Franchised dealers and exhibitors who go to the National Automobile Dealers Association’s largest event each year now can plan to enjoy the amenities of Las Vegas more regularly.
NADA’s board of directors recently announced that the NADA and ATD Convention and Expo will be held in Las Vegas every two years instead of once every four years. Officials said they recognize the shift in dates may pose scheduling conflicts during the transition years.
“Las Vegas is an extremely popular destination for the top-tier conventions and trade shows, and these events are booked many years in advance,” NADA president Peter Welch said.
“In order for NADA to move the convention to Las Vegas every other year, we had to change the dates from our traditional January-February timing for the 2016, 2018 and 2022 shows so that we could secure our desired timeframe in the long term,” Welch continued.
For starters, the 2016 NADA and ATD conventions will be held in Las Vegas from Thursday, March 31, through Sunday, April 3.
For planning purposes, here are the upcoming NADA and ATD convention dates:
• 2016 Las Vegas: March 31 – April 3
• 2017 New Orleans: January 26-29 (NADA’s 100th anniversary celebration)
• 2018 Las Vegas: March 22-25
• 2019 San Francisco: January 24-27
• 2020 Las Vegas: February 14-17
• 2021 New Orleans: January 21-24
• 2022 Las Vegas: March 10-13
Attendee registration and housing for what officials called the “Automotive Industry Event of the Year” will open in early October with an early-bird discount of $100. They added information on the keynote speakers, workshops and companies exhibiting in the expo hall will be available soon.
For more information, visit www.nadaconvention.org.
Chances are, before the last week, you hadn’t heard about The Appraisal Lane. That was on purpose.
Two years in the making, The Appraisal Lane (TAL), a real-time trade network and communication platform for used vehicles designed to conveniently fill the dealer-to-dealer niche with a mobile-friendly solution to provide quick cash offers on vehicles, has been working slowly to build not only its internal team, but also its clientele.
At its core, dealers and auctions can utilize TAL in three different ways:
- Submit vehicles for appraisal. Whether those are pending trade-ins, stubborn vehicles on the lot that are proving to be a tough sell, cars that didn’t sell on the auction block, or anything in between. Depending on the situation, TAL will respond with a cash offer within 10 to 15 minutes. Many times, those cash offers stem from outside buyers, which typically include dealer or auction partners.
- Buying cars. TAL has partnerships with many dealerships and a handful of auctions, some of which only utilize TAL services to buy inventory.
- White label customers. Dealerships or dealer groups seeking to utilize the TAL platform to power their own internal trade network can license a solution from TAL.
It all started with an idea between friends. Jeff Risner, Andrew Iorgulescu, Chris Tomchay and Scott Gales all co-founded TAL. If you think those names sound familiar, you’re probably right.
Risner, TAL’s president, and Tomchay, TAL’s chief operations officer, are college buddies who have worked together for going on 30 years. Together they currently co-own the Georgia-Carolina Auto Auction. Risner was also a founding associate at CarMax.
Iorgulescu, a co-founder of OPENLANE, has worked with the other TAL co-founders over the years and maintained a friendship that sprouted the idea for The Auction Lane.
“While Jeff was on the dealer advisory council at OPENLANE, Jeff used to come to me a lot at night and say, ‘Andrew, what we need to build is a ‘send check’ button for a dealer,’” Iorgulescu said. “And I would say, ‘I don’t know, Jeff.’”
But over time, Risner remained adamant and insistent that the idea — of offering an easy-to-access and quick, solid offer on cars — would be a concrete platform for a business.
So two years ago, the four got together and began working on the technology the system would be built on. In February and March of this year, TAL began testing the waters by putting beta dealers on the system, which ran through the summer. At that point, they launched the finished product as it is today.
As of right now, TAL’s buying and selling services are available in the Southeast and Texas, where the company’s founders rolled out initially due to their significant dealer, auction and transportation connections in the area. Iorgulescu also says that within the last week the company has launched operations in the Northeast and aims at hitting the Midwestern states next.
TAL’s white label solutions are available nationwide.
But there’s no timeline in place, however, for the company’s physical expansion. The company’s president made it clear that although its system is designed for international application it will take as long as it takes to build solid relationships with other companies and individuals in the business who TAL feels shares the same business ideals that they do.
“We’re trying to build a select group of folks,” Iorgulescu said. “It’s a community.”
“The response has been very positive from the dealer community,” Iorgulescu later continued. “We could be a lot bigger today, we could be signing up dealers left and right and center, but we’re very methodical about how we’re going to build this business because we’ve all done it before.”
Like many forms of technology today, words can only get you so far to take you toward an understanding of a system’s applications. To check out the full details of The Appraisal Lane or to get in contact with their team to request a demonstration, visit the TAL site here.
For more information about the company and more insight from the company’s team of industry veterans, stay tuned for future editions of Auto Remarketing where we will delve further.
On Wednesday, Ally Financial announced that it will renew its exclusive sponsorship of the TIME Dealer of the Year program through 2021.
Ally and TIME also officially opened the nomination period for the 2016 TIME Dealer of the Year program, encouraging nominations at last week’s annual Automotive Trade Association Executives (ATAE) Summer Conference in Dearborn, Mich.
