[antz.bin]

Earlier today, was out New Car shopping and was waiting for the SA to come back from getting an answer to one of my queries when my phone rang and it was a call from AckoDrive. : https://ackodrive.com/

The executive on the line told me that he got my number from Carwale where I had given it out during my research process yesterday. He told me to finalize whatever car I want and he will give me a price which no other dealer can match.

Intrigued, I opened the website on my phone and true to his word, the offers on the website were better than any other I had seen online or offline.

The reduced prices also meant that all the clarity I had in my selection process was now gone and now I am starting from scratch once again.

Anyways, getting back to the topic. Does anyone have any experience with these guys? It seems that this is a new product being offered by Acko General Insurance company but I am not sure how they are offering better discounts than practically anywhere else.

Feedback welcome.

Thanks.

[VJ05]

I too visited their website through carwale.com and found them offering 45K Cash discount on XUV 5OO whereas all the dealers in the city are offering only 25K. Left my contact on their website couple of times however called received no call back, it's been couple of weeks. So I'm not sure how promising they are.

[shantanumishra]

Just went through the website, majority of the offers in Bangalore are for lower or basic models, which I believe, hardly sell In Bangalore, specially at this time when so many new models are coming across,

[McLaren Rulez]

Perhaps it works for getting rid of old stock? I can't see why having them as middlemen makes any sense when you can talk directly to the dealer.

[antz.bin]

I am currently working with multiple Ford Dealerships in Pune but nobody is willing to give me any discounts whatsoever for the Figo Facelift.

If the AckoDrive promised discount of ~21k is possible, it will help me convince Home ministry to go for the TDCi instead of the Dragon. Let's see how this unfolds.

[iamtrk]

Looks like ackodrive is owned by Acko insurance guys, I was actually evaluating a similar idea related selling cars with good discounts by super optimizing costs.
Some of the optimizations I thought were

1) Doing away with physical stores.
2) Employing fewer people who can get lots of work done using tech.
3) low cost godowns in the outskirts for TD cars.
4) App for users users to book TD time slots & to book/buy cars.
5) Directly placing an order with OEM after an user buys a car.
6) Advertising about unmatched lowest prices for fresh stock since we have optimized all financial touch points etc.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

Intrigued, I opened the website on my phone and true to his word, the offers on the website were better than any other I had seen online or offline.

Originally Posted by VJ05

I too visited their website through carwale.com and found them offering 45K Cash discount on XUV 5OO whereas all the dealers in the city are offering only 25K.

Originally Posted by antz.bin

If the AckoDrive promised discount of ~21k is possible

When a venture capitalist-backed startup wants to gain customers & market-share, it will do the initial business at a loss. I'd say that these additional discounts are funded by Acko itself (similar to the Uber playbook).

[antz.bin]

So an update on this.

Managed to bring the price down ₹27k on Figo Titanium TDCi. The dealership was not offering any discounts whatsoever. The rest of the update belongs to a certain thread called "The 'I booked a car' Thread".

The 27k came under 2 heads.
₹12k less on the Acko insurance as compared to the Dealer provided insurance. (1yr Zero Dep, 3yr TP)
₹15k flat AckoDrive discount.
There will be a ₹1500 Paytm Voucher which can be used for fuel, will probably used on the first tank-up.

The AckoDrive team worked with the showroom directly and the final one allotted to me was the same one I have been talking to since March.

Payment was done directly to the dealer and not to Acko. Received the receipt from the same SA (that I was talking to in post#1) a couple of hours after making the payment.

The only hiccups were:

1. AckoDrive call centre was closed yesterday but the recorded message did not tell me that.
2. They have limited agents and they remain busy so it is hard to get through to an agent the first time you call.

This was taken care of by bypassing the call centre and getting the direct number to my relationship manager. The agent has been more helpful and knowledgeable than the Ford SA so there's that.

All in all, happy that some VC has helped me shave off a substantial amount from my first car purchase.

[mathur2012]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

.......There will be a ₹1500 Paytm Voucher which can be used for fuel, will probably used on the first tank-up.......

They are now offering a 9200₹ paytm voucher.

A Dealer quoted me 9,93,xxx for Ertiga VXI CNG which comes down to 9,89,xxx if I take insurance from outside. However acko drive executive quoted me 9,82,xxx and paytm voucher worth 9200₹ , An overall discount of 21,000. Though I have already booked my car with said offline dealer, I am tempted to book with ackodrive too.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by mathur2012

They are now offering a 9200₹ paytm voucher.

A Dealer quoted me 9,93,xxx for Ertiga VXI CNG which comes down to 9,89,xxx if I take insurance from outside. However acko drive executive quoted me 9,82,xxx and paytm voucher worth 9200₹ , An overall discount of 21,000. Though I have already booked my car with said offline dealer, I am tempted to book with ackodrive too.

The ₹9200 Paytm voucher is a discount voucher for various services such as Cleartrip, Oyo etc. It is not a cash discount.

The cash discount voucher that I received was only ₹1500 which I used during my 2nd tank up. This one could only be redeemed if you scan a QR code to pay, which is like practically everywhere in Pune so that one was as good as cash.

Please verify which one is it that they are referring to and decide accordingly.

