11:14 am, September 16, 2024
Car dealers should be wary of just using AI to make buying decisions as the technology is not yet up to the job.
That is according to industry new-boy Sam Watts, who believes that human decisions are still key when deciding what stock to buy.
Watts, who runs the used car business, Family Car Guy, has been appearing on the latest episode of the Car Dealer Podcast.
Speaking to hosts Jon Reay and James Baggott, he explained how he went from running his own furniture business to starting out in the used car market.
His Devon-based business specialises in family SUVs and is now embracing new technology to help with the buying and selling process.
Watts says that he has found the used car industry to be ‘a little bit behind’ when it comes to adopting AI and explained how he has been taking a novel approach to using the technology.
‘I actually bring Honest John into the spreadsheet, into AI,’ he said. ‘I get AI to call Honest John and ask what he thinks of this car in the spreadsheet. It then brings up a synopsis of what Honest John says about the car.
‘That really helps because I’ve literally got someone on my shoulder then telling me “Watch out for that or that’s really good”.
‘It never says stay away from certain cars, but it just says “be mindful of this with certain cars”so that’s great.
‘I’m quite surprised actually. I’ve only been in the industry for a few months, but it seems a little bit behind on using AI and data and really getting it to help you make buying decisions.’
Despite backing AI to help his business, Watts believes that when it comes to buying stock, a dealer’s knowledge still comes first.
However, he is taking a data-led approach in the hope of getting the best cars, ahead of some much more experienced traders.
He added: ‘I go to auctions sometimes, and there’s five old boys, a fag hanging out of their mouth, and they’re literally just going “I’ll buy that, I’ll buy that, I’ll buy that”.
They know their stuff. They know their cars so well that they don’t need data, they don’t need AI, they don’t need anything else because they’re so experienced. Then little me comes along, hasn’t a clue what he’s doing, and the only thing I’ve got to fall back on is data and AI.
‘With modern cars and EVs now, I think AI is really going to help.
‘I never actually rely on AI to tell me which car to buy. I always use it to help me out to make my decisions.
‘I have made some bad buying decisions, but it hasn’t been because of AI – it’s been my own silly mistakes.
‘I’m yet to ask AI, “which car shall I buy out of these 10 cars?” because I think I don’t want to use it for that really. It’ll give me a different response every time I do it, the same cars.’
The Car Dealer Podcast, sponsored by JATO, sees an industry guest join our hosts to discuss the motor trade’s biggest headlines of every week.
A full list of the stories discussed on this week’s episode can be found here.
You can listen to all episodes of the Car Dealer Podcast on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
