These companies grow too quickly on huge debts, which the directors take out as bonuses and selling shares at the top of the curve. Then when it goes downwards it goes fast. So trousering £100 million and landing the company with £600 million in debt is disgusting and should be illegal. But it’s perfectly legal.

@bobmartin5101

4 ай бұрын

The first shareholder people in on the ladder are pig trough snorting Tories, usually.

@layersoftheonion8168

4 ай бұрын

Spot on and good summary. And this is why SPACs are virtually dead these days.

@delsmith5327

4 ай бұрын

That's pretty much the model most of these 'disruptors' follow. It's just a way for founders to pocket as much cash as possible when the hype is high.

@deewiz1488

4 ай бұрын

Owing money ain’t. Crime

@damianleah6744

4 ай бұрын

@@deewiz1488 it is when you leave people and companies in the lurch with huge unpaid invoices.

I arranged to buy an "immaculate" 2 year old BMW with 11k on it from Cazoo. They drove it from london to north east, took 4 1/2 hours..... It arrived with 3 big, big dents in the roof, a driver door speaker missing, two badly rashed wheels and insane scratching on the piano black centre console. I sent it back tom London within 3 minutes. They tried to take me to court for breach of contract.......F... OFF!

@AJ-qn6gd

4 ай бұрын

You have the right to do that under the terms of the distance selling act.

@gimble447

4 ай бұрын

@@AJ-qn6gdPrecisely, think the word “tried” is more accurately supposed to be “ threatened” 😊

@bobmartin5101

4 ай бұрын

@@AJ-qn6gd I told them that.....they argued that i would would not get my 200 quid deposit back. I said my solicitor would not like you doing that........then they said ok, we will give you it back...Goodbye!

@gimble447

4 ай бұрын

@@bobmartin5101 it’s good that they backed down and gave you the deposit, however had they not it would have unfortunately been a case of cutting your losses ( you’d be lucky to even get a solicitor to see you and send them a single letter for less than £200)

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

I found what looked to be a bargain 18 month old low mileage Kia Niro on the Cazoo website. However, looking more closely at their own photos I spotted a dent and a massive gouge across the touchscreen. Just think yourself lucky that the faults you found were so obvious. Imagine trading your car in to Cazoo and then finding its replacement dosn't feel safe over 50MPH.

My dad was looking for a new car, there was a couple of cars he liked on the Cazoo Website, what put him and me off was that they don’t let you test drive or look at the car in person! He ended up paying a little more, but got a car that he test drove and saw in person from another well known dealer.

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

I replaced my car last year. I test drove three different models before ending up buying another Golf. No amount of photos can show you the noise and ride quality. There was no way I was paying £25000 for a car that seemed noisier than the 2005 Ford Ka my wife once had.

@riseandshine75

4 ай бұрын

He did the right thing there dude ❤❤

@jordancrabbe4404

4 ай бұрын

First day buying something online? lol 🤣

@Rapscallion2009

4 ай бұрын

You can argue that both ways. What do you really find out in a ten minute test drive, vs having it for a week to do whatever you like (including asking your mechanic to inspect it)? But. I tend to agree.

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

@@Rapscallion2009 Five minutes to realise the car is noisier inside than a Mk1 Ford Ka or Dacia Sandero costing 1/3rd of the price new. With the first car like that I actually went out in a second one because I thought the first must be faulty.

Great news. Any concern that manipulates the markets, are best gone forever in my book. Between Cazoo & BCA they were both guilty of manipulating the market massively since 2020. The bigger they are the harder they fall. We just need BCA to go down as well. Its all they deserve.

@walkaz

4 ай бұрын

Bca getting rid of in person auctions has to be the dumbest business move since Kodak

@ZachAsaD

4 ай бұрын

@@walkazwhat do you mean Kodak?

@cp4512

4 ай бұрын

BCA, Cinch, webuyanycar and all the Marshall Motor Grouo franchises are all owned by the same company! That’s a bigger manipulator of the car market.

@jennyforrest3230

4 ай бұрын

BCA are a business of it's our way or your down the road treat staff and customers as mugs not sorry to see them fail karma 16:27

@jonclsmdoe

4 ай бұрын

Kodac made film for cameras, then cameras went digital- game over @@ZachAsaD

It was always a flawed business model - but Alex Chesterman possibly knew this anyway, but he's the master of whipping up investment, and then selling out his own shares at the right moment. The mad thing was saying they were an online disruptive business, but then opening traditional dealerships.

@GrahamReid34

4 ай бұрын

wasnt traditional dealership was more a collection centre no stock physically sat at the centres it was placed at 2-3 prep centres

@highlandmalt6368

4 ай бұрын

@@GrahamReid34 yes, but they looked like dealerships, and they were placed in expensive prime locations with all the fit and finish of a maid dealer. If it's just a collection and prep centre, why not in a cheap warehouse property.

@stevena9305

4 ай бұрын

Because they branded and polished the heck out of everything because they had the funds. Their delivery trucks even had private number plates!

