A car on subscription like Spotify or Netflix - is that even possible?

Swapping your car every 2-3 years with no unpredictable spending on servicing, tyre changes or insurance, and all of it in a single, fixed monthly instalment? And what if you could sort it all out from the comfort of your armchair, fully online, and have the car delivered to your door... hmm.

Sounds like a dream of the future? Not necessarily. That's exactly what the car subscription service - increasingly popular in Poland and worldwide - offers, letting you tailor the contract terms and the monthly fee to your needs and budget. What's more, there are already companies that make this possible entirely online.

And what if someone told you this is possible not only for new cars? Also available for young used cars, up to 50% cheaper than new ones - interested?

But let's start from the beginning - how does a subscription work?

A car subscription is, in short, long-term rental - a specific kind of leasing without buying the car out at the end of the contract. The car remains owned by the rental company or the lessor, which leases the car to the driver in exchange for the subscription.

Under the subscription, the driver pays a set fixed monthly instalment that can include all or some of the costs of running the car, among them: insurance, registration, servicing and repairs, and two sets of tyres including fitting.

Is this possible for used cars?

The benefits of a subscription car for new vehicles are obvious - a business can write off the car's entire cost as a tax expense, costs are fully predictable for both private and company subscriptions, and you can swap the car for a new one often.

For 2-3-year-old used cars, two more very important benefits come on top. First, a subscription for used cars is up to 40% lower than for a new car. Taking a mid-size car on subscription (e.g. Ford Mondeo) or a popular SUV (e.g. Volvo XC60, Hyundai Tucson or BMW X3) can mean savings of up to 1,000 PLN a month.

The second benefit is time. A new car on subscription is like waiting for the next season of your favourite Netflix series right after finishing the last episode of the current one... Unlike new cars, used cars are available right away, which means the customer doesn't have to wait weeks or months for their next subscription car. Usually they're behind the wheel within a few days.

This option is now offered in Poland by CarMore, which provides its customers with young, 2-3-year-old used cars from the Polish dealer network on a subscription covering full warranty, insurance, servicing and repairs, plus options such as tyres or assistance. On top of that, everything can be arranged fully online, and the car (if the customer so wishes) is delivered to their door.

The whole process online?

Buying a car is always an event. Maybe less so for a business, but for private individuals it's a considerable expense that has to be „thought over”, and the car at the showroom or dealership viewed many times over. We often buy a car on credit, which further lengthens and complicates the whole process. Then there's still registration and insurance. And when, after two weeks and many visits to the dealer or used-car lot, the bank, the vehicle registration office and the insurance agent, you finally get the long-awaited keys to your new car - you're happy at last... Unfortunately, that happiness often lasts only a moment... because it soon turns out the car, despite it being spring, is on winter tyres, has just given up the ghost, and at the service centre it emerges that the repair of that one specific part is somehow excluded from the much-praised dealer or dealership warranty... sound familiar?

CarMore, as the first independent company in Poland offering young used cars on subscription, addresses these pain points. At CarMore, the entire process of choosing the car, configuring the subscription and making the reservation takes place online.

Choosing the car online. Thanks to cooperation with the largest car dealers and manufacturers, CarMore's offer consists solely of young ex-lease or demo cars from Polish dealers, selected by artificial-intelligence algorithms as the most attractive in terms of price and depreciation, offering a factory warranty and with a fully verified history. Only such cars are allowed to appear in the CarMore app, and only such cars can you browse and choose online.

Choosing the subscription online. Once you've picked your car, all that's left is to choose the right subscription. This too happens fully online - by dragging the sliders you can freely choose how much of a down payment you want to put towards the car to lower your subscription, how long you'll take the car for, and, for example, how many kilometres a year you'll drive. Based on the financing valuation model built into the app (in cooperation with financial partners such as leasing companies), CarMore can offer you convenient subscription configurability in real time and fully online. As a result, there's no need for conversations with consultants, bank salespeople or credit analysts in a lengthy process... Already at the reservation stage you can find out exactly how much your subscription for this particular car will be. Every car at CarMore comes with a full manufacturer's warranty and a service package - just like a new car. Online, you can add extra option packages such as full servicing (including consumable parts), an insurance package, tyre service or assistance (towing and a replacement car) - it's you who decides how your subscription is configured.

Reserving the car. Thanks to technology, reserving the car and the contract matters are also processed fully online. You provide your basic details, which allow the contract to be filled in and your capacity for the obligation set out in the subscription to be verified at the credit bureau (BIK). Everything is done fully securely, automatically and in real time. While you confirm the subscription amount and the extra options, thanks to integration with leasing, insurance and service partners CarMore can prepare everything „in the background” and automatically according to your needs. Once you click reserve, you receive an automatic message with the next steps, including suggested dates for a test drive (should you want one) and the mode of concluding the contract.

At any point in the process you can conveniently consult CarMore, for example to finish the process by phone.

After the test drive (if you care to take one), all you have to do is pay the down payment, sign the contract and the car is yours. You can collect it at the dealer or order home delivery.

The CarMore example shows that a used car on subscription really is possible - ordered fully online from the comfort of your armchair, without many meetings and a burdensome process.