Miguel Ángel Arráez Manrique, CEO & Founder of CHECKAR

Miguel Ángel Arráez Manrique is the CEO and founder of CHECKAR, a company specialised in the inspection and appraisal of second-hand vehicles that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers to provide transparency and security throughout the purchasing process. 

With more than four years leading the project, he has driven a solution that responds to a very specific market need: knowing the true condition of a vehicle before making a purchase decision.

As he puts it, “when the customer fully understands what they are buying, the decision changes completely.”

Throughout the conversation, we discuss how to identify opportunities in traditional sectors, what it means to build trust when the market does not offer it, and which lessons are key to entrepreneurship with real impact.

What led you to start a business in the used vehicle sector, and what problem pushed you to take action?

In Spain, the used vehicle market has always been present. For years, there has been talk of practices such as mileage tampering or vehicles with hidden histories, but the reality is that these issues were very difficult to detect due to a lack of technology.

The turning point was the pandemic. With the microchip crisis, new vehicles became much more expensive and delivery times skyrocketed. Previously, you could order a vehicle with whatever extras you wanted and receive it in two months. Now, for a standard vehicle with hardly any customisation, delivery times can stretch over several months or even up to a year. This caused used vehicles to increase in value very quickly.

From that point on, more problems started to emerge: very high prices even for vehicles in poor condition and, above all, a lack of clear information for buyers. In many cases, they did not really know what they were buying.

It was at that moment that we realised there was a market opportunity, but above all, a problem to solve. It was a poorly regulated area, so we decided to position ourselves as an intermediary player to provide transparency and security. Because, ultimately, we are talking about one of the most important financial decisions a person can make.

What lessons did you learn from facing a traditional sector where trust is the main barrier?

The main lesson is that the problem exists on both sides and has two very clear causes: lack of knowledge and lack of trust.

On the one hand, there is a great deal of lack of knowledge. Technology has advanced enormously nowadays and it is no longer like before, when breakdowns were simpler and people had some basic mechanical knowledge. Now many people use a car every day, but do not really know how it works.

On top of that, there is mistrust, caused by fraud and bad experiences, which means many people do not trust anything at all. This makes decision-making much more difficult for buyers.

But it also affects sellers. There are professionals who do their job very well, but they have to operate in a context where trust has already been damaged. This directly harms them when it comes to closing a sale.

In the end, the two major problems are there: lack of knowledge and lack of trust. Our role is to create that layer of trust between both parties, without benefiting one or the other, but rather by providing transparency and security in the transaction.

It should not be forgotten that, after housing, buying a vehicle is usually one of the most important financial decisions for people.

How did you experience the process of introducing technology into a market used to operating “as it always has”?

From the moment customers contact us until they receive the final report (the Customer Journey), technology is part of the entire process.

Beyond the human element —which is essential because we work with highly experienced professionals capable of analysing the vehicle rigorously and supporting customers in their decision-making— we use tools such as diagnostic machines, which connect to the vehicle through the OBD, the car’s diagnostic port that provides access to its internal information and allows access to the control unit to read modules and parameters that were previously very difficult, or even impossible, to obtain. In addition, we use our own applications to standardise the service, which is key because we work with very different vehicles, from convertibles to motorhomes, and we need to ensure that the experience is consistent and maintains clear quality standards in every case.

In the end, I would say that the key lies in this combination of technology, standardisation and technical knowledge. That is what allows us to offer a consistent service and, above all, provide differential value within a sector like this one.

What cultural challenges did you encounter when working with dealerships and garages, and how did you overcome them?

It is a very traditional sector, very much about doing things the way they have always been done, and also quite demanding on a day-to-day basis. This means there is a certain resistance to change and also different criteria when it comes to assessing the same vehicle.

For example, you can inspect a car and then, in another garage, come across a different assessment. This happens because we work with used vehicles, many of them quite old, where not everything is black and white and many factors are at play. In fact, the average age of a used vehicle in Spain is 14 years, which means working with cars that have thousands of components and a certain degree of wear. In an inspection that may last around one hour or one and a half hours, it is impossible to analyse absolutely everything; in reality, to inspect it thoroughly you would have to dismantle the entire vehicle and reassemble it. That is why issues arising from normal use can always appear.

