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In a joint venture with Pep Boys, CarOffer.com (a lanelogic company) wants to be an easy-to-use car-selling method for individuals wanting to sell their car. At least that’s what their radio commercials present. After hearing them a few times, I decided to give it a try.
Even with the unfamiliar when you don’t know what to expect, you have certain expectations. But what I got was completely unexpected…
Last fall when my SUV’s fuel pump was failing and I was not sure what I wanted to do with the vehicle after having already fixed it several times, I purchased a van to use until I resolved it, planning to sell the van in the new year. Now that the Chevy dealership has repaired the SUV, it is time to sell the van. Usually I list my vehicles on CraigsList.org or AutoTrader.com and get good response, but I figured I’d try something new.
The process was simple enough. I went to CarOffer.com and filled out their online form. However, their interface for uploading images was quite klunky; and this is being spoken (written, actually), by an Internet pioneer who has”been exposed to everything”. But bad design finds no limits in its confusion.
Then, true to their word, I received an email in about 24 hours with my offer.
The van is a 2006 Express 3500. That means it is top of the line with a one-ton capacity. Add to that the exclusive feature of double passenger doors on the driver’s side, and the fact it has only 30k miles, and you are talking about a vehicle with a reasonable retail price between $17, 500 on the low side, and $21,500 on the high.
I sort of expected any offer they sent to be on the low side of my range, since their purpose in purchasing any vehicle would be to sell it for a profit, of course. As the old stock trading axiom goes, “buy low, sell high”. But when I saw that the offer was for $12,000, the message I perceived was, “we at CarOffer.com think you are stupid”. Asking myself, “what, do they think I am an idiot?”, the answer was clearly, “yes, I believe they do.”
While it is reasonable to expect a company in such a venture to endeavor to make a profit, it should be expected to be a reasonable profit. In my case, there is nothing reasonable about CarOffer’s offer.
Now after my experience with them, I found one news article that quotes the CEO as saying:
“We anticipate that most vehicles acquired through this alliance with Pep Boys will be three to five years old and valued at under $9,000.”
Well, maybe, but they are going to have to do a much better job of expectations management for their potential sellers (that is, inventory suppliers) to avoid alienating them altogether and blowing all hopes of keeping anyone’s attention. If they are not careful, they might be seen as lame logic instead of lanelogic.
Regards
——–
PS: Somebody has something to say about it at The Ripoff Report.
March 27th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Did Carmax offer you retail for your van? Did a dealership offer you retail for your van and not require you to buy a “new and cheap” car from them? The number one mistake people make, and I’ve been one of them, is not doing their research, paying too much for a vehicle, then getting upset when they realize that you will never get retail back for your vehicle. Vehicles depreciate every day and unless you’re lucky enough to sell to a private party for “low” and or “high” retail value you will never recoup that. If you’re able to sell that van for 18k grand or above than I will be more than happy to put my foot in my mouth.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Though I have never dealt with CarMax, I would never expect a dealer to pay retail for a vehicle. They buy wholesale and sell retail in order to make a profit.
You make some good points Whitney, and expectations are what we are talking about.
When one sells a car to a dealership, it is usually as a trade-in. There is negotiating that goes on also. This is not foreign to most second-or-later-time car owners.
However, with CarOffer, they are entering into a bit of a new paradigm where they are asking a car owner to simply sell their car. My view is that they are presenting themselves as competing with the classified ads or the autotrader.coms where people are listing their vehicles at retail prices. But this is not who they truly are. Thus, my expectations were not met in my experience.
Speaking of expectations, when individual car sellers take a look at what are believed to be industry standards for automobile valuation such as the NADA Guides, they form expectations. Such is the case with my 2006 G3500 Express van. Looking at http://www.nadaguides.com, and plugging in the specs for a 2005 model (a year older than mine, just to be very fair), it returns a trade-in value of $15,875, and a retail value of $18,675. That represents my realm of reasonable expectations. And CarOffer.com’s $12,000 proposition was not within that realm.
But, if they were to take an approach similar to the “we buy ugly houses” guys in the home-flipping market, then they would be seen differently and would do things differently. They could put out flyers and little signs on street corners, or enlist people to carry their bumper stickers saying “quick cash for your car now!”
Consider the charity ads on the radio for donating your car or boat. It is put in your mind that you are getting rid of a vehicle and that you are getting nothing in return (other than a possible tax deduction). Your expectations are set very quickly, and your time is not wasted and there is no confusion over what the deal is.
This might be better at reaching the demographic they are more likely to have success with. But again, their current problem, in my eyes, is that they initially come across as saying they are a near-equal alternative to classifieds, which is a sell-for-retail model.
I believe that CarOffer.com is in a good position to reach an unmet market opportunity, but they need to go about it differently.
