How does this compare to CarMax? They typically offer more than a dealer would as well on cars that are in good condition and less than 10 years old.
Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
201–210 of 215 posts
Re: Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you sell to a dealership that will sell the car themselves, you have some wiggle room on the trade-in price because you're cutting out 2 middlemen (wholesaler and auction). Also, don't forget the tax benefit you get by the lower price of the care you're buying. Not sure if this is new cars only but that offset can be thousands, depending on the trade-in value and new car cost.
Josh, The average dealership doesn't know if they're going to keep a car for their own inventory or going to sell it at auction/wholesale until they own it. Standard procedure is to purchase a car (purchase = take it on trade-in/buy it) and then have the mechanics inspect it to see what it needs done on it to get it back out to sell. If it's too expensive, they wholesale/auction it. This means, 90% of the time, they…
That makes sense. I sold mine to a VW dealership that does a lot of used cars sales. It was in great condition so I was pretty certain they would sell it. I as given a good trade-in number so I took it.
Re: Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
#203Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you sell to a dealership that will sell the car themselves, you have some wiggle room on the trade-in price because you're cutting out 2 middlemen (wholesaler and auction). Also, don't forget the tax benefit you get by the lower price of the care you're buying. Not sure if this is new cars only but that offset can be thousands, depending on the trade-in value and new car cost.
Tax benefit (in most states afaik) has nothing to do with whether the purchase is a new or used car. To explain (for anyone not familiar since the way you phrased it might be confusing): New car price: $30,000 Your trade in: $10,000 Net price: $20,000 So Sales tax 6% 20,000 vs. 6% 30,000 (example of a state with 6% st) If you sell the car yourself you can still use it as a trade in if you can coordinate with the deal…
Thanks for the clarification ... and the information on the courtesy trade, I've never heard of that before.
Re: Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
#204Great idea - good luck guys! Related note for the HN community, while we're on the subject: Unless you have time & money to burn, you really should never never never trade your car into the dealership. It's the worst price you're going to get along the used car supply chain. And even if you think you're getting a good price, it's because you're probably pairing it with buying a car (and paying too much for the car yo…
What about BUYING a car in the same fashion? I mean, the shake-up here in the used market sees the same paradigm. Be the broker ... vs. the service fee out. :)
Re: Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
#205Hi Guys, Nicholas here. I started Carlypso.com last summer when Chris (my co-founder) and I had helped a number of our classmates sell their used cars after graduation. About 9 months ago, I had the pleasure of dealing with Instamotor founder Sy when he bought his Audi A4 with our help. His feedback over email was really encouraging: "About your idea: 1. I was looking a bit at ways to remotely unlock a car over a net…
For what's it worth it's more clear how the service works on your website. Their's is a little cleaner and more modern but I really appreciate the step by step graphical walk through of the process on your site. Looks like the service offering is very similar. Now it's just a matter of who treats their employees/customers better, gets the necessary funding for expansion and has more passion for the space. There are A LOT of cities in the US that could greatly benefit from this service including Boise where I reside. There is a shady used car dealer on every corner and I would far prefer to use one of your services when selling my car and buying cars. I've done my fair share of craigslist deals, some positive some a major hassle... Good luck!
Re: Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
#206I really like the slider with what you earn! Good job
Re: Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
#207In addition, could you make a service where I can go into a new car dealership and buy a car in five minutes with financing. I just bought two brand new cars in the last six months and had to wait around for hours and leave dealerships after calling them up before I even left my house and telling them I want to buy x car at x price at x time of the day and they agree, but when I get there it's a nightmare.
hey Peter, sy here from Instamotor. I think Trucar is kind of supposed to do that. Not sure if we'll ever jump into that particular segment.
Nah, I went in on an advertised special defined price on one and even had a TrueCar listing in hand another time. They made up a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that the cars they had aren't exactly like what they advertise. After I said ok to a price, I still had to wait around for hours with wife and two young children to finalize all the paperwork and get the car prepped. Wanted to stab myself in the eye from frustrationand swore I'd never buy new again. It appears there is still a wide space between the negotiated price and driving away.
I think TrueCar is mostly for newer cars, but is it possible they apply the same method to used cars in the future and try to take money off your increased price? Do you think
Re: Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
#208Hi Guys, Nicholas here. I started Carlypso.com last summer when Chris (my co-founder) and I had helped a number of our classmates sell their used cars after graduation. About 9 months ago, I had the pleasure of dealing with Instamotor founder Sy when he bought his Audi A4 with our help. His feedback over email was really encouraging: "About your idea: 1. I was looking a bit at ways to remotely unlock a car over a net…
I don't think you'll win support with such passive-aggressiveness. ;) Imitation is part of business. If you create something that's valuable and profitable, it's only a matter of time before someone copies you. Here's a good and relevant read for you: http://blog.asmartbear.com/unfair-advantages.html > "... The real question is: What are you going to do when another smart, scrappy startup copies it, and gets $10m in…
I read the post as being direct and confrontational (as opposed to passive-aggressive).
Re: Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's CPO?
Certified Pre-Owned.
Which means it's kinda BS and so the independent market can invent their own certification. Bonus: find ex-dealership mechanics who can advise in compensating for imperfections in the CPO process, increasing the value of the independent cert over the manufacturer one.
Re: Show HN: InstaMotor – Taking the pain out of selling your car
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
Certified Pre-Owned.
Which means it's kinda BS and so the independent market can invent their own certification. Bonus: find ex-dealership mechanics who can advise in compensating for imperfections in the CPO process, increasing the value of the independent cert over the manufacturer one.
"it's kinda BS and so the independent market can invent their own certification."
Exactly. Exactly. (2x for emphasis). (Although there is value for sure to the warranty part.
They can invent their own word and certification. But they also need to provide a warranty for sure.
What you are really getting is the fact that someone is standing behind something. You are getting a warranty. And so it's a fancier way of describing a warranty. After all who really cares about the inspection part if someone is saying they will fix things?
For BMW: