Cazoo and Cinche have cornered the market on second hand cars, leaving the second hand car dealers short of stock. Low stock, high demand pushes the prices up. Even auction stock is low and the margins thin.
For what itâs worth I was at a local Hyundai dealer yesterday, window shopping with the dog, âhopingâ to see a Kona N and/or an i20 N in the flesh, and when discussing the general state of the market regarding shortages, loon used car prices, production issues due to chip shortages etc, he reckons we (me and him that is) could very well be having exactly the same conversation this time next year. He reckons he canât see a whiff of an end to it.
Very depressing.
Both Cinch and WeBuyAnyCar are part of British Car Auctions, who seem to be trying to monopolise the UK second-hand car market.
They are using heavy advertising to buy up as much stock as possible through WBAC. Anything that they can retail gets sold through Cinch, the rest goes through their auctions. (They also have a commercial arrangement with Cazoo).
BCA will also have far better data than anybody else in the UK (including Parkers and Glasses) so will know exactly how much any given vehicle should be purchased/sold for.
They are constantly upping their offer (for entertainment purposes only) for my X350 V8 Jag, but sticking to ÂŁ150 scrap value for my ârust freeâ NA S-Special II. So maybe they donât know all the values.
1 Like
They will know the values for 99% of the market.
They donât really want specialist cars or outliers (they are well outside their business model) so just offer a token price so that they can claim to buy âanyâ car.
2 Likes
Not if you bought a car at the right time. 
(More by luck than judgement of course).
My 2018 V60 is worth more now than when I bought it last August, (apparently).
My MX5 NC Sport Tech 2013 is worth (near as damn it) the same as what I paid for it in 2016.
We have all wasted and lost money over many years, so itâs nice to see a bit of a change in the market for once.
(In my opinion of course).
1 Like
More a case of looking and being prepared to travel. I got my ND as a pre reg, in the showroom, with 10 days off the warranty and 3 miles on the clock, for ÂŁ5.5K less than ânewâ.
Itâs now worth a grand more.
It wasnât the âright timeâ by the market, but it often is if one is prepared to travel a bit, looks often and has a bit of patience.
Ref âCazooâ and âcinchâ
Do people actually buy a car without even seeing it?
It looks like they do⌠Not something Iâd do myselfâŚ!
Rob
True, I flew to Inverness from Bristol to get my MX5 at a lot cheaper price than the South West. With a tank of fuel included and two very cheap easyJet tickets. Volvo from Chesterfield as well. In fact I havenât bought a car locally for many a year. All with the option of walking away if not as described of course.
I actually got my ND in Bristol lol
And took a wrong turn on the way home and ended up through a punishing one way system, with not the most fuel (1/4 tank). I got out of my car by college green (I think it was called that) and said to some guy I was desperate and could he help me with directions. The guy didnât give me verbal directions, he said he could see i was stressed and he got in and took me on a course which even I could find my way back from. What a samaratan!
1 Like
Brutal, fair play. Not many would do that. Most pop into their local dealer and ask âcan i get that red car with two hundred a monthâ
Iâve actually been thinking about selling my MX5, so I tried WBAC for amusement. Couldnât get excited by the offer, but the problem with them for me would be the âFull service historyâ requirement. Apparently Iâm an amateur mechanic who is likely to use the wrong fluids and components. It therefore has at best a partial service history, so itâs another way for them to chip the offer. I suspect this could apply to a number of posters on here.
JS
1 Like
So next year isnât âsoon enoughâ- have you changed your view?
Why is it âdepressingâ that your used car is not losing money and actually appreciating?
â⌠He reckons he canât see a whiff of an end to itâŚâ
Well, he would say that, wouldnât he.
After all, he wants you to buy now, not some better time next year.
The general view across all the verticals is the supply chainn will recover H2 2022, though probably that will take a time to filter to cars.
I donât know if he would say it. Maybe he would. Maybe he wouldnât.
He was playing with my dog, giving it a belly rub and play fighting with her in the car park when i was passing. I mentioned the car market in general. Never even mentioned I was looking.
Do people actually buy a car without even seeing it?
Of course they do.
For many, buying a car is very unpleasant and risky - hence the âreputationâ of second-hand car dealers.
Also most buyers know nothing about cars and make their choice based on colour, nice wheels, nice interior etc.
So along come the online dealers with their 300 checks, guaranteed quality and home delivery etc and for a huge proportion of the car buying public its just what they want, even if knowledgeable and enthusiastic buyers/owners/drivers like ourselves wouldnât even consider it.
Yup.
"Wheeeeeee!..
Here we goâŚAh oneâŚ2âŚ3
Anuvvahh 3 years of P.C.P."
2 Likes
A beautifully succinct sum up.