In this context, our main challenge has been managing those expectations and adapting to a complex reality. And the way we have done this has been by committing to transparency, clearly explaining the condition of the vehicle and the true scope of the service, both to the buyer and the seller.

What did the process of designing trust mechanisms between buyer and seller teach you?

At first, dealerships were quite reluctant to let us inspect their vehicles, because they saw it as a risk: an external company that could jeopardise a sale. Our work has consisted precisely in changing that perception and helping them see that we are not a problem, but rather a support tool.

The key lies in transparency and in the way of communicating. A second-hand vehicle is not perfect and it is normal for it to have flaws or to have had a minor bump. What matters is not hiding it, but rather explaining its condition properly and ensuring that the price matches what is being purchased.

When the buyer truly understands the condition of the vehicle, even with those minor defects that come from normal use, trust changes completely. And that also benefits sellers, because it makes the purchase decision easier, even if in some cases the price has to be adjusted slightly.

In the end, our role is to mediate in that transaction so that both parties are aligned. The buyer makes the decision with real information, and the seller can close the deal while generating trust.

What would you recommend to entrepreneurs who want to transform traditional sectors from within?

The first thing is to truly understand the problem. Nowadays it seems that if something is not tech, it is not exciting, but in traditional sectors there are many opportunities. To transform or improve a sector, the first step is to make sure that the problem really exists. And for that, you have to go out, talk to people and understand what the customer really needs. That is what I did.

The second thing is to launch as soon as possible. If you identify that problem, the important thing is to go to market, even if it is with an initial version to validate the idea — an MVP (minimum viable product) — and see whether it really provides value. From there, the market itself will guide you and allow you to improve little by little.

And finally, I think it is important not to become obsessed with raising capital from the beginning. It is great to have investment from business angels, but growing organically is also a very valid way to build a business, and it is how things have always been done. So I think that before trying to build a castle, you first have to start laying bricks. Those are the lessons I would highlight.

What key lessons do you take away from your entrepreneurial experience?

I take away a huge number of lessons. For example, at the beginning I did not have the knowledge to build a website, nor did I know about SEO (search engine optimisation) or SEM (search engine marketing such as Google Ads), and that is something that would have helped me save a lot of time and money.

That is why I believe it is important, before or during the launch of a project, to try to gain knowledge in different areas. Not only in technology or marketing, but also in areas such as finance or accounting.

In addition, technology is playing a key role in our development. In our case, artificial intelligence helps us in many processes, such as CRM management, lead entry and report review.

But beyond all that, the key lesson remains understanding your target audience well, knowing who you are addressing, what their problem is and how you can solve it. The important thing is to build on a solid foundation: generate revenue, offer a good service/product, and from there expand little by little. Being clear about what you are talking about, with whom and for whom you are working is essential for the business to make sense.

How can the ONE Platform help those who are starting businesses in traditional industries and need support to innovate?

I believe that initiatives such as the ONE Platform do very valuable work and are extremely helpful, above all because they centralise useful information and facilitate access to resources, contacts and opportunities.

For those of us who are entrepreneurs, especially in less digitised sectors, being able to connect with people who have already gone through that process is essential. Many times, you have very specific doubts about your business — how to attract customers or how to make certain processes more efficient — and being able to speak with people who have already experienced that situation brings enormous value.

In that sense, having a space that facilitates those kinds of connections and helps identify truly relevant strategic partners can make all the difference. Because, in the end, there are countless options, but knowing who to turn to at each moment is not always easy.

I also believe that there is room for progress in the field of financing. Although many initiatives do help, they are sometimes very focused on strictly technological projects, which can leave out companies that, while not purely digital, do apply technology and are solving real problems. In my case, accessing that kind of financing has been more difficult, and it is something that could be better adjusted to support more diverse profiles and sectors within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.