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Currently, Cazoo is one of the leading sellers of used cars in the UK. Since its inception in 2018, Cazoo has completely changed how you buy and sell used cars online. They go against the grain of traditional online dealerships and aim to make buying a used car comparable to purchasing any other online product.
Last year, in 2023, Cazoo sold just over 50,000 cars in the UK, making them an emerging yet exciting used car dealership to buy your car from. If you’re interested in the prospect of using Cazoo, but want to know more about the business and the buying and selling process, here’s a Car Adviser guide to ensure that you’re in the know. You can find plenty of guides on Car Adviser for more reviews and information on buying a used car.
Cazoo is a new business in the car dealership and car subscription service industries, having only started in 2018. Despite that, Cazoo has grown massively due to its unique model and quickly established itself as a household name among other online dealerships such as Autotrader and Heycar.
Cazoo has a mission statement of having their cars available to drive within 72, meaning you can buy a car online and drive it in as little as three days. The business itself says it’s customer obsessed, meaning they take pride in its customer services and want to give each person who uses Cazoo an easy experience.
The business employs over 3,500 people across multiple European nations such as Germany, France, Portugal, and of course, the UK. Those 3,500 people comprise delivery drivers, sales reps, customer service executives, and more.
Cazoo was founded by Alex Chesterman, who is still the acting CEO and leader of the company. Chesterman has previous experience creating digital alternatives in other tradition favouring industries, as he also changed how houses were bought and sold through Zoopla back in 2008. Cazoo uses the same methodology and shares various characteristics with its parent company.
Cazoo’s entire purpose is to make buying, financing, or selling a used car simple and easy. Over the years, they’ve created a process that is easy to understand, taking away some of the complications you may find with other online dealerships.
The main thing that makes Cazoo a bit different to other online dealerships is that they own each car that’s available to buy on their website. This isn’t the case for all, as some other businesses will act more as a marketplace where sellers can create accounts and advertise their cars on there. With Cazoo, you buy directly from them, making them more trustworthy.
Cazoo has a simple process for people looking to buy a used car from their website, and they’ve done this deliberately to help them stand out in the industry. You can complete the entire buying process from the comfort of your home through their online website. Their process is as follows:
The first thing you need to do when buying a car from Cazoo is to find the right car for you. You can browse a wide range of excellent quality cars that are offered at a good value. When searching these cars, you’ll be able to see information about their MOT history, their tax status, if they’ve been repaired in the past, how many miles they’ve driven, and more. Cazoo gives you this vital information to help you make an informed decision.
Cazoo also gives you in-depth online browsing options. With the site, you can enter a 360 camera mode that lets you thoroughly inspect the exterior and interior of the car. You can also look under the bonnet to see what kind of engine it has and more.
Another great thing about Cazoo is that they offer multiple payment options for when you’re buying a used car on their website. If you have the cash, you can buy the car outright, meaning that you instantly become the car’s sole owner.
You can also choose to apply for car finance. This is where you borrow money from Cazoo to buy the car and then pay it back over monthly instalments. Car finance can be a little risky, as you’ll end up paying more than what the car is worth, and you’ll have to ensure you can keep up with repayments. You’ll also need a decent credit score to get finance to prove to Cazoo that you can be trusted to pay them back.
When getting finance from Cazoo, you can manipulate your monthly repayments by selecting how long you want to pay the car over and even putting down an initial deposit to reduce how much you pay monthly.
Once you’ve made your purchase, you’ll be able to decide how you want to get your car. You can either choose to have the car delivered to you or collect the vehicle from a local dealership.
Cazoo delivers every day of the week, even on the weekends, between 8 am – 8 pm. This makes them super flexible so that you can get a used car without as much disruption to your day. When getting delivery, you should be able to select a slot that will have your car delivered no later than 72 hours after your purchase.
Be aware though that delivery costs an extra £150 or more, depending on the car. If you want to save some money, you can collect your vehicle for no extra fee, although you’ll have to make your own arrangements to get to the dealership, and some could be far from your home.
Once you’ve either collected or had your car delivered to you, Cazoo offers a seven-day refund policy. You have an entire week to test your new car and see if it meets your expectations. If there are any issues, or if the vehicle just doesn’t seem right for you, you can get a refund and claim all of your money back.