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

@@GrahamReid34 They took over Imperial Cars in Southampton which was a massive traditional dealership which seemed to specialise in two to three year old German Cars (probably end of PCP lease). Every Monday the many cars that Imperial had sold that weekend would be lined up ready for collection. In contrast I once counted 11 Cazoo vans sat at Southampton behind all the cars. How many cars did they expect to sell ? The big difference was that with Cazoo you couldn't actually test drive anything. In fact you couldn't you see the price or mileage without scanning a QR code on the cars windscreen. Finally, with Cazoo there was no chance of a salesman persuading you to spend an extra £30 a month on a newer car with a bigger engine which seemed to be Imperial's model. "Want a three year old BMW 3 series. We have ten to choose from."

@cartousse

3 ай бұрын

I'm quite sure that hedge fund has a massive short position on the company too. They all do it, short and "naked short" a company into oblivion and use the book earnings as colateral to borrow more capital. Its called "cellar boxing".

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to see and test drive a car before buying. Cazoo would not interest me at all.

@topfuelteddy

4 ай бұрын

Totally agree, but people are far too lazy to see where their hard earned is going . Can only think it's not that hard earned.

@Mr_Ashley

4 ай бұрын

I thought you could hand it back after a week or so? Could be wrong, only vaguely remember the radio adds

@Jesus_Iced

4 ай бұрын

​@Mr_Ashley You're right. 7 days and up to 250 miles and you can return it for a full refund. That's part of Cazoo's issue. This is expensive to facilitate.

@Theleague0fshad0ws

4 ай бұрын

Yup, people use them for a holiday and then return them.

@Achilles22

4 ай бұрын

Never ever buy a car before test driving, Cazoo is part of WBAC network

I recently left the company after 4 and a half years. It was quite the rollercoaster ride once flying high and then the big drops that followed! But damn, the company was run so poorly with insane amounts of cash thrown about.

@majordelays4909

4 ай бұрын

Will credit card deposit guarantee your full refund if you return but they go bust?

@lurst

4 ай бұрын

​@@majordelays4909 I know that worked when Made got bust, so yeah

@Matt5bm

4 ай бұрын

@@majordelays4909 no idea mate. I worked at a prep centre too, not in customer service or anything related. I expect they'll likely get bought out/fold in January. Not in the next few months.

@chriswarren2599

4 ай бұрын

I have a lovely fluorescent yellow Cazoo coat. Warm and waterproof 😊

BCA, Cinch, webuyanycar and all of Marshall Motor Group (well over 100 franchises) are all owned by the same company. If that hasn’t been manipulating the car market with an almost monopoly then I don’t know what would! Cazoo is a small player in comparison.

@mariemccann5895

4 ай бұрын

Was PMSL

Online car shopping will never work. As a motability customer I had to order a new car at the dealership without actually seeing one due to supply issues blamed on Covid. After 9 months waiting and still never having seen the model of a car in the flesh mine had turned up I was informed. It was a top spec Vauxhall Grandland 1,5 hdi auto. I chose that car after having a Pug 3008 GT Line Premiun diesel auto previously for 5 years I loved. I had the lease extended by 2 years again due to Covid and the Grandland was basically a 3008. Well, it wasn’t, most of the toys weren’t fitted and the seats were far too hard for my medical condition, not softer and supportive like the 3008. So Motability allowed me to terminate the lease after 3 months due to the fact I had never had the opportunity to sit in one or see one, never mind test drive one. Still I won big after that deal as I now have a Renault Austral e hybrid, mid spec. So I now have a comfy car with all the toys including over the air software updates so, trips to the dealer and wait for an update to be carried out. I also get over 55 mpg so on a par with my 3008 and it’s a fabulous car.

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

I was once in a Ford dealer comparing two Mondeos side by side. Neither myself or the salesman could work out why one had a great driving position while the other didn't allow that. Then we realised that the poverty spec Mondeo had manually adjusted seats with loads of movement while the other, more expensive Mondeo had thick electrically adjusted seats that didn't move as far. You could have bought another 3008 and found things had been changed for the worse.

An excellent video Joe - very informative. I have always been highly skeptical about these flashy nauseous sort of companies who want us to believe that buying a car is as easy as buying a 2 slice toaster from Argos. It is not. When my aunt needed a new car we looked at loads so she could get a feel of them and ones that she thought would be nice, she really didn't like. There are so many factors at play for the user and as an engineer who deals with cars daily, the state of the majority of cars on the road beggars belief. I would only ever buy a car from a small independent such as yourself. The personal interaction is the key part of buying a car.

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

Until you test drive you have no idea how noisy a car will be. I test drove a £25000 car that was noisier than the 2005 Ford Ka my wife once had. I could accept that being noisy as it cost her less than £2000. Even my Golf 7.5 is a bit disappointing compared to the Golf Mk7 it replaced.

Bought a new car for RRP of £33k. Didn't like it and sold it to Cazoo 4 months later for £38k 😂😂😂 thank you Cazoo

@amranabu32

4 ай бұрын

You need to own the vehicle for least 6 months before selling to Cazoo. Don’t know how that is possible

@deansh8506

4 ай бұрын

@@amranabu32 November 2021 I sold it so don't know if the terms and conditions has changed since then.