Regards
April 14th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
It is very simple folks. Since Car Offer does not have a retail outlet or a channel they will continue to offer their online customers low side of wholesale value, because all they do is take it to auction and sell it off. Since they have all the auction data at their fingertips, all they are doing is hedging their potential losses by bidding on the car on the lower end, which is probably on average a good $500 to $800 lower than what the customer would get trading it in, not to mention the sales tax break you get for trading it in. In my view the only time you would use them if you had a clear title to the car and were desperate for cash. Because you would have to be pretty stupid to go through them otherwise. I would be interested in seeing what Bruce spins off of CarOffer when it goes bust
April 19th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Carmax does the same as caroffer. Except carmax retails units. In the same aspect both CM and CO give cash offer for units with no hassle. I had a bad experience trying to retail my car through private party. I spent alot of money on advertising and detailing my car. Let me say it took months to sell my car. Of course I got less than my intial price. Everyone is trying to make a buck which is understandable. Not everyone wants to pay retail. Kelly blue book is a guide. I found out they are 4-6 weeks behind the market. Plus if you have a vehicle lets say with high mileage and over 5 yrs old. Not matter what mileage you put in, the trade in value doesn’t change. Kelly is telling me a vehicle with 150K is the same value as one with 60K. It doesn’t add up. The true value of something is what someone is willing to pay for it.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Hi John,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Keith and Tom,
In case you’re wondering why your comments don’t show up, we have put your comments temporarily on hold for now.
There are some things that first need to be verified before we want to continue approving your comments, due to the nature of your comments.
We do of course appreciate your thoughts and input!
Thanks for stopping by guys.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
So I just tested them out too. Got an offer of $21,000 for my 2005 BMW 545. Last week a BMW dealer offered me $27,000 and an independent offered $28,000. KBB trade in is $31,000 (I know KBB is usually high). Caroffer is a complete waste of time and I hope they fail miserably.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I’m the COO of CarOffer and I thought I would respond to some of the comments which I find to be very insightful. CarOffer is designed to fill a gap in the industry. If you want fast cash for your vehicle and don’t want to go through the hassles of going through a traditional dealer then CarOffer is a viable alternative.
If you read the CarMax financials you’ll see that when they buy a car and wholesale it at auction they make approximately $800 per unit. As a matter of fact, they make $50 million per quarter doing this out of 80 or so locations. By our estimates they buy 60,000 vehicles a quarter off the street and sell them at auction. We try to be more competitive than that on our spread but at the end of the day we speculate. The reality is we might make or lose money through various dealer wholesale channels and auctions.
The market is very turbulent right now. With gas approaching $4 per gallon, trucks, SUVs and many other vehicles depreciated more than 20% in the 4th quarter 2007 alone. That depreciation rate is unpresendented. There is a common misconception that the wholesale guides like Kelly Blue Book are an accurate indicator of what a car will bring on the wholesale market. The fact is Kelly Blue Book won’t write a check for your car and a dealer won’t give you that kind of money either unless you’re buying a car from him. He can over-allow for your vehicle and show you more for it by financing the difference into the one he’s selling you. Over-allowing is a very common practice.
CarOffer isn’t a retailer. We simply offer cash for cars and try to turn them quickly on the wholesale market. We don’t pretend to compete with classifieds either because that is a retail channel that requires an initial investment, time and quite a bit of haggling between prospective buyers and sellers.
A retail dealer could likely give you more if your car is a car he needs or if you’re buying a car from him. Those are 2 big “ifs”. It takes hours to drive to a dealer or CarMax and get a bid. CarOffer takes a few minutes. That’s the idea.
We are simply trying to offer consumers a viable online convenient alternative to the traditional means of selling a car. It costs nothing to get a bid from us so the service is free. CarOffer is designed to fill a gap in the industry. If you want fast cash for your vehicle and don’t want to go through the hassles of taking it to a dealer or listing it in the classifieds then CarOffer is a viable alternative.
The early indications are that we are fulfilling a much needed service. We are at volume capacity and are just now getting started. Our trading floor will soon go to 24/7 bidding. That suggest to us that we are fulfilling a niche.
I thought I would respond to Michael above concerning his 2006 Chevrolet Express Van. The actual auction results from Manheim Auctions were $13,845 in November 2007 and $12,100 today. If you could retail the van and find the right buyer you might be able to get $14-16k but that’s by retailing the van. I’m more than happy to send over the national auction averages if you’d like.
Hopefully, this post helped to solve some misconceptions. We’re happy to answer any other questions by emailing us at info@caroffer.com
Eric
May 6th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Thank you Eric for taking the time to share your thoughts and providing more information on CarOffer’s business model to our readers.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Edited by CustomRides.com
Where do they get the term “fair market value?” They offered me 2,000 less than what all the online book value reports said a dealer would offer for my S-10 truck WHOLESALE. It is a clean car that I didn’t drive much because it was my second vehicle. I told them that they should just steal the truck and my insurance would probably pay more for it.
They are right about it being convenient, hassle-free - no having to deal with people you don’t know, etc. in order to sell your car. However, I hope I never need money badly enough to need their “services.”
Jenifer: Your comment has been slightly altered.
