Why we built AutoYard
Selling a used car in South Africa is broken. You either list on classifieds and spend two weeks fielding WhatsApp messages from chancers, no-shows, and scammers — or you take a lowball trade-in offer from a dealer who knows you don't have leverage.
According to industry data, 95% of South Africa's second-hand vehicle market is informal. That means most transactions happen without proper documentation, consumer protections, or price transparency. TransUnion found that more than two-thirds of South Africans have been targeted by fraud — and used car sales are consistently among the most complained-about sectors in the country.
AutoYard sits in between. We're building a platform where private sellers list once — privately — and verified dealers compete for the car.
How it works
1. Enter your registration number. We pull make, model, trim, year, and spec from verified vehicle data. Takes 30 seconds.
2. Upload 6 photos and answer 4 questions. Condition, service history, accident history, outstanding finance. We verify what we can and flag what we can't.
3. Your car goes to matched dealers. Based on make, model, location, and price range, we match your vehicle to dealers who actually want it. No spray-and-pray classifieds.
4. Dealers bid — blind and timed. Dealers submit competitive offers without seeing what others have bid. This creates genuine price competition without the circus of a public auction.
5. You pick the best offer — or walk away. No obligation. No listing fees. No premium charged to sellers. Ever.
What's different
Your car is never listed publicly. No strangers at your gate, no midnight WhatsApp calls, no "is it still available?" messages.
Your phone number stays masked. Communication happens through the platform until you choose to proceed.
Dealers are audited. Every dealer on AutoYard is registered and goes through our onboarding audit. We check business registration, physical premises, trade history, and complaint records.
Settlement is included. If there's outstanding finance, we handle the settlement process. If the car needs to be collected, we arrange it. Money clears same-day via bank transfer.
What's next
We're currently onboarding our first cohort of partner dealers across Gauteng, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. Sellers can register for early access now — the first listings go live in 2026.
We're not building the next classifieds site. We're building what should have existed all along.