Here's Why Cazoo Collapsed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
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Today, I'm going to explore the uncertain future of Cazoo’s marketplace model and the upcoming extraordinary general meeting on June 6 to discuss the company's winding-up process. Before diving into the specific challenges and decisions that led to Cazoo's downfall, I want to introduce today's sponsor, Ground News. Ground News is an innovative app designed to help you navigate the complex media landscape by aggregating articles from over 50,000 sources worldwide. It provides context on news sources' biases, reliability, and ownership. See how Ground News offers a more comprehensive understanding of current events, including the recent news about Cazoo's collapse.
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I can just see it now, I BOUGHT A CHEAP SECOND HAND CAR COMPANY.....I MAY HAVE MASSIVELY OVER SPENT.
😂😂
All it needs is a good buff....
"A good buff, new coat of paint and a pair of good tyres and we're back in business!"
😂
😂😂😂😂
Used to work for a car supermarket a few years ago and I used to see Cazoo trucks everywhere, then it started to disappear slowly from the roads and now extinct and I wondered why I don’t see them anymore. They needed a showroom really instead of a delivery service, people like going in to buy their cars for the experience.
They had showrooms as well in the sense they were pick up points. The only added advantage from having the car delivered was the opportunity to see the car that you had paid for and interact with a service provider as the buyer inspected the car before agreeing to take it away
Can’t test drive = massive red flag.
I used the dealers to make a choice of which car i wanted, thanked them for the coffee's, then once I knew what i wanted, used the Internet to decide where to buy it from. Because then it did become about price, and the included manufacturers warranty etc... I physically looked in Milton Keynes near home, and bought from a dealer in York. I feel for dealerships, as if I am symptomatic of consumer behaviour, its continuing to get tougher and tougher for them.
@@LT212-24exactly, I would not even consider purchasing a car without seeing and testing it. Even premium cars with fsh can turn out to be full of problems.
@@MartinBennett-rs6thrasher 14 day cooling off period.
I use to work for cazoo on the imaging side and oh my god the stuff we use to get around was unreal. Cars missing trim and had parts not fitted until after imagining. I have loads of storys of working there some were bad and some were good but mostly bad and people would not believe what use to happen to get cars out of the door
I recall the very video in which you questioned online car sales. I agree with you about the need to see, feel and drive a new car.
Generally, I love buying things online. But it would never even occur to me to buy a car online. How everything feels and works, how it drives and especially how comfortable it is are absolutely vital. So seeing and test driving the actual car I'm getting is my top priority.
A perfect example of why it's madness to value a company on investment/share price instead of turnover vs profit, inventory/asset value, IP, market share, etc. Huge spending on setup, vast advertising budget, low profit margins, competing with thousands of established businesses. This company was never going to turn a profit or survive.
How many people bought a car without seeing it / driving it? I did once, but I bought from Volvo main dealer, a car 18 months old, with less than 1500 miles on the clock, only owned by Volvo UK, and for HALF LIST PRICE !!
i bought from cazoo during lockdown and it was the best prepared used car i had ever bought and i had no complaints at all, best handover and customer service too, it felt like i was at a main dealer. 2 years later i was looking for an upgrade and checked cazoo and found their prices weren’t as competitive which led me to opt for a traditional dealer where i had the benefit of experiencing the car and giving it a once over myself before buying. It’s a shame they went bust I liked knowing they were there
I remember a company called Autoquake, who in 2009 were set to revolutionise the car-buying process in the same way Cazoo hoped to. They didn't last long until capital ran out. That said, I found the buying and delivery process really straightforward. I bought a 3 year old BMW 325i touring at a really low price, got it delivered to my house all sight unseen. There was nothing wrong with the car, which I loved, and I kept it for 13 years. Although since I'd never test driven the car, I had to stop and read the manual on my first drive since I couldn't for the life of me find reverse! Compare this to the really unpleasant buying experience of Big Motoring World, a modern car supermarket, with their pushy Burton-suited salesboys, constant attempts to upsell and soulless office filled with unused Apple computers.
It was a great option when the only option was to buy a car online, it was the perfect solution at the time, I used cinch, car was good value, perfect spec, everything we wanted for my wife, the car was delivered…… 3 options from the spec list were not on the car!!!! They first try to say cars can be modified by their owner including removing optioned items!!! Honestly who would remove 360 cameras?? After a few emails they gave me compensation, however I wouldn’t use again, really poor aftercare, 3 weeks to respond to emails, so frustrating, great video
I can tell why it failed. My son purchased a car from Cazoo who claim to ensure their cars have extensive number of checks - 270 or similar. When the car was delivered it had so many faults that he had it returned immediately and bought from a local dealer. The car Cazoo was selling my son I found the identical car on a dealers forecourt less than 20 miles away and at a cheaper price. That says it all.
Great video. I agree I never understood why you would buy a car without looking at it, driving it, and the negotiation.
I bought a car from the last year. I had nothing but hassle there was damage on the wheel which they hadn’t flagged up, I asked them to get it fixed before I would purchase the car, the car was damaged when this was being done on the rear (according to them), again get it fixed and I’ll take the car. Long story short after around 2-3 months and about 100+ emails, nearly 30 hours on the phone I was promised it had been done.
The car turned up the guy opened the transporter, you guessed it the damage was still there. In the end they sent someone to repair the damage and touch wood the car is lovely, but I’d never buy online again because of the amount of stress. I’m not shocked they went under the customer service was awful being passed around and no one getting back to me plus so many lies the whole experience was awful
You really nailed this one Matt. I could not believe that this concept could work - for all the reasons that you give.
