How Cars24 became the first unicorn in the second-hand car business

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Editor's note: A friend spent the better part of a year trying to sell his three-year-old Maruti Swift Dzire on online classifieds platform Olx and through an array of small used car dealers. Varying prices were quoted, all way below his expectations. Besides, the prices had no relation to the condition of the vehicle, and there was almost no system in place to check the car to determine its actual value. As time began to run out, he had no option but to give the car to a relative before flying out of the country.  The tale is fairly commonplace. Selling or buying a used car in India remains a tough task, fraught with risk. Most used car dealers are small outlets and face issues of trust, the absence of standardized checks to determine the value of a vehicle and the lack of finance options. Until recently, there was also the issue of imposition of similar goods and services tax slabs on both used and new car purchases. But the biggest pain point of all was that a seller had to wait …