Wessex Garages’ Mazda Bristol dealership has installed an iPad offering customers access to The Car Buying Group (TCBG) valuations portal in a bid to speed up the part-exchange process.

The business, on Pennywell Road, Bristol, is the first franchised retail operation to install the solution into a showroom in a bid to allow customers a used market price within seconds based on the age, mileage and condition of their vehicle.

TCBG, which was acquired by Aston Barclay in October last year and is now based at the remarketing specialist’s new in 2019 Wakefield auction site, said that its valuation offering aims to “take the guesswork away from drivers on what their used car is worth”.

Once the valuation has been accepted by the car owner, TCBG then takes the residual risk and purchases it, or Wessex will add the vehicle to its used car stock.

The TCBG valuation portal has also been added to the Wessex Garages website.

Keith Brock, the managing director of the Wessex Garages Group, said: “We want the process of buying a vehicle from us, whether it is brand new or used, to be as transparent and seamless as possible.

“The valuation portal helps build trust with the driver as it’s provided by TCBG, an independent company that values hundreds of thousands of cars each year.

“It speeds up the transaction process for the driver and our sales team as we both have confidence in the value of the part-exchange.”

He added: “If we decide we don’t want the car to retail TCBG collects it directly from the driver, which is a big advantage particularly around the March and September plate change months when our sites are very congested.”

Tom Marley, TCBG’s chief executive, said: “We enjoy working with Wessex as they have the foresight to try different things within their group to further improve the customer journey, and ultimately help them sell more cars.

“Aston Barclay Group has enjoyed a long working relationship with Wessex, having managed their part exchange disposals for the past 18 months and we are proud to support them in their retail business, as our Aston Barclay brands deliver vital services at every stage of their used vehicle life cycle.”