It’s shame to see one of the big UK second hand cars market is gone. But the cost it’s too high to keep these companies going.
I think the other core part of why they failed is online businesses mainly save money by not have having expensive space inefficient stores, I.e. a warehouse will hold a lot more stock than the same size store with it all laid out. But a car just takes a cars space, so they couldn’t be making those savings.
You should have mentioned Carzam. I used that for my 4 series and it was great. Sad that hey went under too.
Love how happy you are on the image for this video 😂
I recently bought a vehicle online, unseen (in the flesh, I mean). It wasn't Cazoo, nor was it any of the regular online sources. It was a camper van bought from a specialist broker. The process was open and honest and I was provided with over 100 photos of the vehicle. The whole thing was seamless and reassuring - the broker collected me from the train station, and answered all my many questions. I just wanted to make it clear that it is possible to buy a vehicle online and get a good outcome.
Worked for Cazoo, was an absolute mess. Could tell the CEO was clueless about the trade itself, company felt like it was just an exercise in stock market floatation.
When I first saw their adverts, I thought it couldn't last long. With distance selling regs, they were on a loser from the start. There's too many people who take advantage of distance selling regs. I can imagine 'customers' buying a car, using it for a weekend away, and then rejecting it. Why hire a car for a few days when you can do that.
On a different product, but a similar scenario, how does the 'try a mattress for 100 days and send it back if you dont like it' work. Surely they dont send the same one to the next customer, or do they?
Online is a model that could work for new (and possibly manufacturer used approved models - ie 3 years old / ex lease), because the buyer, and seller is getting an agreed proposition.
If you move into non-approved used vehicles then its subjective, and that difference in expectation vs reality is an expensive problem.
At 6'4 I still need to test the driving position in most vehicles- but im happy to walk into a dealer, take a test drive and walk away, then buy that model online for cheaper.
Every car I’ve bought I’ve hated the hard sell of warranties, paint etc so I’m glad to hear you don’t offer them. Honestly my next car purchase would likely have been with them. A lot of dealerships now I find don’t even let you test drive anyway so it’s not much different anyway.
Surely selling a car without test drive etc.. is leaving your company open to major fraud ie swapping parts or making it not run correctly the demanding a return and refund or over the 14 days you could build up a huge list of minor niggles/faults with the car? Massive overhead costs and returns
Personally i like to see what cars are available online, but i wont buy without actually seeing the car first at a dealer
I think it was a flawed idea long-term, but a great idea short term. Alex Chesterman is a master of the short term and making money from his exit strategy. He was probably the only person to make money from Cazoo, cashing out shares early in the boom for over £100 million! He’s since then, obviously earned a good amount since then salary wise until stepping down! Alex Chesterman will always make money for Alex Chesterman!
Really enjoy your videos - great stuff - keep it up!
Shame, I bought 2 cars from them a few years ago and while both had small faults, they paid for both cars to be sorted straight away at my local main dealerships... I was planning on using them again next year... 😢
With Cazoo, like all businesses, Cashflow is king. 20 years teaching business taught me this fact.
I agree Matt doomed from the start. A vehicle is not a Bic Biro. I bought a motorcycle on line. I'd ridden the previous model, had many bikes from the same manufacture I trusted the the dealer. I hated it. Too heavy, difficult to turn on my grave driveway. NEVER again. Try before you buy. I know its inconvenient and time consuming but for most of us it's a big capital outlay, The next largest spend after our home.
they also bought vans365 for a lot of money, happy for Jordan who sold it but I'm sure that didn't help.
Thought this was going to be a "should you buy a cazoo franchise?" video at first 😂😂
Hello from New York City. What was Cazoo?
All the best,
Shaun🦉 of NYC🗽
If only there was a video you could watch that explained it...
@shauncampbell969 it's the UK version of McDonald's
Car is the second highest purchase you will make, first being a house.
You won’t dare buy a house without going to look at it.
I guess you are not a violinist... Or cellist. Or pianist... Also some hifi enthuasts might disagree with you...
I think the shift that happened with people buying cars online was a bad move. Cars are not washing machines, you need to see it, sit in it, drive it and have a feel of it before you buy it. Buying a car for petrolheads is an occasion, something to be excited for. I get that not everybody feels that way but they should treat buying a new car as a huge decision, not like buying a washing machine from curry's.
Hilarious, kicking the competition when they're already down. But you are right. A mate, valet at a dealership, says get the drivers cockpit concourse and you'll sell.
I’ve purchase my last three cars the rough Cinch and motorpoint, Arnold Clark own 90% of the garages in my nearest town, cannot abide dealing with their sales people, always try and sell you the added extras and often a car you don’t want. I know more about cars than most of Arnold Sharks people, their knowledge of what they are selling is usually rubbish. I research heavily before buying a car so I know what I want and the online buying process suits me. I wonder why cinch has succeed where Cazoo failed.
cazoo actually paid a fair rate for your car, unlike all others
Trying to be too cheap can be fatal.
Borrowing costs at a time of over expansion were probably the killer blow.
Expanding into Europe was probably the final nail.
it all sounds like the typical marketing led company with their head up in the clouds.
Carzam - went exactly the same way even with the supply of cars from CoxAutomotive/Manheim..
I don’t want to buy a car without looking at it, driving it, feeling it…..
Hi Mat, i wander how people can get an new car from a website, i like what you say i am the same. I agree with you there.