[vikramvicky1984]

I had heard about similar agents in Mumbai who would sell new cars cheaper than showrooms. They did not even have a proper office- just like real estate brokers.
I would not take a chance for saving few thousands while buying a car but I came to know of many people who would regularly buy from them- in fact only through them- corporate guys too buying on company’s books.I did not know them well enough to go and ask.
I had been intrigued why would someone do that, what value was the agent bringing- how much really does 1-2% really matter and is there more to it?
Would request fellow members to enlighten

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by vikramvicky1984

I had heard about similar agents in Mumbai who would sell new cars cheaper than showrooms. They did not even have a proper office- just like real estate brokers.
I would not take a chance for saving few thousands while buying a car but I came to know of many people who would regularly buy from them- in fact only through them- corporate guys too buying on company’s books.I did not know them well enough to go and ask.
I had been intrigued why would someone do that, what value was the agent bringing- how much really does 1-2% really matter and is there more to it?
Would request fellow members to enlighten

There are many such sellers/agents across Mumbai. The benefit of going through them is that you can end up saving upto 40-50K on a car of 10L on-road. That may look a paltry sum to some but for others it is 4-5% of the total value and hence worth taking.

I have known many who have bought their cars through such agents and it makes no difference to be honest. Any service center will service your car regardless of from where you bought it.

The only issue will be:
1) Chasing the warranty claims as the service center may give you second priority when your case comes up. But this is likely to happen only initially as after a while, you are one of the other clients for them.
2) Chasing for a replacement or resolution for any manufacturing defect in the car in the first year or initial period.

However, for the same reasons listed above - I do not recommend following this channel for high end cars. For regular cars, it is good to go with if you can manage the patience required to deal with issues, when they come up.

The agent may not bring any value to the deal but he rather gets rid of the no-value factor that the showroom guys bring in. You see - that 4-5% that they are able to reduce for you is mainly on the real-estate and labor costs that the showroom has to pay.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by sunilch

There are many such sellers/agents across Mumbai. The benefit of going through them is that you can end up saving upto 40-50K on a car of 10L on-road. That may look a paltry sum to some but for others it is 4-5% of the total value and hence worth taking.

What is the reason for this discount? Do you get the invoice and documentation from the authorised dealer or is it just a transaction from the broker? Do you have the freedom to do a PDI and reject a vehicle if you do not like it? Is the delivery given at authorised dealer or this broker gets it to you? If all this isnt present, then I dont see a reason why we should not just negotiate at the dealership ourselves. Things like saving on Insurance, haggling for some cash discounts and accessories can be done and similar benefits can be availed in addition to having the freedom of doing a detailed PDI, requesting for a new car from factory and so on.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by audioholic

What is the reason for this discount?

Already listed above. And this includes the kickback from the insurance as well. You get a no question asked match for the lowest premium that you can bring in from your provider and also the upfront premium commission is shared back either partly or fully.

Also, in quite a few cases the agents help the buyers in getting good deals on financing. There is a small kick-back on that front as well.

All this adds up to 4-5% easily. The 15K Acko discount mentioned above by the OP is also a good example of how the total discount adds up quite well.

Do you get the invoice and documentation from the authorised dealer or is it just a transaction from the broker?

The invoice and documentation is from a dealer and not broker receipt only. You see, the broker eventually gets the car from the super dealer only.

Do you have the freedom to do a PDI and reject a vehicle if you do not like it?

No such PDI check is offered to be honest. But the fact is, I haven't seen any buyer who goes via this route asking for it. I doubt it will be offered.

Is the delivery given at authorised dealer or this broker gets it to you?

No the delivery is a no fanfare affair. The car is simply either picked up from some stock-yard or directly given to the buyer at his house by the agent.

If all this isnt present, then I dont see a reason why we should not just negotiate at the dealership ourselves. Things like saving on Insurance, haggling for some cash discounts and accessories can be done and similar benefits can be availed in addition to having the freedom of doing a detailed PDI, requesting for a new car from factory and so on.

Like I said earlier, this depends on the buyer. For some the extra 40K may not matter when compared to the piece of mind and the showroom experience and also the cons I listed above. But for others, those 40K are worth saving.

Regarding accessories - as many have reveled here (including our member blackswap) - accessories are one of the highest margin products for dealers/showrooms. And for many accessories they sell - alternatives are available outside at better cost. Some accessories are company exclusive and it makes sense to go for those either due to quality differences or due to non-availability outside. But otherwise, accessories are usually purchased from outside purely due to economic reasons.

Furthermore, such deals are more common in the two-wheeler segment compared to cars.

[vikramvicky1984]

Thanks a lot. Don't know how they will fare in the post Covid world

Also saw this news https://www.team-bhp.com/news/ackodr...sales-platform .
So these Acko drive people are now moved to an online model.
Are we looking to a future wherein cars will be available on amazons and flipkarts and car showrooms will become their sellers?
Just like we buy phones: Creta 1.5 SX AT( iphone XR) + mats(tempered glass)+ seat covers (case)+ insurance + EMIs + free home delivery + 7 day returns (would love this feature )

This doesn't look far fetched. I checked that Acko has grown a lot in insurance- in fact they are advertising on teambhp as well. These guys have deep pockets as well as experience- investors include Amazon and Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal.

https://tech.economictimes.indiatime...-acko/72284094