Buying a car online

I’ve been driving the same VW Polo for 8 years. A few weeks ago it finally retired because of a worn-out crankshaft bearing. I was suddenly in de market for a new car and decided to see if I could buy a car online.

Buying the Polo in 2010 was a traditional experience. I had visited the dealership a few times to discuss and configure the car. This as followed by a discussion about a similar car that was already in production. Finally, we agreed on a small discount for that car over the configured option.

Fast-forward three months. The dealer notified me that the car had arrived. We made an appointment for pick-up. What followed was more coffee, a big reveal of the car, and payment.

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How different it was this time.

We found our next car on Bynco.com. In one evening we made sure this was the car we wanted and clicked ‘order’. A phone call by Bynco followed, and we were set to receive the car at 8am a few days later, delivered at our house!

Delivery itself was quick and painless. After a quick check of the car all that remained was an online payment, and transferring of the ownership. By 8:45 I was on my way to work.

Compared to the time-sink that traditional car-buying is, I prefer this no-nonsense approach. A few years back I’d never thought to buy something this expensive online. Today, I realize that it’s actually better than buying offline.