Car buying services connect vehicle buyers with car dealers, which can save you time searching for a new or used car. These services can also help you save money on a car by negotiating competitive prices through their relationships with dealers.
How does a car buying service work?
When you use a car buying service, you typically let them know the type of vehicle you want, your budget and any special preferences (e.g. colour, manual or automatic transmission).
Some services ask for these details, then contact dealers and provide you with a shortlist of vehicles. Other services offer an online search you can use to browse cars.
A big advantage to car buying services is that they may have relationships with dealers across Australia. This means you're not limited to cars in your local area, giving you more choice and opportunities to save on costs.
Features of car buying services
Each car buying service is different, but some features could include:
A guaranteed timeframe for the results (e.g. same-day, within 10 days)
Negotiating a competitive price
Support for vehicle trade-in
Organising inspections, valuations and test drives
Arranging paperwork and vehicle delivery
Options for finance, insurance and other essentials
Example: 2 car buying services in Australia
Let's look at Carma and OnlineAuto.com.au to see how the two companies operate.
OnlineAuto.com.au
OnlineAuto.com.au focuses on new cars and offers "bulk buying power", which appears to be based on fleet pricing. It also puts a big emphasis on helping you pick the right car. You can search for cars based on make and model, as well as features and specs, including seat numbers or fuel type.
The site offers a comparison tool you can use to compare vehicles side-by-side. It also has a simple quote form, which we tried out: once you've selected the model, you provide some contact details and will be contacted with information on the vehicle. This includes potential savings you can get by using this car buying service.
OnlineAuto.com.au also asks about your purchasing timeframe and whether you've yet test-driven or found the exact car you're after.
Is there a fee?
OnlineAuto doesn't charge you a fee for using the service. But it gets a referral fee from dealerships when a car is purchased, and factors this cost into the price of the car.
Customer feedback
OnlineAuto.com.au holds an "Excellent" score on Trustpilot, a 4.6 out of 5 star rating. Scrolling through the comments, reviewers said they saved $4,500 when buying a Mazda MX5. Someone else stated they were happy with the trade-in price given for their old car, while another said they only had to speak to the car dealer when organising the registration and delivery.
Carma
Carma is a car buying service for used vehicles. You can browse used cars on the Carma website by filtering for various specifications such as car make and model, price, transmission and fuel type.
You're then able to inspect the car in the virtual showroom, which offers a 360° view of both the interior and exterior of the vehicle. All the cars available have been road-tested, inspected and reconditioned.
When you've chosen a used car, you can either fill in the form online to purchase the car outright or you can apply for finance through one of Carma's lending partners. You can also call Carma to go through the forms with a representative. If you're in the Greater Sydney area, Carma will arrange to deliver the vehicle to your door once payment or the finance plan is finalised.
Carma also offers a 7-day money back guarantee, a 3 month warranty and 1 year roadside assistance, which you might not get if you were buying through an independent seller.
Is there a fee?
There are no additional costs for Carma, but you will need to put down a $500 deposit to reserve your car during the application and payment process.
Customer feedback
Carma's website boasts reviews from customers who were initially sceptical of buying a car online without test driving, but that the service was "impeccable". In fact, another reviewer said the 7 day money back guarantee meant that not being able to test drive the car wasn't a big problem because they could spend more time with the car to decide if it was really a good fit. Carma also has 5 stars on Google, with one person calling their experience "unreal".
How much does a car buying service cost?
The cost of a car buying service can range from $0 to $499 or more.
Many of the car buying services we researched for this article don't charge an upfront fee for buyers. But they may receive a fee or commission from dealerships and independent sellers that they work with. This fee could be factored into the price of the car, so make sure you consider that before finalising a purchase.
Is using a car buying service worth it?
Looking through reviews for car buying services, it's definitely worth a go when there's no obligation for a final sale. After all, it could save you time and money on buying a car.
You've also got the added bonus of being able to shop from home and not having to visit dealers or sellers. And if you don't find a vehicle you want to buy, you can either let the car buying service find one or look elsewhere without paying anything.
Tips to find a good car buying service
Compare services online. Search for different car buying services, visit their websites and read the terms of service. This will help you find a service that offers the features you want.
Get quotes. Most car buying services offer personalised quotes if you provide a few basic contact details. As long as you're OK with being contacted, getting a few quotes could help you find a service you want to use.
Read customer reviews. Make sure you read actual customer reviews, including on forums like Reddit or Whirlpool.
Ask people you know. Have any of your friends or colleagues used a car buying service? Do they know someone who has? Look for people who can share their unfiltered and independent experiences with a car buying service.
Frequently asked questions
Dealers can arrange delivery, or you may be able to organise a collection if you wish.
Some services only sell new cars, some sell used cars and a few services have options for both.
At the end of the day, more sales. They're paying the car buying services to provide them with pre-qualified sales leads essentially. Why would they want to do this? It opens up their dealership to potentially nationwide customers and allows them to sell cars easily online.
Car buying services may operate on a dealer subscription basis, where a dealer pays monthly to be sent requests for quotes, or they are given a pre-agreed fee for each sale.
Some services also charge customers a fee. They may also make money through any finance deals they broker.
Many car buying services have national networks that allow them to source cars from across Australia. Some will offer delivery for free or a fee, and others may have pick-up options. You can check with a service what the different options are and any potential fees to decide what's most convenient and affordable for you.
There may be additional vehicle fees. For instance, when you purchase a car with Carma you need to take into account stamp duty and the registration transfer fee which needs to be paid within 14 days from delivery of the car.
Potentially, though you need to read the small print and do your due diligence. Carma offers finance through three lending partners and it also has its own financial consultants on hand to help you with any finance questions you may have.
Ben Gribbin is an automotive writer at Finder. He is a life-long car enthusiast, bringing many years of experience working with and writing about cars. During his time, Ben has been a freelance writer, editor and reviewer for a number of leading publications across the UK. He was voted the Guild of Motoring Writers Breakthrough Blogger in 2015.
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