We like to see people share their thoughts and experiences, being that positive or negative, but we also like to keep any dialogue on CustomRides.com as civil as possible.
May 10th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Response to Eric Hove:
An insightful response. You seem to have hit a niche that gives a more national footprint to selling cars for cash without the lengthy hassle of advertise, offer, acceptance etc. The questions is how to 1) differentiate your offering, and 2) how to defend your turf in a turbulent market, particularly in a commodity market that you have little control over such as autos. Obviously your investors will ask the same questions.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Jennifer,
While it is difficult to explain why our bid did not meet your expectations without looking at the specifics of the bid, I will remind you that none of the online book evaluations will actually pay you cash for your truck. Also, the book valuations tend to be at least a week behind the actual market. Every day we work very hard to understand the wholesale market and only plan to make a few hundred dollars profit on each vehicle. If we see the market changing on a particular class of vehicle or Make/Model we adjust our biding strategy to compensate. Our objective is not to upset you or any customer with our bid. Our objective is to make money by buying a lot of cars, not the opposite. I know that we will not be successful as a company by under-valuing the cars that we bid.
As I have previously stated, the used car market is going through an unprecedented decline (especially for trucks and SUVs). For additional data points you can reference an article that was published in the USA Today a few days ago http://www.usatoday.com/money/.....htm?csp=34 where you can see some of the auto industry’s leaders describe how the economy is affecting used vehicle prices.
Currently, we do not provide an explanation of the thought process that went into bidding each car. We are, however, experimenting with new and better ways of communicating our bid to the customer. Until then, you may contact us at http://www.caroffer.com/ContactUs.aspx anytime with questions or ideas. We welcome your feedback.
May 12th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Ok, then there’s a disconnect between what “fair market value” is and what you know a dealer will charge to sell the same car back to you.
Ok - they said my S-10 is “worth” $3500 - then I flip the internet pages to find dealers in my area marketing the same model with say, 50K more miles on them for $10,000. Even Edmonds said I could fetch at least 5K wholesale, given the mileage adjustment.
Although the gas crisis can be blamed for the plummeting values of some cars, guess what?? People are still going to buy cars because there is no alternatives for most. Worth is such a relative thing…
The same types of thieves and predators that orchestrated the mortgage mess are in the car market, preying on people’s desperation.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
When Hove talks about “the market”, etc. bear in mind there are two markets in the car business - the ones
that are actually looking for a car to drive and the ones that are looking to make a fast buck off your vehicle through an expedient resale. Don’t expect fair compensation from the latter. They get their figures from auction data, from repossessions and other miserable circumstances. If they didn’t take advantage of you they wouldn’t have a job.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I read this article and a few others about caroffer.com and figured that I didn’t have anything to lose. Unfortunately I was wrong.
Not only was their offer less than half the market value of my car, it was even lower than the offer my dealer had made when I bought my new car. After laughing out loud I quickly moved on.
Then my phone started ringing.
It turns out that part of caroffer form that I had filled out asked about what car I was thinking of buying to replace my old car, since the form wouldn’t let me leave it blank I just entered the new car I had bought 2 months ago.
So far 3 BMW dealers have contacted me trying to sell me a new car. The ironic part - caroffer prides themselves on making “the process of selling your car as easy and convenient as possible without the hassle or pressure of having to purchase another vehicle at a dealership”
My only regret? I should have said that I was interested in an Aston Martin… now that’s a test drive I would make time for
May 30th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
When will people grasp the concept of business being an enterprise for profit?
Of course you have to pay under so called book value for any used vehicle.
As for establishing value, look at edmunds, find the lowest listed price for your vehicle. That will be its value. Period. I don’t work for or care about Edmunds. I just know how to establish actual value. Sounds like caroffer does as well.
May 31st, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I sold my 1995 BMW to CAROFFER.COM.
The transaction was a complete disaster from the time it was handed it off from the sales rep.
On a Friday in May 2008 I agreed to sell my vehicle to Caroffer.com. The car was unregistered so Caroffer.com agreed to arrange to tow the vehicle the next morning (Saturday). The car was picked up at my residence for transport to a Pep Boys location thirty-three miles away. I was told to give the Pep Boys some time to inspect the car. We agreed that I should be at the Pep Boys no earlier than 10:00 a.m. I showed up two hours AFTER the so-called customer service team advised me to be at the Pep Boys and over three hours after the vehicle left my residence thirty-three miles from the Pep Boys location. When I arrived at Pep Boys they told me the car had “just arrived” and it would be at least three hours. (!!!!) When I called the so-called customer service line they (Roland) told me that it would be one hour, max. At the forty-five minute mark the Pep Boys team told me they were done. At the one hour fifteen minute mark I called their so-called customer service line. (Matthew) said they didn’t have the vehicle report yet. Thirty minutes later Pep Boys confirmed that it was sent the first time but their so-called customer service team hadn’t “refreshed” their system. Twenty minutes later their so-called customer service line told me the final paperwork was transmitted to Pep Boys. The Pep Boys manager said the offer came through at 50% of the agreed price and it would be at least thirty more minutes until the“IT” people completed trouble-shooting. At this point their so-called customer service line stopped answering inbound calls. Forty minutes later Pep Boys had the full offer paperwork. It took fifteen minutes to sign and wrap up.
