I had my first(and probably last) experience at Cars24.com’s partner showrooms/offices, only today.
To begin with the good things:
– If it works out as promised, which it does for some people, it is the best way to sell off your car, I believe. This is because I have been in the habit of selling off my present car to the dealership(of the next car) in exchange. This simplifies a lot of things, amongst which the major ones for me being the hassle of finding customers(and then haggling), transfers and related paperwork, and having to deal with cash and such. So they get points for bringing a really good concept to this market.
– Also, the inspection staff that came with me to inspect my vehicle was very knowledgeable and courteous. They were fair in pointing out certain things of the inspection process which might be considered to be biased against the seller.(To be clear, I am not saying these are purposefully so, but that such things happen when you are trying to design a standard process. I have been someone who was involved in processes and controlling, so it is only fair that I pass on the benefit of doubt.) The inspection guys were sincerely doing their job which only that of inspection and reporting – and not valuation.
– Last but not the least, talking of processes, they have great tech infrastructure which makes the UX very smooth(if I may not say great for sake of conservativeness) from the time you approach them via the website, till you are shown the offered amount(and am sure thereafter as well). And why not, that is their biggest USP!
Thus, there is no harm in trying them out once; if you get a decent enough offer–which I don’t think might be the norm–, then everything is gold.(All the best.)
Now for what is not so great, and where the experience fails the advertising:
– The process is not that of inspection an d offer, but that of inspection > internal bidding between their “original business partners”(or something of the sort) > their offer from an auction > your acceptance > transfer of money > transfer of vehicle within a month(they had informed).
– I received a ridiculously lowballed offer. Which is also something I am OK with, to an extent, in the world of OLX trading. However, then are these guys as good as the lowballers on OLX–especially after all that advertisement of ‘higher than market valuvation’–is the question that begs to be asked. There were guys on OLX, in fact, who had posted the same car as mine, with more KMs, at more than twice Cars24’s offer. And this is in comparison to average quotes on such platforms, for a car like mine, mind you. Then the owner/manager of that outfit had the audacity to tell me that this was the “market price”, when it was completely out of sync with what the market was doing, and in fact this price was decided by a few-tens of people who were privy to their ‘live auction’, for all one knows.
– Also, they do not seem to be keen on discussing what happens to these vehicles, per se. I mean, if they are reselling these cars, obviously, they can not offer you more than market, otherwise where would they earn, and bear costs of all the infrastructure. But then, make it clear so that people who expect a ‘good price’ don’t waste their time and energy – it tool almost 2-2.5 hours waiting for the whole thing, to get this unreasonable quote.
– Even after having offered that quote, the owner/manager tried to explain how my car brand(Skoda) had a lower resale etc. It can have a comparable lower% resale, than a traditionally popular to be low-maintenance brand like a Maruti or a Hyundai(which is also a myth in the lower end of the segment by the way – an excuse that a professional car salesman should no longer propagate); however, a high value, high quality product will still bear its own depreciation rate that is respectable. And if that were the case, are all those people that have been listing at 2.2x or more of the Cars24 quote, really selling off at the end of it, at 40% of their original quote – who negotiates like that, and how could they all–? Plus, rates of cars have gone up. It doesn’t change the buying value for a seller, but for the buyer, a comparable new car price is no longer our old price, it’s the new car price. This also changes the equation.
– Last but not the least, another red flag is that they do not have review and rating enabled on their FB page. Who does that? Especially, why would someone advertising such a humongous upside do that – it is free publicity and goodwill.
Well, that’s what I have to say about Cars24.com, from my experience. Hope that this helps others in their quest with or without them, as the case may be. Peace. [Issued in public interest:D ]:=)