[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by ashishy

-what is the service you are getting in return of the commission and is it worth it?
Not much. They don't even guarantee (keyword - guarantee) a proper transfer of documents and ownership.

-would I get better service from elsewhere for the same amount of money?
I can't see the service I am really getting here. So, this question cannot be answered. However, if you have a dealer with whom you have some relationship and who has some credibility then you might actually get far more service with lesser commission.

-is the money worth your time if you decide to sell direct?
[i]I listed the Advert only on OLX on Wednesday afternoon. Saturday I had a confirmed buyer. This was after I had made it explicit on the Advert that I would only prefer a Ghaziabad resident as a buyer and ownership transfer is a must. The car was handed over last Sunday and I am going to the RTO to execute the transfer in his favour tomorrow morning. Did it take too much time to sell? A Ford, Petrol, Automatic, Out of warranty, minor accident history...[/I]

Point-wise in bold.
I don't think this double arbitrage model is customer centric.

[ashishy]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Point-wise in bold.
I don't think this double arbitrage model is customer centric.

That makes sense

service is simply selling of car

benefits (for me) are same day sale of car and easy transaction from my experience

benefit for dealer is availability of stock to choose from (like online shopping)

[shashank.nk]

Had an interesting experience when I recently bought a car which was previously sold to Cars24.

They have what they call 'authorised/channel partners' or similar such through whom they sell cars bought by them, i'm guessing these are just other dealers or owners of Cars24 franchise.
The car I bought was posted on Olx, where the ad listing gave an impression that the owner was trying to sell his car, later on call and through the entirety of the transaction this gent pretended to be the actual owner of the car when he clearly wasn't.

So how did I find out ? RC card and insurance had someone else's name so the olx seller told me 'He's my partner and I've registered it in his name due to tax issues'

A few mails and calls later, I got in touch with the original owner who told me he'd sold the car to Cars24 a week before it came up for sale. The cars was driven for aprx 800km in the interim, before I had possession. Nonetheless, I got the car thoroughly checked and closed the deal.

The reason for my post is, the Olx seller misrepresented himself to be the owner and if not for Team-BHP guide and general due diligence, i'd have never found out I wasn't dealing with the actual owner. Till date he continues to sell other cars and posts like the original owner.

Cars24 is either unaware of this practice or is keeping mum, though I think its more the latter than the former.

[sajanjohn]

Had an interesting experience with Cars24. Last Sunday, I walked into their showroom as per the given timeslot. My car was evaluated by a friendly person and uploaded the details to Cars24 platform. The bidding started and after 45 minutes bidding by Cars24 customers, the price was displayed on their laptop. Quoted price was about 30K less than a true value dealer offered me. The sales guy tried his best to convince me to sell the car right then but I walked out of the showroom.

After reaching home, I posted an ad on OLX. Next day, I finalized the deal at 40K more than what Cars24 quoted me.

Around evening, I got a call from Cars 24 and the person said, after relisting my car now they have a buyer who is willing to pay 35K more than the last quote. Which I rejected immediately.

After this experience, I kept asking myself, if Cars24 really that transparent in the process as they claim. The doubting Thomas in me says, their bidding engine tries to down-sell the actual bidding offer and aim for a bigger profit from both customer and dealer.

Others who are planning to try Cars24, please do an external price evaluation before you walk into their showroom.

[Ash_vtec]

Gross low ball offers from a pool of people work together to bid low so that you'd be duped into selling to the highest bidder in that group, which is still way below fair market value.

They don't even come up to basic prices listed in OBV.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by sajanjohn

After this experience, I kept asking myself, if Cars24 really that transparent in the process as they claim. The doubting Thomas in me says, their bidding engine tries to down-sell the actual bidding offer and aim for a bigger profit from both customer and dealer.

Others who are planning to try Cars24, please do an external price evaluation before you walk into their showroom.

Definitely. They cant run their business by offering a price that your car actually deserves. Hence, people must be well aware of it. Their modus operandi is to give a false sense of security to sellers that they would take care of all the paperwork and stuff. But in reality, there is quite some time before your car actually reaches the next owner and in this interim, it is still in your name while the dealers try to sell the car. Unless Cars24 themselves buy your car and transfer it immediately, it is as risky as just selling your car directly to a person and waiting for him to transfer. At least in the latter, you can have some sort of a clause on the buyer to transfer the vehicle ASAP or even scout for a reliable buyer. Innocent sellers get fooled by this and the promise of immediate payment and are using their service. Their evaluation is another load of BS which I personally experienced.

Originally Posted by Ash_vtec

They don't even come up to basic prices listed in OBV.

They didnt even match their own estimate forget a third party estimate in my case

Case in question was my WagonR. Four years old with no accidents and exterior was in very good shape, save for some scuffs on the bumper corners. I had quoted 3.5L for this in a few websites. Maruti True Value offered 2.8L with all the offers. Cars24 quoted The same initially but had told that it would be a bid hence I thought I might get more. When the bidding started, the best price was only 2.5L, for a car which was in good demand. Finally, since I had to wait two months for the new car and I had to leave abroad, I didnt sell it. A gentleman working in a bank approached my dad saying he needed the car for his wife, brought it for 3.25L and did all the transfer formalities himself.