@malgf4145

4 ай бұрын

@@amranabu32 It used to be 3 months.

@entropy5431

4 ай бұрын

Used car bubble has ended as at that time there were few new cars available. BMW put my trade in in their showroom. Got a great price too but I'd owned it nearly 4 years.

@deansh8506

4 ай бұрын

@@entropy5431 yep it definitely has ended and probably will never see that situation again.

Reminds me of Virgin Cars from mid 2000's. I traded in a BMW and bought an Astra. They gave me a cheque for the difference. I dropped of the BMW, nobody inspected it. It was in good condifiton but it might not have been! Gave me the best deal I could find anywhere. They didn't last long.

Nice vlog Joe. Very interesting. Keep um coming.

Just this morning I passed our local CAZOO site and thought it looked a bit of a mess with low car stocks and three transporters parked up, not going anywhere. I wondered if they were failing and if looks like I was right! I only buy cars from Main Dealers whom I know have a long history and are stable…and buying a car unseen is only good if you don’t have a clue about cars! A very interesting video! 😃😃😃

We have had two cars from Cazoo. The first was amazing, it came in top condition and service was excellent. The second one wasn't as described and came with dangerous faults such as very worn brakes and tyres with bulges. It was extremely hard for me to get them to put things right and I will never use them again after that.

@johnjames7332

4 ай бұрын

Thats the same with EVERY dealer. Once you buy they dont want to know you

@simonh870

4 ай бұрын

@@johnjames7332 With a local dealer word soon gets around and they will end up out of business if they sell junk.

I may be late to the party on this but I found out the other day Cazoo have wholesale auctions so they’re trying to recreate the constellation group eco system.

We've done so many warranties and repairs for customers who have bought complete sh*t from cazoo, cars with engine faults, dpf faults, damaged lights, faulty electrical items it's unreal and most the time they've refused to pay out or will only pay for the cheapest option poss or the 14 day window for return runs out cuz the fault happens at 15 days for example, and the customer is left stranded with a Land Rover ingenium with a noisy timing chain *for example*! Happens alot, I really don't like them and they don't deserve to be rescued, like webuyanycar or cinch they're absolute cancer on the car trade

@davidellis279

4 ай бұрын

Absolutely, BCA should have stuck to what they were good at, auctioning vehicles but they thought they could take the retail trade on all because of greed,they made a fortune before this folly was taken on. The trade hated this buying on line bollocks without seeing or hearing the vehicles their about to purchase. BCA are experts at auctioning vehicles but dipping their toes in the retail market was a massive mistake along with closing all their auction centres and until they reopen them the decline will continue.

@jgtemperton

4 ай бұрын

I’m not sure why you wouldn’t pay the extra £25 month warranty they offer with their cars. Common sense surely.

@davidellis279

4 ай бұрын

@@jgtemperton Paying an extra £25-00 for a warranty isn’t on,I’ve not seen their warranty conditions but you can bet your last penny it will have more exclusion’s in it covering turbos,duel mass flywheels and all the expensive stuff that normally fails after a certain mileage,some of these purchased warranties are not worth the paper their written on and people don’t read the terms and conditions before they purchase them leaving them with massive bills when things go wrong. Customers buying vehicles from these people unseen and not test driven want their head tested,most of the vehicles sold by Cazoo and Cinch and sourced through leasing companies at the end of lease and manufacturers warranty and that’s why their sold on to unsuspecting retail customers who haven’t a clue what their doing or what to look for,fourteen days warranty is a joke when your paying out thousands of pounds for a vehicle,if you can’t get you vehicle repaired by one of these two sellers take them to court,there are laws to protect you from sharks like them,don’t be robbed of contact trading standards for advice.

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

The 14 day return window isn't much use if you have traded in what was a better car.

You mention logistics. Cazoo bought a previous car sales site close by and when they did finally open, I was amazed to see rows of smart looking brand new low-loaders to to deliver their vehicles. That struck me as strange because I can't get over the idea that unless it's a brand new or ultra low mileage car, you pay money without seeing or even testing the car. If you don't like it, Cazoo will take it away? ( they'd have to under the distance selling act ). I could never see that sales model working yet they must have poured huge resources in to the business before fully testing it. Just read today that Genesis, the luxury arm of Hyundai who said the would only sell online here in the UK , have just signed up agreements with franchised dealers to now sell thru their outlets. The online only plan didn;t work for them either. Will the car showroom ever disappear? I doubt it - It's part of the 'fun' of buying a car.

I think most of their money has been wasted on sports sponsorship especially Snooker, obviously not got the response from the advertisement campaign hence what it looks like they are going down the pan.

I bought a 1 year old car from Cazoo 2 years ago. Service was excellent,from purchase to deliverly,and the car is running superbly.Well thats experience of Cazoo having bought a car from them.