This is a great feature that Cazoo offers, as it makes buying a car online safer and more reliable, as you’ll never be stuck with a car that isn’t quite right.
Cazoo also offers an easy process for selling your used car, and they can offer great prices for your vehicle. Cazoo does not haggle on the prices you’re offered for your car, meaning that once you get an offer, they won’t try to chip away at it with extra admin fees.
Once you get an offer, you have around 7 days to decide before it’s withdrawn. This allows you to explore other options to get the best deal for your used car on Cazoo.
Cazoo also promises a fast payment once your car is sold and handed over to Cazoo. They can give you the cash for the vehicle within 2 hours, meaning there’s no waiting around.
The process for selling your car is simple:
Cazoo will evaluate your car to help figure out what price suits it. To get a fair price, you’ll need to enter your car’s registration number and provide details on its condition, service history, and mileage.
When inputting details of your car, you can declare that it’s in poor, average, good, or like new condition. Each bracket will have requirements you need to hit. For example, a ‘good’ conditioned car will have no more than 5 small or medium chips that don’t go through paint; 2 small or medium chips that do go through paint; flacking or cracking on a maximum of one panel of the car; and no chips on the windscreen or that are in the driver’s line of sight.
Once you input all this information, you’ll get a valuation for your car.
Once you have been given an evaluation and have accepted the price, you’ll organise a date when you’ll have the car handed over. You can either do this at a dealership so that you can hand it off with a Cazoo rep in person, or you can organise to have the car picked up from your address.
Note that pick-up will cost around £150 and be taken from your offered amount. You also can’t get cars valued at over £25,000 picked up. You’ll have to drop off these vehicles yourself.
After the successful handover, you’ll get paid for the car within a couple of hours. This fast payment allows you to quickly start your search for a new car or use the funds made available from the sale for whatever you want.
When selling a car on Cazoo, it’s important to note that there are a few cars they won’t take. This is to ensure that they can sell it and that it’s a legal process. If your vehicle matches any of the following descriptions, then Cazoo will not be able to purchase the car:
If your car isn’t any of these things, you’re free to sell it on Cazoo.
At Car Adviser, we think one of the best ways to determine the quality of any online business is to look at past reviews and testimonials written by previous customers. Reviews can indicate how good a company is performing and let you know how satisfied it leaves its customers.
When choosing an online website to buy used cars from, you must look at reviews to help you choose the best option for you. Some businesses may have a reputation, good or bad; however, it can be misguided to let that reputation influence you without looking at reviews. Checking out the comments left by others can back-up your suspicions and give you a better insight into a business.
One of the best online review sites is Trustpilot. This site has thousands of reviews and gives each business an average score based on all the reviews it’s received. Trustpilot scores businesses out of 5, and it is easily the most reputable review site as the website has features that minimise fake reviews and spam. This means the majority of reviews a business receives are legitimate.
Here’s a more in-depth look at how Cazoo reviews on Trustpilot to see if they’re a company you should trust.
After over 46,000 reviews, Cazoo has a great average score of 4.4 stars out of 5. This means that it ranks as an excellent business and that most of its reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Without much further analysis, this indicates that Cazoo is a fantastic option with a good track record.
Although it’s a fantastic score for a business, compared to other used car dealers online, a rating of 4.4 out of 5 isn’t much better than some of your other options, as plenty of others also have a score of 4.4 or more. As a consumer, this is good, as the industry has plenty of great options for you to choose from. However, specifically for Cazoo, it may imply that the service isn’t anything special and not much better than you can get elsewhere. This could mean it’s best to look for used cars on multiple websites instead of just focusing your search on Cazoo.
Regarding how the reviewers rated Cazoo, 90% of all reviews gave the service 5 stars. In comparison, only 4% of all reviewers issued a 1-star review. This is a very encouraging split of reviews as it means that Cazoo is reliable and provides a great service for most people.
Although there is overwhelming positivity regarding Cazoo and its service, a handful of complaints are worth looking at to see where Cazoo can go wrong. Getting a first-hand account of some of the company’s pitfalls can help you better decide if you want to use this used car dealership or opt for another option.