I’m no expert, but as soon as I heard what Cazoo did, I just KNEW it wouldn’t work. I wouldn’t buy a car from there in the first place.
I could genuinely see this guy on top gear
Like you said Matt it was always flawed….im not sure I know anyone who would buy a car blind online!? I could never get my head round this and I’m sure there are plenty likeminded people, interesting vid Matt 👍
Took my Range Rover out for a spin this afternoon , there’s simply nothing to compare .
Hi Matt I think while it was a good idea on paper like you said customers want to get hands on with their new car,so on line buying doomed from the start when I come to buy my next new range rover I want to physically walk round it seat in it and have a play with the audio system can't do that on line. Great video Matt hope you are well best wishes Ian
Negotiation is difficult when not in person. That's an issue for people who like a deal
That's why I don't by my pants ( trousers) online, I need to try them on 1st.
I heard that a lot of their one owner late cars were ex hire, your not going to be pleased when the name on the v5 is Godfrey Davis.
I would never ever buy a car from a car supermarket. Never. I’d also never buy a car without viewing it no matter what the money back guarantee is like. Just hassle you don’t need in your life.
Caffyns PLC has reported a full-year loss for 2024 - mainly down to secondhand car prices "correcting."
You and the Model Y.
You know it made sense. Just couldn't bring yourself to ... love the rainbow. S2 now?
Brilliant insight as always 👍👍
“I’m a little bit risk averse”, brought to you by the same person as “I bought a cheap CL500”
Still... limited risk. It's not like making an entire inventory of 1990's SL500's
@@pedrodaniellopesferreira2916 sounds like a fun business proposition for somebody with money to burn 😋
And then advises others to use Car Vertical before you buy !
Car Vertical is so crap. for what you pay
@@Barbarapape all our video evidence currently suggests Matt uses carvertical AFTER he buys. The man loves a challenge
Hi mate.
I bought a 2016 Passat from Cazoo in May 2021. It had no service history and 97,000 on the clock. I agreed to buy it with their 7 day no quibble return policy if they did the cambelt and water pump and provided proof. Tge car arrived with no proof of the work. After 5 days I threatened to send it back and they admitted they hadn’t done it . The car went into Tonbridge Cazoo centre. I had a hire car for nearly a week. They gave me £200 compensation.
Fast forward I had all the heater system renewed at vw dealer ( over £2000 bill ) , new windscreen , service , mot , front driver assist re calibrated, aircon regassed ,more hire cars in between and more compensation. All paid by Cazoo. I still have the car on 137k miles. I love it and it’s my second Passat. So underrated these cars. They obviously earned no money and probably lost money with my car. I’m not surprised they’ve gone bang. While my car was in and out I would sit in their little lounges with Apple TV , sofas , drinks hot or cold, all very lovely .
Anyway I feel like the proper Cazoo expert.
Thanks for all the videos. I’m a big fan of the channel.
All the best
Paul.
Probably?? They’d have lost a fortune on your Passat.
Much like my experience ,car was not as described and they had to use main dealer / other vendors to fix issues.There is no way they didn't lose all the profit and infact make a loss on my purchase.
😂😂@@hughmarcus1
Interesting thanks for sharing.
You did well, I had a few issues with the BMW I bought, and even getting them to replace things like tyres and brakes which were defective when it arrived (and illegal) was a huge challenge.
I bought a Mini Coupe SD during Covid, just after the first lockdown< the car had 12000 miles on the clock was immaculate, purchased from just outside of London. I had been watching it before lockdown on Autotrader and got it for the right price as cars had not been moving for months.
I owned it for 3 years al but a few days and did 9000 miles in it, I looked to sell it tried all the on line buyers, WBAC, Motorway etc etc Cazoo offer me £2500 more then I paid for it, so it went to them, sales guy said that’s the cleanest car I’ve ever seen and no rangling on the price offered, it was all done in 15 mins and sold. They put it up for £3k more then I got, within a week it was £2k, next week £1k after a month it was £300 more then I received. After 5 weeks it appeared to be sold!!! It went to auction and turned up on autotrader 2months later at the price I purchased it for back in June 2020 and that was at a main dealer.
The model was obviously buying at high price and try to sell quickly when I didn’t get rid of it!
Cazoo sold that one on finance lol
I phoned a car supermarket fords of winsford and asked for a test drive, the car salesman response was what do you need to test drive for? It put me right off and i will never buy from a supermarket.
I had that when shopping for a Golf GTI Clubsport. I wanted to drive one and VW Milton Keynes had one in stock but wasn’t quite the spec I wanted. However I already owned a Renaultsport Trophy which was amazing so wanted to see if the Golf was worth the hype. If so I would’ve bought it when they procured one in the precise spec. Anyhow the salesman was a jackass and wouldn’t let me test drive it so I told him to get stuffed. Some of these guys are total idiots and shouldn’t be doing what they do for a living as they are just bad at it and lose potential sales through their mismanagement of customer enquiries.
They are not selling cars, they are selling finance, the car for them is just an incidental.
I went to look at a golf 2.0TDI at FOW IT WAS A SHED wasn’t impressed needed re spray ,brakes were shot rear wheel bearing groaning
Salesman kept turning radio up to mask noise. Went to reception only one key available. Ask about another four cars all only one available key. Left showrooms went to main dealership at Macclesfield sorted me a brilliant golf. This was 2013 never looked at FOW SINCE!
