Avondale Toyota, located in the Phoenix metropolitan area, routinely makes Toyota’s list of top 10 certified pre-owned vehicle sellers in Auto Remarketing’s annual “Best CPO Dealers in the USA” issue.

That includes four consecutive years in the top five for Toyota CPO sales.

For general manager Alex Cosenza and the team at Avondale Toyota — Auto Remarketing’s 2026 CPO Dealer of the Year, an award presented by ADESA — much of that used-car success comes from its inventory strategy.

Emphasizing and prioritizing consumer trade-ins. A one-price philosophy on trades. Quick turn times. Dedicated reconditioning.  And maintain customer relationships after the sale.

Auto Remarketing caught up with Cosenza this fall to discuss that strategy and more.

Avondale Toyota has approximately a 72% trade-in rate and turns inventory in 13 days, on average, Cosenza said.

While some dealerships might have upwards of 300 used vehicles, Avondale keeps it leaner: about 130 or 140 used cars.

“And what I learned (from) that, when we’re doing that, you have to keep your turn high. Well, you know that you can’t buy that many cars that fast through auctions. So how do you get your cars?” Cosenza said. “And it’s (through) taking care of customers that come back in repeat referral business. That was really eye-opening for me when I started.”

The certified pre-owned market often leans on late-model vehicles. And that has been tricky in recent years, given COVID-era production shortages and leasing declines.

For Avondale Toyota, that means prioritizing trade-ins on new-car sales and cultivating customer relationships.

Cosenza said the store does have strong new-car sales, “and with that, we want the trade-ins,” he said.

“So, we definitely prioritize our own customers and prioritize customers that have trade-ins,” Cosenza said. “It’s not so much that we (just) want the car deal, it’s more we want the trade-in too.

“We want both. And so, we really emphasize on our sales staff to go after their own customers and keep in contact,” he said. “Because of what we do, we want the relationship just to be more than just a one-(time) transaction.”

That means encouraging the car buyer to come back to the dealership for the vehicle’s first service. And its 5,000-mile service. Its 10,000-mile service.

It seems to be working: Cosenza says 65% of the store’s business is repeat-referral, with most bringing trade-ins.

Granted, the dealership goes “the whole nine yards to find the right cars,” be it auctions, off-rentals, etc.

“But again, we’re not afraid to buy the late models because we’re not interested in playing the whole gross game,” Cosenza said.

“We’re a volume store. We want our customers to have the good deal. We want our customers to buy the cars that we have,” he said. “And yes, we make a profit, but at the same time, it’s a profit that is respectful, being a one price store in Arizona that no one else is.

“We have to price our cars outright. So, we buy them right. We take them in right. We have the margins we have and are able to turn that fast,” he said. “There’s not really a secret, but it’s a gamble though, because you are spending all this money on trade-ins a lot more than most stores are.”

Avondale Toyota has six used-car technicians dedicated to working on Toyota Certified Used Vehicle inventory and used vehicles. After an expansion for the service department, the store moved most of the used-car preparation tasks, including tire service and a photo booth, in house.

Taking an average of about three to four days to get a used vehicles to the front line, “It’s (about) speed, for us,” Cosenza said.

The dealership’s used-car manager Brian Ball was a service shop foreman, previously. They brought him in to run used cars.

“The training of my used-car manager was never to train my sales staff,” Cosenza said of the general role for a UCM. “I need him to get cars up front faster.”

And that’s certainly been the case for Ball.

“He came as a shop foreman, and we put him in used cars and he’s been killing it ever since,” Cosenza said. “His team of used car techs is definitely keeping up. That’s for sure.”

Ball will be among the speakers at Used Car Week, set for Nov. 16-19 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

He will be a panelist on the “Best Practices from Best CPO Dealers” discussion, set for 9 am (PT) on Nov. 17.

Later that day, Avondale Toyota will be recognized during the Used Car Awards Luncheon, also sponsored by ADESA.

The dealership joins a long list of top-flight dealers who have earned Auto Remarketing’s CPO Dealer of the Year award. Those include:

2025: Lake Norman Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram
2024: Longo Lexus
2023: Rick Case Volkswagen
2022: Andy Mohr Ford
2021: Roger Beasley Mazda South
2020: Mullinax Ford
2019: Cavender Toyota
2018: Trophy Nissan
2017: Kia of Irvine
2016: Fletcher Jones Motorcars
2015: Bill Luke Chrysler Jeep Dodge & Ram
2014: Hyundai of New Port Richey
2013: Galpin Ford
2012: Longo Toyota
2011: Karl Chevrolet
2010: Paragon Honda/Paragon Acura