Carzoo -what's everone thinking

[petrol head 46]

Are they worth 6M, for me absolutely not, crowded market place etc.

What's do you think?

[trade vet 702]

13 minutes ago, petrol head said:

Are they worth 6M, for me absolutely not, crowded market place etc.

What's do you think?

6 billion or whatever,if the guy has copped for £100m of investors money already as rumoured,no wonder they are bandying around these figures.It will be interesting to see their next annual accounts.

[petrol head 46]

4 hours ago, trade vet said:

6 billion or whatever,if the guy has copped for £100m of investors money already as rumoured,no wonder they are bandying around these figures.It will be interesting to see their next annual accounts.

Yes I'm looking forward to their accounts too, kind of reminds me of this:

 

[Frank Cannon 812]

Hang on, the replies above assumes the OP made a typo with the valuation.

They could be worth 6 long if their assests are worth that? Probably not though. 

S'funny but, a few of these smiley white teeth click n deliver companies are also starting sites....hmm.

I think they/we/suits miss the point that the chase of viewing cars for many people.

Lovely clean shiny buildings not at all like their own dull dreary shithole, touching them cars, smelling them squeaky clean cars after a valet, sitting in them cars, clutching the steering wheel going brrm brrm to themselves like a kid is, half the fun for a lot of people and, their families.

It's a tactile thing, buying a newer/another set of wheels, is rarely done by most. We are immune to it. 

Many 'Customers' like the stroking, the petting, the sycophantic smiles and free fluffy coffee of an onsite buying experience. 

I mean, Harrods sell Heinz baked beans by the shitload too and, they are neither as convenient or as cheap as Tesco online but, buying a can of Beanz Meanz Heinz at Harrods is, a real experience. Some purchasers will even point to that 'never to be opened' container of cooked harricots in tomato sauce and, remember that day and tell others of it's story. 

PS They may catch some of BHMs customers though, possibly not a lot of petting going down there

Edited March 13, 2021 by Frank Cannon

[trade vet 702]

What I don’t understand is BCA’s Cinch operation.Why do they think they can make more money retailing when their auctions have never made as much money as they have of late.I was reading Vertu Motors last accounts,150 retail sites,£3 billion sales,£7m net profit and 40% of the profit came from 8% of sales which was ‘after sales ‘.That about sums the job up.

[Frank Cannon 812]

1 hour ago, trade vet said:

What I don’t understand is BCA’s Cinch operation.Why do they think they can make more money retailing when their auctions have never made as much money as they have of late.I was reading Vertu Motors last accounts,150 retail sites,£3 billion sales,£7m net profit and 40% of the profit came from 8% of sales which was ‘after sales ‘.That about sums the job up.

I think since the management change at BCA a few years back, the automotive slant on things has been completely lost.

BCA have good thing going why fuck it up with the retail end of the business which is afterall, where the worst grief is.....some out of the box thinking which is in actual fact, out of of this world, to many looking in from the outside. 

Greed is playing a big part backed up by clever talking suits? 

Edited March 13, 2021 by Frank Cannon

[trade vet 702]

1 hour ago, Frank Cannon said:

I think since the management change at BCA a few years back, the automotive slant on things has been completely lost.

BCA have good thing going why fuck it up with the retail end of the business which is afterall, where the worst grief is.....some out of the box thinking which is in actual fact, out of of this world, to many looking in from the outside. 

Greed is playing a big part backed up by clever talking suits? 

Just received an invoice from BCA for a 14 grand car ( not mine ) ,£829 buyers fees plus £57 Assured fee....I think that should be classed as Extortion !

[petrol head 46]

1 hour ago, trade vet said:

Just received an invoice from BCA for a 14 grand car ( not mine ) ,£829 buyers fees plus £57 Assured fee....I think that should be classed as Extortion !

WFT!

I definitely read £6M.....

[metcars 397]

3 hours ago, trade vet said:

Just received an invoice from BCA for a 14 grand car ( not mine ) ,£829 buyers fees plus £57 Assured fee....I think that should be classed as Extortion !

Coincidence.

I’m currently going through some old paperwork. I have a purchase receipt from manheim. In 03/2006 I bought a ‘01 Picasso. Balance due £3232. That’s £3100  at the hammer, buyers fee £80, delivery (60 miles) £41, £21 vat.

£80 buyers fee! Those were the days!

[BHM 994]

13 minutes ago, metcars said:

Coincidence.

I’m currently going through some old paperwork. I have a purchase receipt from manheim. In 03/2006 I bought a ‘01 Picasso. Balance due £3232. That’s £3100  at the hammer, buyers fee £80, delivery (60 miles) £41, £21 vat.

£80 buyers fee! Those were the days!

I wouldn’t want £3232 in that Picasso now 

[metcars 397]

49 minutes ago, BHM said:

I wouldn’t want £3232 in that Picasso now 

I just knew someone would say that! 

[Casper 272]

1 hour ago, metcars said:

Coincidence.

