A new car is a big expense—and most people hate haggling over the price.
Studies have shown that as many as 80 percent of consumers don’t like buying a car due to the negotiating process, according to a report from the University of Toronto published in June.
More consumers are turning to technology to alleviate some of that stress.
Stacey Cahn, a 45-year-old clinical psychologist from Glassboro, New Jersey, used a service called Carjojo to buy her new 2017 Honda CR-V. The startup, which launched last November, has experts negotiate with dealerships on behalf of customers who are buying a new car.
These experts are full-time employees with backgrounds in sales, technology and the auto industry and are trained in negotiation tactics. The average deal is about $1,500 less than prices listed on other new car buying sites, according to the company.
After Cahn inputted her desired make, model and features—such as safety features and interior color—the service calculated the lowest price each dealer would likely accept for the car. It used factors like inventory and how long the vehicle has been on the lot.
Users pay $199 to have Carjojo negotiate for them or can choose to use that information to haggle with the dealer by themselves. Customers can cancel at anytime before the deal is confirmed.
Ultimately, the startup helped Cahn trim $2,600 off the list price.
“I didn’t want to spend all day negotiating,” Cahn said. “I’d rather subcontract [haggling] out to someone who does that for a living.”
The concept is part of a growing trend of buying cars online. A recent study from Accenture found consumers are increasingly willing to purchase vehicles on the internet—only one-third of customers who purchased a new car in the last five years would do it again from a traditional dealership.
Other online startups such as Carvana and Carlypso are also aiming to simplify the process of buying a car. Carvana arranges to deliver the car to your door after you buy it. Services like Edmunds and TrueCar partner with dealers to show car listings, reviews and pricing.
Carjojo is also the latest startup that outsources annoying tasks to others. For example, TIKD will fight your traffic ticket for you and Taxfyle connects users with licensed tax professionals to file tax returns.
CEO and founder Peter Levy got the idea for Carjojo four years ago while looking for a car when he wasn’t satisfied with online services available.
“It’s hard to understand what price to pay,” Levy told CNN Tech. “I realized there was a much better way that’s data-driven.”
Written by Kaya Yurieff for CNN.
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