@@charleswillcock3235 Anyone who buys finave from a used car dealer is a mug
I purchased a car from Big Motoring World and they gave ‘the hard sell’ on all warranties and products which almost put me off buying. I walked away with the car and no extras, but to be honest, I wouldn’t use them again.
Same with Carshop. 10 minute handover turned into 90 minute hard sell of every possible add on. I know it's how they earn their commission, but it is very annoying. They ended up adding £250 onto my part ex so they could add the paint treatment (that they didn't actually do) onto the new car at no cost to me.
Didn't they also charge you 300 quid admin fee for the privilege of buying from them??
exacly the same here. very rude and borderline aggressive. I got the car and the car is lovely, no extras there, but I left them a google review and emailed them feedback about how horrible my experience was and making it clear that I will not be buying any car from them again.
Hard sell and cars are poor quality
Avoid Big Motoring World
When is this man going to get a TV program ?? Proper down to earth and a genuine decent dealer....
Unfortunately, with his stilted/robotic delivery style. He would not get anywhere near TV.
Ha I was just thinking he’s getting ready for it! His forehead looks a bit shinier and smoother than normal 🤔
I am sure MATT once said he had done some T.V. acting at one point
too good for tv, tv is shit these days
TV is dead nowadays, just the same old repetitive woke crap.
Matt has often talked about how very generally the cheapest of cheap cars attract a certain type of customer; the type that always seems to have the most complaints and have unrealistic expectations. I wonder if Cazoo's tactic of undercutting the rest of the market and going for the lower end of the price market came with its own challenges with that kind of customer?
They didn't sell "cheap" cars though. Whilst they did undercut conventional dealers with physical showrooms, their cars were relatively new, low mileage and good condition examples which the price reflected so they wouldn't attract the typical customers from FB marketplace or low end dealers etc.
Not really I doubt they are selling 500 quid cars. Customer is no. 1. Companies think they can cost out but it never works long term.
@@ferrumignis That makes me wonder where they sourced the cars that they sold. Hire companies? Leasing companies? Auctions?
Hi Matt I was one of many delivery handover specialist who was employed by cazoo ( 3.5years ) .. during COVID it was a brilliant concept, then COVID finished then other dealerships gave the option to buy online which made it harder for cazoo ..then the sponsorship which cost in excess of £50 mil ..and at the time they were sponsoring the whole of league 2 in France and at home it was every sport under the sun...then the move into Europe which again cost upto £550 mil opening cazoos equallant in European countries just to pull the plug 5 months after 😢...all this and bad management from the higher hyeracque and the way along , then when they realised it was going downhill they decided to try seek help and advice from the used car sector..but a bit late then ... All in all a lot of fantastic people lost their jobs due to bad decisions and management..😢
higher hyeracque* hierachy?
@@135Ops Lamborghini hyuracan*?
@@135Ops hierachy* hierarchy?
@135Ops nike air huarache
@@akram_J477earache?
Here's a fun fact. If a retailer doesn’t give you information about your rights under a distance sale at the time of delivery, including your right to cancel the purchase within 14 days, then you’ll have up to 12 months to cancel your order and receive a refund!!
The information is normally on the website and it's your responsobility to find and not theirs to tell you where it is.
@@Bootneck-RMC absolutely correct... But sometimes it's not, in which case it's on them to tell you, as in my case, hence how I found out about this little known loophole in the first place
The other thing that people need to be aware of is, If they decide to return the item during the cooling off period then, they can be held resposible for the cost of that return delivery which depending what the item is could be expensive unless the seller states that they will pay which is very unlikely.
@767corpI read every inch of the paperwork I received with my car. I even got an email confirmation from the salesperson that he didn't know about distance selling regulations 😂
Sponsoring Everton & Aston Villa would also have cost Cazoo a tonne of cash
those sponsorships were the least of their problems. Sponsorship most of the time will generate you a decent amount of revenue. I know I've visited their website more than 20 times because of those football shirts. And I live on mainland Europe.
@@elisee9935 You've visited the site x20 but you haven't bought anything so has it generated revenue?
The sponsorship was to trick foolish investors to part with their cash as it made it look like they had lots of excess cash and we’re doing well.
It does seem a bizarre choice to sponsor two Premier League football teams...
@@elisee9935 visiting a website does not generate revenue!
I bought a used car blind a couple of weeks ago because it was at a dealer on the Isle of Wight. I asked a lot of questions and the sales guy was completely honest. It was approved used & returnable so why not? I am very happy with the car.
You bought a car "blind"???!!! How on Earth did you pass your Driving Test? Do you use potholes as a form of Braille to help you navigate the roads? ;-)
With an honest dealer great, I have done a number of long distance transactions 5 times now, including one with a part ex.
These were higher end transactions and four of these went smoothly but one was a disaster with service history and condition of vehicle not as described resulting in me rejecting the vehicle.
I probably should have gone with gut feeling.
@@davidkmatthewslabrador in the passenger seat.
How did u know u were getting in the right car when u were at the showroom if you are blind? Was the sales man saying "no,no,no,yes" until you opened the correct car?
@@meme4onelol great comment
Great insight Matt. I remember applying for a marketing job at Cazoo a few years back. I was intrigued by the sponsorship deals they were pulling particularly in the football world and their marketing campaigns in general - they seemed to be everywhere you looked! However, marketing on such a scale comes with hefty costs. Looking back they probably went a bit too hard but I did admire their bold approach. And no, I didn’t get the job and probably for the best. Heart goes out to those that have lost their jobs or will lose them soon.
