[Omkar]

Introduction

Multiple factors have fuelled the growth of the used car market in India, especially since Covid. Be it the need for personal mobility or a change in perception regarding used cars. And startups entering this space has boosted the market even more. Companies like Cars24, Cardekho and Spinny have raised over $ 1.5 billion in funding from top venture investors across the world. And this is just the beginning, the used car market is expected to reach over 70 lakh vehicles by 2025-26 (up from 38 lakh in 2020-21). Cars24 is the current market leader in the online used car space & the company has clocked over four lakh transactions to date.

It was in 2019 that Cars24 started refurbishing cars and selling them. Since they didn't have infrastructure across India, it was obvious that they tied up with car repair workshops across India and formulated a plan for the refurbishing of cars. With growth however, the next logical step was to get total control over the entire process from start to end for the purpose of quality, standardisation & efficiencies-of-scale, and to ensure that the final product going on sale met certain quality standards. Cars24 today has in place seven company-owned vehicle refurbishment centres (MRLs - Mega Refurbishment Labs) in the country. These are in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. In the first phase, the facilities across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai will be operational. We got to visit the facility just outside of Mumbai.

Mumbai operations at a glance

• Used cars are purchased and sent to Cars24 stockyard in Nerul.
• Cars are segregated based on their condition. Only those examples that have potential enter the MRL facility for refurbishment. The ones that don't pass the quality checks of MRL (e.g. old, in bad condition, have structural damage or require engine / gearbox repairs) don't enter the MRL facility (they are auctioned and sold off to third-parties directly from the yard).
• Cars that are relatively new, 4-5-year-old cars in decent condition are sent to the Mega Refurbishment Lab located on the Mumbai Nashik Highway ahead of Bhiwandi - Google Location.
• Cars are refurbished at the MRL and sent back to the stockyard from where they are sent to parking lots across Mumbai, which customers can visit to see the car and buy it OR Cars24 will bring the car to your doorstep. Do note that Cars24 offers 360-degree views of every car in its inventory on the app / website.

The Mega Refurbishment Lab is located on the Mumbai Nashik highway. You'll see this big 'Cars24' branding from far:


The warehouse space is humongous. As of now, half of this space is being utilised by current operations:


A car that enters the MRL is registered into the logbook:


After the entry is made, the car is parked in the space surrounding the workshop:


There's no preferential treatment for newer or more expensive cars. Cars are sent into the MRL according to the sequence they arrive in:


Given the high amount of water used in the facility, there's a water purification system in place:


So, once it's a car's turn to get refurbished, it's first washed thoroughly with a pressure washer:


Then the car is sent through this automatic car wash. This particular machine can wash a car in 6 mins:


The car is then taken for a preliminary test run to check for any issues:


Only after this, does the car enter the facility. First look on the inside, and the facility is truly big. Let's start with what happens on the inside:

Pre Inspection

As mentioned earlier, the cars sent to the MRL are relatively new and without major repair work in them. This is the first step where all the issues with the car are inspected thoroughly and a pre-inspection report is made on the company mobile app. Post this, the team prepares an estimate of the work required for the vehicle. There's an approval team in place who'll go over the estimate and calculate the feasibility of the repair work. What does that mean? They'll consider factors like - purchase price, possible selling price and the total cost of refurbishing. If the math fits perfectly, then the car is approved for a complete refurbishment:


Different bays have scissor lifts to lift the car and check the underbody:


The MRL in Delhi has this floor-mounted suspension and brake testing rig. As of now, the Mumbai facility doesn't have this test rig:


An average of 3 hours is spent on each car in the pre-inspection area going over 140 checkpoints:

Mechanical Area

All cars go through basic service that includes oil and oil filter change. The air filter and AC filter are also changed on almost all cars, cleaned if they're relatively new. At the MRL Mumbai, only basic mechanical repairs are done in this department:


At the MRL Mumbai, only suspension, brake and minor engine work are undertaken as of now. The 'Major Repair' board on the top is for some time in the future. The lathe work for the steering rack or minor repairs is currently being outsourced. See the light blue pipes from the top? These pipes provide compressed air that is used for different types of pneumatic tools like the wheel changer gun, removing dirt, etc. :


This is a waste oil collector. See the guy in the background filling a can?


