Ever wish leasing a car was less complicated? Simplified car leasing for consumers is the purpose and promise of Honcker, a mobile app that officially launched Wednesday after a two-month beta release.
Honcker is now active and working with auto dealers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida, and is launching in Los Angeles and Chicago. Honcker is paid by dealerships to facilitate the leasing process, and currently represents approximately 200 dealerships in the markets where the service is active.
By simplifying the leasing process the platform gives customers easier access to personalized lease deals from local dealerships and can bring dealerships new business they might not have gotten otherwise.
“No one enjoys the process of leasing a car,” said Honcker founder and CEO Nathan Hecht. “Traditionally, when you lease a car online, your personal details are entered into lead generators that are then blasted out to hundreds of dealers — the first one to get your information contacts you and so begins the long process of finding, applying for, and leasing your car. Honcker flips that process on its head and makes it extremely easy, transparent, and convenient for both the consumer and the dealer.”
Rather than working with the dealer yourself, with Honcker you never have to go anywhere. In most cases, according to the company, the leased car is delivered directly to your home, along with the necessary paperwork for you to sign. All Honcker leases are for zero money down, other than taxes, dealer fees, and registration costs. The deals are personalized for each customer and utilize the auto manufacturer’s financing company.
In order to see lease deals in your area, you simply sign up on your smartphone and enter your address, phone, and email. Your email address and phone number are verified in the signup process, but that’s it. That data is enough for Honcker to do a credit bureau “soft pull,” which doesn’t affect your credit score. You can specify the make and model you’d like to lease or ask to see lease specials offered by local dealerships.
You might get the best deals from specials because those are cars that dealers need to move — for example, dealers are currently eager to clear out 2016 models and can offer the best deals on those cars. You will also likely see offers from multiple dealers, which incentivizes dealers to give you their best price because there’s no negotiating involved. Dealers understand you will either accept the lease price they present or look at another dealer’s offers.
When the deals are presented in the app the pricing is just for you, and is personalized based on your credit. You can browse the deals for specific cars, all of which will be available for immediate delivery. If you decide to go forward, the app then requests your social security and driver’s license numbers and insurance information. The dealer finance company does a credit bureau “hard pull” at that time to verify your score, and if everything checks out, the Honcker app contacts you to arrange delivery or for you to pick up your new leased car.
Honcker’s value-add is in saving consumers the time and aggravation of negotiations, listening to all the lease options and technicalities, and in-person dealing with finance offices. Many consumers dislike negotiating with dealerships and, after the fact, often feel they didn’t get the best deal possible.
Millennials like negotiating with dealerships the least, with 56 percent saying they’d rather clean their homes, while 24 percent of Gen X-ers say they’d rather have a root canal, according to a recent Harris poll. Honcker is designed to make leasing easier, and to get the best deals for consumers while helping dealers move cars off the lots.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.