| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
i have not availed of the services of the company, and whatever i know about the company is from the website and what one of the founders told me. which is where i get the small bit of authority on writing this review from. Having known Jayesh, aka Jaggu for roughly the last 3 years, i can add my opinions with some legitimacy.
Now as a concept, this sounds good, and unlike good sounding concepts, makes a lot of practical sense. I mean, when it comes to used car deals, one can never be sure. after all, are you going to trust the garagewallah you barely know ? or some good friend of your neighbour who can get you a good deal ? The only pitfall though is that whicle this service exists, there will still be people who will be naive enough to get duped. (truth be told, i have no great records of deals myself and any thought of negotiating a house rent still gives me cold sweat).
So while the self congratulatory notes of having bagged the best deal may be a lil short in coming, the comforting pat on the back for not having been duped will be a plenty.
As a sustainable business model (just like every indian has a view on cricket and on politics, every MBA and her ilk of PGDxxxMs has a view on sustainability, no matter how removed she/he maybe from running a business ... and hence, like a slightly bigger cog in the wheel i must express mine) thereis a slight hitch. Every car will have to be physically inspected by experts which puts physical constraints in terms of the availability etc. The other thing will be to maintain consistency and to ensure there is no dilution in the quality of service as they expand. Believe me, since the whole issue of evaluating a fair price is subjective, there will always be a lot of questions. The buyer needs some comforting and reassurance that the price evaluated by vericar is indeed close to the fair price. (statistically, the error could be x type or y type and the validity of the assumptions would again be subject to the t-test etc for a foolproof analysis, but lets leave that to the PGP-1 kids for the time being)
and having known Jayesh, i am sure that with his expertise and knowledge of cars, his judgement is bound to be as close it gets for mortals. and having known Jayesh, i am sure, that withi his sense of fairplay, the assessment is bound to be as close to impartial as it gets for immortals. And since Krthikeya is a well known face from TV, i think the guys hwoudltn have too much of a problem convincing about their credentials.
The one problem that i foresee is reaching out to their target audience. since this is a relatively new territory, this could be a bit of a challenge. Vericar does have its "inventory" of second hand cars but again that is an area where these guys willbe up against the Maruti true value type dealerships. The one advantage that these guys will have is that there is nothing the seller stands to gain when her/his car is added to the inventory.
Finally coming to the website, its basic and simple. it tells all that these guys do and all they dont. (mind you thats just as equally important) perhaps a lil more on advisory services on which model to buy could be highlighted. One gets the feel of a simpe, transparent and no-compromise team which is very essential since the typical second hand car sale is about "mandvali" and "vyavahaar". (Note the bit on washing utensils) Though there is also a subtle hint that this might not be for all and sundry.
Having known Jayesh, this is not gonna stop here. and while i wait for them to grog big and really big, i hope my contributions in the form of the primary IM interview i gave him before he went on to get a fullscale online survey will be acknowledged in the form of a coupon that i can auction :D To take lines from Jaggu's mail, i think the weird ideas that keep these guys going will ensure that in the midst of child birth and nurture, the courtship does not get lost ;)
Here is four stars for doing something different and useful at the same time !
http://www.vericar.in
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