[Sabareesh]

Hi guys,

I came across something interesting. Trivz is a peer to peer test drive app where a car owner can register his or her car and opt to earn by giving test drives to prospective car buyers. They seem to have partnered with Mahindra (as seen on their website). One can connect with existing Mahindra owners and mutually agree on a schedule to take a Test Drive with them.

The Car Owners stand a chance to get some benefits on providing test drive and feedbacks. Mahindra seems to have currently launched this in Bangalore for some of their vehicles. This seems to be an interesting option for prospective car buyers because they can get unbiased reviews and listen to the perspective of actual car owners.

Disclaimer - I have no business or personal relationship with Trivz. Just putting this for the sake of knowledge sharing.

[libranof1987]

I'd be surprised if they can find more than a handful of people willing to do this. Why would a car owner allow a stranger to take their car for a spin. So many potential issues:

1) Liability in case of accident
2) Damage to the car due to unsafe driving practices
3) Potential criminal acts (like we saw in case of those OLX ads)

It works for manufacturers though: they reduce the need for dealers to maintain TD vehicles. And also, the lower revenue on a TD car vs. new.

[samaspire]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I'd be surprised if they can find more than a handful of people willing to do this. Why would a car owner allow a stranger to take their car for a spin.

You are only thinking from an enthusiast's point of view. For a regular owner, it might be a way to earn some money, goodies from the dealer, meet new people, try something new and "cool", etc.

[McLaren Rulez]

Why would anyone give up their car to a stranger? Even non-enthusiast typical Indians value their cars.

And why would I test drive some random Joe's car when I can call a dealer and get one anyway? Why would testing a used car help - I wouldn't even know if it was maintained well or badly and that complicates the decision process.

A truly terrible idea.

[swiftdiesel]

Seriously, this business is doomed to flop from the word go. Why would I, as a prospective buyer, seek a customer's pride and joy to test drive? And what are the legal implications? For instance, I cannot dump the clutch and check 0-100 timings, can I?

Now, from the perspective of the offerer, why would I allow someone to dump the clutch on my car and allow him to check 0-100 timing? Of course, this is one among many other instances where the test drive car is abused and it's OK to abuse a test drive car but not somebody's car!

At it's very roots, this whole business model is unethical, coming to think of it, unless of course I have a knackered 2nd or 3rd car in my garage and abuse it myself to take it to places where I normally wouldn't take my expensive ride.

And for Mahindra to invest in this company is nothing short of amusing. Shows the quality of market research they did. No offence but this business is grounded I'm afraid.

[arvind71181]

Buy a car for XX Lakhs and then give it to some random folks to test drive!!

Why would anyone want to do this? Whatever you earn will surely be offset by the expenditure due to the test drives

And regarding obtaining genuine feedback from the owners, that may be a valid point, but wouldn't it backfire on the company if the owner, for whatever reason, does not like the car and cribs about it to the prospective customer

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by samaspire

You are only thinking from an enthusiast's point of view. For a regular owner, it might be a way to earn some money, goodies from the dealer, meet new people, try something new and "cool", etc.

What happens in case of an accident or incident during this so called test drive? Insurance does not cover such commercial usage at all and such an activity would be deemed as commercial.

The top 3 or 4 manufacturers have an extensive dealer network in most of metros, tier-1 and tier-2 towns, and dealers are more than willing to send their TD cars to the doorstep of the customer at any time!

Just to quote an example, when I was test driving cars for my recent buy, a Hyundai Dealer from nearly 30 kms away from my house ( and in Bangalore that is more than 2 hours of travel time) sent me TD of nearly 4 variants in 2 days! He knew very well that I had 3-4 dealers nearby, but yet never gave up! Finally I took my Creta SX Diesel from this same dealer since no one else had that variant at that point of time. The point I am trying to make is that dealers today are extremely aggressive in sales and I see no reason for a customer to do this. Unless the location is an issue and also if the car is of a niche brand, say some one trying to TD a VW or a brand with sparse network car in a Tier 3 location, then it may work. But that would be very negligible I think and does not make for a business proposition.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by motorworks

Unless the location is an issue and also if the car is of a niche brand, say some one trying to TD a VW or a brand with sparse network car in a Tier 3 location, then it may work.