I’m currently going through some old paperwork. I have a purchase receipt from manheim. In 03/2006 I bought a ‘01 Picasso. Balance due £3232. That’s £3100  at the hammer, buyers fee £80, delivery (60 miles) £41, £21 vat.

£80 buyers fee! Those were the days!

07 vectra 13/5/2010 £4400 bid price total £4494 happy days

[grant8064 219]

On 3/12/2021 at 1:31 PM, petrol head said:

Are they worth 6M, for me absolutely not, crowded market place etc.

What's do you think?

It's just about potential, not the here and now. If you can show the concept sort of/almost does work it can be rolled out in other countries where it might do better. Similar to the JustEat, DeliveryHero, UberEats models. Valuation on current revenue/profit is irrelevant for these types of businesses. Carvana is a prime auto example.

Already there's a handful of big "Amazon-esque" companies selling food and household goods...imagine what a dedicated car version, equally as big, would be worth? Selling/renting big ticket items + insurance, warranties, roadside assistance, service plans, managing your repairs at the local dealer....all for a % commission. And, getting carried away, in 20 years time they manage your self-drive EV for you whilst it's out mini-cabbing overnight whilst you sleep, again for a % commission. Or running a car subscription service like Netflix does for generic TV. shows? Whoever gets there first, like Amazon or Netflix etc, is the winner. 

Personally i'm amazed Autotrader and people like Mobile.de, AutoScout and other ad platforms didn't tie in with auctions/leasing companies and get in on the game years ago. Massive missed opportunity and they'll be as irrelevant/small as paper advertising is now in time.

[BHM 994]

1 hour ago, grant8064 said:

in 20 years time they manage your self-drive EV for you whilst it's out mini-cabbing overnight whilst you sleep,

Unless vomit drastically changes in another two decades they won’t be renting my wheels to go on the rank on a nighttime 

[trade vet 702]

1 hour ago, BHM said:

Unless vomit drastically changes in another two decades they won’t be renting my wheels to go on the rank on a nighttime 

Ha Ha.That sounds a bit like when Motability started.Become a Motability named driver for an infirm relative and operate as a taxi driver with a free car.There were cars coming back worn out.Better still in the distant past,a sales manager near us got into trouble loaning out cars on Saturday night straight off the pitch untaxed to his mates.They were used as taxis and brought back early on Monday mornings !

[Casper 272]

40 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Ha Ha.That sounds a bit like when Motability started.Become a Motability named driver for an infirm relative and operate as a taxi driver with a free car.There were cars coming back worn out.Better still in the distant past,a sales manager near us got into trouble loaning out cars on Saturday night straight off the pitch untaxed to his mates.They were used as taxis and brought back early on Monday mornings !

The memories trade vet the memories hope your well

[Bmx Bandits 52]

11 hours ago, trade vet said:

What I don’t understand is BCA’s Cinch operation.Why do they think they can make more money retailing when their auctions have never made as much money as they have of late.I was reading Vertu Motors last accounts,150 retail sites,£3 billion sales,£7m net profit and 40% of the profit came from 8% of sales which was ‘after sales ‘.That about sums the job up.

I don’t think they want to make more money retailing, I think it purely about creating a brand and an infrastructure that can be split from BCA and sold off for big money.
 

They would have looked at Carzoo and thought, if they these people can create a brand (that BCA was helping to stock/prep anyway), which can be built up and then potentially floated for a frankly obscene  figure then so can BCA!! 

9 hours ago, trade vet said:

Just received an invoice from BCA for a 14 grand car ( not mine ) ,£829 buyers fees plus £57 Assured fee....I think that should be classed as Extortion !

I could not agree more and you don’t even get great service for that money!

[DCS01 27]

I just still can’t get my head around it. Maybe up to 18 months old cars yes.  But anything older than that?  Over the years the amount of times I think a car is perfect and the customer comes down and tears it apart how do you deal with those people when you are just delivering a car? 
Who is dealing with the buy backs and the issues of repairing a broken car in the 1st 6 months? How do they allow for miss described part exchanges?

I also still don’t think when the dealerships open back up and customers can go and have drives that it will stand up to a hungry sales person with a family and a mortgage to feed. 
 

I may be completely wrong but I’ve worked in main dealers long enough saying that internet sales will take over and they never have.

[Frank Cannon 812]

On 3/14/2021 at 1:53 PM, DCS01 said:

I just still can’t get my head around it. Maybe up to 18 months old cars yes.  But anything older than that?  Over the years the amount of times I think a car is perfect and the customer comes down and tears it apart how do you deal with those people when you are just delivering a car? 
Who is dealing with the buy backs and the issues of repairing a broken car in the 1st 6 months? How do they allow for miss described part exchanges?

I also still don’t think when the dealerships open back up and customers can go and have drives that it will stand up to a hungry sales person with a family and a mortgage to feed. 
 

I may be completely wrong but I’ve worked in main dealers long enough saying that internet sales will take over and they never have.

