by
Robert Hollenshead
6/26/2013 9:06:38 AM
Friday is shaping up to be as balanced as I have ever seen
it, but first let me tell you about the largest wholesale market in the world,
nobody shows up. I have been selling in
the 17545 for 42 years and I have never seen it like it is now. If it weren't for Simulcast, there is nobody
to sell a car to. Either there are
really good places to find cars (that you need a special password to find, I
don’t know what or where it is) or nobody needs them.
I was talking to a dealer from Dallas Friday and IO asked
how the market was. He replied that is
was high as a kite. I asked what he was
looking for after I got up off the floor. He said what everybody says when they
are asked what they want, exactly what doesn't exist with the exception of our
lanes. But break that done; Low mile, good Car fax, no paint work 2010
and down, right color, white or black,
More...
|
by
Robert Hollenshead
6/22/2013 9:40:44 AM
I have to say something that is becoming clear to me. I have been trying to deny it but it is now a
pattern that only a fool would rationalize and disagree with. Used car dealers are going extinct. I bet you 15 guys per week, in idle
conversation, tell me they are struggling
or are in real trouble. But think about
it. The dealer management systems that
have become pervasive, which dictate selling illogical merch retail for low
profit, fast turn, as opposed to stocking brand specific merch that grosses way
better and results in better dealer/ customer experience as well, has cut way
down on wholesale/auction selection.
This in conjunction with the cost of acquisition and sci-fi auction
associated finance cost has overwhelmed some of the best used car dealers in
the country. I’m talking about generational
businesses that are/were not
More...
|
by
Robert Hollenshead
6/20/2013 9:36:15 PM
As always it is impossible to predict the market on any
given sale day, and today was no exception. I was really looking to kick some ass today, instead I took a whooping.
I liked what we had and we sold 44 % of all dealer cars sold
today at the sale. But it was gruesome from
beginning to end. No action, no hunger,
no energy, and no people. It was a ghost
town at the 17545 today. I walked in at
8:55AM and it looked like a neutron bomb was set off, building was there but no
human beings. We sold everything but
without simulcast you could forget about it.
We had a simulcast bid on nearly every car, but the last little bit you
need to make a ham sandwich simply was not in the room.
So if anyone that writes the silliness you read in all the
publications that cars a scarce and dealers need cars, discount
More...
|
by
Robert Hollenshead
6/19/2013 3:30:02 PM
Because of this temporary trend that many dealers are being
guided into by different initiatives wholesale less, retail illogical units
based on their brand, fewer and fewer real cars are turning up at auctions (I say
temporary because sooner or later this fad will catch up with them and we’ll be back to
business as usual. It’s actually
happening now in many cases). If you
took a few minutes to look at pre-sale inventory there is close to nothing other
than units that are one click off of industrial waste offered for sale at
auction. When you look at what’s for sale at the average auction it is a raft
of rental slugs, 150,000 mile junks, and anything that is almost a car has a bad Car
Fax.
Just like every week, 52 per year, we have 600 units at
Manheim. I am sitting in the office reviewing
the merch. I am not bragging, but I
believe the group we pinched a
More...
|
by
Robert Hollenshead
6/13/2013 11:49:18 AM
Stinking or crisp, that is the question.
A car that has been smoked in is 100% unsellable to a none
smokers. That make the unit worth $1,000-$2,000
less, or in many cases more? This goes
for smells other than smoke as well.
Nobody can deny a stinking car is worth less than a crisp one.
If you are a car dealer, and we all know there isn’t anybody
on earth other than a car dealer that would read what I write, have you ever
owned a car or truck that smelled? Have you ever tried to get the smell out and
came back a day or two later after it was out on the lot and it smelled
worse? You are probably the guy that never
had the problem. You probably for the
cover-up perfume or the you bought the ionizer that actually worked.
If
More...
|