Hi Matt Having worked in the retail motor industry for over 30 years I follow your channel with interest. I left the industry during Covid. An opportunity that gave me time to reflect on the huge challenges of running a franchise operation and seeing new car targets going up year on year to a completely unrealistic number. Having this time I quickly made decision that this industry was no longer fun and not for me. I genuinely enjoy the content of your channel it still gives me my motortrade fix. As you know once it’s in the blood it’s hard to leave it !! Although I’m a distance from you when I’m in the market I will contact you as I like your honest approach….. if anyone else reads my comments trust Matt as an experienced professional within the industry for over 30 years I certainly would. Matt runs a great business which is fair to him and his customers. Congratulations to you on your honest work and your success.
I wish you well Matt for the future 👏👏
Did exactly the same as you, end of lockdown 1 left a dealership after 20 years of sales - ‘no longer fun’ definitely sums it up!!
What is increasingly clear to me, as I watch your videos, is that you're one properly intelligent guy. More power to you.
I use to work for Cazoo as a accountant, when they were buying companies for parts and inspection.They had terrible people in positions and it was no wonder that they failed. i told them before i left that if they didn't hire good people they would fail to provide and seems like i was right.
Wow what an genius. You're a amazing accountant
It has become very difficult to hire skilled, productive and talented people - every company has issues in recruiting employees.
I too used to work for Cazoo and predicted it. When certain members of management left over night I got a feeling in my water. It was a shame as I had a good two years there and made some great friends. The amount they were spending on repairs and parts was unbelievable and also they hired the wrong people in higher management and the customer services center was useless with no idear but still had a fully fledged bar and Uber delivery’s everyday. My site couldn’t even get a mop for the floors. Love the channel a response to my email would be good 😉
Dang ... I missed out on a free 14 day rental car. Good thing we don't have dishonest people that would abuse such a system....
I don't think there would be any point in doing it routinely. Unless they gave you 14 days of insurance and the car was free tax you'd lose a couple of hundred in insurance & tax and I assume return delivery charge, and they'd ban you after a few goes.
I picked up on that comment in the video too. "Exploit" can have a couple of different meanings depending on the context; it can be to simply make use of what is available, or alternatively about being more underhand and devious.
It wasn't clear to me whether he meant Cazoo had just underestimated take up, to their cost, or if buyers were frivolously getting cars and then sending them back within 14 days.
Brought from Cazoo just before collection advised they found an issue with steering column so provided me a hire car for week whilst I waited for fix.On pick up found a chip in windscreen they said they hadn't noticed ( on checking on MOT it was advised).They had windscreen replaced.
Some further issues ( paint work ,non matching tyres , faulty blindspot ) all fixed all third parties .So in the end they spent 10 to 15% value of the car on repairs.I will say they did fix everything so I cant complain with that and they were prepared to take car back for refund but if that was a regular occurrence for them can see why it went wrong for them
I’ve bought a car from Cazoo. The service was perfect, the trade in (cost to change) was competitive, the delivery was seamless and the vehicle I bought was everything I wished for. I couldn’t understand how Cazoo made their money.
Well they didnt make money clearly 😂
Interestingly I brought a car from Cazoo in Early January of this year. Had no problem with buying online (in fact it made it easier as I was unable to view anything due to heavy work commitments) but the after sales experience was horrendous, took 60 mins each and every time to get through to anyone and even then it was never a satisfactory answer to the problem, ultimately been moved onto the next call centre op who seemingly just read from a script. There sad demise was no surprise given my experiences, that said the car is great once its issues were resolved…
@@simonwood9028 What sad demise? they are still trading .
@767corpplus he made a shedload more with the Cazoo IPO
Because you overpaid for the car
We literally bought our car from Cazoo in January - was a pretty good experience, great car, very chill experience for my socially anxious soul..! Was the first time I'd bought car and I fully understood my rights in terms of distance selling and being able to give it back if we didn't like it. I'd happily go to a dealership next time now I've owned a car and understand what I'm looking for, though
Working from home becoming the norm after Covid made a difference. My mileage dropped 10,000 miles per year so I don't feel the need to change so often.
44yrs in trade tech here, another thing is, modern cars are so unreliable now, you need to have an affordable garage to repair them in, whereas they have to use main dealers [who aren't going to give a competitor a discount]
as you know, a simple engine-light on situation can easily exceed £3K to fix these days
most of their cars came from previous owners who part exed them in cheap [because they have underlying faults] so they were buggered from the start...
Eh? Modern cars are so unreliable now? What on earth are you talking about, cars are now more reliable than ever 😂😂😂
@ResevoirGod to be honest and IMO a new car is more 'reliable ' than a 1984 vauxhall cavalier BUT if you do have an issue, it tends to be an issue the normal owner can not resolve, so requires so called expertise computer equipment to diagnose the fault.
@@ResevoirGodI think what he means is that when modern cars break - and they still do - that they are such a ball ache to get fixed.
Don’t buy an unnecessarily complicated vehicle. All mates with Mercedes have their car at the dealership more often than on their drive. Mostly software and sensor issues. As an earlier post said the car is just the bait, the money is made on the finance and servicing now and most people under 40 don’t ever consider maintenance themselves.
