Andres Valbuena
Andres has spent 20 years in the Automotive Industry. He started in the parts department at Steve’s European Automotive. Since then, he’s worked directly in Global Product Marketing and Development for major manufacturers, like VW, Jeep, and Chevrolet.
You can find Andres working on his project cars in his home garage or out at the track organizing driving schools or anything that brings automotive enthusiasts together.
He created Car-ED with the idea that helping people get into the right vehicle can make a difference in their lives. It starts with bringing awareness to the shopper and then connecting them to the cars that best match their needs.
Kevin M. Joostema
In 1990, Kevin started his automotive career as a service runner at a Cadillac store. After graduate school, he followed his passion for the international automotive arena and design with product-focused development and strategic planning work at Honda, the Volkswagen Group, and General Motors.
He has worked all over the globe for the major Japanese, German, and US brands. In the process he led teams that brought segment-winning products to market – be they Honda minivans, VW sedans and performance cars, or GM SUVs. In between, he ran the West Coast offices of automotive research firms focused on bringing the customer voice into the creation of innovative products.
The passion continues with the establishment of Car-ED and his dedication to helping every person find the most satisfying car – because the right car can change your life.
Why 
?
Being car guys and working in the auto industry, we are always asked by friends and family what cars they or others should consider. We both had common experiences – we would ask them the same questions to try and figure out what cars best match their needs – using our experience to help make them aware of what’s new in the market to what cars they did not know exist. Once we narrowed down the list, they could research the cars on the many websites that already exist.
We started to realize that there is this gap in the industry – no one does this initial assessment. Most car buyers are not aware of what universe of cars they might want to consider...and even if they are, they may be missing an alternative or two they should consider.
Besides word of mouth, prior experience, or asking the car enthusiast of the family, no site asks key questions to try to find out which car best connects with the shopper’s behavior. The idea for Car-ED comes from this lack of awareness building and connection to the best vehicle. In short, Car-ED stands for “car education.”
We’ve created an algorithm from scratch with 11 quick questions that help identify cars that meet your needs. It’s a fun and simple quiz that generates awareness of existing and new vehicles that will match your basic behaviors and wants from a vehicle.
The bottom line is we want to help people.
We truly believe that getting into the right car can have a positive impact on your life – as purchasing a car is the 2nd largest financial commitment you make. Whether you save money, or find a car that makes that long commute more enjoyable, the idea is simply to help you connect. That’s where our slogan comes from – “Because the right car can change your life.”
Stay tuned because we’re going to take that slogan and change some lives ourselves. We’ll soon be announcing our car give-away program through Car-ED Community. Details will be posted soon.