@gregorymorrison512

4 ай бұрын

Same, I bought a 2016 car from Cazoo probably 3 years ago now, whole experience was good, car has had no issues to date, maybe lucky but I couldn't complain

@akanate4587

4 ай бұрын

Yep I have had no problem with the car I bought off them looked even better than, what was stated. And has ran perfectly for the last year and a half ive had it.

@dennisjames1044

4 ай бұрын

Very happy with our car bought 18 months ago but worried our 2 year service plan is in jeopardy. Wanted to extend to 3 years when we purchased the car but was told was too late to amend our order....missed a bullet there!

Dont know who was in charge of buying the vehicle transporters for cazoo but spent way too much. They were high specced/powered sprinter alot were v6s with all sorts of gadgets in the cab, could of saved half the amount just buying normal basis chassis Alot of used ones on ebay great used buys people dont know what good spec they have 317 or 319s They have leather seats (very very rare option) Lcd dials/dash Climate pack (air con) Widescreen sat nav Auto gearbox Reverse camera Air suspension Blind spot assist and likely alot more The chassis alone specced up like that would be 60k + vat minimum then the metal body and today ones for sale for 30k what a buy!!

@highlandmalt6368

4 ай бұрын

OPM (Other people's money)

@markrainford1219

4 ай бұрын

All tax write off.

@highlandmalt6368

4 ай бұрын

@@markrainford1219 the company is a long way off making a profit 😂 so, nothing to write capital expenditure off against.

@ashleybarker937

4 ай бұрын

They have been selling loads off on BCA, they've been making sub 20 grand.

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

And they once had eleven of them sat at their Southampton "Customer Service Centre". There again they also had a 20 foot video wall showing adverts for Cazoo - presumably to the people who had already bought a car from them.

As a ex car dealer working from a static site it was always a balance between profit and turnover , the old saying turnover is vanity profit is sanity ,well all these on line companies work the turnover principle which time and time again fail after initial surge in sales . I wonder how many people would buy again from one of these companies

Great video clip, love your straight talking.

As soon as I heard Ryland on the TV advert I shuddered and thought I’d never use them 😂😂😂

@PeterDolphin472

4 ай бұрын

Except he never did Cazoo. He did Cinch, the successful one.

@timvins

4 ай бұрын

@@PeterDolphin472 O yea 🥴 just a matter of time till that one goes too 🤔

Hi Joe,my last car I bought blind on the word of the car dealer and had I delivered to my door,when it came,it looked like it just came back from a tour of Afghanistan.yes I,d rather see the car first hand and lessen Learned.

Here today gone tomorrow That just about sums up most of these modern day interweb companies

I love your videos like this mate, they're so interesting... What happened to your podcast? I would love to be able to listen to this sort of thing while driving mate but can't load up KZread for obvious reasons 🤣

@ShiftingMetal

4 ай бұрын

You can search for it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc or it’s on my website shiftingmetal.Co.uk

@AshRowland

4 ай бұрын

Oh awesome, thanks mate, I don't use those platforms very often which is probably why I've been missing them 🤣I'll use your website @@ShiftingMetal

Kazoo bought the old mini site in tonbridge last year. The place was packed in the 1st half of 2023 and then near empty by the end. Now it's closed down completely and the weeds are returning.

@eliotmansfield

3 ай бұрын

same in newport pagnell former landrover site. Packed out then abandoned a year later. It’s now a fisker dealer.

Actually Purple Bricks has not made the entry into the House Market it expected. People like people .

@Fred-gu6pk

4 ай бұрын

If it is still up read a blog called Agents Diary, it was written by an estate agent. He emphasised that the real job was completing the sale and that there are a lot of things can blow up a house sale. It is knowing how to fix those that is the important bit.

Think the best way is the old fashioned going to look/drive the cars but there’s also ppl that just want a walk around video

There was an article in Autocar about a year ago, might have been more. Essentially it said that the Cazoo has never made any money, since they launched in 2019.

@mrnobody9227

4 ай бұрын

If you are not a profitable company you are not a proper company - you are in magical thinking land.

@joelbrown2782

4 ай бұрын

@mrnobody9227 not what I said. I know how companies work and how they use debt to start up. At some point, the cash flow needs to be greater than the interest payments on the debt, hence how they make a profit. Which Cazoo has never done, it should have started to turn by now, but hasn't.

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

@@mrnobody9227 In the early years when Amazon made a profit Jeff Bezos said they carefully analysed what had gone wrong as their aim was to grow the business.

Well done archie you are going from strength to strength keep up the good work zee ya soon

The video provides a clear overview of the topic.

Wow really well thought out and put together in layman’s terms these big companies always come into the market way above them selves I myself will and always have bought cars from independent dealers and always get a great personal service which you will never get from these car supermarkets, spot on buddy 🤝👍👊😄

My dad was pretty senior at the company canzoo bought out which essentially did the same thing but with out the digital focus which was worth a few hundred million max. Nothing changed apart from Chesterman and branding, the business is essentially the same but became 10-20x value. Hypes beyond silly.