When filtering the reviews so that you can only see the 1-star-rated reviews, multiple past customers claim it’s difficult to get a refund from Cazoo. Many speak about how Cazoo appears to withhold money until the last second and that it can take multiple days and pressure from the customer until you get your money back. Some say that refunds can also be tough to get even if there’s a fault with the car, so it’s something that you should be aware of. If you’re not prepared to wait for a refund and need it instantly, you may have to reconsider using this used car dealership.
In addition, a few reviews also talk about the lack of after-sale care. Many of these negative reviews start by saying that buying the car was simple and efficient but that if there’s an issue, it can take a lot of time or effort to connect with customer service.
As you’re buying a car online without any chance to see it in person when getting a car off Cazoo, the aftercare you’re provided is essential as it helps to build trust. With many people stating that aftercare is non-existent, it can be risky getting a used car from Cazoo. Getting the car delivered is simple and reliable; however, you may be stuck with little support if the vehicle arrives with faults or isn’t exactly as it was described.
Despite a handful of poor reviews, Cazoo predominantly has multiple excellent ratings, meaning it’s typically a good experience from start to finish.
The most common praise across their 5-star reviews is that buying and ordering the car for delivery was quick and hassle-free. People say there’s a very quick turnaround, meaning they’re not left without a vehicle for too long.
Many people also praise the fact that Cazoo cars are delivered directly to your property, making it much more convenient for people.
There’s also a lot of praise from people who sold their car with Cazoo. A few positive reviews talk about how Cazoo offered them the best price for their used car, meaning they’re a great choice for people wanting to get the most out of their old vehicles. Some have also said that receiving the money for the used car was quick, meaning that you can instantly use that cash to help finance the purchase of a new vehicle.
Finally, a few other positive reviews also talk about how punctual the delivery process was for the car. This is a good benefit of Cazoo as it means that you won’t have to waste a lot of time waiting for the vehicle and that you are always in the know about the process and status of the car.
When buying or selling from any online dealership, you need to weigh the pros and cons to help you decide if that company is right for you. Cazoo is a business that has many benefits and positive aspects. It has used that to its advantage to build its reputation in such a short time. However, there are still some drawbacks surrounding Cazoo, and it’s always important to consider them to know you’re getting the best deal.
Pros
Cons
Yes, Cazoo is one of the safest ways to buy a car in the UK. The cars you buy from Cazoo are thoroughly checked and are all owned by the company. Their delivery is also very safe and you are guaranteed to receive the car in good condition.
Yes. Returning a car bought from Cazoo is very easy. They offer a 7-Day Money Back Guarantee on all their car sales. Basically, if you change your mind within 7 days, they will pick up the car and refund your money.
All the cars sold by Cazoo are owned and stored by the company in the UK.
Yes, you have all the finance options available on Cazoo as you would when buying a car from a regular dealership. This means that in addition to PCP, you can finance your new vehicle through HP too.
Cazoo offers multiple types of cars, from small cars perfect for nipping around the city to bigger vehicles for large families.
That said, there are some types of cars you won’t find on Cazoo. Mainly, Cazoo stays away from cars that have been damaged and repaired in the past, as they want to ensure that their customers can trust that the vehicles they buy are safe.
This means that cars which have been written off, even those in less severe categories like Cat S and Cat N, are not available.
You also won’t find cars over 15 years old or vehicles that have been driven over 150,000 miles over its lifetime. The cars also need to be British and can’t have been exported from or registered in a different country.
In mid-2022, Cazoo made the news as they announced that they were cutting 750 jobs as well as removing their subscription-based program due to being heavily hit by the cost of living crisis in the UK.
Despite that, Cazoo is in a stable place and is still a good option to buy from, especially if you have to cash to purchase cars outright. The company’s share prices have dropped around 87% since it was listed on the Sock Exchange, meaning that there may be trouble in the future and that getting a finance option from them could be a little risky.
At the moment, Cazoo is fine, but there is a possibility that things can change in the future.
You must have your car taxed to drive it legally in the UK. When you buy from a dealership like Cazoo, you need to tax it instantly via the DVLA. This is not something that Cazoo provides or pays for you.
With that said, Cazoo cars will be roadworthy and will have an up-to-date MOT when you buy them.
Cazoo is owned by Alex Chesterman OBE who founded the company in 2018. Alex is also the CEO.