Car Sales Website Startup

[autovantaofficial]

Hi,

If anyone has had any experience in the car sales industry, please reply to this. I am trying to make a car buying app and I would like as much feedback and input as possible.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Car salesman
• Worked for a Dealership/Car Company
• If you have sold your car privately before
• If you have searched the internet for a new car/ currently are

I just have some questions and would like to bounce ideas with someone who may have more knowledge. I'd also like to discuss pricing.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I’m just 17 and I’m trying to do something with my skills, so I’d appreciate any help and advice from you.

Even if you don’t have experience, but you have a neat & unique idea(s), please let me know!

 

[Carsten]

let's start with your idea.

"car buying app" is vague.

 

[autovantaofficial]

let's start with your idea.

"car buying app" is vague.

I kept vague here on purpose. You browse cars for sale by dealers. (Think CarGurus, TrueCar, etc.)

If you have another method of communication to bounce the ideas/pricing then let me know, I'll send you the full proposal. I don't want to release the full thing here.

I appreciate your reply. Have a great day!

 

[AlexCaradonna]

Like Carsten said pretty vague with the description haha give a few more bullet points on the idea and I am sure you will be able to crowdsource some insight without sharing your full idea.

 

[Chris Cachor]

Yea, ideas are cheap. Not about who thought of it but who did it.

 

[joe.pistell]

If anyone has had any experience in the car sales industry

You're in the right place.

I don't want to release the full thing here

You're in the wrong place. DR has a tradition of open source idea'ing.

 

[autovantaofficial]

You're in the right place.


You're in the wrong place. DR has a tradition of open source idea'ing.

Yea, ideas are cheap. Not about who thought of it but who did it.

Like Carsten said pretty vague with the description haha give a few more bullet points on the idea and I am sure you will be able to crowdsource some insight without sharing your full idea.

Thanks everyone for your insight. I was always told not to release ideas that you plan on building a business off...lol

Here are some more details:
I was thinking of starting an online marketplace for Cars (think TrueCar, Cars.com, CarsGurus, etc), and I just wanted to ask you what you thought of this pricing model: I plan to charge $1 a day for every car posted, and I don't take a sales commission on the final price.

The justification for the price (and the USP) is that any car that is added to the website receives an extended warranty (provided by me). Consumers can benefit from cheaper repair costs (provided by me via other partnerships). I also have my own people who would act as "extra salesmen" on the internet for a dealership, finding potential buyers from social media to online forums. Dealerships that upload cars also receive numerous other business management and growth tools/services.

As someone who has worked / is working at a dealership, do you think that's fair, overpriced, or underpriced? (If it's over/under priced, what would you think an appropriate price would be?)

Also, is there anything you know that would attract dealers to post their cars on a specific website?

If you have a better idea of a pricing model, please let me know. Remember the income has to be high enough to maintain the extra warranty.

I appreciate all the feedback!

 

[Carsten]

As a care buyer who used to dread the warranty.
I have used "Easy Care" for my last 2 cars. The first was a 2015 r/t 5.7 Challenger. I broke even on the warranty.
My current 2014 Jeep GC 5.7, I did well on. Granted I wouldn't have done all these repairs w/o this warranty.
Easy Care was like the name implies. Easy and no hassle Care.

I need an affiliate link from these folks!

TLDR;

I think Easy Care warranty is awesome as an end user.



Now, here's something to consider. I'm not in finance nor a dealer.
1. I wonder if dealers will be happy that you just took a nice cut of their sale.
2. Which segment of the market are you targeting? I would think that warranties only up X years old and X miles driven. (If you already solved this then please ignore.)



As for ideas:
From experience, someone has probably already thought of it or just too lazy to do it.
The most important is just doing it and learning to evolve as you work on your idea.

 

[autovantaofficial]

As a care buyer who used to dread the warranty.
I have used "Easy Care" for my last 2 cars. The first was a 2015 r/t 5.7 Challenger. I broke even on the warranty.
My current 2014 Jeep GC 5.7, I did well on. Granted I wouldn't have done all these repairs w/o this warranty.
Easy Care was like the name implies. Easy and no hassle Care.

I need an affiliate link from these folks!

TLDR;

I think Easy Care warranty is awesome as an end user.



Now, here's something to consider. I'm not in finance nor a dealer.
1. I wonder if dealers will be happy that you just took a nice cut of their sale.
2. Which segment of the market are you targeting? I would think that warranties only up X years old and X miles driven. (If you already solved this then please ignore.)



As for ideas:
From experience, someone has probably already thought of it or just too lazy to do it.
The most important is just doing it and learning to evolve as you work on your idea.

Thanks for your reply.

(For context: switching pricing to $0.50/Day)

Any dealer knows that it takes money to make money. If a car sits for 2 weeks, they owe me $7-$8 dollars for up to two years of extended warranties.

If a dealer owns 500 cars, then they'll owe me $7,500 for giving every single car in the show room that warranty. Most extended warranties can be around $2.5K...but assuming that warranties are worth $1K each...they're paying $7.5K for something that's worth $500K. Even if we say it's worth $500, they'd have to pay $250K...compared to my product.

If it really kills them that much, charge the consumer $10 for a warranty. If you can buy a car, you can buy a $10 warranty. Even if the car sits for a month...that's $15.


On top of that, they not only get the warranty, but all cars are eligible for lower priced repairs, extra salespeople (Official Term: Business Development), and a whole myriad of business development tools.


(Any feedback on pricing? This service is available to individuals as well.)


About the ideas:
I wanted to know what YOU as a consumer would want to see on a car buying website of such...what would be important to you if this was a website and a potential car you were buying would benefit from such.


Thanks a lot!

 

[Carsten]

I'm sorry but I'm getting confused.
So, If a car sells in 3 days.
3 x $0.50 = $1.50
for $1.50 the vehicle is covered for 2 years of extended warranty?

Why did you bring up a month of pricing?

is this dealer car insurance for when the car is sitting on the dealer lot?

How does this relate to guru, cars, or trader?