In tier 3 city, people who buy even an Alto don't remove plastic cover from seats just to maintain the new car feeling. Those with expensive cars will not install number plates and use the car for months with just the sold sticker. Reason? The car looks new. Expecting such people to agree to have someone test their car and to top it off, take it on the rough patch (the unforgiving rural one) and throw it around! Now that is expecting a bit too much!!

[ashutoshb]

It is an interesting take on the aggregator model, for sure.

Trivz or Mynewcar.in do not own anything. The car owner becomes the salesman and the authorised dealership is the seller.

It appears, Trivz is just the middleman and would earn the commision if the sale goes through them. They will give a part of the commission to the salesman / car owner.

And I don't see this written anywhere, that a test drive means one has to part with their vehicle. I assume, the owner or his representative has to accompany the test driver. At least, I will.

For the money, whatever that is, the car owner has to give some of his/her time and take the risk of getting the car abused by a newbie driver.

It is not mentioned anywhere, what will happen if a test driver gets involved in an accident during the test drive.

Legally speaking, if the owner tells the truth, will the insurance provider honour the claim? I am not sure they will.

[naveen.raju]

Guess it loosely based on "Turo" which is a car rental company (USA) where private car owners can rent their cars. Some amazing inventory but there are many negative impacts and owners have posted their reviews on YouTube. Might work in US, but definitely a slim chance here.

https://turo.com/

Many cars that "Doug" (YouTube) reviews are from Turo.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

In tier 3 city, people who buy even an Alto don't remove plastic cover from seats just to maintain the new car feeling. Those with expensive cars will not install number plates and use the car for months with just the sold sticker. Reason? The car looks new. Expecting such people to agree to have someone test their car and to top it off, take it on the rough patch (the unforgiving rural one) and throw it around! Now that is expecting a bit too much!!

Selectively quoting something is laziness I would say!

I mentioned that this business may work only in exceptional cases, if the location and the brand presence is very sparse! Anyway I did close my statement with the fact that this does not look like a worthwhile business proposition, so there!

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by motorworks

I mentioned that this business may work only in exceptional cases, if the location and the brand presence is very sparse! Anyway I did close my statement with the fact that this does not look like a worthwhile business proposition, so there!

Did not intend to counter your argument but only wanted to add my thoughts to your observation that test-driving personal cars won't work in smaller cities. Totally agree with you.

Selectively quoting something is laziness I would say!

Again, totally agree with you!!!

[hiren.mistry]

Strange concept. I concur with the general sentiment, I won't be happy handing my car over to anyone. The only area where this might be useful it to get test drives of models that are not stocked by dealers.
Most showrooms usually have the top end variant for test drives which may larger wheels and tires as compared to lower variants.

[RedHerring]

Forget a new car, I don't like it when our driver drives my 7 year old car occasionally. No way I would let an unknown entity touch my car.

[GTO]

What an incredibly stupid idea. Even non-petrolhead car owners are very protective & possessive of their cars. Why would anyone go through the effort of checking the app, meeting potential car buyers, sit along with him for the test-drive & run the risk of damage / theft to their car (or physical violence to your own self).

Not to mention, there are several more legal & financial implications. For instance, if your car gets stolen at gunpoint, will your insurance cover you as you were using it for 'business'?

And most importantly, what exactly is this bringing to the table? If I want a test-drive, I can procure one from the local car dealership. Car dealers also bring the test-drive car to your place, which I doubt a Trivz participant would.

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Guess it loosely based on "Turo" which is a car rental company (USA) where private car owners can rent their cars.

It's completely different. Turo is an excellent alternative to traditional car rental companies. It's not a test-drive - with Turo, you can even rent the car for a week. Further, many enthusiasts use Turo to experience cars they otherwise wouldn't get a chance to (Porsches to Ferraris).

Originally Posted by hiren.mistry

The only area where this might be useful it to get test drives of models that are not stocked by dealers.

If a dealer isn't stocking it, that means its a slow selling vehicle. A slow selling vehicle means a lower number of owners which makes it even more difficult for a niche app like Trivz to onboard that car.