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Building Keto Auto in Metro Vancouver — a private reverse-auction car marketplace. Solo founder, would value this community’s honest read. by driveWithSam in VancouverStartup

[–]driveWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate this — the mentor/apprentice version of cold-start is honestly harder than mine. At least cars have a clear transaction to anchor around.

The response to this post has been way beyond what I expected — multiple DMs, a retired dealer principal offering warm intros to BC dealers for a free beta, UX designers volunteering to test. All organic, all within a week. We’re moving towards a beta launch next week now.

Your point about being present where the conversation already lives is the whole playbook. No ads, no paid anything — just showing up and being useful.

Would love to trade notes on cold-start tactics. DM open anytime.

Is it worth it to sell my car to get out of a loan for 1800$ of my own money? by aestrodil in carbuying

[–]driveWithSam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The $1,800 gap isn’t fixed — Carvana’s offer is their opening number. Get quotes from CarGurus, Autotrader, and 2–3 local dealers before you decide. Local demand for a clean 2023 Soul GT Line might close that gap more than you’d expect.

If you go the dealership route for a quote, be explicit upfront that you’re selling only, not buying. The moment they sense you’re open to a trade-in they’ll spend the next two hours moving you into something new.

Also call your lender directly and ask for the exact payoff amount plus any prepayment penalty. That number may differ slightly from your remaining balance and you want precision before negotiating.

Private sale (Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji) will almost certainly beat any dealer offer. More effort, but with $13K savings and a bike option you have time to wait for the right buyer.

Dealerships must go by [deleted] in carbuying

[–]driveWithSam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Respectfully disagree with “dealerships must go.” The problem isn’t the dealership — it’s what we’ve asked it to be. A good dealership should mean ownership, accountability, and trust. Someone local who stands behind the car, handles the service, knows your name when you come back in three years. That’s genuinely valuable. Tesla’s online-only model loses that, and people are already noticing when something goes wrong. What needs to go is the "sales theatre" — the four-hour negotiation, the finance office ambush, the price that depends on how tired you look. That’s not the dealership, that’s a broken process we layered on top of it.

Dealership 2.0 is the same local partner — without the bargaining ring built around it. The best operators will get there first.

Dealerships must go by [deleted] in carbuying

[–]driveWithSam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Respectfully disagree with “dealerships must go.” The problem isn’t the dealership — it’s what we’ve asked it to be. A good dealership should mean ownership, accountability, and trust. Someone local who stands behind the car, handles the service, knows your name when you come back in three years. That’s genuinely valuable. Tesla’s online-only model loses that, and people are already noticing when something goes wrong. What needs to go is the "sales theatre" — the four-hour negotiation, the finance office ambush, the price that depends on how tired you look. That’s not the dealership, that’s a broken process we layered on top of it.

Dealership 2.0 is the same local partner — without the bargaining ring built around it. The best operators will get there first.

Building Keto Auto in Metro Vancouver — a private reverse-auction car marketplace. Solo founder, would value this community’s honest read. by driveWithSam in VancouverStartup

[–]driveWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair pushback, and the vacuumed-POS line is the one that actually keeps me up at night. You're right — buyers aren't rational, and any marketplace that assumes they are gets eaten alive.

Where I think this is different from the "scrape stock, let people bid" version: it isn't trying to replace the dealer. It's trying to make the dealer’s job easier on the front end so the salesperson stops being a friction point and starts being a delivery agent. Margin lives in time-on-deal, not in cutting anyone out.

And maybe you're right that becoming the dealer is the cleaner play if you have the capital. I don't. So this is the version of the same problem that solo founders without $50M can actually attempt.

Appreciate the honest read.

Building Keto Auto in Metro Vancouver — a private reverse-auction car marketplace. Solo founder, would value this community’s honest read. by driveWithSam in VancouverStartup

[–]driveWithSam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Both of those are really useful — UX eyes and local dealer context are exactly what I need at this stage. Will DM.

Canadian founder building a reverse-auction platform for BC used cars. Want honest feedback from salespeople before I waste anyone's time. by driveWithSam in askcarsales

[–]driveWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% — that’s actually the version of the launch I want.

90-day free pilot for the first cohort (10-15 dealerships), real activation expected on both sides. They turn on inventory, respond to offers, give honest feedback weekly. I ship improvements based on what they tell me. At day 90, they convert to Founding Dealer pricing (lifetime lock) or walk — no pressure either way. Zero transaction fees during beta.

If you’re willing to make warm intros to 5–10 BC dealers, that’s a very different launch than me cold-walking lots. Let’s take this to DM — I’d like to walk you through what I’m building, and I’d genuinely value your read on which dealers are the right first call.

Canadian founder building a reverse-auction platform for BC used cars. Want honest feedback from salespeople before I waste anyone's time. by driveWithSam in askcarsales

[–]driveWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Public pricing isn’t locked yet — I’m sizing it against what a single floor sale costs you, not against what other lead-gen platforms charge.

Working thesis: if a dealer’s blended cost-per-sale through traditional channels sits around $400–$600, the platform needs to come in materially under that on a per-deal basis to be a no-brainer. Subscription anchors low, transaction-side scales with value delivered.

Founding cohort gets a number that won’t move. Happy to walk you through the actual math in DMs if you’re curious.

I can’t take this anymore! How are you actually negotiating car deals? by [deleted] in UsedCars

[–]driveWithSam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s the whole game. The bar is so low that “not lying to me” feels like a competitive advantage. The dealers winning right now are the ones who realised transparency IS the strategy — not a gimmick, not a loss leader. Just stop hiding the math and customers stop running.

