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  1. hondadealer

    Thanks For Ruining It For The Rest Of Us

    My Honda store buys 30 -40 vehicles per month from private sellers (not our customers) in a market of a little over a million people. For those looking to acquire vehicles privately, here are some tips: 1) Develop a consistent repeatable process. The biggest mistake that dealers make is that...
  2. hondadealer

    How To Increase Instagram Following? Is Instelite a viable option?

    Having some difficulty in getting much traction in improving our Instagram following. Any ideas or thoughts? I know that nothing beats posting great content and that social media platforms have become very adept at algorithmic changes that prevent any easy hacks. Someone had suggested...
  3. hondadealer

    BREAKING news! Carvana & Vroom is bleeding cash. Is Ecommerce in auto DOA?

    It is simple math. According their most recent operating results they increased their total gross profit including F&I to $2408 per vehicle. Assumedly they are paying for reconditioning at cost, not retail, so no lift in the fixed ops departments. Nonetheless, not great but respectable given...
  4. hondadealer

    BREAKING news! Carvana & Vroom is bleeding cash. Is Ecommerce in auto DOA?

    Sorry, but I just don't see a path to profitability for Carvana. They are growing like crazy but to what end as there loss per car/sold is growing, not declining. There is nothing proprietary about what they are doing and no reason for a consumer to be loyal to the brand once they have...
  5. hondadealer

    How do you get around giving up price over the phone?

    What John said. Isn't this a big reason that dealers have a huge problem- the customer quite reasonably calls in to ask what the price or the best price on a certain vehicle and we go into a song, dance, and misdirection to avoid answering the question. Don't get me wrong, you still need a...
  6. hondadealer

    Does Google compensate Marketing Companies if they spend more in Adwords???

    What I find concerning about the relationship between Google, vendors, and dealers is that vendors are relying upon Google to train them on Google "best practices" on SEM. I'm sure that these "best practices" just coincidentally happen to also optimize Google's revenue model and drive click...
  7. hondadealer

    Dynamic SEM ads for Used Cars - Is there a way to improve efficiency?

    Either/or but I doubt that a home/brew process would be easy to come up with. I thought that there was a vendor who did this but not 100% certain?
  8. hondadealer

    Dynamic SEM ads for Used Cars - Is there a way to improve efficiency?

    Our SEM provider creates dynamic ads for all used vehicles that link to the individual VDP as soon as they are posted on our website. While this is a fast and efficient way of getting ads quickly online, I'm wondering if there is a better way? My dilemma is that those vehicles that are of most...
  9. hondadealer

    BREAKING news! Carvana & Vroom is bleeding cash. Is Ecommerce in auto DOA?

    I think that Joe's comment and Ed's video nail it. The technology is difficult but a much easier part of the process. What is needed is the willingness of dealer's to modify their existing sales model, processes and culture to align with the reality of digital retailing. That won't be easy...
  10. hondadealer

    BREAKING news! Carvana & Vroom is bleeding cash. Is Ecommerce in auto DOA?

    Fair enough. I just feel that it is more the case of dealers not willing to make the online process simple, easy, and secure with a money back guarantee, than it is a lack of interest by the average buyer. If rather than our BDC's asking the customer "what day would you like to come in today...
  11. hondadealer

    BREAKING news! Carvana & Vroom is bleeding cash. Is Ecommerce in auto DOA?

    If the above was true, we wouldn't have seen the massive increases in closing ratios over the past 10 years. Speaking of numbers, are you really going to argue that the reason that closing ratios have risen from 20 -25% to 40 -50% (higher on used than new) over the past 10 years is due to the...
  12. hondadealer

    BREAKING news! Carvana & Vroom is bleeding cash. Is Ecommerce in auto DOA?

    I think that as dealers we are missing the point. Online transactions should be seen as an opportunity for dealers not a threat. Here is how I see it: 1) We have seen a slow but inevitable movement towards online buying. Technology challenges and the complexity of the transaction have...
  13. hondadealer

    TAKE POLL Vehicle Subscription Models - Is Fair 'The Answer?'

    Is the model appealing to the customer? Absolutely. Is there any logical way that a manufacturer could offer it at a price close to what a lease or finance would cost? Absolutely not. Pretty tough to defy the laws of depreciation, maintenance, and interest. Will very rich people who aren't...
  14. hondadealer

    Why are most Dealership Service Department behind in digital marketing

    I think that the before you even consider digital (or any other type of) marketing as a "solution" for what ails your Service Department you need to ensure that you are already doing everything possible to retain your existing customer base. When you sell a car, you have a ready made customer...
  15. hondadealer

    Online Shopping to Online Buying

    Wow, quite the conversation. As a dealer who has been utilizing a buy online tool that we developed ourselves, for about 90 days, I thought that I would weigh in on the conversation. In general, I think that Ed has hit the nail on the head. We are not really concerned as to whether a...