The short answer: they are no longer the same kind of business, so comparing them like for like is misleading. Cinch buys cars, owns them and sells them to you directly. Cazoo doesn't own any cars at all — it's an advertising marketplace where dealers list their stock. Whichever you use, that distinction decides who is legally responsible when something goes wrong.

What Changed

The original Cazoo was a direct-to-consumer retailer that bought, reconditioned and sold its own cars, and at its peak it was valued in the billions. That business collapsed into administration in 2024.

Motors.co.uk bought the Cazoo brand name and marketplace operation in June 2024 — the name and the website, not the cars, the warehouses or the mechanics. Cazoo relaunched in April 2025 as a used car search marketplace. Then in May 2026, Motors retired its own nineteen-year-old brand entirely and moved everything to the Cazoo name.

So the Cazoo you use in 2026 shares a logo with the Cazoo from 2022 and almost nothing else. If you remember Cazoo delivering a car to your door with a seven-day return window, that company no longer exists.

Who You're Actually Buying From

This is the part that matters most and the part most comparisons skip.

On Cazoo, you're browsing adverts placed by independent and franchise dealers across the UK. When you buy, your contract is with that dealer. Cazoo isn't a party to the sale. Your rights, your warranty and your comeback all depend on which dealer you happened to click on.

On Cinch, you're buying from Cinch. They own the car, they set the price, and they carry the responsibility. Cinch is part of Constellation Automotive Group, which also owns BCA, the UK's largest vehicle auction business — which is where a lot of their stock comes from.

Neither model is better in the abstract. A marketplace gives you far more choice and the chance to haggle. A retailer gives you one consistent standard and one company to chase.

Price

Cazoo will almost always show you cheaper cars, because it's showing you the whole dealer market including small independents competing hard on price. Cinch prices at or near market value with no haggling.

But a lower advertised price on a marketplace isn't automatically a better deal. The dealer sets the terms, and preparation standards vary enormously between a franchise dealer and a pitch on a ring road. You're taking on more variance in both directions.

Returns and Warranty

Cinch publishes a 14-day money-back guarantee. If you change your mind you get a full refund including the £99 admin fee and any delivery or collection fee, and they collect the car free. The conditions are worth knowing: you mustn't drive more than 250 miles, the car has to come back in the condition it arrived, and you return the V5 at your own cost. Every car also comes with a 90-day warranty including breakdown assistance, included as standard.

Cazoo offers no equivalent, because Cazoo isn't selling you the car. Whatever warranty and return terms you get are whatever that individual dealer offers. Some are excellent. Some are the statutory minimum.

That statutory minimum is still real, though, and it's better than most buyers realise. Buy from any UK trade seller and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you 30 days to reject a faulty car for a full refund, regardless of what the dealer's own policy says.

Cinch terms checked 2 September 2026 at cinch.co.uk. Terms change — confirm before you buy.

Delivery

Cinch delivers to your door across mainland UK, and delivery or collection fees are refunded if you return the car under the guarantee.

Cazoo doesn't deliver anything. You contact the dealer, and collection or delivery is arranged between you and them.

Which Should You Use?

Use Cinch if you want the whole thing handled by one company, you value the 14-day window, and you'd rather pay a bit more for a fixed, known process. Good for first-time buyers and anyone who doesn't want to inspect a car themselves.

Use Cazoo if you want the widest possible choice, you're comfortable assessing a dealer and a car yourself, and you want the option to negotiate. Good if you know what you're looking at.

Use both if you're being sensible. They surface different cars, and there's no reason to pick one and never look at the other.

The Bigger Point

Two of the five biggest names in UK used car buying changed shape inside two years. Cazoo went from retailer to marketplace, Motors disappeared into it, and heycar rebranded to Drive and narrowed to Volkswagen Group stock only.

Picking a favourite site and sticking with it is how you end up shopping on a platform that no longer does what you think it does. Searching several at once isn't just about finding a cheaper car — it's insurance against the market moving underneath you.