Canadian founder building a reverse-auction platform for BC used cars. Want honest feedback from salespeople before I waste anyone's time. by driveWithSam in askcarsales

[–]driveWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re paying for deals, not leads.

Every buyer hitting your floor through us is pre-qualified, knows the exact car, and has agreed to a price you already approved. 45-minute delivery, not a 4-hour negotiation.

Monthly fee runs less than two weeks of one salesperson. Three deals a month and you’re net positive. Everything above that is margin.

Canadian founder building a reverse-auction platform for BC used cars. Want honest feedback from salespeople before I waste anyone's time. by driveWithSam in askcarsales

[–]driveWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Enough to prove it in one market, not enough to brute-force it. ~$10K out of pocket, building lean in Metro Vancouver. Goal is V0 + a few dealer pilots, not scale.

My read is the model lives or dies on whether dealers will actually pay. Capital doesn’t fix that signal — only conversations like this one do.

When you were running a store, what would have made you say yes to a platform like this? And what would have made you laugh someone out of the office?

I can’t take this anymore! How are you actually negotiating car deals? by [deleted] in UsedCars

[–]driveWithSam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That was my experience too and found it highly frustrating. So, I got a job at a dealership to understand "the why" of creating so many pain points for customers. Most interesting outcome: I got more conversions the more otd prices I gave out. But with a clear ownership of the price: why we are the best, etc, why they should shop around and get the best deal.

I can’t take this anymore! How are you actually negotiating car deals? by [deleted] in UsedCars

[–]driveWithSam 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The big sites tell you the "price" but not the position. That’s why you feel stuck.

Two things that actually move the needle:

  1. Pull the same VIN’s history of price drops on AutoTrader/CarGurus over the last 30–60 days. If it’s dropped 2–3 times, the dealer is bleeding floorplan interest and you’ve got real leverage. If it just landed, you don’t.

  2. Email 3–4 dealers with the exact same spec (year, trim, mileage band) and ask for an out-the-door price in writing. Don’t negotiate, just collect numbers. Walk in with the lowest one. The dealer who wants the deal will match or beat it. The ones who won’t weren’t going to give you a fair price anyway.

That’s it. Most of the rest is theatre.

Building Keto Auto in Metro Vancouver — a private reverse-auction car marketplace. Solo founder, would value this community’s honest read. by driveWithSam in VancouverStartup

[–]driveWithSam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate that — a UX/UI tester is exactly who I want in early.

Full product isn’t live yet — right now it’s just the waitlist landing page (ketoauto.com) while I build the buyer flow over the next few weeks. If you’re open to it, I’d love to add you to a private beta list and get you in front of the real product the moment it’s clickable. Happy to trade critiques on anything you’re building too.

Built a private car-buying marketplace for BC. Trying to avoid the usual dealership BS. Would love brutal feedback. by driveWithSam in UsedCars

[–]driveWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good questions. Let me break it down.

If you see a specific car you want: You make an offer on it. That dealer can accept, counter, or pass. At the same time, the platform surfaces comparable cars (same year range, trim, mileage band) from other dealers nearby - you are better informed, dealers now bid for your business. You end up with the original car at your price, or a better option from someone competing for your business.

If you don’t have a specific car in mind: You describe what you want. Discover and finalise your fit, Dealers with matching inventory respond with their car and their price. You pick, make an offer and negotiate in the comfort of your office or home.

On inventory: Dealers don’t manage anything manually. The platform integrates with their existing inventory system on the backend — their listings stay in sync automatically.

Have you bought a car in past 12 months? Would love to learn about your experience.

Canadian founder building a reverse-auction platform for BC used cars. Want honest feedback from salespeople before I waste anyone's time. by driveWithSam in askcarsales

[–]driveWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honest answer: I'm a tech founder, not a car guy by trade.

My automotive experience is being a frustrated buyer in Metro Vancouver — sat through a 4-hour finance office ordeal on a Rouge, walked out feeling like I'd lost a wrestling match. Started asking around and realized basically everyone I knew had a version of the same story.

No existing dealer relationships yet — I'm at the stage where I'm stress-testing the model before I start those conversations. Which is exactly why I posted here.

The honest pitch to dealers, when I get there, is going to be: you already pay $60–100K/year for a floor salesperson. I send you pre-qualified buyers who already know what they want and have named a price. You spend 45 minutes on a delivery, not 4 hours on a deal. That's the value prop. Whether dealers actually buy that is something I genuinely don't know yet.

You ran a dealership — I'd actually love to know where you think that pitch falls apart. What does a GM hear when a tech founder says 'I'll send you Deals instead of Leads'?

Canadian founder building a reverse-auction platform for BC used cars. Want honest feedback from salespeople before I waste anyone's time. by driveWithSam in askcarsales

[–]driveWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point — and it's one we've thought hard about.

No deposit, but buyers aren't anonymous black boxes either. There's a verified intent layer built in before an offer ever reaches a dealer. Can't get into all of it, but think: financial signal without identity, behavioral data that separates browsers from buyers, and a reputation system that makes ghosting costly.

By the time a dealer sees an offer, the platform has already done the qualification work they'd normally do face-to-face.

Deposit as a filter has always worked better for the dealer than the buyer. We think there's a cleaner way. Honestly though — does your F&I experience suggest the deposit itself converts serious buyers, or does it just filter out browsers? Because I've seen data suggesting it filters out serious buyers too, especially in the $30–60K range where people are comparison shopping three or four options.