This 

[Stillnotadealer 1]

On 3/14/2021 at 1:53 PM, DCS01 said:

I just still can’t get my head around it. Maybe up to 18 months old cars yes.  But anything older than that?  Over the years the amount of times I think a car is perfect and the customer comes down and tears it apart how do you deal with those people when you are just delivering a car? 
Who is dealing with the buy backs and the issues of repairing a broken car in the 1st 6 months? How do they allow for miss described part exchanges?

I also still don’t think when the dealerships open back up and customers can go and have drives that it will stand up to a hungry sales person with a family and a mortgage to feed. 
 

I may be completely wrong but I’ve worked in main dealers long enough saying that internet sales will take over and they never have.

It would not surprise me if this is one of the reason people buy online. Browsing at leisure without feeling pressurised that they have to buy by aforementioned hungry sales person.

Edited March 16, 2021 by Stillnotadealer

[BHM 994]

8 hours ago, Stillnotadealer said:

It would not surprise me if this is one of the reason people buy online. Browsing at leisure without feeling pressurised that they have to buy by aforementioned hungry sales person.

I would imagine a fair percentage of the population don’t relish the idea of that, including me, & the whole dealership experience is FAR from pleasurable for many. Some must like it but plenty hate it from what I’m told by punters. 

Pre-lockdown I had the ‘pleasure’ of shopping for fitted furniture. Fuck me, I experienced various persuasion techniques & manipulation attempting to soften me up for what was some of the most ridiculous prices imaginable. If I’m honest it reminded me of the bad old days of sales patter when I used to buy new cars, or double glazing. 

[DCS01 27]

4 hours ago, BHM said:

I would imagine a fair percentage of the population don’t relish the idea of that, including me, & the whole dealership experience is FAR from pleasurable for many. Some must like it but plenty hate it from what I’m told by punters. 

Pre-lockdown I had the ‘pleasure’ of shopping for fitted furniture. Fuck me, I experienced various persuasion techniques & manipulation attempting to soften me up for what was some of the most ridiculous prices imaginable. If I’m honest it reminded me of the bad old days of sales patter when I used to buy new cars, or double glazing. 

We have been sorting a kitchen. I actually quite liked doing the initial appointments by Zoom. One of the companies however don’t want to give me a quote until we have been in to discuss the design. Like Inchape used to work, give you half the info until you make an appointment.

[BHM 994]

8 hours ago, DCS01 said:

One of the companies however don’t want to give me a quote until we have been in to discuss the design.

That was the form with kitchen suppliers the last time I bought one & is still the form with fitted furniture suppliers - and they say WE are the shysters! It’s just as well I was sat down when I was presented with their optimistic quote, I was so shocked I actually blurred out “You're fucking joking?” . I felt the rough tickle of wool being pulled across my eyes as they spouted the line as they left “You’ll need to order this week to secure that price in case the price increases because the factory alters prices weekly as they get busier”. Yeah, rightio!

[Frank Cannon 812]

20 minutes ago, BHM said:

That was the form with kitchen suppliers the last time I bought one & is still the form with fitted furniture suppliers - and they say WE are the shysters! It’s just as well I was sat down when I was presented with their optimistic quote, I was so shocked I actually blurred out “You're fucking joking?” . I felt the rough tickle of wool being pulled across my eyes as they spouted the line as they left “You’ll need to order this week to secure that price in case the price increases because the factory alters prices weekly as they get busier”. Yeah, rightio!

I had a Zenith double glazing rep around few years back....best entertainment in years.

All the old clichés

20 minute video first off... 

Once off price this week as good customers... 

Can I borrow your phone to ring my boss....can't we help these lovely people with a better price....

I'll tell your what, bugger the boss I'll cut you a discount....

Expecting a big price increase due to Brexit and did you know three of the four plastic wholesale suppliers were out of action with roofs blown off....all bar one in Italy apparently.... 

Simply refused to take a bank transfer, wanted to strap us up, somehow saying that when someone wants to pays cash it means their credit was shite, hiding behind cash and that strap would improve our rating. 

I think our builder did the job at 40% less than his best/ once only/ I'll loose my job over this/can I level with you price. 

The biggest problem was getting the twat out of the house, in the end I threw his sodding display window and exec briefcase out onto the front garden, he just couldn't take three polite "please leaves" for an answer, then I boiled over, wife warned him too.

Left saying he was calling the plod

 

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by Frank Cannon

[petrol head 46]

Since posting this I have taken a detailed look at their website and would comment as follows, and would be interested to garner other people's opinions:

1. The website is easy to navigate and the pictures and descriptions are first class down, to the last service date.

2. I wouldn't say the prices are much cheaper than Dealers, given how much used vehicles are in the trade, how could they be?

3. It may be me being a dinosaur, but even with a 7 day money back guarantee (does this include the costs of cancelling insurance etc), but do customers really want to buy a used car they haven't driven or seen? It will be really interesting to see the return % when buyers remorse sets in, or they see a car they like better for sale?

4. Self appraisal of P/X by customer, what could possibly go wrong!

Float it with all the razzle dazzle and watch it fail.

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by petrol head