If I had sold it to Cars24, they would have made some commission out of the car and the car would have been sold by their channel partner for more than 3L, raking in all the difference amount as profit, which convinces me of their business model.

[ashishy]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Definitely. They cant run their business by offering a price that your car actually deserves. Hence, people must be well aware of it. Their modus operandi is to give a false sense of security to sellers that they would take care of all the paperwork and stuff. But in reality, there is quite some time before your car actually reaches the next owner and in this interim, it is still in your name while the dealers try to sell the car.



They didnt even match their own estimate forget a third party estimate in my case

@Mods: Please move this post if off-topic (I'm afraid it is more generic)

I have an observation of Indian startup scenario-Over promise and under deliver. Maybe they think profits are high when they lie in sales & marketing then apologize in customer service -compared to- be honest in marketing and not get many customers.

I have experienced this with Myles, Zoomcar, Oyo, Uber, Ola, Flipkart and Revv switch

[sajanjohn]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Case in question was my WagonR. Four years old with no accidents and exterior was in very good shape, save for some scuffs on the bumper corners. I had quoted 3.5L for this in a few websites. Maruti True Value offered 2.8L with all the offers. Cars24 quoted The same initially but had told that it would be a bid hence I thought I might get more. When the bidding started, the best price was only 2.5L, for a car which was in good demand.

This was my experience too. The bidding price turned out to be lesser than their basic valuation price quoted by their website.

[rnair]

I had the most bizzare experiences in Chennai Cars 24.I had gone over to evaluate My 2015 Honda City VX- CVT done 58000km and in pristine condition! I was welcomed and made to sit across a small round table. Now the advisor sits across and asks for my docs. I hand him the RC and Insurance. All good so far..

Next he throws across a shocker! He said the car would go for a max of 4.5 lacs! For a second I was taken aback. We always expect a shock price when its time to sell or exchange our loved one. But here I was dumbstruck and literally caught on my backfoot. I asked him do you know which version this is and how much is the on road price?He says that he knows its the VX(from docs) and comes to about 10 - 11 lacs on the road. I told him this is the top end and comes around 16+ today and was about 14l when I got it. Then he raised the price to 5l.

Next I tell him this is an automatic. Immediately he said ok then we can give 5.5l. Then I told him this has a sunroof!... Then he says between 5.5.to 6l.
By now I lost all interest in Cars 24 and was also fuming. How can a guy buying a car, not even look at the car? Does not know the spec, does not know the features, does not know the engine or transmission and does not even know the OTR of the car. How does he quote? Does he have text book? If so they can post it online. Why should the customer take the pains to go across and waste his time. I had lost it by now. I asked him if he could get me any 3 yr old automatic sedan for anywhere close to what he quoted!The cheapest he said he can get will be around 7.5-8l. Then he goes on to say automatics have no demand in India.

I can understand a difference of about 50k, but I have never got a quote for less that 7.5 l even for exchange. The price was not even the issue. There was absolutely no professionalism. Not even an effort to see the car. No knowledge about the car before quoting the price! For all their adverts all over TV and radio... I really doubt their business model! They dont hire people with experience in this field and am sure, have hired random sales guys!

I am looking for some way to get this across to Cars24. Anyone know what would be the best possible way (apart from Team- Bhp of course)???

[GTO]

Originally Posted by rnair

I am looking for some way to get this across to Cars24.

You might be able to do just that. Gajendra - Vice President, Cars24 - has read your post and wants to talk to you. If you're willing, do reach out to him. Am PM'ing you his email address & phone number.

[rnair]

Originally Posted by GTO

You might be able to do just that. Gajendra - Vice President, Cars24 - has read your post and wants to talk to you. If you're willing, do reach out to him. Am PM'ing you his email address & phone number.

Thanks GTO. I got in touch with Mr. Gajendra. He sounded positive and took my criticism in a positive way. He agreed his guys probably need more training and would ensure such things would not happen in future. His Chennai retail head got in touch with me and has asked me for an appointment. So lets see where this goes....

[Vitalstatistiks]

Originally Posted by rnair

Thanks GTO. I got in touch with Mr. Gajendra. He sounded positive and took my criticism in a positive way. He agreed his guys probably need more training and would ensure such things would not happen in future. His Chennai retail head got in touch with me and has asked me for an appointment. So lets see where this goes....

Hi rnair- just checking, were you able to have a follow up meeting with the Chennai folks? If so, what was the revised experience?

[rnair]

Originally Posted by Vitalstatistiks

Hi rnair- just checking, were you able to have a follow up meeting with the Chennai folks? If so, what was the revised experience?

Hi Vitalstatistiks.. yes... I did get good response post that. They sent across someone for re evaluation and we did get a quote that was 50 percent more than the initial one. We however decided to go with another third party dealer who offered us almost 75k more. Yeah so that was it.... would I go to them again? Surely yes.... The Chennai head was pretty helpful and explained all details very clearly...

[ashishy]

How can something like this happen?

[narayan]

Originally Posted by ashishy

How can something like this happen?
Attachment 1842913

possibly this person is saying that the employee changed the payout bank a/c info to his/her own bank a/c and got the sale proceeds into their a.c.

otherwise, taking the money out from the sellers a/c once credited is unlikely or at best their own problem - not car24s