- Dec 23, 2023
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- First Name
- Marvin
Hello there everyone, new independent in NW, Oregon. First time running a dealership, drove owner operator truck for the last ten years and had a general contractor license before that for about 20 years. I was always addicted to auctions, and that’s where I bought all the stuff for my previous businesses. It really helped when I was finally able to go to dealer only auctions in the Portland area. Although my auction anxiety was low, the auction prices always seem high. Been sourcing from everywhere possible, but I only sell on CL or from Drive-by sales, and I do join specific FB group sites to sell stuff on because they’ve already brought a lot of buyers to one spot, and it’s free to list. I don’t really have a website other than FB, maybe some day? Sorry I’m old school, don’t pick on me I just got my first smart phone 2 years ago lol. Just a nice clean little 100’x50’ lot but it was already paved and has a very nice little office. There’s 14 verifiable spots but I’ve never had more than 12. I wanted to get flooring but was afraid of the added overhead and cost when I was just starting. I’ve averaged about 4 car sales a month all year long. I’m right on highway 101 with a 5,000+ traffic count a day. All of my operating costs combined are about $2,700-3k a month+/-?. It’s a small farming town and 90% of my sales are from Drive-by, a lot of my customers hate computers and hate Portland worse. There’s only 3 dealerships in town and one is a new ford dealership that doesn’t sell many affordable daily driver cars and trucks. The other dealership in town has been there for 25 years and is CUDL affiliated and sells a lot of the same things I do, CUDL turned me down said I wasn’t big enough yet. Just been running it with around 60-70k in inventory and things have went well this year. Trying not to do all the stuff I hate about the big box stores, prices are listed in every window of every car, any known problems that haven’t been addressed yet are on that paper. Check engine lights are only erased when fixed. I’m very low pressure sales and only talk to people about the cars they come in to look at. I don’t bug people after they leave, I just didn’t like it when it was done to me so I don’t do it. I don’t offer financing yet of any kind, I have only sent people with titles and haven’t done any title processing yet(Oregon DMV makes dealers mail it in, and put the $hammer down on dealers with big fines that don’t get it perfect, not ready for that yet). I don’t add any additional fees for paperwork at the sale, and I give free 10 trip permits with every sale, they only cost me $15 and people feel good about it. Have looked at reyrey and dealertrac, but I just don’t see it helping me yet how small I am? I’m an older trucker and very thick skinned, in fact I think it’s impossible to hurt my feelings lol. Running a one person independent car lot, I feel more like a detailer than a car salesman though lol. I’m soooo tired of dog hair, smoke and sand lol, I don’t offer squat for trade when those dirty pigs come in.