Now that may be a hell of a comparison but if you stop and analyze it, it could go with anything that you are investing in and showing for a return on the investment. It doesn’t matter what it is: whether it is a show pig, a show horse, or a show truck. When we look at where these cars and trucks are coming from, where they are going, and the profit that is being made on them, it might make you want to stop and think.

I know that I’m the old guy here but there are a few things you need to be reminded of. Firstly, you are selling the finest made vehicles in the history of our industry. Believe me, I can remember in the eighties when 12 months or 12,000 miles, meant 12 months or 12,000 miles because they broke, especially if they were domestics. Imports were good for 50 years or so depending on how well they were cared for. The first thing that happened in that era was the body rusted off. After the warranties were gone, the engines locked up, the transmissions quit shifting, and the chassis fell apart. Here’s how crazy it is, they all had good brakes and rotors. It’s a wild business and industry. Today and for the last 10 years the automotive industry has finally come around to giving you a product to sell that you don’t have to back up to when it comes back as a trade-in.

There is no vehicle I would not want, unless they are extremely high miles and by that I mean over 175,000 miles. Up to 175,000 miles, I wish I had a double lot full of them. Those vehicles are a better quality and in better mechanical condition than we have ever seen in our industry before. The secret here is how to insure you do the proper recon and the proper explanation of the recon to your salespeople. You have to look at a lot of areas that you have gotten away from.

1. rotate and balance the tires on every trade you are going to sell. Not only does it make the vehicle drive straight and smooth but also reduces chassis wear.

2. brakes and rotors aren’t bad on every car you put into the service department. That really annoys me. I want you to go online and see what good rotors should look like and what bad rotors look like. Look at what good brake pads should look like and what bad ones look like. The first couple of times you walk a car out back for an internal and they call and say you need brakes and rotors, walk back and look at those pictures with the tech and service manager and all of a sudden the whole complexion of brakes and rotors is going to change in your world.

There are a lot of other things that this article doesn’t provide me with time to discuss with you. They pertain to cleaning the fuel system, how to insure the transmission is in tip top shape for less than a hundred dollars, etc. etc. When you put a vehicle on the front line, if you have followed the proper recon procedure and properly discussed this vehicle with your salespeople, you are going to have a vehicle you can be proud to sell and a customer that normally you would have never made.

Remember, the wholesale profit that we’ve seen (I don’t believe anything that comes off the internet. If I can’t research this from actual dealer numbers I’m not interested) averaged to a wholesaler, to an independent dealer is almost 600 bucks and that doesn’t even include freight. That doesn’t include anything. That is just the amount they get from what you paid them. Now the independent is making more money than they’ve ever made selling cars that scare the begeezus out of you.

Bone up boys, get in the game. Remember you’re a used car manager and you’re the backbone of the whole damn thing. Get serious and come to school.