Check My Ride

Jeffrey Andika’s Otospector helps used car buyers avoid buying lemons.

- Ulisari Eslita

Finding the right used car is tricky—it’s hard to know what kind of hidden prob-lems they may have, a good deal might become an expensive lemon. Those concerns bothered Jeffrey Andika, co-founder of Otospector, when he was trying to buy a used Mazda CX-5 back in 2015. “I just came back from the U.S. and wanted to buy a used car. My family and friends advised me to buy a new car instead of a used one since they are not reliable here,” says Jeffrey.

Like most people, his biggest concern about buying a used car was the reliability issue—the last thing you wanted was to waste money on car that needed frequent repairs. He wanted to have the car checked by a professional and independent inspector. “I googled whether there was an authorized car inspection service here. Unfortunately, there wasn’t such thing here,” says Jeffrey, adding that in the U.S. companies such as Carfax provide this service.

After a long quest, Jeffrey found a mechanic trusted by his family and set a schedule to inspect the car he wanted to buy. “The mechanic was unconvincing. But what could I do? I needed someone with experience to check the car,” says Jeffrey. The journey to find a quality used car, while unpleasant, inspired Jeffrey and his brother, Sterly Yulius, to set up Otospector, an online car inspection firm.