I worked in the motor trade from 1985 to getting made redundant in 2020. You’ve just said pretty much word for word what I’ve been saying about Cazoo, but a lot of my colleagues thought I was talking crap as they put it. Now who’s words have come true. I’m completely out of the motor trade now and really miss it. I like your channel 😮
I am one of those who bought a car from Cazoo, it was only because the car I wanted, I couldn't find anywhere else, it was the same as the car it was going to replace, but a newer model, so I ordered it, and come delivery day, they phoned and said they would not be delivering, as they found a fault and were waiting for parts, this was nearly 4 weeks after ordering, I asked when the parts would be there, and they said they would call me as soon as they arrived, 5 days later, they called and said they had fitted the part, and the next delivery slot was in another 3 1/2 weeks. I needed the car when I ordered it, so really didn't want to wait that long, so ended up having to go and pick it up myself, it took them another 2 months to refund the delivery fee. The car was in good condition, and I really have no complaints about that, but to take the best part of 8 weeks for them to be able to get it too me, was unacceptable. I had already come to the conclusion I would not take that route again when buying my next car.
Cinch will be following them soon, followed by “we buy any car” and “ car wow” all robbing entities.
WBAC will be fine, it's owned by British Car Auctions, where the vast majority of auctioned cars get sold so there's a lot of market capture. As far as I know CarWow is a marketplace/platform and don't have much capital risk.
Think car wow is a connecting system ? Link sellers to traders and buyers to commercial sellers ?
@@sIightIyboredCinch is also BCA, they sell the better cars gained from WBAC through Cinch, the rest go to auction!
Car Wow shouldn't be included in the list. They just pass details to third parties. It's up to the seller to accept the offer.
With all the car reviews and drag races carwow do I'm pretty sure they will be fine financially. Their YT revenue would be quite high.
Cazoo's dying breath was to pivot to an online marketplace for traders to sell through. (a disaster given how poorly Cazoo spoke of the industry when starting out). Their best bet would have been to take that huge amount of money and create that online marketplace from the start... Autotrader has the monopoly, it's a powerhouse of a business that can name its price and dealers just have to suck it up and pay because it's proven to work. No one has come close to building a strong competitor yet BUT if Cazoo had gone that route and run the sponsorship deals and huge ad campaigns for THAT platform, I think it'd still be here today and Autotrader would have to be a bit more competitive
What you can do, which is what I've done three times in France, is look at the models you like. Take a test drive at the main dealer, then buy the one you want online. I loathe dealers, dislike the patter, and saved thousands on three brand new cars by going online with Aramis, which I think is more or less the same as Cazoo. Just looked online, got the car delivered to a center nearby and drove off without any hassle. That's how I like to buy cars.
The new car market is not the same as the used car market, which is what Cazoo did! ... and went bust!
@@jimmyccam that's why I've bought second hand cars from them too. I believe, pre-covid Aramis got their cars from ex rental and bulk directly from the factories. Now I wouldn't buy a car more than a year old, and the web suits me fine.
We bought a Volvo xc60 from Cazoo and collected it from one of their cazoo centres. It was about 2.5K cheaper then a local dealer, and they offered the best price on our trade in. The distance selling laws gave us the confidence to buy a car online, although it wasn't a problem as the car was exactly as described. Just before last Christmas we decided to change our second car.This time we saw a Kia Picanto in a dealership 80 miles away. We knew that they had a branch locally but we purposely didn't ask for the car to be brought up, or go down to Cornwall to look at it. Instead we brought the car sight unseen, and as it was a distance sale, we told the salesman that if the car wasn't exactly as described we would be asking for a refund under the distance selling laws. I think that concentrated his mind and the car was perfect.
Nonsense, try getting that enforced against a car dealer. You will be unpleasantly surprised.
I got a cracking car from cazoo 2 years a go... ill have to preserve my cazoo goody bag now😂
Same, even got that tile Bluetooth key finder lol 😂
@@GrahamReid34 living the dream🤣👍i didn't get one of those 😵
I am still very happy with the car I bought from Cazoo in December 2020 and would have been happy to use them again.
My Cazoo umbrella and ice scraper are still in the glovebox 😁
@@ferrumignisHot property now mate 😂
Personally I would never even consider buying a used car without seeing it , sitting in , driving it, even if I had sat in and driven the same exact model, and I don't know anyone that would ! It's Internet shopping gone way too far in my eyes, I would far sooner take a 200 mile round trip to see the actual car I'm physically parting with money for and I would be happy to even pay a bit more for the vehicle purchasing this way. I believe there will always be a place for dealerships like your own Matt and I hope that for the sake of good honest car dealers like yourself that I am proved right ! Keep up the good work and keep the videos coming chap.
Bought my last 2 online.
I am planning to change my medium estate car for the large estate in their range to have more versatility and though everything looked perfect on paper, when I test drove it I realised it was just too big for easy town parking etc compared to my present one. So now I am buying a newer, top spec version of my present one. Without a test drive I would have regretted the change.
Totally agree, buying a car sight unseen is crazy.
I did a couple of 100 mile round trips to go and test drive cars. You can't tell what the ride quality and noise will be like until you go in one. With one car I actually got a dealer to take me out in a second one as the first was so noisy I thought it must be faulty. There was no way I was spending £25000 on a car that made a Dacia Sandero (which my parents in law have) seem quiet and refined,
@@terryc8164 It's like the automotive equivalent of 'Married At First Sight!'
I bought my Toyota Tacoma sight unseen by ordering from a Toyota dealer. It was my only option which made me very unhappy. I had enough information to know it wasn't a bad truck but still wanted to be able to test drive or at least sit in it first. Maybe its my age but their are certain things I want to be able to buy in person and a vehicle is one. Carvana is having the same problems in the US.
