There are lots of apps that help you research prices for buying or selling a car, and they’ll even hook you up with a dealership when you’re ready to buy. But Beepi lets you buy and sell used cars in 16 metro areas in 9 states without using a dealership — or a test drive — at all.
“Every company starts with a group of entrepreneurs who think something is true but it disagrees with what everyone else thinks,” said Beepi founder Alejandro Resnik in a phone interview. “My belief was that there was this whole infrastructure of cars sitting on lots for one reason: to do a test drive.” He found that while most people would not buy a used car without a test drive, they warmed up to the idea if the car was inspected, came with a money-back guarantee, and was from a brand they trusted. “That was the initial light bulb,” Resnik said.
So how do you buy a car with an app but without testing it? “The same way you buy anything online,” Resnik said. You find a car you like at a price that works for your budget and buy it. A Beepi representative goes to the seller, gives her the money, and delivers the car to you. Then you get what Beepi calls a 10-day test drive. If the car doesn’t work out for you, you get your money back.
Each car goes through a 240-point inspection by professional, trained Beepi representatives who are both shareholders in the company and employees. They’re certified mechanics to begin with, and they undergo an additional three months of Beepi-specific training. When you want to sell your car through Beepi, an inspector will visit to check everything. They use a camera to look under the chassis, they take 200 […]