I feel like used car sales is one of the worst businesses to try to do completely online (outside of a pandemic of course), because you still have to have a lot to put your cars, technicians to look them over and whatnot, maybe salespeople and all the accounting but on top of that you also have to manage the whole software side of things and getting that working and on the customer side you are under pressure because people expect you to be cheaper because everything is online, so your margins per car will be pretty low at the best of times. All that in a market that is already saturated because every town has like five used car sales companies at every price level you could look for, so there isn't really a natural niche for you in the market.

Never bought from Cazoo, but sold 4 cars to them in the last 2 years, and cannot fault their service. Always got the best price from them, we're talking 3 of the cars at £20K+, so not old bangers.

@drumnbassjd

4 ай бұрын

The fact that you always got the best price from them might help explain their demise

@malgf4145

4 ай бұрын

@@drumnbassjd What I don't understand is why he says Cazoo is Done when they are still buying cars ?

Given today's news re Cazoo you were so accurate.

Its so funny this has happened. Just didn't read the room. I can imagine that new car purchased online might be ok. But 2nd hand there are too many things people want to see and drive before shelling out. Also if you sell it and get it returned that can't be good for bottom line. The fact you cant even browse the cars before hand even if they are local seems crazy.

I was offered a job there last year. I turned it down simply because of their financial problems. Directors took money and left leaving crumbs and 50m a quarter loss. Their six month outlook wasn't good so no way I could join them, even if the money was really good.

There is currently a poor economic environment in the UK, this has made it difficult for new businesses like this to succeed.

Almost was interested in buying a car from Cazoo until the agent told me that there is no way to view the car, inspect its condition or go for a test drive. I told the agent would you buy a house without viewing it? No? Then why would you expect me to do the same with a car? I'm not buying something small and cheap off ebay. Its good to modernise but things like cars and houses will always be sold by viewing first before handing over any cash. It's crazy Alex Chesterman is still trying to plough through this failing business model until the house of cards collapses in administration and he moves on to his next glittering bonfire of a terrible business plan.

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

Exactly. How many people bought a house on Zoopla without actually viewing it as well. I work next door to what was a Cazoo customer service centre and never bothered to look at the cars there as I knew I couldn't test drive them. Last year I test drove three cars where the dealer let me go out on my own. Funnily, with the one I ended up buying the salesman didn't even check my licence before letting me do so.

SPAC's are not allowed in the UK, considered cash shells. Also, who better than the CEO to know when to cash in their stock, especially after going public

I bought my 2021 megane rs 300 online, and had it delivered, but it was with a renault dealer, if I waned to I could have travelled and had a look at the car first, and thelat is the difference, you should always have a choice, people like having choice and I think 99% of places that sell cars offer both now, which makes cazoo redundant.

Good video, a lot of sense here.

I have sold a car to cazoo, have bought one, have bought another two and returned them. Every time, everything went smoothly and I had nothing to complain about

@user-ui5tq6mc9p

4 ай бұрын

Can I ask why they were returned?

@josephloudon1728

4 ай бұрын

@@user-ui5tq6mc9p Test drove them for a few days and decided that they didn't hit the mark. Getting a week / 200 miles to test drive is much better than the usual round the block test drive most dealers offer

@user-sf7kl9uh7k

4 ай бұрын

​@@user-ui5tq6mc9pGood question, that review seems dubious

@littlepippin8445

4 ай бұрын

That's not the issue is it. It is about how much profit they made from thier side after dealing with you. Not much I would guess.......

Best way to make a small fortune...spend a big one. The motor retail space is extremely difficult. The bigger the company, the bigger the difficulty. Shareholders in Cazoo will be diluted out of sight, then the co will be bought for a fraction of the capital invested in it. Fire sale.

Cazoo worked on the order take car sale- that’s the price- that’s the condition- take it or leave it. That works up to a point especially through covid where there was less competition, it’s a bit like when Tesla were the top registered car I think in April 2020, they’re business model worked at that time- a few years later they’re market share is not even close.

Cazoo, Car Giant, Carwow, Cinch - it's all a bit confusing. Think I'll stick to investing in Dutch crocus bulbs. It does seem a bit odd how all these American companies are buying up UK motor factor groups, dealer groups, etc, etc.

@andrewcarter7503

4 ай бұрын

Crocus bulbs? Idiotic investment. Tulip bulbs, that's where the money is 💰.

@thomasfrancis5747

4 ай бұрын

That's the one I meant. Doh!@@andrewcarter7503

Good coverage of Cazoo

Cazoo are the modern day back street garage. Repairing accident damaged cars and selling them on. Delivered many a panel to them

They were looking pretty short of stock at their brislington bristol branch, either that they were shipping everything out.

The issue with write-offs affected a lot of dealers, not just Cazoo. It wasn’t that they deliberately set out to buy cat cars or even were negligent, it was that the insurance companies were tardy, sometimes by up to a year, in inputting cars into the system.

@motsigman

4 ай бұрын

during lock down Cat-Ns being handed out for tiny damage as well.