It in fact took three hours, despite the fact the Caroffer.com so-called customer service line told me that everything would be all set when I got to Pep Boys.
So:
- The CarOffer.com tow vendor took 2 1/2 hours to transport my vehicle thirty-three miles; I drove the exact same thirty-three miles in forty-five minutes. Interestingly, I called the tow vendor and they denied it took so long. So either the tow vendor is a liar or the inbound processing vendor (Pep Boys) is staffed with liars.
- The Caroffer.com customer service line assured me over the course of three days and no less than five phone calls that everything would be in order at Pep Boys. It was not.
- The Caroffer.com so-called customer service line lied to me that it would be an hour once the magnitude of the disaster became known.
- The Caroffer.com so-called customer service line is technically incompetent, unable to “refresh” some computer system.
- The Caroffer.com so-called customer service line is unprofessional for ignoring my inbound calls.
I instructed the Caroffer.com so-called customer service line to find my sales rep and resolve this. They said he wasn’t working on that particular day and thus unavailable.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
So I gave it a shot… and wow, what a joke!
I have a 1998 Ford Windstar w/124k miles, in good working order, and with new tires. KBB / NADA values between 2700 & 3500 (spread from “fair” to “good” - I figure it’s somewhere in between).
Plug in the details… about 5 hours later I get my “offer” in my email. Drumroll please….. $100.
The new tires that I put on it yesterday are worth $250… heck, I could probably melt down the wiring harnass and sell the copper for more than that
Cute site, empty promise.
June 11th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
After reading all the negative comments about caroffer I decided to fill out their online questionnaire and see what they would offer me for my car. I had done my share of research (Black book, Kelly Blue book as well as local dealerships). At first I thought the offer I got back was a joke so I decided to sell my car myself. After advertising for about a month and a half I had only gotten a hand full of what I would consider serious buyers. At the same time my financial situation was getting worst so I decided to give Caroffer a second try. They gave me the same offer as the first time and even though I think I could have gotten more for my car they did end up paying off my car loan. I’m not about to paint a rosy picture of Caroffer or my experience with them but at least I don’t have any more car payments.
June 14th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Dylan, I know what you mean about the market being tough. And I am glad that CarOffer worked out for you. It sounds like you had the information you needed to make up your own mind and not have any surprises.
In my own case, I finally sold my van via word of mouth; my ads on AutoTrader.com and CraigsList.org brought surprisingly little activity, even though I had it aggressively priced to sell. Between you and me, I sold it for about $2,500 less than I had predicted 6 months earlier; however, it was $3,000 more than CarOffer.com had offered. But, as you know, time is money - especially to a car seller with a depreciating commodity such as a car.
Did your transaction execute as you expected and did it wrap up within a reasonable time period?
Kree, I see your point entirely! Wow.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:39 am
WE got a call on my Husband’s Cell phone. WE have been trying to sell our 95 dodge Dakota for about a year now with no luck. SO sure I was like let’s take a look. So I filled Everything out and got an offer the next morning… 100 Dollars. ARe you Serious. I can sell my car to a pick and pull for 250 to 300. My car runs, it has a new transmission and everything works in it and is is immaculate condition and they wanted me to just give it to them. ( because it would cost me 100 in gas just to drive it to their store. and I know i can get at least 3000 from carmax. http://www.caroffer.com is ridiculous.
June 24th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I don’t think car offer expects you to take the ridiculously low offers (like the offers for $100.00). I think it’s their way of rejecting your car. I imagine they don’t want to buy all the cars out there. Just a select few that they are sure they can make money on. That’s business!
June 24th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I agree David, it’s not realistic every car will be of interest, that’s not a sensible business model, but the same goes for deliberately making offers that they expect never to be accepted.
If they’re not interested in a car, they’ll simply say they aren’t interested,
They’re in the business to make money like any other business, and yes some people would be offended what would be an offer that will be regarded as too low, but they don’t do that on purpose,
They make an offer they can work with, that will bring in a profit for them, like you said that’s business.
Thanks for stopping by David!
Ed
CustomRides.com Team Member
June 27th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
There’s more. I had no trouble with the sales process, but caroffer provides a draft payment, not “cash”. It can take up to two weeks for these funds to clear your account. Worst of all, after hours on the phone between my bank, their bank and the company itself, no one, I repeat NO ONE, would verify the funds for this transaction.
Not only is this annoying for me as a customer, but it essentially means that they’ve taken title to my vehicle and used the buying funds to invest on the float provided by my bank’s inability to have them transfer the funds.
