IDEA: Open Box Used Car Rating System

[Alex Snyder]

People are always looking for the best deal. That doesn't always mean it is the cheapest thing on the planet. It can mean paying less than retail and they're willing to have some "perfection" removed to save some money. This is why Open Box items are so popular.

One of the nicest enhancements in the Open Box realm has been the online disclosure of what is in the box and condition of the product. B&H and Adorama are phenomenal at their rating system to help you know that item has scratches or no longer has the original packaging. Best Buy's system is decent too. If you haven't discovered the Amazon warehouse yet, you've missed some incredible savings there. They do a fairly good job of rating returned products at scale.

I am an Open Box shopper and a Used Car shopper. My years in the car business give me an edge on the latter. However, in my last purchase I forgot to ask some basic questions. One in particular was whether the car came with both keys (that's a $500 ouch).

It occurred to me this morning that consumers could benefit from dealers utilizing a rating system of their used cars that would better justify the asking price. That would also include whether the car came with:

• both keys
• owners manual
• service records
• Clean CarFax
• etc.

And the rating system needs more work, but here's a start on some ideas:

• Air Conditioning: blows cold air and has no odor.
• Alignment: there are no pulls to the right or left. The car drives straight at highway speeds without significant driver effort.
• Rust: surface rust is present on the exhaust system. As this is a replaceable part of the undercarriage, there is no significant rust to be concerned with.
• Scratches and dings: minor scratches and dings are common with road use. This vehicle has less exterior wear and tear for a vehicle of this age.
• Tires: passes state inspection and should last many more miles with proper tire maintenance and PSI.

I recognize this will require merchandising tools and websites to adopt this at scale. This is why I call it an idea

Anyway, I know this would have been very helpful in my shopping.

 

[Carsten]

So, a rating system like Japan has?
Exterior, interior, mechanical
All their auctions get rated like this.

I have pondered this on and off for a while.

Problem is the agreement on the system.

A solution I have been bouncing around with friends is using gig mechanics who have essentially retired but need some pocket change. They all go through a "certification" step (video courses) and all try to agree on a similar standard of what the ranking is.

This is what carfax sort of does!
Well, no. carfax only scraps data of the repairs which don't happen to be graded nor the mechanics have been verified.
Lots of trust going on in the current system.

Fraud? Yep, happens even in a country as trust worthy as Japanese are.
But the certifying mechanic gets judged too. ala Trust Pilot.

Dealers already can do/do this.
This is is the buy in that sort of stopped me from following up further on this idea.

I was thinking of doing this for independent dealers and why I was thinking gig jobs for this.

 

[joe.pistell]

• both keys
• owners manual
• service records
• Clean CarFax
• etc.

CarFax Employees, pass this thread to your product manager

 

[flosho]

This stuff is just basic inspection related stuff.

In Wisconsin there is a required inspection and legal requirements for things like tires or damaged frame and such.

 

[Jon Singo]

Having experience on both sides of the fence, selling vehicles at the top end of the pricing ladder (great condition), and vehicles at the bottom (not always great condition), I can safely say transparency is the key no matter which route you take.

Don't claim your cars are 'perfect' if you're the cheapest anywhere and the car needs various cosmetic and mechanical repair. On the other side you're selling yourself short if you recon everything and aren't reflecting it in your merchandising.

FWIW it's becoming increasingly common for deal hunters to still try and haggle on an already absurdly low price, while still expecting the vehicle to be perfect. Some of this is setting improper expectations. I also have a sneaking suspicion very low prices attract the kind of customer more likely to be demanding of discounts, perfection, etc.

But back to the initial point. I couldn't agree more that a universal vehicle condition rating system would give most consumers a better picture of total value. Value is often lost in translation as a feeling, not a quantifiable metric. Quantifying value would cut through the noise, arming consumers with better information to make a more educated purchase decision. Don't want a sunroof? Great, look for a discounted car with one that's broken.

How this would be done and the standard set to do so would be quite the hill to climb but I love the idea.

 

[Viracocha]

Interesting thread Alex, i started down this rabbit hole a decade ago with our wholesale auction. I am in total agreement that this would be a game changer. My largest hurdle was not in generating the lists of items requiring ratings, it was getting the dealership to adhere to it. I gave up 6 months in as it felt like I was pushing water up a hill, but as time moves on, AI and image recognition improves I could see this becoming realistic in the near future

 

[Carsten]

There is the one point that basically became a blocker for me:
I didn't want to get sued for saying a car is in great condition and the hidden time bomb went off.