@ShiftingMetal

4 ай бұрын

Might not have been on the register but a proper check would have shown previous salvage auction records

@Graham-rc1cp

4 ай бұрын

@@motsigmancars were being assessed remotely, based on photos, that, coupled with parts supply issues, led to not only a lot of unnecessary Cat Ns, but many cars getting S labels for no good reason

@Graham-rc1cp

4 ай бұрын

@@ShiftingMetal Very true, however, as you know, the big boys are only interested in whether a car can be easily sold/financed. Back in the day one of our local auctions (now expanding into England) had the nickname Johnny Write Offs as they had a policy of not hpi’ing anything valued under the equivalent today of £2k, the number of times I bought a clean looking car from them to run through the evening sale at another auction, only to get it returned because it was on the register…😩

Actually my work colleague bought a cazoo car It had a 3 month warranty, pretty standard but the car developed a sensor fault that wasn’t covered. To cut a long story short he binned off the car (a Vauxhall Insignia) after 8 months. Lost quite a bit of money. I think the lack of an actual workshop affected his opinion of the cad. He was pulled from to post having to sort out stuff himself. Not exactly Cazoo’s fault but the experience was awful

Most people only buy a car every few years, surely you can spare a couple hours to go and view one ?! Spending 5 figures on something as mechanically complicated as a car without seeing it is just hard to imagine

I sold them a diesel focus for considerably more than WBAC. It was a good car. As it wasn't immaculate I chose to deliver it. I couldn't believe the immaculate showroom , the number of staff and predicted their demise there and then. However the money was in my account before I left. It took them 3 months to sell the car advertised at £300 more than they paid me. They cant have covered their costs!

@chiefrocka8604

4 ай бұрын

Finance kick back , warranty They will of got paid for selling the car

Due negligence is a wonderful thing. Angels should always fear to tread where fools rush to go.

@patpending8134

4 ай бұрын

?

buying a car is just like buying a phone. just browse the website, buy what you like and have it delivered to your door. What could go wrong?

demand is always there, just people not wanting to pay over the odds for an end of life car or nearly new.

A UK company got listed on the NY stock exchange and not UK? Didn't know that was possible. Interesting

@Mr_Ashley

4 ай бұрын

And the fact the owner can cash out a day before insolvency

They also started paying technicians extremely high wages, advertising jobs and forcing other dealer groups to increase their wages greatly to retain or attract staff. That will be their legacy. Wages can’t go down…

Great video they give you a money back guarantee,so you can buy a car,run it raged then return in with in the allocated time and get your money back, Knew it wouldn’t work

I think CAZOO really appealed during the pandemic when people were scared of going near anyone. Test driving and inspecting a used car before purchase is essential in my view and I've generally had very positive experiences with car dealers (especially smaller ones) over the years. The pandemic was also a time when used cars were appreciating and would really help companies holding a lot of stock - the opposite has been true of late.

Never would i buy a car sight unseen, regardless of any return policy

I would never buy a car, I haven't seen in person, and test driven. An example along the same lines, me and my partner went to SCS on Boxing day. We saw a sofa we really liked, but when we sat on it, it was horrendous. We then tried another "Made in the same factory, same spec, but under a different brand" but was worlds apart in quality and comfort. Yet it was £1k cheaper. If we had bought the original based on the website we'd of gone for the more expensive, "high quality" superior product, but would of been disappointed. And with SCS there is a no return/cancellation policy in the terms and conditions and we'd be stuck with it, unhappy.

Hi Joe, I bought an immaculate Honda CRV 1.6 diesel from cazoo last month , the car is as described so generally happy with how it went and what I got, but engine management light came on when I went on first drive, I reported it but has taken them an age to inspect it at one of their authorized garages, in the meantime I got a Carly OBD scanner and pulled error as a fuel/air flow sensor , I let their garage diagnose the fault , they concurred and said I should take the car to Honda to have a genuine part and software update, they emailed Cazoo , the authorised Bosch centre which did the check said the sensor had in fact been very recently changed probably by Cazoo with non-genuine part, so later that day I rung Cazoo and told them what the garage said as well, they booked me another appointment with another garage , but I’ve asked them if they can cover me if I took to local Honda garage to solve the issue, they said they wouldn’t cover that or authorize it and would be at my cost … *my question* in your opinion should I persevere with them or give up and fix myself at my own cost , the car is still within its 3 month warranty … actually the car is 2017 with only 13,000 so I guess the reason for the fault is possibly the lack of driving by previous owner ha … but I bought it as it was a slight premium but cover big miles so made sense too . Was blissfully unaware Cazoo was in dire straits before I bought the car , luckily not taken any extended warranty

@1maico1

3 ай бұрын

Might be lack of use as you say. Give it an Italian tuneup redlining through the gears on a long run.

No, it’s a sign that a good proportion of their net worth is caught up in stock - ceos will always sell stock after going public. Very very rare they don’t. Additionally, most companies fall after ipo as there is initial hype with the stock when it lists.