I highly recommend that no one (this is fun) - I repeat NO ONE - do business with this company. Forget the lowballing - they screw you even after.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:50 am
With regard to making offers that aren’t expected to be accepted - of course they don’t expect you to accept but
they are gambling - on the premise that maybe you lost your job or are desperate for some other reason. Otherwise they could just stop wasting your time. And you know what? Sometimes they hit the jackpot and you accept. They remind me of the thief on tv that advertises that you can get $600K homes for only Three Hundred Dol-lars. (by stalking the foreclosure and tax sales). Gambling on people’s desperation is no way to do business.
June 30th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Let’s see. I ordered a carmax report then I received an email from them pushing me to their web site that would show me the same kind of vehicles that I ordered the carfax on but from “carfax” dealers.
OK, no biggie. Thanks carmax. I could use that kind of info. if I wanted to buy used.
Then I received an email from carfax regarding the caroffer.com site. I think carfax is OK so I decided to give caroffer.com a try. I entered the vehicle data and also entered what vehicle I might be purchasing.
The number I received from caroffer.com was $17,000. This was on a fairly limited edition late model vehicle. A sedan that is no gas guzzler (unless you put your foot in to it all the time). So, I don’t have a F-250 diesel which isn’t work scrap metal price. I had been offered $21,000 by a dealer on a trade for my vehicle a few days ago. The $17,000 seemed a bit insulting but so what? I have an off switch (delete key) and don’t have to sell them the car.
Technically speaking, caroffer.com is a pretty cool site (needs a better proof reader but who is perfect) but maybe there are a lot of mouths to feed and they need all the $$$ they can get? And, since they are positioned at the bottom of the market food chain I suppose they almost have to make low offers. Or, maybe they just don’t have the statistical data they need for real world sales? I have to wonder how good their “trade desk of live buyers” is because here are the last few sales on the vehicle I was getting picing on:
DATE SOLD PRICE MILEAGE TYPESELLER
06/2008 $30,787.00 21,804 DEALER
05/2008 $28,185.00 6,595 DEALER
05/2008 $31,800 .00 139 DEALER
05/2008 $26,593.00 8,137 DEALER
$17,000 does look a little low. Maybe their “live buyers” are using the old Enron trading desk?
Maybe over time caroffer.com will mature in to something more valuable. Let’s see what capitalism has in store for them. I wish them luck and maybe a better web proof reader. “Fast, east and free”? Woops. Need to change that “About Us” page caroffer.com.
One last thing. I just received an email from a dealer who sent me a quote on the vehicle I was looking at. He got my name and email from carfax>>caroffer.com>>etc,etc. But, oddly enough, the dealer does not have the vehicle in stock. Genius..
This is is a nice web site. Thanks for letting me post here.
G’day….
June 30th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Thank you Francis for sharing your experiences in your detailed comment!
July 10th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I also tried caroffer.com recently. I have a 2001 Silverado 1500 extra cab with 97,000 miles on it, everything runs great. I expected to see an offer of around $6000 or so being that it books at $8000+. But I was sent an offer of $500…..?? for a truck that is worth 16 times that?? I think this business is an out right scam and will never do business with PEP-BOYS again!
August 4th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Like Trav, I was curious too. I have a 2001 Expedition and was offered $1700. Right now, the average listing is $5000 to $7000. What a joke - a pawn shop or title loan would do better. I cannot imagine anyone using this service.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Thank you Google for bringing me to this website. Anytime I recieve a call or offer I know to check it out.
Here is my pet peeve about caroffer.com. My listing on Craig’s List says this:
“it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests”
So why did I recieve a call from caroffer.com? They are a service aren’t they? They are definetly a commercial interest. It seems to me that they are violating the terms and policies of Craig’s List by doing so and therefore I am reporting them.
Will anything be done by the Craig’s List staff? Who knows but at least I feel better.
I will not even try the caroffer.com site due to the fact that the Honda community still has strong buyers for well kept cars which mine is (94 Civic EX Coupe) and I already recieved the offer I had hoped to get.
Why would Pep Boys be involved with this at all is beyond me.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Dealing with these people became a chore. They only allow you to contact them via email.
My 2000 Sunfire died. Rods/pistons are toast. mechanic says it needs a new engine. Sent in the info to caroffer, telling them straight out the engine is toast, but they can sell for parts. They offer $700. I figured that. Fine. I ask if they can tow the car.
They ask me if the car is driveable?
No, that’s why I’m asking if they tow. (Do they think I just want the car to have a nice view as it goes to the junkyard?) No, do they tow?
No, they’d rather not.
Thanks for wasting a full day.
Ladies and Gentlemen, if you are considering caroffer.com, “big mistake.”
September 4th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I am the Sr Director of Operations for caroffer.com and wanted the opportunity to respond to a couple of recent posts. As Eric has said previously, these responses are very insightful and help us tremendously in our continuing efforts to improve our business, as well as our communication.