... that's the new engine oil being supplied by 'Line 2'. Mechanics can directly take the required amount of oil for every car. Pretty convenient!


Apart from mechanical work, basic AC work is also carried out. AC temperature is checked and gas top-up is done if needed. If there's any leakage in the system, the evaporator/cooling coil can also be changed here. The blue machine pictured is a semi-automatic AC gas recovery and recharge unit. One of the main advantages of this machine is that you can recirculate the AC gas and also detect leaks in the AC system:


Minor electrical work is also carried out at the MRL. In this picture, you can see a battery being charged:

Spare Parts

The spare parts department works alongside the mechanical department. In a multi-brand environment, managing spare parts takes a lot of patience and precision. As of now, the spare parts are being outsourced to a third party company. Hence, Cars24 doesn't own this inventory. There's a Cars24 employee who coordinates between the MRL's needs and the spare parts supplier to procure the necessary parts:


While the preference for all cars is OEM parts, depending on the budget and availability, aftermarket parts are used on some cars:


Aftermarket spares in the store were from good brands like Mahle, Monroe and Lumax. There's been an interesting Team-BHP discussion regarding OEM spares and OES spares (Click here to read the discussion (Should you buy non-OEM spare parts for your car?)):


Here's how the spare parts are arranged for a particular car before they're sent to the workshop floor. Note that a car leaves the pre-inspection area only after all the parts as per the approval have arrived at the spare parts department. Till then, the car is not sent to the workshop floor to avoid cars getting stuck on the floor due to delays in parts:


R134A is the most common AC gas in modern cars:


Body shop parts are in a separate section. The most commonly required parts are headlights and bumpers:


After the mechanical work is done, the car is sent to the alignment machine:


If the tyres need to be changed, there's a tyre changing machine on the right and next to it is the wheel balancing machine:

[Omkar]

Denting & Painting

It's now time to get to the aesthetics of the car. Here's a look at the denting area. Interestingly, the denting and painting area constitutes almost 2/3rds of the entire workshop area! In the Indian market, how a car looks does matter a lot. Also, vehicles with some structural damage / accidental vehicles aren't refurbished at the MRL:


Based on the approval, panels are marked accordingly. In this picture, 'R/P' indicates that the door needs to be repaired and painted. The 'X' mark on the fender means the denters don't touch that panel:


Here's a denter disassembling the front end of the car. The bumper and headlights needed replacement on this particular car:


Before straightening the panel, the paint is removed using a grinder:


Next up, it's time to use this electric dent puller. It allows for more precise adjustments to the panel, especially where there are body creases. With traditional denting, for instance, say you have to straighten out a dent on the door. You'll have to remove the door pad on the inside and then push the panel out from the inside, and then shape it from the outside. With this dent puller, you don't need to dismantle the door pad:


Here's a look at the dent puller in action:


The denting area also has this MIG welding machine. It's usually used for cars that require panels to be welded together:


A wide range of suction dent pullers and also pullers for running board repair:


After the denting area, you have the 'Prep Area'. This is where the cars are prepared for painting:


Body filler putty is applied on the dented panels to even out the surface. The surface is then smoothened out even further by using a dry sander as seen here:


Once the putty dries out and the panels are evened out, the car is sent to one of these prep booths:


Here, masking is done to protect the paint from getting sprayed anywhere else. And then a layer of primer is applied to the car:


Once the primer is applied, it's time to paint the car. Since the MRL gets cars from multiple brands and of various colours, they have a paint mixing machine in place. Cars24 has tied up with "PPG Asian Paints" for their paint material needs. A car's paint colour is prepared as per the code on the RC book of the car:


Next up is the paint area:


This is a sophisticated paint booth with abundant lighting. Bumpers are usually placed on the stands to be painted separately:


Apart from the blowers, there's a heater unit in place as well (to bake the paint) once the painting is done. Note the fire extinguisher and sand buckets in place:


Once out of the paint booth, the car is left in the drying area:


Bumpers and bonnet placed for drying separately:


These are infrared paint drying lamps. Drying panels using these is an effective method as the infrared heat gets to the innermost layer and dries it from within. This avoids any chance of bubbles that might form in traditional heating that heats the outermost layer first:


Once the panels are ready, it's time for fitting and detailing:


This is where the car is polished as well. Usually, the full car is polished to have an even & smooth finish across all panels:

[Omkar]

Quality Checks & Pre-Delivery Inspection

Interestingly, the Quality Control (QC) team and Pre-Delivery (PD) inspection team don't report to the MRL workshop head. They report directly to the Cars24 head office in Delhi to avoid any last-minute adjustments and to keep everyone in check:


The team at the QC department checks all the work that was done on the car. Makes sure nothing has been missed as per the approval list. After this, the team checks for the quality of work done, especially in terms of paint. Whether there are any pinholes or drip marks or any other paint imperfections:


After the quality check, there's the Pre-Delivery inspection. This is where the final scrutiny takes place and the team spends a considerable amount of time going through every aspect of the car:


While the workshop head has targets in terms of the number of cars, the QC and PD team don't have specific targets on the number of cars to check. Their target is to ensure that the car that has been checked by them is near-perfect:

Final Touches

Next up is the Vacuum & Polishing department where interior vacuuming, dashboard polishing and exterior wax polishing is done:


The 5th-gen Honda City and the erstwhile Civic are looking as if fresh out of the showroom:


Then we have the Studio. This is where the cars are shot from all angles and uploaded to the Cars24 website:


A beautifully lit room with a rotating floor is perfect for clicking great pictures:


A fixed-mobile camera at one corner for exterior shots...


... and this 360-degree camera for the interiors:

The Smaller Yet Significant Things

Convex safety mirrors placed at entrances and exits...


... and also on the floor where there would be car movement from one department to another:


Cleaning staff in place to keep the shop floor clean. Have to say, the MRL was extremely clean:


Daily Activity board placed at one end to track all the work and shifts of employees. There are also activities mentioned and the headcount of all employees. Maintaining this must be quite a task:


There are plenty of warning signs and safety instruction boards placed across the workshop. Note that visitors aren't allowed in this facility. You need prior permission to enter the workshop, or you can wait at the reception area:


There's a neat infographic showing the journey of Cars24 through the years:


In a sea of mass-market cars, saw one premium sedan:

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Maverick5490]

Thank you Omkar for an insight in the facility, it is massive! Do they also have diagnostic scanners for fault checks, especially needed for German cars.

[Turbohead]

Is OEM specified oil, coolant etc used during the initial service?

Apart from this, everything seems very convincing. Wonder how they price these cars in the open market.

[deep_bang]

Great to hear that they are taking steps to address a real pain point - quality controlled cars in the used car market.

However, the proof is in the pudding. Let's see how the real world reports and experiences are. Unfortunately we have all been bitten in one way or the other and it's hard to believe that cars24 will do this is a way that they profit out of volumes and not by upselling cheap cars by hiding the real issues.
Time will tell.
I sincerely wish them the best of luck as we really need such a player in this market. I mean a player who is actually ethical and brings about a change in the market.

[sagarpadaki]

Any info on how do they ensure that the right engine oil is filled? With each car having different engine oil specification and oil grade, it looks like a challenge to me.

[fordday]

Very nicely presented, Omkar!

Hope it goes the long way to set the standards in refurbishing used cars. Most importantly hope it manages to increase the trust factor of the common man dealing with used cars and their dealers.

Originally Posted by Maverick5490

Thank you Omkar for an insight in the facility, it is massive! Do they also have diagnostic scanners for fault checks, especially needed for German cars.

Haha. That was my first thought too being a German owner.

[octane1002]

Something that really bothers me -if they are using a single line for refilling engine oil into cars, how are they adhering to specific reommended grade in different cars?

[Sandman689]

It's great to see that they are putting in this effort. It pours a lot of confidence into a potential customer.

Originally Posted by Omkar

... that's the new engine oil being supplied by 'Line 2'. Mechanics can directly take the required amount of oil for every car. Pretty convenient!

Question: How do they ensure that they put in the correct grade of engine oil?

[AB10]

This is an excellent move by Cars24 considering the booming used car market. This will go miles to ensure that their brand name is intact.

Management of spares other specific parts like oil etc will be the major hurdle and roadblock, but if they get that sorted, this is definitely a home run!

