India-based auto marketplace Cars24 has vowed to pay INR50,000 ($562) to customers if any “critical error” is found in its pre-delivery inspection (PDI) reports.
The PDI report, powered by Cars24’s proprietary inspection technology CarTruth (launched last October), runs over 300 AI-based checks, covering accidents, flood damage, odometer rollbacks, repainting, theft record, and ownership verification, the company said in a news release.
The compensation pledge applies only to “critical errors,” which the company says include undisclosed accident or flood history, odometer rollbacks exceeding 2.0%, theft or blacklist cases missed, incorrect ownership records, and repainting errors overlooked.
Though a first-of-its-kind pledge in the market, INR50,000 compensation would barely be adequate to fix issues that may stem from some of the above-mentioned “critical errors”. However, the self-imposed liability places an onus on Cars24 to deliver error-free PDI reports, besides encouraging customers to opt for the service.
Adding weight to that notion, Cars24 said it recorded a 500% increase in PDI bookings in the festive season (late August to December). The traction, the company says, reflects a behavioral shift among Indian used-car buyers, from relying on intuition to seeking verified assurance.
“Every maturing market moves from emotion to evidence. The PDI guarantee signals that shift for India. It marks the moment when belief in a car’s story will finally depend on data, not on the dealer,” noted Gajendra Jangid, co-founder and CMO, Cars24.
The guarantee builds upon Cars24’s recent launch of an odometer-fraud detection tool. Based on a predictive model, the tool helps buyers assess whether a used car may have undergone odometer tampering / rollback (a fairly common practice in emerging markets) and make an informed decision.
Cars24 recently teamed up with voice-AI startup ElevenLabs to deploy AI to capture and analyze customer-agent conversations. In July, the company launched an after-sales program called Care+. This followed the shutdown of FourDoor — a subscription-based repair and maintenance service — and InSpare — a b-to-b spare parts delivery service. These closures led to more than 200 layoffs.
Founded in 2015, Cars24 was initially a b-to-b marketplace before shifting to a c-to-b-to-c model. It reported INR69.1 billion in operating revenue for the 12 months to March 2024. The company also operates in Australia and the UAE.
