WeBuyCars (WBC) is one of the many pre-owned vehicle dealerships that has been enjoying great success in South Africa over the last few years, as more and more consumers flock towards the used market in search of an affordable model.
TopAuto recently paid a visit to the Dome, WBC’s largest buying and selling warehouse in the country, where Chief Marketing Officer Rikus Blomerus took us through an interesting tour and provided an explanation of everything that goes on at the site.
Inside the Dome
The Dome is located in Randburg, Johannesburg and welcomes an average of between 1,500 and 2,000 customers every day.
The large spherical building houses approximately 1,300 cars of all shapes and sizes at any given time, and 80 to 90 vehicles are sold per shift.
It’s also labelled as the WeBuyCars Leisure Centre, as the list of items sold at the Dome includes not just cars but also things like motorcycles, caravans, trailers, and boats.
Upon entering the premises, you’ll find a welcome area with a reception, as well as a number of interactive tablets that allow you to start the process of selling your car or browse one of the hundreds of vehicles on display.
There’s also a coffee bar, a Capitec Bank kiosk, a payment area, and a playground to keep the kids distracted while the parents wander the showroom floor.
The main floor is divided into several blocks, and there is a second floor that encircles the main arena with even more models to choose from.
While there is no strict rule about which cars are placed where in the Dome, Blomerus explained that they try to group vehicles that are of the same body type and price bracket in close proximity.
For example, bakkies like the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max, and Nissan Navara can all be found on the periphery of the space, while another segment may house hatchbacks like the VW Polo, Hyundai i20, and Renault Clio.
Visitors are free to browse the site at their leisure, but there are dozens of employees available to help a customer find their ideal model.
Many of these employees make use of segways for getting around, as the sheer size of the facility means workers would otherwise be walking several kilometres per day and spend a lot of time doing so.
The buying process
There are three ways in which a person can sell their car to WeBuyCars.
The first option is a house call, where employees will visit the individual at their home and purchase it there.
Depending on how far away the location is from a WBC warehouse, the employees will either drive the car themselves or arrange for alternate transport so as not to add unnecessary mileage to the model in question.
The other two options are to take your car to one of the many WBC pods set up around the country in places like shopping mall parking lots, or to go directly to one of the company’s showrooms like the Dome.
As soon as WBC receives a new car, it is sent to a cleaning area where employees thoroughly wash the inside and outside to get it in showroom condition.
Immediately after that, it’s driven into the automated 360-degree photo booth which rotates the car on a platform while images are taken at various different angles. These are the same photos that you will see when browsing the site online.
Once the photoshoot is done, the car is wheeled off to Dekra’s in-house facility where it is assessed for technical faults.
Dekra operates independently of WBC and provides every unit it receives with an in-depth report on its interior and exterior condition, as well as its mechanical underpinnings like the gearbox, engine, brakes, tyres, and undercarriage, said Blomerus.
It also awards either an A or B rating, which serves two purposes.
First, it functions as a quick indication of the condition of the vehicle for interested parties, as a B rating means work must be done before the car is roadworthy.
More important, though, is the fact that B-rated cars will not be financed by most banks, while A models can be financed immediately.
Once a vehicle has received its Dekra report, it moves onto the auction phase.
Every vehicle that arrives at WBC is put on auction, and the ones that are not sold in the auction phase get sent to the showroom floor for people to browse.
Blomerus revealed that the average purchase price of a car at its sites is R140,000, though naturally this is highly dependent on the model, its age, and its mileage.
Most of the units that WBC receive are newer than 7 years old and have less than 150,000km on the odometre, he said.
Optional extras are rarely if ever taken into consideration when the purchase price of a new entry is decided, meaning it is possible to get lucky and secure a model with additional nice-to-haves for no extra cost if you have a keen eye.
As for what’s popular, Blomerus noted WBC has recently seen an increase in demand for crossovers and SUVs, but that hatchback and sedan sales remained constant.
Toyota, VW, and Ford are among the most sought-after brands, thanks to models like the Hilux and Ranger bakkies and the Fiesta and Polo hatchbacks.
Customers have also started demanding more fuel-efficient options, which means hybrid sales have increased with the Toyota Rav4 and Corolla Cross being two of the most popular choices, he said.
The Dome even managed to sell 100 battery-electric cars in the past year, which is notable given how small the current market still is.
The company also saw a massive spike in demand for used cars following the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is now estimated that WeBuyCars sells a vehicle every two minutes in South Africa, said Blomerus.
The majority of vehicles sold are bought outright, as only 30 to 35% of private customers opt for a finance plan.
WeBuyCars Dome, Johannesburg
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