Re: Experience: Selling my car to Cars24.com Cars24 Outlet: Kalyani Nagar, Pune Experience: Neutral Details: I took up an appointment for an afternoon session over the weekend; and an advisor took my details immediately as I landed at the place. The (test) mechanic/driver takes the car on a short test drive around the place, with you in the passenger seat (they ask you to get in) and evaluate the car's driving capabilities as well as the electricals and inside accessories. Later the mechanic opens up the bonnet and does a set of checks they call a 150-point check. Another executive in parallel starts taking pictures of the car from all directions. The whole process takes around 30 - 40 minutes; after which you are informed about the auction process and the next steps.
The team creates a detailed photo supported assessment report; but the report although detailed and well structured is very much dependent on the condition of your car during the 40 minute evaluation. Past history and ownership experiences - all goes out of the window. High importance given to nicks and dents and scratches on the vehicle through photos; as well as the mechanic's assessment during that short period.
The report is sent for an auction to a potential set of buyers that include 3rd party resellers, corporate drivers (organizations), commercial vehicle associations and businesses that are looking for used cars,who are looking for a good deal to either turn around the car and resell it at a much higher price or use it for their commercial operations. Individual buyers are definitely not part of this group. Pricing: Average at most. You'll get bottom dollar if your car is a non-Maruti/Honda/Tata/Hyundai; no clarity on brand based pricing. Negotiation is possible and dependent on your capabilities as well as the re-selling capabilities of your car. If any of the buying parties give a quote, they reach out to you within an hour and ask you to come down and do the final 'negotiations'. Cars24 takes a commission bite basis the final price of the car; 1000 INR for <5L, 3000 INR for 5L<car<10L; and onwards. RTO transfer charges are an additional 1000Rs if hypothecation exists on the car. If in that case, 90% of the final price will be transferred immediately and rest to be done once NOC is obtained by their team from the bank. Plus Points: + They ask you to join in the test drive
+ No aggressive test-driving, route is across city lanes
+ Quick process with minimal confusion
+ Car is very well maintained throughout the validation process for mutual benefit perspective
+ No aggressive over-selling throughout the process, very professional and polite personnel Negatives:
- No car wash offered or done before the evaluation process
- No importance is given to service history; I had an entire catalog of my service reports and parts changes; when asked was told they get "service records" directly
- No prior information is given to the owners on what is required for the assessment report that would impact their assessment report (both keys are to be carried, insurance copy required)
- No questions asked on past accidents, or parts changed
- The assessment is extremely individual-opinion-based without any diagnosis or analysis; I saw the final report that said "steering felt hard", "loud sound from the engine", "black smoke". It didn't even acknowledge known issues (like the failed injectors in pre-2012 Ventos)
- Excessive importance given to scratches and nicks; I got the feeling that the price quotation is driven strongly by this. A badly driven and improperly serviced car but with minimal exterior scratches or dents would easily get a much better valuation than a properly driven and serviced car but with scratches and dents
- The advisor was aware of Team-BHP, but gave no other importance than that
- On sale confirmation, the user has to sign all the forms with just a delivery note. When asked on visibility on the transfer, a generic response is provided about a 90 day period and a full commitment from them to honor that. Zero visibility till then on the post-sale transfer of the vehicle My Verdict: My experiences at Ola and Cars24 was more or less exactly similar with a few minor things done better at Ola. Both places gave me the exact same quote, which possibly meant that Ola has more or less managed to get the full set of (Cars24) buyers for their auction process.
One can try them out to get a bottom dollar price to base future conversations with individual buyers. Or one can try to bargain hard and close the deal with them for a quick, no-nonsense and immediate sale. One can walk out after selling the car within 24 hours with the payment transferred. If you are going to them for a quote, give your car a good wash, and try to rectify as much as of the exterior problems in your car before you go to them.
I did not go ahead with Cars24.
Last edited by ninjatalli : 25th June 2019 at 10:04.
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