1. Agreement and operator
Dealer Handshake Inc., a Delaware corporation, operates Car Handshake. By using the service, you agree to these Consumer Terms and our Privacy Notice. If you do not agree, do not use the service.
2. Eligibility
You must be at least 13 to use Car Handshake. If you are under the age of legal majority where you live, use the service only with permission and supervision from a parent or legal guardian where required. You must have authority to provide any information you submit and to request contact on your own behalf.
3. Marketplace role
Dealer Handshake Inc. is not a vehicle dealer, seller, broker, lender, insurer, appraiser, or party to a vehicle transaction. Listings, pricing, media, specifications, availability, dealership hours and services, and dealer content come from participating dealerships and their authorized providers.
4. Listing information
Inventory can change without notice. Prices may exclude taxes, title, registration, destination, dealer-installed products, documentation fees, financing qualifications, incentives, or other charges. Verify the vehicle, price, currency, mileage, condition, history, availability, eligibility, and final terms directly with the dealership before relying on them.
5. Search, ranking, and AI output
Natural-language search and compatible AI services may interpret, rank, compare, or summarize returned listing information. Their output can be incomplete or wrong. Match explanations are informational and are not professional, safety, legal, financial, or purchasing advice. Car Handshake does not accept payment to place one matching vehicle above another; dealership participation does not guarantee ranking or inclusion in a particular answer.
6. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and other AI hosts
When you use Car Handshake through ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or another host, that host's terms, privacy notice, account rules, availability, and model behavior also apply. The host decides when to invoke a connector and how to present results. Dealer Handshake does not control the host's conversation history or model output.
7. Dealer requests and confirmation
Read-only inventory and dealership searches do not require a Car Handshake account. A dealer inquiry, test-drive request, appointment preference, or trade-in appraisal request requires the contact details, consent, and confirmation requested by the applicable tool. A request is not a confirmed appointment, reservation, offer, appraisal, purchase, or sale. The selected dealership decides whether and how to respond.
8. Consent and communications
When you confirm a write action, you authorize Dealer Handshake to send the request and its consent record to the selected dealership and its configured CRM, email, or lead-routing providers. The dealership is independently responsible for follow-up. Marketing communications require any additional consent required by law. You may not submit another person's contact details without authority.
9. No transaction or payment service
Car Handshake does not take vehicle payments, bind financing, reserve inventory, execute a purchase contract, or guarantee a trade-in value. Any transaction, deposit, financing, warranty, or other agreement is solely between you and the dealership or other provider.
10. Acceptable use
Do not interfere with the service, bypass rate limits, scrape at abusive volume, submit false or unauthorized leads, inject malicious instructions, impersonate another person, probe private systems, copy personal data for unrelated purposes, or use the service unlawfully. We may block or limit unsafe traffic.
11. Public API and connectors
Anonymous API and MCP read access is offered on a reasonable-use basis and may be rate-limited, changed, suspended, or versioned. Do not remove source attribution, misrepresent inventory freshness or coverage, expose internal identifiers as consumer facts, or imply that Dealer Handshake or a dealership endorses your product.
12. Coverage and service availability
Coverage depends on participating dealerships and their publication choices. Car Handshake supports the United States and supported Canadian regions outside Quebec, but not every location has inventory and Canadian availability may be enabled in stages. We may change, suspend, or discontinue features for security, legal, operational, or product reasons.
13. Third-party services
Dealership websites, AI hosts, vehicle-history services, maps, financing providers, and other linked services have their own terms and privacy practices. A link, connector, or technical relationship does not imply endorsement or affiliation.
14. Intellectual property and feedback
Car Handshake and its software, design, and branding are protected by applicable law. Dealership and vehicle-maker names and marks belong to their owners. You may use the service for lawful personal vehicle shopping, but may not copy, resell, or exploit it except as expressly permitted. If you send feedback, you permit us to use it without an obligation to compensate you.
15. Disclaimers
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the service is provided “as is” and “as available.” Dealer Handshake disclaims warranties of accuracy, availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. Some jurisdictions do not allow every disclaimer.
16. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Dealer Handshake Inc. and its personnel will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, lost opportunities, or losses arising from dealer conduct, AI-host output, or a vehicle transaction. Applicable law may provide non-waivable rights.
17. Changes and termination
We may enforce limits or suspend access for security, legal, abuse-prevention, or operational reasons. Updated terms apply from the stated effective date. Material changes will be presented through an appropriate service notice where required. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination will survive.
18. Governing law
These Terms are governed by Delaware law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, except where applicable consumer law requires otherwise.
19. Contact
Questions, support requests, or legal notices: support@dealerhandshake.com. See the Support page for connector troubleshooting and security-reporting instructions.