In response to Den, I regret that you feel your time was wasted, but I believe there was a misunderstanding about the condition of your vehicle. As a part of the condition report consumers are required to complete, we ask the question “Is your car drivable?”. When a consumer answers “No” to this question, we do not return an offer but rather an email letting them know we do not currently purchase vehicles in this condition. You did inform us that your 2000 Pontiac Sunfire was having engine noises (which was reflected in the offer amount), but I can assure you that based on your response to the above question we believed it to be drivable. Unfortunately, we do not currently have an outlet for vehicles that are not drivable, which is why we do not return offers for them or provide a towing service. I fully recognize there is an opportunity for us to more clearly articulate this during the online request process and we are working to implement better messaging.
In response to Angela, we may call consumers who have posted a classified advertisement to sell their vehicle because we are interested in purchasing that vehicle. There are many other “services” that look to charge consumers a fee to “help” sell your vehicle, by either acting as a broker or listing agent. At caroffer.com, we actually want to buy your car and will provide a real cash offer for free. Unlike those services, we pay you for the vehicle and we transfer the title into our name. We have no other interest… the phone call is just a direct response to a consumer’s published advertisement. While you are certainly not the first person who has wished to not be contacted, the overwhelming majority welcome the call and the free offer for the vehicle they wish to sell. Even if our offer amount is not what they had hoped, it is at least a standing offer and another data point for them to consider during their sales process. Still, if you wish to not be called in the future regarding a vehicle you have for sale, you may email us at customerservice@caroffer.com requesting such. Please include your phone number, and I will make sure you are not contacted in the future.
I hope this helps. We appreciate the opportunity to respond and always welcome feedback on our process.
September 4th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Hi Craig,
I wanted to let you know we appreciate it you stopped by and addressed some of the comments of our readers.
It’s good to know CarOffer pays attention to the experiences people have had with CarOffer’s service, which may be either positive or negative.
Cheers!
Ed
CustomRides.com Team Member
September 4th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Mr. Walker,
I stand by my comment as to you searching through Craig’s List to contact potential sellers of their cars. CarOffer is a service and not a buyer. A buyer purchases a car for their own personal use. CarOffer buys a car to turn around and sell it at auction to make a profit which makes you a business that is soliciting the public for sales.
Spin it however you like but in the end CarOffer is a company and contacts those who do not wish to be contacted by a service.
I notice that you do not address many of the CS issues posters have had. Why is that?
September 5th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Angela,
Thanks for the response. Caroffer.com is certainly a buyer and our interests are directly related to the advertisement… I am not trying to “spin” anything. I would also say it is inaccurate to suggest these consumers do not wish to be contacted, as we are receiving offer requests and purchasing vehicles from these people every day. Still, I recognize there are those who would not, and provide the same option for them to be removed from any future contact.
In regards to addressing all of the posts, I have tried to avoid responding to individual transactions as much as possible. It is not that I don’t want to, but to go back and forth over the perceived value of every year, make, and model in this forum is just not feasible nor productive. Clearly there are people who are not happy with the offer amounts they received, and each person who receives an offer has the opportunity to contact us to ask questions. Every day they do, and every day we answer them the best we can.
What I hope to accomplish in this space is to provide consumers a better understanding of our overall business. I want to respond to any questions or feedback regarding our policies, processes, or website usability. Those type of posts certainly help us get better at what we do, and hopefully provide helpful insight for consumers.
Thanks again.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
My experience with caroffer.com was wonderful up to the point of bringing it in to the nearest Pep Boys outlet.
I was greeted by the friendly service folks and warned that I was most likely wasting my time and that even though I had disclosed all of the flaws and deficiencies of my vehicle I would be lucky to get an offer of 25% of what I had been offered online. The nice Pep Boys Guy also told me that it was rare to get the offer in the 2 hours that I had been promised on the telephone by Jan at caroffer.com.
The Pep Boys Guy was right - caroffer.com turned out to be really unfriendly, unprofessional, and a complete waste of time. If the representatives of the company can’t even say a nice thing about caroffer.com you know it’s really unpleasant. Shame on you Bruce Thompson… How do you sleep at night?
September 26th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Just tried the caroffer service myself…. I’m still a little stunned that people can actually be offended by an online business that is offering you cash for your car sight unseen. Is that really reasonable to get upset because their business didnt give you what you expected? caroffer caters to everyone’s desire to do as little work as possible. Nobody wants to go through the hassle of selling their car themselves, so this is a quick and easy way to dump your vehicle with no work at all. Guess what, that comes at a price. If you dont like it dont sell it to them. Blasting their business because your self-created expectations of the value of your 95 sedan with 110 miles is just plain silly…. ok now back to the business…
my 2007 jeep grand cherokee with 26000 miles
KBB says retail 32k and trade in 27500
I took to CARMAX, they offered 24700
I did caroffer, they offered 22500
I have tried to sell on ebay and autotrader with no luck. So im gonna drop it at carmax this weekend… Im just too busy to take the time and energy to try to squeeze money out of private selling
Now my car is perfect so Carmax will take it. But if my car has some problems then the Carmax inspection would catch it. I think that caroffer probably wouldnt and I’d get the 22500…
So all in all the service is probably well calibrated for the amount of time, effort and risk someone is willing to take with their vehicle.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:07 pm
i have a 2003 suburban LT 4WD. Low book is $9500 high is $11500. There offer was $6500. That puts there profit at over $4000. I would rather keep it. It’s what i expected anyway. Just trying it out.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:10 am
I think everyone is confused on where caroffer gets their numbers from. If they are dealing in wholesale/trade in values then wouldn’t one assume to look at TRADEIN-GOOD, TRADEIN-FAIR,TRADEIN-EXCELLENT on KBB. Dealers sale retail and buy wholesale, why would caroffer purchase using retail numbers if the people who are buying the cars (the used car wholesale market) from them are not offering retail back. I think the people to be angry with is the car market for misinforming the consumers.
