1. Who is CarZar?
CarZar is the car industry’s latest and fastest online car buying service which prides itself on technology and online innovation. CarZar.co.za is an online platform through which you, as a car seller, can get a free online quote, book a free car inspection, sell your car online in just 30 minutes and receive instant payment. What’s even better is that at CarZar, you can purchase vehicles for cash. What’s your benefit? Well, you won’t only get cash for cars, but have instant cash in hand to give you the power to negotiate a really good discount on your new car purchase, and the flexibility to make the purchase at any dealership, without having to ‘match-up’ a good offer.
2. How did CarZar come about?
Last year, co-founding managing directors of CarZar, Michael Muller and Fernando Pinheiro, decided to end the hassle and haggle endured by most car owners – after which they then achieved backing from Cape-based venture capital firm, Silvertree Capital, whose consumer-focused internet start-ups also include PriceCheck and CyberCellar. The CarZar managing directors believe that selling a car shouldn’t be a challenging process, but rather a seamless one. So, why not start an online car buying service where you can simply sell your car in 30 minutes flat!
3. Why choose eCommerce?
Selling a car privately means dealing with hassle of time-consuming research, dealership haggling and the risk of getting a used car quoted by an unreliable inspector. By choosing eCommerce, CarZar provides a safe, convenient and transparent platform through which consumers can acquire a fair, accurate car quote instantly online. On www.carzar.co.za, all you need to do is simply select the details that best matches your car and receive a free instant online quote. From there, you can decide to book an obligation-free car inspection at any one of our most convenient car buying centres or at your preferred location to which we’ll send one of our professional inspectors.
4. How did the need for an online car buying service arise?
The CarZar Survey, conducted with News24, illustrated that 82 per cent of South Africans fear safety risks and 87 per cent are concerned with price fairness. Safety and security are the biggest risks when selling your car privately. This means dealing with the hassle of consistent calls, meeting strangers, handling test drives etc. You are then also at risk of scams, fraud or even theft! CarZar also calculates the online value of your car using ‘Trade Book Value’ as a rough guide to help determine the trade price of that specific car.
5. How is CarZar pushing boundaries?
CarZar uses a unique algorithm based on national data to provide fair, stats-based pricing based on market trends and historical data from previous transactions. At the same time, the car buying service answers the increased demand from the local vehicle trade for stock. CarZar has also recently combined customer service with WhatsApp to provide ultimate convenience and the best possible car selling experience to consumers who wish to sell their car seamlessly. All that car sellers need to do is WhatsApp the word ‘Quote’ to 087 470 0436 and receive a free quote for your car. With its quick and easy three-step process, consumers can sell their used car in just 30 minutes!
6. How has CarZar grown over the past year?
The car buying service has been displaying an exponential growth. In just less than one year, CarZar secured an undisclosed $1.5 million in funding from Nasdaq Stockholm-listed Vostok New Ventures in a move that would boost the company’s expansion plans. CarZar joint managing director, Fernando Pinheiro said the company would use the funding to improve customer experience, boost marketing and also recruit more talent to join the international team. Headquartered in Cape Town, CarZar has also branched its presence and services to Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
7. What great advice does CarZar offer to other tech start-ups?
According to CarZar managing director Fernando Pinheiro, if you want to make a success of your tech start-up you must:
q Choose a business model that makes economic sense in your target market
q Be extremely lean with costs in order to prove that you can operate with low cash burn and still grow
q Validate assumptions about the market and business model, before scale
q Be resilient but know what the expected success looks like
q Invest in recruiting the best resources as it will pay off in the long-term strategy.