@ShiftingMetal

4 ай бұрын

Do they normally fall 99.98%? 🤔

@aaronwilson8624

4 ай бұрын

@@ShiftingMetal my point was behind the CEO selling stock. Not that the company is in the dump.

It will soon be time for somebody to make a film about Chesterman's investment selling patter and how did a runner before they realized it was going down the pan.

See I worked for imperial cars ... They had all the retail outlets that cazoo turned into customer centres. What they should of done is kept that model and used the cazoo for only online... A lot of missed opportunities here and with not having a drive by showroom sales are lost aw well 😂 crap model they might make profit next year maybe

@MrDuncl

4 ай бұрын

I work next door to what was Imperial Cars in Southampton so follow this story with interest. There was a noticeable drop in quality between what Imperial sold (two to three year old BMWs and Mercedes) to Cazoo (six year old Fords). On intrest how many people checking out a car at Imperial were persuaded to buy something better / more expensive than they came to view ? That won't happen online.

@Locatioman

4 ай бұрын

@@MrDuncl a lot to be honest, as you said the more expensive well prepped cars did not stick around long, also finance decisions and other products like warranty would have taken a knock from buying online, they have big margins in if not sold profit per unit take a hit.

Sold an immaculate i30n to them for about 2k more than anyone else offered. I watched the price it was advertised for trickle down and down over only about 3 weeks until it was only 500 quid over what they paid me for it. Factoring in transportation, tax and overheads, they lost on an immaculate piece of stock because they clearly want to turn stock over quickly. Type of motor a face to face dealer would have on their podium and sit on at a very good price.

BCA need to be careful investigated by the monopolies and merger’s commission on how much control they have over the used car market, how they treat their customers when the cars advertised are not as described, and what they charge in fees….

Those type of companies buy ex lease or company cars from auctio n spruce them up most people who buy will be on finance so probably do their own finance at their own high rates

my mate works for them. no matter how many times I told him its bad idea to take stock from the same company you work for, he wouldn't listen..

Any business should learn to walk before running, but this guy knew what he was personally doing

I like Cazoo. Bought 2 cars from them and happy bunny. So did a few friends. I’d hate to have to go to car a lot again to look at scrappy dealers and then start the horrible negotiations. The add-ons, peddling the high interest loans or zero value service fees.

@adrianoakes152

4 ай бұрын

You are just lucky and clueless. 'scrappy dealers and then start the horrible negotiations. The add-ons, peddling the high interest loans or zero value service fees'? Total bs. I just purchased a pre reg Scala from a Skoda dealership. I checked the car, drove it. Dealership serviced it, checked battery health, put scala mats in it. I then collected next day, drank nice coffee with very pleasant saleman. He sat in car and showed me how everything worked. They even offered to deliver it for free and the guy would catch a train home after! Email from the sales manager with his phone number and saying anything you need give me a ring. I had a question over the carplay. Rang the dealer. Question answered in seconds.. But i could have saved £500 buying one unseen from this shower!!!! Not a chance in hell.

@johnjames7332

4 ай бұрын

@@adrianoakes152 Happy for you, but what kind of grown man would buy a Skoda by choice??

I’ve used CAZOO and had brilliant experience with them. Two issues with the car and were sorted quickly and easily. Equating to £700 worth of parcel shelve and Mercedes servicing. Honestly thought they were great. I might have been lucky though.

Changing the automotive industry is way harder than these "disrupters" could ever imagine. The idea of buying a user car without seeing it is terrifying to most car buyers.

They should get some credit for making dealers up their game, being more flexible for customers rather complacently telling customers to pop in before they would take you seriously. But they never considered how easy it would be for dealers to just do the same for the customers, and never considered the significant advantage a local dealership model has. Cars are complex machines and when they go wrong you need experts to diagnose and fix them. And if you aren't careful you'll be spend a fortune on repairs. Your average franchise dealer has expertise in a range of models, and technicians on staff to diagnose and deal with issues. They probably don't need to buy as much stock from auctions. A well organised independent dealer understands their customers and their market, can often spot a dud vehicle and has relationships with local garages to ensure they can cater for their customers. Cazoo have none of these advantages. Your customers can't be without their vehicles for long before it becomes a real headache for you as a dealer too. Selling all makes and models and having to arrange servicing and repairs on them all with respective manufacturer dealers? Always last in the queue behind the dealerships own customers = longer periods in courtesy cars.

I am amazed they are still limping on for this long!

I sold my car to them in Sept. 2021 and they paid good price for it. About £2k more than the best offer I received from anywhere else. They come to collect it for a small £38 fee, and the money was my account before they left with the car. I just couldn't fault they service.

Would never consider buying a car through this type of operation, however I did sell a car to Cazoo. Have to say their service was excellent and the price they offered was £1000 more than both WBAC and a local dealer. They didn’t try and chip a penny when they came to collect it. This video is no surprise therefore.

Very interesting indeed..

To be fair got let down by loads of lease firms, said I'd never buy a car online, rage bought a mini off them, 1 year old 5000 miles on it, absolute mint car, wasn't expensive under book, think we just got great deal, right time etc. loads of crap on their sites too, non special car, but super happy with it. well worth what we paid for it, but the do stock some crap too.