From the website:
About Us
caroffer.com™ aims to fill a gap for consumers by giving them an easy and hassle-free alternative to sell their vehicle for fast cash. By simply submitting a quick online questionnaire about their vehicle, a consumer can receive a real offer from one of our live buyers in minutes. If they choose to accept the offer, simply drop-off the vehicle at one of over 250 participant locations to validate the vehicle’s condition and receive their check.
Consumers have traditionally had two choices when selling their car - sell it privately or trade it in to a dealer. Selling to a private party will typically bring more money, but there is an investment of both time and money to be considered. There are expenses associated with one or more classified ads, as well as the cost of getting the vehicle in a condition to sell. It requires a lot of personal time and the value of the car depreciates more with each day it does not sell.
While trading in a vehicle to a dealer may be a convenient option when shopping the market for a new car, consumers overwhelmingly prefer to avoid the hassle of negotiating with salesmen. They rarely walk away feeling they got a good deal and if the dealer does appear competitive on the trade-in value, it is usually because they are overinflating the price of the vehicle they are selling to the consumer - a very common practice.
caroffer.com™ is not a retailer so we don’t get caught up in those games. We simply offer consumers cash for their cars and try to turn them quickly on the wholesale market. We have a trade desk of live buyers that follow the market in real-time, and a network of dealers that are ready to buy the cars they want and need. This allows us to offer a price that is competitive with other trade-in values, while eliminating the hassle for the consumer.
Our service is fast, easy and free. Several other appraisal tools are available online, but ONLY caroffer.com™ will write a check for the offer that is returned. For consumers looking to sell their car quickly, caroffer.com™ is a great alternative to the traditional headache.
October 5th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I had a car on Craigslist and filled out “I am not interested in services from outside sellers etc”. I got the call and Email from Car offer.com. The offer was on the lower side of the trade in value that I should get from a dealer but these guys have not seen my car. Maybe they do this to protect themselves? If they offer less than when they emailed me then I will leave. I plan on leaving the car for the day since it is a extra car and it sounds like they are not that speedy.. I will let you guys know how it goes in a couple of days.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Caroffer.com is a HUGE rip-off, and just as the original poster stated, they appear to be in the business of taking advantage of uninformed sellers.
I’ve been looking to get a new car, and will be trading in my 1999 Isuzu Amigo. It has 112K miles on it, and some minor dings and blemishes, but mechanically it runs perfectly, no accidents, and a full service record. I’ve done my homework, and have checked it on both KBB and NADA. I’ve also gotten quotes on it from 2 dealers (seperate from the new car quote, so the value they were giving me was not a product of fuzzy math). Values from all 4 have been between $1500-2300.
Soooo, I got my offer back from Caroffer.com. I, like the original poster, was expecting a slightly lower offer. What I was NOT expecting was the $150 insult that showed up in my email. That’s right– One hundred and fifty dollars. The email explained that this was the best they could do, after accounting for auction costs, transport costs, etc. In all honesty, the TIRES on the car are worth more than $150. Heck, there’s $75 worth of gas in the tank!
Bottom line– seller beware! Caroffer.com is out to lowball you and rip you off!
October 6th, 2008 at 7:07 am
I have an appointment set up for this Thursday 10/09/08. I sent in 4 clear pics of the car and I accurately described the MiniVan. I also had my Van looked over by my local service garage.The offer that Caroffer gave me was about $ 300 lower than KBB says it should be for the condition the Van is in. I think CarOffer builds in a bit of safety factor to cover ultra small scratches on the car etc. If they lower the offer they gave me online ( I am expecting this after reading this forum), then I will leave. I will post my experience either way. I am in Customer service (25 years) and fair in my dealings.
Sincerely,
Steve
October 6th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Chris- They don’t want your car. They are not trying to rip you off. They are giving you a low number that only a moron would accept. I have been following this post for awhile and I finally had to chime in.
I don’t understand how everyone here takes these offers so personally. It is like they are insulting your mother or something. Now if your upset with the customer service that is one thing but to get all hot and bothered about an offer for car sight unseen then your expectations of the world are out of whack.