I purchased a car from Cazoo and was very happy with their service. One thing that was difficult was for them to properly hand over digital service records and onboard you onto manufacturers systems - I bought an Audi Q5 and had awful trouble getting my profile added to the car. Whilst it was sorted, and paid for by Cazoo, it was inconvenient
Love this Matt, great to see your interest in business of all types come through. Miss the property videos but also see why you felt it shouldnt go on. Fair doos.
Being updated on your journey from the birds eye view would be awesome. Cheers Matt
We used Cazoo as we knew exactly what we wanted and their p/x offer was way more than anyone else's; after sales however was non-existent.
Same here sold my car to them for 2k more than I paid for it 3 years previous somehow 😂 bought from them too and yeah aftersales was non existent
I always confused Cazoo with Cinch.
Cazoo was a great idea. We bought one from them. The amount of photos, details and description given online were second to none, was much more in-depth than a typical dealer's ad. The point you're making about lack of test drive is null, you had 7 days to test drive it and investigate every aspect of the car at your leisure at home, backed by a full 7-day money back guarantee. This is much better than only spending a couple of hours looking at the car and a quick test drive with the dealer. And delivered to your door so you don't have to trek many miles to see a car at any specific appointment time. I think it's the perfect way to buy.
Just a theory here but I think their downfall was rising interest rates. The cars they had in stock they were buying on "dealer finance". When they sold the car the finance would be settled and the differential was their profit. That business model worked well when interest rates were virtually zero percent. When interest rates rapidly rose to 5% that business model became untenable.
I would never part with cash for a car without a test drive - the hassle of getting the car back and waiting for a refund, even if it goes smoothly can still take 1-2 weeks and I would then be without a car.
I sold 2 (unfinanced) cars, dropped off to cazoo centre. One worth £27,000 trade in they gave me £29,200 without moving it and promptly advertised for £29,500. Where is any profit from that!?
The other car needed a new clutch... the customer was buying blind and so were cazoo, even when they had opportunities to check.
@@chrisbaete5842 I always buy the new car before selling the old one (unless trading in), specifically because you don't know for sure you will buy the car until you do. It is inconvenient paying tax & insurance on two cars for a short period, but if you find a problem and don't keep the new one it could be back to square one, spending weeks searching around for the right car again. Part of Cazoo's appeal was the "7 day test drive".
"Hey Cazoo, it's the SEC. Why haven't you filed your accounts?"
"We...we have massively overspent"
Working in the car rental industry I have had plenty of customers who bought cars from Cazoo and Cinch that developed mechanical issues referred to us.
Rather than a used car dealer like Matt giving them perhaps a pool car while his chosen local mechanic rectifies the issue promptly, Cazoo would pay good money for weeks on end for one of our courtesy cars while the customer's car is transported to and from their home to main dealers/established service providers. Hire bills alone could rack up hundreds or even thousands of pounds depending on the severity of the issue which would undoubtedly wipe out any profit they made on the sale
My dad and I brought a car in Cazoo. My dad a 2018 Toyota Auris Hybrid in Spain. No problems at all, he still have the car very happy. Me, a 2014 C4 Picasso here in the UK. A nightmare. Since day one lots of problems. Looks like no one check the car before delivery. Noises in the rear axle, no heating in drive side and after few thousands miles, head gasket gone. In 10 months the car were more time in the garage than with me. I sold it to Arnold Clark before it cost me more money 😞
The biggest difference here is Japanese Vs French.
Don’t buy French/Italian cars - that’s my rule. Japanese cars are the best, generally speaking in my opinion.
So basically your father bought a Toyota and you bought a Citroen, got it.
C4 Picasso doesn't have a rear axle
@@jam365days8 I thought every car has two axles 😅
You nearly bought a Tesla? That’d be some step down from your Range-rover in terms of driving experience I’d say.
He's got a video up of his test drive, He was very unimpressed with the stupid screen and how much attention it requires to use, which has always been a major criticism of mine. You simply cannot beat separate physical controls IMO.
I would say it is a step up from many range rovers and older merc/bmers…. A new driving experience that will need learning and not just jump in and think it is like a petrol or diesel….
I'm probably in the minority, but as a consumer I actually admire Cazoo's business model. I don't mind buying a car without seeing it first - because I've got 14 days to return it FOR WHATEVER REASON. Effectively I've got 14 days of free test drive!!! I'm not sure a lot of people realize this when they go "I'd never buy a car online without seeing it first. What if my pushchair won't fit in the boot?" Well, you've got 14 days to find out after it's delivered!
I recently spent about a month to buy a car. I am extremely particular on what I am looking for in terms of the model, year, mileage, trim, spec, colour. So even if I look across the entire country, there might be just 5-7 cars I would actually be interested in buying at any given time. I would call up the dealer and asked about details, but sadly quite a few of those massive car supermarkets out there are horrible in terms of customer service. They would go "We have no idea! We can't take additional pictures! We can't get an on-site salesperson to confirm the details. Just come see the car and buy it if you want." I said I didn't want to travel 4 hours to your forecourt only to discover it's not something I wanted. They said "Yeah we understand. But our on-site salespeople are just too busy. Come see the car if you want."
Finally I decided to take the leap on one particular car which seemed to tick all our boxes. I reserved the car, travelled 4 hours by train, only to discover that the car was in awful condition - ripped leather seats, massive scuffs and scratches all over the car, and a pretty big crack on a windscreen. When I pointed out these issues to the salesperson, they simply said "Sorry our business model means we can't prep them properly as our profit margins are thin enough already." Then they had the audacity to offer fixing those issues ONLY IF I decide to purchase their paint protection, extra warranty products etc.. Frankly, I would have been happy to buy the car if the initial asking price was £500-1k higher but the car was properly prepped.
