Back in December, when Amazon Autos finally opened to the world (well, certain cities in America), you could only buy new Hyundai models from participating dealerships. As of this week that’s now changed, at least if you live in Los Angeles. If you do, you are now able to browse for all of the dealerships’ inventory, including certified pre-owned and used cars from any brand. Browsing Amazon right now, I spy Mazdas, Subarus, and BMWs, among other brands.
You may be wondering: if you don’t like it, can you just box it up and ship it back to Amazon like normal? Actually, you sort of can. Amazon gives you a 3-day/300-mile return policy for used cars, and you also get a 30-day/1,000-mile limited warranty.
Just to be clear, this is still only from Hyundai dealerships, so you’re limited to whatever they have in stock in your area. Also, you need to live within 75 miles of the dealership, for some reason. If you’re not in LA, Amazon promises that it will be bringing this functionality to other cities “in the coming months.”
The e-commerce giant comes for cars
Amazon’s entry into the automotive business last year heralds a bigger push to come, as Amazon seeks to swallow yet another retail industry. Launched in only 48 cities just this past December, the company is already up to 130 cities, with aims to expand even further and start pulling in dealerships from other brands “next year.” Other financial options, such as leasing, have already arrived. For the moment, this all still seems limited to individual customers, so no fleet purchases just yet.
Amazon stated its intention to move in on the used car market earlier this year, and today it’s followed through on that. This is all through dealer partnerships, though if Amazon can find a way to get around that system, I’m sure it will. And then the whole dealer model will be right where the rest of retail was 20 years ago.
The promise of Amazon Autos is to simplify the dreaded car shopping experience, letting you browse and buy from the comfort of your couch. Getting the all-in price upfront is nice, although taking haggling out of the equation could be a positive or a negative depending on how good you are at it. It’s essentially the CarMax user experience, except you do get the option for new vehicles (which, for now, are only Hyundais).