This is a place to take your car if you are not buying another car and Carmax won’t accept yours. In my little knowledge of the car industry, I do know that pretty much everyone out there believes their car is worth more then what it is. I can promise you I have never gotten KBB for my trade in, EVER.
You have to realize that they are going after a niche market of used cars. They don’t want your gas guzzlers that nobody is buying, or your luxury cars that are scrutinzed at auction, or your $3,000 car that is not worth the hassle. People need to stop thinking about how much they should get for their car and start thinking about how much you, yourself would pay for your car. I promise you those would be two different numbers….. If that makes sense…
October 6th, 2008 at 9:41 am
to That Guy -
The insult is in how your time is disrespected - they sell
you on using their carbuying “service” and you give them
your data on the car - then they come back with a ridiculous offer that you can’t accept. There’s no way either of you are going to get a common meeting point - so its a waste of time to continue. If they know that wholesale (or rock bottom) values of the car is a certain amount, where do they get off offering 50% or even pennies on the dollar? Its the old bait and switch. Not only your time but your common sense is disrespected. Long live Capitalism and the American Way. Excuse me I have a few foreclosures to stalk.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:33 am
To Jennifer-
Would you rather waste a half hour filling out the form, or waste two or more hours going to carmax to find out that they are not going to buy your car at all?
If they lowball you by 50% or more then they don’t want the car. In all fairness, Caroffer should say “We will buy your car no matter what, You just may not agree with the price”
With the exception of the guy with the 5 series all of the cars on here would be considered a cash car. These are the cars that sit in on the lots that say “Zero Down” ” We Finance” ” No Credit, No Problem”. These are not the cars that caroffer wants nor are these cars a lot of people want. Yes they may run perfectly or have perfect records but the bottom line is if you have $5,000 cash to buy a car you are not going to buy a 10yr old car with 100,000 miles on it. You will put it down on a newer car and make payments on it (which is the American way). The only people buying these old cars are people with no credit. So these “We Finance” dealerships mark up their inventory by a lot just to make up for the risk of selling cars to people with no credit. So yes the the market may demand $5k for a car but the people selling them are getting them for much cheaper then that. Go to any real dealership and see how many cars they have on their used lot that are less the $5k. You won’t find many.
Bottom line it takes you, at the most, 30 mintues to fill out the fact sheet. You get an answer back if it is a lowball you don’t accept it. If you like it you just sold your car in 30 minutes. (barring of course the whole inspection process which sounds terrible but that is not what this is about). I guess there is just a lot more going on then people realize and Caroffer should probably do a better job explaining whats going on. But to get this heated over an offer on your car is kind of ridiculous.
I have wasted more time typing on this forum today then it would have taken me to get a low ball offer on my car and I bet most of the people here can say the same thing so clearly your time is not as valued as you think it is. So why get so angry? I’ve got it! Caroffers slogan should be…
“Get a quote from us in the amount of time it takes you check Fark.com and if it is really low, we don’t want it” That way people will have a good idea of what to expect.
October 6th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Hey, That guy…
Why don’t they just be specific about what they want…
a brand new Jacquar for $2,000K?? Or if you have these makes and model cars, no thanks!!!
October 7th, 2008 at 6:14 am
I am sure they only want late model low mileage cars. This is what I hear when I trade in my car eash time. I the KBB value when i trade the car in each time. You should read “confessions of a car salesman” an story on the http://www.edmunds.com car site.basically a young writer has a n assignment to go undercover at differnt car dealers to get a salesman job. The stories are informative. Last time I went to a dealer I got the best price on the new car and the best price on the trade in. Once you know the game it is fun!
October 7th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Jennifer- I would have to venture a guess that they probably don’t want to advertise that they are excluding 50% of their potential market. I would also guess their investors are keeping a pretty close eye on caroffers numbers. The more hits and forms filled out the better their model looks even if it bogus. Additionally I am sure every now and then someone bites on a low ball offer and they make a killing.
October 9th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Today I sold my car to Car Offer.com at a PepBoys. After reading this forum I figured I was wasting my time.
I got a call from Car Offer a few days ago confirming the appointment that I had made after I accepted the offer. The Manager and Appraiser of the Pepboys were great to deal with. The car inspection took a little over a hour and the I had the check in my hand in another 1/2 hour (paperwork). The Manager and Appraiser of the Pep Boys said they had 15 cars in a row that were approved by them for the Offer that Car Offer had given them. The only problem they have seen is if someone is not honest in disclosing a problem or if someone doesn’t see a hidden problem with the vehical that would affect its value. They claim that if you honestly describe the vehical the process will go fine. I can’t comment on the folks (on this forum) who got low ball offers. My offer was within $400 of the Kbb value. It was a tad low but not out of the question. They didn’t nickel and dime me for minor scratches and wear and tear marks on the vehical like a regular Car Dealer would at Trade in would so I call it a wash. I am a real person and not affiliated with Pep Boys or Car Offer.com