Anyway I wasted two more full-day trips travelling around to see cars only to get disappointed. The frustrating thing was all these dealers had extremely positive reviews online, so it was quite shocking. And, no, it wasn't just me being a perfectionist and nitpicky. I shared pictures of those defects to friends of mine with limited car-buying experience, and everybody agreed those defects weren't acceptable.
I guess I was quite unlucky - and the dealers were just not very honest in terms of the pictures/ video they posted online. If the dealers had been upfront with the issues, then I could decide whether to make the trip or not. I got so frustrated with my car hunting experience that, towards the end, I was actively looking to buy from dealers who are willing to do a distance sale. The fact that they are willing to do distance sales means they are confident that their car is properly prepped, and in a condition most customers would accept.
It may well be the case that Cazoo overspent in terms of advertising costs, or didn't properly factor the extra delivery/ return costs into their prices (you did mention in the video they had very low prices and hence thin margins). But personally as a consumer, I don't mind buying a car without seeing it first because, again, I have 14 days to test drive and return it for a full refund for whatever reason!!! It's well different from buying a house as it would be difficult to "return" a house after moving in!
Again, I am well aware I am probably in the minority as I am so fussed with the exact spec. A good friend of mine had to buy a car recently as well. They just went to a used car dealership and stated their requirements - dark-coloured, SUV or hatchback, manual gearbox, within a certain budget, THAT'S IT! Then they bought the first car they saw. This was even though the car was a tad above market value according to autotrader. In some ways, I'm quite jealous - they had a much less stressful experience than me :D
Those flaws sound like things you'd see in the vehicle photos before travelling to view, no?
@@JackBremer That's precisely the problem, mate - the pictures were taken in particular angles such that the flaws weren't at all visible, and they refused to take a walkaround video when requested. When I phoned them, they were like "Yeah the car's immaculate. All properly prepped in our state-of-the-art workshop!" If the dealers were honest and upfront, then I'd just decide whether it's still a car I want to travel/ buy for that particular price. If the price was cheap, I might consider buying a car even though it's in average condition and get the issues repaired myself (although one might question why I'd need to buy from a dealer rather than a private individual/ through an auction in that case).
And to add insult to injury, when I demanded why they said on the phone the car was in immaculate condition when it clearly wasn't, the salesperson said "Yeah well... they're the call centre team who chatted with you on the phone... they never actually get to see the cars... so of course they'd need to say... you know... " Basically throwing their co-workers under the bus!
Again, it might well be me just being very very unlucky. :(
So you’ve done the deal with Cazoo. You take delivery, they take your part X and you have the new car. 10 days go by and you think, don’t like it, sending it back. That’s all fine. They come and collect your car, refund the money and all sorted. Only issue is you now have no part x and no car to use. 🤷♂️
@@markpashley1831 might well be a very fair point - although I never part x with the dealer I’m buying from as I found I tend to get the worst value in return. When I sell, I try to sell independently.
Besides, you might well run into the same issue even if you did a test drive and bought the car the traditional way - if the car worked fine when you bought it but then the engine goes flat ten days later, presume you’d have to put up an even bigger fight to return the car and get your money back? Not sure if you could get your px back as well?
Also, we are pretty fortunate for being a 2-car household so we are able to live without one car for a short while. So whenever we want to replace a car, we tend to just sell it outright, then go car hunting with cash in hand.
But they don't work for the business itself. Very convenient for us consumers, but very expensive for the business making it a high risk venture.
Why Cazoo failed? The business model was wrong. People will buy a car online IF they are saving MONEY. There should be a discount. I sell all my cars online and at a DISCOUNT. I can provide discount because I've no salesman or showroom. We have a unit where cars can be viewed and have a test drive BUT no fancy showroom or salesman. That means I can sell cheaper. I have success doing it like this. People are happy because they are making big savings. Trouble with cazoo was they were no cheaper than going to a traditional dealer. They also had showrooms etc. They were no different to a traditional dealer with a showroom. The whole business model was wrong.
I'm not a used car dealer but I am a business analyst and I agree with you on their rapid expansion. When I saw them sponsor football teams in France (?) I was imediately concerned they were overstretching on marketing spend. I'm a big fan of adapting traditional trade so kudos to you and your peers.
You thought buying an EV was a good thing? No, really, you did? You? 😂🤣😂🤣
100% Agree Matt. Cazoo, Cinch, Motoway (all those online sellers) look great but.....why on earth would anyone want to buy a car before seeing if it's nice to drive, you fit properly in it, you fall in love with it. Absolutely no surprise it's gone bust. Cinch will be next. I HAVE to drive the car first. Well Done !!
1:44 "People don't buy used cars like that." Yes and no. People who have an active interest in their cars would never buy a car from a company like Cazoo, IMO. But people who buy cars as a lifestyle accessory will buy the car that they think suits their brand/image from whoever has it. It's basically the difference between people who take pictures of their cars to show online, and people who take pictures of themselves with the car as an accessory. The closest I'd come to buying from a company like Cazoo, is buying from a car supermarket that I've spent time wandering around to find a car I liked the look of.
Cazoo offered me £6k for my car ... 4 weeks later, they offered £3k .... they didn't end off with it 😂
Founder nose check required.🤨
@JamesSmith-qs4hx I was like how ... why ... they said that's it 🤔
@@stevenbrown8857 oiiiii veyyyyyyyyyy