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Check out Carvana. They're taking a swing at this.

smt88 4y ago
No they're not. They caved to dealer pressure. Carvana "guaranteed" offers are not guaranteed. Dealers don't respect them. It's essentially clickbait that dealers put out to get leads. Carvana is a search engine and nothing more. The offer numbers are entirely fictional. I was unable to get dealers to honor them even under threat of legal action for false advertising. The only companies trying to work around dealers are Carmax and Tesla.
- Snoozle 4y ago
  I don't know what service you're talking about (truecar?) But carvana is basically online CarMax
  - smt88 4y ago
    Ah yes, I'm so sorry. I was thinking of TrueCar.
ageitgey 4y ago
In the UK, there is Cazoo (which is a direct clone of Carvana). My experience with them was incredible - I picked out the car and paid for it online and they brought it on a truck at exactly the agreed time. The whole purchase took 20 minutes of my time, including delivery. When they delivery person started to explain the car's features, I said I was familiar with the model as I had rented it before and researched it. He said great, he'll leave me to it. The price charged was exact, to the cent. The car's condition was exactly as shown online. Hopefully those types of start-ups will be successful and will become more popular. It was exactly what I wish all car buying was like. My past experiences buying cars in the US from dealerships was always a nightmare. Even if you walk in with cash to buy a specific car, it was always somehow a 4+ hour process with all the hoops they make you jump through and all the add-ons they try to tack on.
- r00fus 4y ago
  Now imagine if Carzoo also did the rentals so you could try out various cars over a span of days or weeks (paying a decent rate), then choose the one that fit best into your lifestyle over several weeks. That would be a complete game changer. I would pay a premium for that.

No they're not. They caved to dealer pressure. Carvana "guaranteed" offers are not guaranteed. Dealers don't respect them. It's essentially clickbait that dealers put out to get leads. Carvana is a search engine and nothing more. The offer numbers are entirely fictional. I was unable to get dealers to honor them even under threat of legal action for false advertising. The only companies trying to work around dealers are Carmax and Tesla.

Snoozle 4y ago
I don't know what service you're talking about (truecar?) But carvana is basically online CarMax
- smt88 4y ago
  Ah yes, I'm so sorry. I was thinking of TrueCar.

ageitgey 4y ago

In the UK, there is Cazoo (which is a direct clone of Carvana). My experience with them was incredible - I picked out the car and paid for it online and they brought it on a truck at exactly the agreed time. The whole purchase took 20 minutes of my time, including delivery. When they delivery person started to explain the car's features, I said I was familiar with the model as I had rented it before and researched it. He said great, he'll leave me to it. The price charged was exact, to the cent. The car's condition was exactly as shown online. Hopefully those types of start-ups will be successful and will become more popular. It was exactly what I wish all car buying was like. My past experiences buying cars in the US from dealerships was always a nightmare. Even if you walk in with cash to buy a specific car, it was always somehow a 4+ hour process with all the hoops they make you jump through and all the add-ons they try to tack on.

r00fus 4y ago
Now imagine if Carzoo also did the rentals so you could try out various cars over a span of days or weeks (paying a decent rate), then choose the one that fit best into your lifestyle over several weeks. That would be a complete game changer. I would pay a premium for that.