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With 92 per cent of customers purchasing a vehicle within 48 hours of being connected to a dealership through its platform, Melbourne-based Book A Test Drive is revving up to capture more Australian car buyers as it deepens partnerships with brokers and expands its national network.
Founded in 2022 by Alex Bodriagin, Book A Test Drive is a national platform that allows users to connect with local dealerships to help streamline the car-buying experience, offering upfront pricing and a pre-vetted co-driver to guide them through the process.
While the platform has a consumer-facing website, up to 80 per cent of its revenue is generated through a B2B network of finance and mortgage brokers that use the service as a vehicle procurement arm for their clients. To date, its network covers 150-plus referring brokerages and 500 curated dealerships.
Speaking with Business News Australia, Bodriagin shares his vision for the company, which aims to bridge the gap between online research and in-dealership purchase.
“We know customers need to touch and feel the car, so why don't we be the conduit between all that research and then be the guiding, trusted advisor to connect them up with some carefully curated dealerships and manage it,” says Bodriagin, a finalist in the 2025 Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards.
“Manage the booking, manage the sale, manage everything that goes along with it - and create the car buying experience Australians deserve but don't currently have.”
Based on the platform’s data, the most popular vehicles fall within the $40,000 to $70,000 price range, with SUVs dominating demand across compact, mid-size and large segments. Common models include the Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota Prado.
Some electric vehicles, such as Tesla and BYD models, are also shortlisted for customers, though they appear less frequently as they are not captured under the franchise model.
Most of the platform’s customers are located along Australia’s eastern seaboard, spanning Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne, though the platform is available nationwide.
Book A Test Drive also provides an end-to-end vehicle procurement service, helping clients source available cars, assess the value of their existing vehicle to support trade-ins and compare insurance options.
It can also provide finance repayment estimates when requested by referring partners such as mortgage brokers, while asset brokers typically use the platform solely for vehicle sourcing.
The goal is simple – to streamline the experience, as it currently takes an average of 2.8 months of researching before an Australian will buy a vehicle, according to data from Melbourne-based automotive software business AutoGrab.
Book A Test Drive also works with both retail and fleet departments within dealerships, referring customers to the relevant department based on their requirements.
When engaging with dealerships on the retail side, the founder is selective about the sales professionals it partners with, prioritising customer experience over sales volume.
“We are looking for the sales professionals that may not necessarily be on the top, but they are absolutely nailing Net Promoter Score (NPS) scores and customer experience,” Bodriagin explains
“They are customer-centric and customer-first beyond anything. For that reason, everyone who walks away from and loves them.
“We're looking for sales professionals that share our values. We do not need to worry about what they're doing once we send them into the store.”
The platform has also partnered with Melbourne-based towing software calculator Know My Tow, which provides the technology and data insights, while Book A Test Drive handles sales and operational delivery for dealerships and industry partners.
Separately, Bodriaign is developing the Co-Drive platform, a broker-led tool designed to guide customers through the car-buying process.
Users complete a short questionnaire with their broker, which generates two tailored vehicle options and AI-driven suggestions, with the sourcing team following up directly if a customer’s preferred car is not listed.
“It's AI insights with a human touch. We don’t want to lose a human touch, because what I found in my experience is that data only goes so far,” Bodriaign says.
“You have to meet the customer where they are at that moment.”
But for Bodriagin, his ultimate goal is to be known in every Australian home.
“Our dream is to be a household name in Australia…so when you think of test drive, you'll think of Book A Test Drive.”
“We know what we want to do. We know how we want to achieve it, but we know that we can want to do it right.”
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