The two brothers behind South Africa’s R10 billion used car empire

Brothers Faan and Dirk van der Walt went from repairing their family’s old, dilapidated cars to founding WeBuyCars, South Africa’s biggest car marketplace. 

Selling an average of 13,000 cars every month, WeBuyCars has become a household name in South Africa, even listing on the JSE earlier this year. 

But before the company became what it is today, it was just two brothers with a love of cars and an entrepreneurial spirit. 

Adriaan Stephanus Scheepers (“Faan”) and Dirk Jacobus Floris (“Dirk”) van der Walt grew up in Bronkorspruit. 

Their mother worked as a teacher, and their father worked as a security guard at the CSIR, which was the only job he could find after losing his previous job in 1987.

They grew up with an old, unreliable family car that often broke down. Their father, Koos, taught them how to fix cars, and from an early age, they spent a lot of time under the hoods of cars.

“I recall various incidents of standing next to the road under the bonnet fixing a car, so I had this burning desire to improve our own vehicle situation,” Faan said. 

“I learned a lot about cars. My brother didn’t like using or working on cars, but I quite enjoyed it. I didn’t mind getting stuck under the bonnet and getting my hands dirty.”

He was always scavenging through junk mail, looking through the advertisements, imagining what those cars might look like since there were no photos, only vehicle descriptions and phone numbers. 

“I sometimes secretly phoned those people as if I were interested even though I didn’t have the money to buy the vehicle, just to get the experience in phoning and asking various questions to those sellers.”

In 1988, while still in high school, Faan bought his first motorbike, a Yamaha XT500, for R400. He did some work on the motorbike and later sold it for R450. 

“The entrepreneurial spirit grew within me during those high school years,” Faan said. “I recall having that money in my hands and getting a real kick out of doing a successful deal, and I guess that’s where it all started.”

“I loved working on it and planning how to improve and sell it. My next one was a real money spinner. Bought for R800 and sold for R1,400. That Yamaha XT500 made me realise that this could be something.”

After finishing school in 1992, Faan started studying to become a teacher at the University of Pretoria, where he also played rugby. 

In 1993, he bought his first car—a blue Volkswagen 412. He soon sold it again, always looking for an upgrade.

Faan got married to his wife, Tanja, in 1998 after qualifying as a teacher, and they moved to the UK for two years to teach. The money they made in the UK was used as the initial capital investment in WeBuyCars, in 2001.

Meanwhile, Dirk graduated with a degree in marketing, a qualification that would later prove invaluable in their future partnership.

WeBuyCars

In 2001, Faan and Dirk established WeBuyCars. For many years, they did everything themselves, learning a lot about the car game and business. 

Dirk insisted they should have a website, but Faan initially pushed back. “I said what for?” 

They finally agreed, and decided the website had to explain exactly what they do. “We buy cars,” Faan said. “The name was available, surprisingly. We registered it, and the name still serves us very well today.”

He explained that he and his brother are very different, but those differences served them well over time. 

“We are very different. We’ve had fights in our lives and differences of opinions all the time, and we still do. And I think that’s also part of our success.”

“I was always the one scavenging in the newspapers trying to find a bargain, and Dirk was a bit more of a visionary and a dreamer.” 

“He thought of the idea of advertising this as a service and putting advertisements out there stating that we buy cars, and allowing vehicle sellers to approach us before they put their vehicle on the market.”

This created a window of opportunity where they were the only ones who knew about a specific vehicle on the market, giving them the chance to serve that client exclusively.

The business grew slowly and organically over the years, and in 2010, WeBuyCars bought land and built their very own car warehouse in Pretoria East with a capacity for around 100 cars. 

Six months later, they had to buy the neighbouring land for more space.

This rapid growth continued over the next few years. The business had to keep on buying and developing land until it had a capacity for 700 cars, but it soon outgrew this space as well.

Faan and Dirk did everything themselves until 2012, when they appointed their first buyers to help them cope with the increased demand for their services.

“This was a turning point for us,” Faan said. “Trusting someone to do the job you love was a big thing.”

Their national expansion continued, and in 2014, WeBuyCars appointed its first buyer in Cape Town. After that, they appointed buyers in all the major towns in South Africa.

In 2017, the company opened the doors to The Car Supermarket in Midstream—Africa’s biggest car showroom, housing 1,100 cars under one roof.

The business rebranded in 2020, redesigning its website to make online transactions and auctions more accessible to the public.

They expanded their services internationally for the first time in 2022, buying and selling cars in Morocco.

What started off as a two-man operation now employs 2,750 people, with 84 branches and buying pods across the country and a market cap of over R10 billion. 

“It has been an amazing journey culminating in a listing on the JSE. We are excited about the road ahead as the listing opens up many opportunities such as enhancing our brand, creating liquidity for shareholders and attracting staff,” Faan said.