Tweet
Originally posted by Kyle
View Post
Talk to Buzzo about the business as he was in it for a while and finally decided it wasn't worth it. I deal with plenty of TTN lots here in Arlington. You have to decide upfront what kind of business you want to run. I deal with both b/c it's just the nature of the business.
GPS will be a valuable tool. So far all the companies that I've dealt (and my dealers) kind of suck and are unreliable most of the time. Finding a company that works well for you will be hard IMO. I would pay a person to do your installs. One install guy that one my dealers uses will go out to the vehicle if the GPS quits working. He will either repair or replace the unit as needed. That's pretty nice to have at your disposal. Also, having GPS will reduce your repo costs and keep keys to ALL vehicles. I don't believe you have to tell the customer that you are keeping keys, but you do have to disclose the use of a GPS. The first time a person is late, with the exception of first payment lates, then work with them on it. After that, you can't afford to let them run late time and time again. Just repo the car after the first day late and you can't feel bad about it bc business is business. And yes I do repos.
I personally prefer to work with the ones that run a legitimate business. By this I mean, don't try to intentionally screw your customers. I know it's a broad statement, but if I gave you every bad example then I could write a book. My best dealer will work with customers far and beyond what would normally be expected. If a major expense comes up like a motor or transmission, then he will put up the money out of pocket to have the vehicle repaired and then adds the cost back on to the note (or maybe as a side note). I'm not sure how that part works, but I know he will finance repairs for customers if needed. His goal is to keep them in the car and PAYING. If something to the car right after the purchase and the customer just wants their money back, then he will refund the deposit on the spot. Most of the time he can usually get the customer into a different car so there isn't any loss of money on his part. Something else he has had very good luck with is keeping paying customers in newer cars. He has a feel for what paying customers like so if he brings a car in from auction that he thinks a customer might like, then when they come in to make a payment he will talk to them about current inventory. I'm not sure what he does about down payments in this situation though. I think usually he will defer a few payments and take a small down to get the person into the new car at a similar payment... keep paying customers paying!
I was just talking to a dealer today about his business and he told his exposure or "recapture time" on every vehicle he sales is at 13 months. Just remember that it will take you at least that long to get your initial investment back. He has this built into every deal that way so that he knows exactly how long until he starts "making money" on the deal. In the 6 years he has been in business, he has $3 million in notes that he is collecting on or have been paid off. That's not bad IMO! He said when it's all said and done he makes about 140% in return on his investment. I know that seems like a lot, but maximum interest rates are the only way you're going to make money. Most of his deals are around 24% if I understood what he was telling me. Another word of wisdom from him is to not do $500 down vehicles. If people don't have real money to lose, then they won't have motivation to even make the first payment. In 2011, he was my best customer b/c we were doing a ton of repos for him. So many that I eventually lost track. A slow week was 5 or so. His problem was that he was doing low down payments and customers would literally just be leasing the car until it was repo'd. He lost $600k in 2011 b/c of this and it nearly put him out of business.
This same dealer has told me time and time again that full size trucks and SUVs sell the best. So find what works for you and stick with it. Make sure to get decent size down payments, verify insurance and look for lapse in coverage letters, and make sure that payments don't get stretched out to far. For now this is all the advice I have for you, but feel free to ask me questions as they come up. PM me or find my number on here and call me.
GPS will be a valuable tool. So far all the companies that I've dealt (and my dealers) kind of suck and are unreliable most of the time. Finding a company that works well for you will be hard IMO. I would pay a person to do your installs. One install guy that one my dealers uses will go out to the vehicle if the GPS quits working. He will either repair or replace the unit as needed. That's pretty nice to have at your disposal. Also, having GPS will reduce your repo costs and keep keys to ALL vehicles. I don't believe you have to tell the customer that you are keeping keys, but you do have to disclose the use of a GPS. The first time a person is late, with the exception of first payment lates, then work with them on it. After that, you can't afford to let them run late time and time again. Just repo the car after the first day late and you can't feel bad about it bc business is business. And yes I do repos.
I personally prefer to work with the ones that run a legitimate business. By this I mean, don't try to intentionally screw your customers. I know it's a broad statement, but if I gave you every bad example then I could write a book. My best dealer will work with customers far and beyond what would normally be expected. If a major expense comes up like a motor or transmission, then he will put up the money out of pocket to have the vehicle repaired and then adds the cost back on to the note (or maybe as a side note). I'm not sure how that part works, but I know he will finance repairs for customers if needed. His goal is to keep them in the car and PAYING. If something to the car right after the purchase and the customer just wants their money back, then he will refund the deposit on the spot. Most of the time he can usually get the customer into a different car so there isn't any loss of money on his part. Something else he has had very good luck with is keeping paying customers in newer cars. He has a feel for what paying customers like so if he brings a car in from auction that he thinks a customer might like, then when they come in to make a payment he will talk to them about current inventory. I'm not sure what he does about down payments in this situation though. I think usually he will defer a few payments and take a small down to get the person into the new car at a similar payment... keep paying customers paying!
I was just talking to a dealer today about his business and he told his exposure or "recapture time" on every vehicle he sales is at 13 months. Just remember that it will take you at least that long to get your initial investment back. He has this built into every deal that way so that he knows exactly how long until he starts "making money" on the deal. In the 6 years he has been in business, he has $3 million in notes that he is collecting on or have been paid off. That's not bad IMO! He said when it's all said and done he makes about 140% in return on his investment. I know that seems like a lot, but maximum interest rates are the only way you're going to make money. Most of his deals are around 24% if I understood what he was telling me. Another word of wisdom from him is to not do $500 down vehicles. If people don't have real money to lose, then they won't have motivation to even make the first payment. In 2011, he was my best customer b/c we were doing a ton of repos for him. So many that I eventually lost track. A slow week was 5 or so. His problem was that he was doing low down payments and customers would literally just be leasing the car until it was repo'd. He lost $600k in 2011 b/c of this and it nearly put him out of business.
This same dealer has told me time and time again that full size trucks and SUVs sell the best. So find what works for you and stick with it. Make sure to get decent size down payments, verify insurance and look for lapse in coverage letters, and make sure that payments don't get stretched out to far. For now this is all the advice I have for you, but feel free to ask me questions as they come up. PM me or find my number on here and call me.
Comment