The Internet is filled with countless number of sites that sell you all kinds of things from clothes to houses and from food to all the way to vehicles. You could Google search for “cars Malaysia” and your screen will be filled with countless number of websites that you could have a look at.
If you were serious about purchasing a car, you’d want to check out as many sites as possible with the hope of finding the best price that you can afford. This process would also probably involve making calls and direct visits to as many car dealers as possible to find the best price.
Now, if you have all the time in the world, this wouldn’t be a problem; but if what if you don’t? And what if you also don’t want the hassle that comes with it?
That’s exactly the problem that Carsome.my wants to address.
Breaking The Mold
Carsome.my wants to be the one-stop place that curates the best prices for different cars from various dealers. It is a new Malaysian platform that eases the whole process of car discovery. Not just that, they aim to get you the best price for the car that you’re looking for.
Basically if you’re interested in a particular model, you could check out their in-depth review of the car and then request for a quotation. And within a short period of time they will send you quotes that you can compare and contrast.
The premise may sound simple enough but there’s so much more that you could do on the site.
Discovery
For starters, you can check out the full brand list and select the car that you’re looking for. You have the option of either searching by brand or by body type and within seconds it will fill your browser up with matches along with the price range for each car.
When you’re interested in a particular model you can read through the reviews provided by Carsome.my. The review will provide you with the pros and cons of owning a particular car and it also rates the car based on the criteria of space, performance, handling, comfort and quality. Customers are also able review the car based on their experiences.
Carsome.my goes a step further by providing you with all plenty of financial data—all of which is of great use when you’re considering to purchase a car.
You’re able to find out the amount of money you have to spend on insurance, the down payment, road tax, and also the rate at which the car’s value is likely to depreciate over the next 5 years.
Carsome.my also estimates the amount of money you’re likely to spend on average every year on fuel, maintenance and other costs. All these information is plenty of help but how does that particular car compare to other cars? This is where the “Compare Now” feature comes in handy.
Compare Now
This is one of my favourite features of the site. As soon as you click on compare now, you will be presented with four other options that are similar to the car of your interest. And the whole page is filled with facts and figures that should help you make an informed decision.
The first results provided to me by Carsome.my:
Everything related to the engine, transmission, price, and all the other key characteristics of the car are provided to you. Now, if you’re not satisfied with the first four cars that have been presented, you can hit the refresh button and you’ll be provided with another group of cars.
You can keep repeating this process until you find another car that is better than the one you first selected, or until you’re convinced that your first choice is most suited to you.
After I clicked refresh:
Are The Prices Reliable?
After receiving quotations from dealers for the car that you want to buy, the next (and biggest) question would be if those “quotations” are really the best price that you can get.
In an interview with Vulcan Post, co-founders Eric Cheng and J. Teoh explained that the prices quoted by dealers are exclusive for Carsome.my users because they have personally discussed and negotiated with those official dealers to obtain the best offered price possible.
The co-founders shared that on average, Carsome.my users are able to save up to RM3000 off the retail price per car. An impressive statistic to note would be that since they’ve started in February till now, they’ve successfully saved an accumulative total of RM500,000 from all transactions (according to them, they are about to reach 200 transactions by end of this month) made via Carsome.my.
All in all, the co-founders said that Carsome.my is meant to be the smarter and easier buying experience. And it doesn’t hurt that they’ve got some pretty big names backing them too, such as Khailee Ng from 500 Startups and TS Vincent Lee from Idea River Run.
Verdict: 4.5/5
Traditionally, people discover cars based on the suggestions of family and friends. They may talk about cars and everything about cars at long dinners with the hope of helping you make the right choice. I’m aware of this practice because I sat through many boring conversations about a car’s gearbox.
Once you finally agree upon the characteristics of a particular car, the next step would be to head out to different dealers. Travelling from door to door is already time-consuming and troublesome, but what’s worse is that at every stop you make, you’d have to also spend time negotiating and haggling just to get the best price for the car.
Carsome.my helps you avoid all of that hassle—you can sit home in your pajamas and compare and contrast different cars based on their characteristics. You can then request for a quotation and all you will be left with is to test drive the car (which can be done at any car dealer) and sign the necessary paperwork.
It doesn’t just save you the time and effort but it also saves me from having conversations at dinner about buying the right car.
It’s a win-win.