Seems to me the problem of an online business model is buying enough clean low mileage cars, too expensive to fix defects ,

I was wondering when Cazoo would go under. It's business model just didn't seem to make sense. Used cars have issues... then what? A big company like that, means some dodgy customers are going to use it for what it's worth and then return the car under distance selling regs!

The absolute last place I would buy a car from would be a company like Cazoo

@JamesSmith-fm3ry

4 ай бұрын

Can’t be as bad as buying from Birmingham? I actually bought a car from Cazoo and couldn’t fault it or their customer service.

Don’t understand why people buy a used car unseen. Every single car when it’s used is different. The wear and tear all depends on how the first second etc owner has used it. Even the running in period. Some cars like the bmw 140 for instance are known to drink oil and this is because it wasn’t run in correctly when new.

This is clearly what Chesterman planned. As you said why would you sell your shares after floatation if the business model is so wonderful. ? SFO need to investigate this!

Are there similarities between what Uber is for taxi industry and what Cazoo is for auto trade industry?

I had a good experience with them. Would use again.

@ShiftingMetal

3 ай бұрын

No you won't, they've stopped selling cars since this video 😉

My 14 year old Z4 E89 failed one mot, headlight aim, mot station adjusted and passed. So would that effect the vehicle score, if so load nonsense.

@ShiftingMetal

4 ай бұрын

Maybe but it’s only an algorithm, it’s never going to be perfect

My neighbour recently bought her car from them. Had nothing but trouble with it and they’re not answering her calls or emails now. It’s in a local garage as I write this.

My girlfriend bought a Ford Fiesta with them, and all in were fantastic, decided to upgrade to an Audi A3. I drove it back for her and when reversing onto the drive, noticed a knocking sound in the steering. Took it back to Cazoo a few weeks later and the technicians in the garage didn't give a shit, just thought a component of the suspension needed greasing up, and "any problems, come back and see us!" Then I realised why they didn't give a shit, the problem came back the following day, and as I went to re-book it, they'd closed the centre down for good because of budget cuts. They managed to get it into a third-party garage, who also couldn't find the issue, but made a few minor repairs which didn't help, whilst also claiming they couldn't hear the noise. Ended up getting onto my finance company to reject the car, where they sent their own independent mechanic to inspect it. He jacked the car up and straight away said there was a fault with the strut, and with the state it was, it was a straight MOT failure and was unsafe to drive. We'd just had a newborn baby and for a few months that was the only vehicle we had to take him to appointments and get around. Yet Cazoo claimed they'd MOTed it a few weeks before I purchased. My finance company managed to get me my money back, but what an absolute set of cowboys Cazoo turned out to be and I'd never buy another car from them again

Well, I'll miss their adverts..... especially the one where the man disappears down his sofa....🤔🤨 CAZOOOOOO..........OOOOOOOO YESYOUCAN!

Cazoo sell average condition cars at top prices. So many have ‘imperfections’…. 20+ imperfections on a 2 year old car?? Go to your local main dealer- don’t be afraid- they can do deals and are surprisingly flexible. And you get the best cars.

@EnglishTMTB

3 ай бұрын

Let's be honest, it's much harder to lie to someone's face. Claiming a car is pukka and sending it off with a minion/transporter driver to the customer who's paid top whack is much easier. This is the problem with attempting to corner a specialized industry by handing the reigns to accountants instead of people who understand cars.

When you take a company public directors and shareholders are subject to a lock up period during which they are unable to sell any shares. He was probably taking some cash off the table prior to the float

I sold my 2011 123d convertible beemer to Cazoo just before lockdown for 2 grand more than i paid for it 18 months and 12,000 miles previously. So I rate them highly! It was painless, took 20 minutes and the money was in my account before i got home! Faultless!

Oddly, I bought a Mercedes C350e about a year ago and it’s mint. Cheapest 18 reg on the market with 60k miles. Just had a full service with a main dealer and all good. Not saying that people haven’t had issues, just that I’ve bought a lot of cars from many dealers and would recommend them. They do offer you 7 day hassle free return as well.

@ShiftingMetal

4 ай бұрын

I think the service they offer (certainly in most cases is amazing. They pay high and sell low (I know dealers who bought stock from them during covid to sell for a healthy markup) but it’s not sustainable

@jgtemperton

4 ай бұрын

@@ShiftingMetal Yeh, they offered silly money for my Cooper Works which they part exchanged. £1,200 above Motorway, who are pretty decent usually. That’s mainly why I went for it. I look at the market carefully, only buy from dealers and always with full service history. I agree the model can’t last, especially in the present market. Everyone seems to be hurting, especially if selling prestige stock. Be interesting to see how long they last. I’ll be in the market for a performance bargain in 18 months.

"Sadly it hasn't lasted" ... dripping with sarcasm 🤣

If investing money in shares etc, always use a stop loss. Protects you if value starts to fall.