The Expert Podcast

In both our vehicle title division in our investigative division we're getting a lot more inquiries about rescinded or reneged offers from online vehicle purchase companies , companies like CarMax Carvana Vroom Shift and many others offer to buy your car . From you even if you don't buy a car from them they have platforms where you can put in your vehicle information . You get an offer you take photos of your car you upload them and they'll send a truck to come pick up your vehicle and give you payment for your car Whether you buy a car from them or not . Over the last 30 to 45 days . We've seen a spike . In the number of consumers . Whoever reported to us that they received an offer . That they uploaded their documents . In . that they were ghosted . The company never followed up . And we've received anecdotal reports for all of these companies . and Not picking on any one of them . Because who knows if the reports from consumers are correct . But just because of the huge spike in these reports . In the last month and a half . It seems like there's something going on behind the scenes . Used to be that maybe we heard this once or twice a month . in the last year year and a half . Now we're hearing it three four times a day . From consumers who are saying . I put in my information I put in my VIN number . I sent pictures of my title my driver's license . The company gave me an offer They sent me an email within the specific offer . I accepted the offer . And then
I never heard from again . And I followed up and they didn't reply . Sometimes we've had . Reports of clients that they actually picked up the car . And they never sent the check . So are these online platform forms reneging on offers rescinding offers because of the car market . Dropping so quickly
And our dealer side we're seeing book values dropping like a stone from not even week to week from day to day . Auction results have vehicle values plummeting . There's an article that came out yesterday about the huge increase in the number of repossessions which is going to put a lot more cars in the marketplace at auctions . So first . Let us know in the comments If you have had this experience where you try to sell a car if you one of these online platforms , And they never follow through or breach their agreement . We had a client we talked to earlier today where they had a late model Toyota , it was an SUV . And everything was good And this was an onsite location This happened to be a place where they don't pick up your car You could bring them to your car . And they brought him their car with their title , clean title no liens or anything And they claimed that they found an old title record . That said that there was a lien on the car from five years ago . Well that's not how titles work . A new title . Rescinds all prior titles it supersedes all previous titles . And we did some research on that lien that leans long been paid . It was an excuse not to buy the vehicle . In fact . The same . Platform same car company I bought another car the same day . With the same type of records . So . let us know in the comment if you're seeing this we're trying to get a handle on how frequent this is happening how often this is happening . And is there any backlash from this for these car companies ? Are they trying to cut back their inventory ? Are they trying to lower their cost basis for these vehicles ? Look if you have a , an offer for a vehicle that is let's say $5,800 , and then the new book value comes out and it's only $5,000 . You don't want to take an $800 loss from day one . So many times they're just trying to back out of the deal . Because most of these offers have , you know seven to 10 or 15 day . Grace period where that's how long you have to decide to sell them the car Well if the book drops during that period , A lot of the car companies are saying well we don't want the car anymore and they're making up an excuse or they just flat out ghost you . We've had clients that have been emailing . day . Buy my car buy my car Here's my offer Here's my paperwork . And they get emails from the car company saying your offer is going to expire . And they say I don't want it to expire I want to sell it to you . And they just keep ignoring those offers . And this is all the platforms . So let us know if you're seeing this We're just trying to get an understanding of the volume . Of this happening and many of our car title . Clients need titles for these purchases and halfway through the process they let us know look I don't even need the title anymore because they are not following through on their purchase offer
There's been some problems with some of these platforms , namely Carvana where their star their stock prices dropped and they have some regulatory questions . But there may be more behind the scenes than meets the eye Maybe these car companies are not able to make a profit . Was selling used cars even buying them at . Normal price because their cost basis is too high . A traditional dealership . That's been around for 15 20 years . Look love them or hate them And if their sales tactics are not palatable at least they know how to run a business because they've been doing it for a long time . These tech companies . In many cases try to lose money to gain market share and then eventually raise prices Well that's very difficult to do . In the automotive business , because you don't really gain market share because people . Don't buy cars . On a regular basis they might buy a car every three or four years So if you lose money to gain market share . Three four years from now that customer might be somewhere else . And if you're just losing shareholders money . It's not really going to gain anything . To build up your company . This may be what's going on It's just speculation at this point . but we're , we're suspecting that that's part of it If you're an employee of one of these companies , are you seeing this Are you being directed ? Two . Not follow through on purchase offers If the price has been reevaluated . Are you having title problems internally
If you're a government agency DMV or licensing division , have you received any complaints about these types of operations
This rescinding or reneging or backing out of deals . It's a huge spike It's not just a small amount like I said from two or three a month to three or four a day . I think last week our sales department reported We had five people in one day . Report that . car companies backed out of their offer to purchase a vehicle . Let us know what you think . See you in the next video .