langley Steinert was the company's CEO until January, 2021 when CFO Jason Trevisan was named as the company's CEO. The company started off as an automotive community blog where consumers could post reviews and questions about local dealers, shops, and types of cars. Dealers expressed interest in advertising on the site, and the company changed its business strategy to connect dealers and consumers by putting inventory on the site.
From 2009 to 2011, the company's visitor traffic increased from 9 million per month to 21 million per month.