[SS-Traveller]

Experiences of Team-BHP members selling their cars to Cars24 have been a lot less than optimal (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ars24-com.html (Experience: Selling my car to Cars24.com)), and of the 2 reports of members buying from Cars24 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ar-cars24.html (Review: Buying a used car from Cars24) and https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ar-cars24.html (Review: Buying a used car from Cars24)), the experiences have not been excellent either.

I have recently been looking for a sub-2L INR car for someone, and the only vehicle that Cars24 has is a DL-reg 2009 A-Star at Rs.1.75L - which is a stupendous price to pay for a vehicle that would be de-registered in another 2 years. Even a 2009 Zen Estilo is priced at Rs.2.03L (with 44,6xx km on odo, which is unbelievable for a 13-year-old car).



I don't understand what kind of value additions Cars24 is doing in its MRLs, but it's a price that I personally do not want to pay. If the difference between their buying and selling prices is to the tune of 75-100% (buying at Rs.1L and selling at Rs.2L, for example), and the faults and blemishes are glossed over using cheap after-market parts (or dealer finish in local parlance), it is not worth getting such a car at such a high price.

OTOH, these used car aggregators (Cars24, Spinny, TrueValue, Droom, OLX Autos, CarTrade, FirstChoice and others) have infiltrated the used car market so deeply that there is no direct seller to be found (at least in my city), and the chances of procuring a good used car, which has not been glossed over or clocked, seem to be pretty bleak. There's hardly any car on these aggregators' sites that seems to have run over 50-60k km.

[Omkar]

Originally Posted by Maverick5490

Do they also have diagnostic scanners for fault checks, especially needed for German cars.

Yes, they have a Launch scanner which works very well with all car manufacturers.

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Is OEM specified oil, coolant etc used during the initial service?

Wonder how they price these cars in the open market.

1. I don't think OEM specified oil brand is used. OEMs usually have tie-ups with different oil brands and adhering to OEM specified brand for all cars would increase the complexity.

2. They definitely charge a premium when compared to cars in the open market. The way they justify that premium is the peace of mind, convenience, easy finance options, etc. Here's a quick look at a listing on Cars24 website (left) and the same car's valuation on Orange Book Value (right) -

Originally Posted by deep_bang

However, the proof is in the pudding. Let's see how the real world reports and experiences are. Unfortunately we have all been bitten in one way or the other and it's hard to believe that cars24 will do this is a way that they profit out of volumes and not by upselling cheap cars by hiding the real issues.

That is true. Quality control has always been a serious issue in the used car market and I think Cars24 has learnt from their mistakes. Their earlier approach before setting up the MRL was to buy a ton of cars (old or new), refurbish all of them and sell. They refurbished their cars with multibrand workshops, but this didn't give them a firm hold over quality. This led to so many customer complaints. I personally know a few people that purchased from Cars24 at that time and the cars were rigged with issues. And with their return policy and warranty in place, Cars24 had to get the issues sorted out with no charge to the customer. One guy just returned the car in 4 days. Now, it seems that they've streamlined the process with this MRL keeping things that can go wrong to a minimum.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Any info on how do they ensure that the right engine oil is filled? With each car having different engine oil specification and oil grade, it looks like a challenge to me.

Originally Posted by Sandman689

Question: How do they ensure that they put in the correct grade of engine oil?

I was told that synthetic oil is used for all cars, the grade wasn't mentioned.

I assume it's the 5W40 fully synthetic which is the common engine oil grade for budget passenger cars, and is used by most multibrand workshops (Some also use 5W30 semi-synthetic oil to keep the service costs low).

But as is case with all used cars, make sure you switch to OEM specified oil, coolant, brake oil, etc after you get the car.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Omkar

I assume it's the 5W40 fully synthetic which is the common engine oil grade for budget passenger cars, and is used by most multibrand workshops (Some also use 5W30 semi-synthetic oil to keep the service costs low).

But as is case with all used cars, make sure you switch to OEM specified oil, coolant, brake oil, etc after you get the car.

These days the engines need 0W16,0W20,5W40,5W30 grades with various specifications like API CH4,CI4,ACEA A1,B1,A2,B2,A3,B4 etc .

So a generic 5W40 and a 5W30 oil may not cut it. It's another story that most of the car owners have zilch idea about these specifications or what their car needs but that is not relevant to discuss here.