New Professional Rating System Helps Individual Sellers of Used Cars
21 July 2000
InspectValue.com Provides Sellers with Professionally-Conducted and Certified Inspections Booked and Displayed on the Internet
TOLEDO, Ohio - Thanks to the recent launch of InspectValue.com, America's
John Q. Public can now employ marketing tools formerly available only to new-car
dealers to help him sell his used car faster-and to get a better price for it.
These tools include convenient online scheduling of professional,
objective third-party inspections at locations nationwide; warranties
certifying inspection findings; and the posting of these findings on the
Internet for the examination of all prospective buyers.
Benefits to Sellers and Buyers
InspectValue.com board chairman Ezra Harel said that he and his
co-founders (including Jeffrey Davis, Boaz Harel, and Keenan Moran) -- all of
whom are auto-industry professionals -- were careful to build into their
business model benefits for sellers AND for buyers.
Specifically, sellers are assured of satisfying buyers' expectations, of
maximizing financial returns, and of executing transactions much faster -- an
average of 50% faster. Buyers are assured of getting what they expect and of
their ability to arrive at purchase prices based upon these expectations (no
more "guesswork").
Jeff Davis, InspectValue.com's CEO and manager of day-to-day operations,
says that both sellers and buyers are advantaged by their new ability to
advance their transactions on the Internet. They can schedule inspections
online thanks to the Company's easy-to-use networking software that gives
users real-time access to any InspectValue.com service center in the country.
They can access inspection results, wider geographic parameters, and new
marketing tools (the Kelly Blue Book, database links, extended warranties,
insurance, financing, roadside assistance, vehicle-delivery services, etc.)
online as well.
Moreover, explained Davis, sellers and buyers benefit from
InspectValue.com's standardized and nationally consistent
professionally-staffed certification and warranty programs. The Company's
expanding network of regional service centers (currently at 250) staffed by
ASE-certified technicians offer two different levels of inspection and
certification, on-site repair services, and warranties for parts and labor for
up to 90 days. InspectValue anticipates increasing their network to more than
1500 locations by late summer 2000.
Steps in the Transaction
Asked to describe the InspectValue.com process that actually enables John
Doe, average citizen, to sell his used car in a much more professional manner,
Davis detailed first the convenient online scheduling of an appointment for an
ASE-certified inspection in one of the Company's numerous service centers.
In the process he showed how InspectValue.com's proprietary online
scheduling function utilizes simple networking software to give sellers
real-time access to the most convenient InspectValue.com service center -- and
even offers easy locator services via links to MapQuest.
Next he explained the efficient standardized inspection procedure, the
ready availability of time-saving opportunities to have necessary repairs
made, and the placement of the certified examination results on the Internet.
Mr. Doe's potential buyers -- some of whom may be geographically
distant -- scan the Internet for their dream vehicles, find a model with
inspection certification, examine the results of the inspection on
InspectValue.com's Web site (results which verify that the vehicle is
consistent with its description), determine their interest in the car, and
arrive at an offering price that has eliminated the usual guesses about what
they're actually buying. "The proverbial 'win/win situation'!" Davis
exclaimed.
The Market
Asked to comment on the evolution of this market, Davis traced the
industry's progress from selling by general description only to the addition
of first, technical specifications and second, photographs. Certified
inspections posted on the Internet represents a giant step for the industry,
he said.
Adding that InspectValue.com believes that in the near future the de facto
requirement for Internet listing of used vehicles for sale will have to
include an easily-searchable field for certification and warranties, Davis
concluded that "InspectValue.com is well positioned to capture market
leadership because it already has the largest industry reach of its
competitors -- the Company currently covers 35% of the U. S. market and/or 70%
of the 10 states in which more than 50% of all used cars are sold, and it is
aggressively pursuing partnerships with key listing sites to promote its
certification programs."
Auto-industry analysts expect this new Internet-based
certification/warranty service to greatly expand the market for sales of used
vehicles. Currently at $8.3 billion, this "for sale by owner" market is
forecast to exceed $11 billion, or 2.7 million transactions, by 2001. And it
will continue to grow, say these authorities, thanks largely to the owner's
new access to marketing tools long restricted to new-car dealers.
InspectValue.com is a leading Internet-based professional
inspection/warranty/rating authority dedicated to giving individual sellers of
used cars access to marketing tools long restricted to new-car dealers.
The Company assures-via ASE-certified-technician examinations using
uniform diagnostic procedures and the Internet posting of inspection findings
-- that used-car transactions are conducted at new levels of integrity and
professionalism, at Internet speed, and at mutually-satisfying prices.
Both buyers and sellers are also advantaged by their new ability to
advance their transactions on the Internet-inspections are scheduled and the
results are posted online, and wider geographic parameters and new marketing
tools are accessed online as well.