The TIME Dealer of the Year is an annual program that aims to recognize and honor franchised dealers around the country who make outstanding charitable contributions to their communities.
“We continue to be impressed and inspired by the tremendous efforts of the TIME Dealer of the Year nominees,” said Tim Russi, president of auto finance at Ally.
“In recognition of these dealers’ dedication to their communities, Ally is proud to have committed more than $315,000 in charitable grants over the past four years to further amplify their local efforts,” Russi continued.
The 2016 TIME Dealer of the Year winner and finalists will be selected by a panel composed of faculty from the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan. The panel will choose the finalists from each of the four National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) regions, and from those four finalists, the judges will then select the national winner.
ATAEs, who represent state and metro area dealer associations throughout the country, can begin the process of selecting and nominating extraordinary dealers within their regions for the upcoming 2016 TIME Dealer of the Year award by visiting www.timedealeroftheyear.com.
Ally further recognizes each TIME Dealer of the Year nominee with a $1,000 grant to the qualified nonprofit organization of their choosing, and provides additional grants for the finalists and winner.
The ATAE who nominates the 2016 TIME Dealer of the Year winner will also receive a $5,000 donation to the charity of their choice.
“The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious accolades and we are honored to continue to be a part of it,” said Andrea Riley, chief marketing officer at Ally. “Automotive dealers play an integral role in their communities and we’re proud to recognize their efforts on a national stage.”
Earlier this year, Andy Crews of AutoFair Honda in Manchester, N.H., was named the 2015 TIME Dealer of the Year. Crews was nominated by the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association for his unique “Make the Grade” program, which helps motivate high school seniors to get better grades for a chance to win a car, and his contributions to numerous local charitable organizations in New Hampshire.
Nominees for the 2016 award will be announced in October and the winner will be named at the NADA Convention and Expo in Las Vegas, being held March 31 through April 3.
The Appraisal Lane (TAL), a trade network and communications platform for used-vehicle dealers, announced Tuesday it has hired TrueCar’s former vice president of dealer development.
Taking on the position of vice president of sales for TAL is Kenneth Potter, bringing experience from a variety of other well-known organizations, including positions such as the general manager of CarMax, the vice president of sales for Greenlight.com, the vice president and general manager of CarsDirect.com, and the chief revenue officer at SureSale.com.
Andrew Iorgulescu, TAL’s co-founder and president, as well as the former co-founder of OPENLANE, welcomes Potter to his team.
“Ken has built lasting relationships in the industry, with a proven track record of successfully growing sales and driving expansion efforts for businesses like ours,” Iorgulescu said. “He joins our team at a critical time, since we are actively rolling out our platform to targeted automotive markets offering significant growth opportunities. It’s an exciting time for the team.”
TAL’s real-time used-vehicle trade network gives dealers within its available markets the ability to post pre-owned inventory and receive cash offers within 10 minutes that remain good for seven days or 300 miles. At present time, the company’s services are available in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
“I’m excited to join The Appraisal Lane team and I look forward to the possibilities for growth in – and enhancements to – our industry,” Potter said. “Based on our analysis, over 36 million vehicles will be appraised this year, but until now, the wholesale used-car appraisal and acquisition process was inefficient. We’re transforming this process by sourcing wholesale experts to provide dealers with the most accurate offers quickly and easily through a fully mobile-optimized platform. The end result is improved business operations and, ultimately, more car sales for dealers.”
Stay tuned to further editions of Auto Remarketing as we delve further into the operations behind The Appraisal Lane.
Though Tesla’s direct-to-consumer model has caused quite a stir in among the dealer industry over the past few years, leasing marketplace Swapalease.com took a look at the consumer side of things with interesting results.
Though data from its latest survey shows shoppers are mostly in favor of Tesla’s direct-to-consumer sales model, they aren’t sure it would work for other automakers.
And Scot Hall, executive vice president at Swapalease, said much of the results are due to the fact though Tesla has done well, it remains to be seen if this model will work long-term.
According to the survey — which was presented to more than 2,500 consumers — 67.4 percent of women and 75 percent of men are “all in favor” of the manufacturer-direct model.
As for the slight discrepancy between male and female perception, Hall said it could be due to men being a little more inclined to look into a new way of buying cars, while women could be more comfortable with the current dealer market, in some cases.
“I think that was one of the most interesting pieces of data we got out of the survey all together because I would have expected that number to be closer than it was. Male or female, it would be a new way of doing things, regardless of sex,” he said.
And for another opinion, commenting on the results of the study, Anne Fleming, president of Women-Drivers.com said, “This survey clearly indicates that there is a lot of room for improvement with the experience women currently have at the dealership. While our surveys also indicate that this is improving, it may not be occurring fast enough.”
Hall outlined a few driving factors behind consumer acceptance of the direct-to-consumer model for Auto Remarketing, one of which is Tesla’s successful marketing and large voice in the industry.
“No. 1, Tesla is doing really well and keeps themselves in the headlines, and a lot of people know there has been a lot of debate over whether they should go with a standard retail model through the dealerships or go direct, and since it has gotten so much press, I think it has opened people’s eyes,” said Hall. “And you know it put in their heads, that maybe there are other ways to do this other than the traditional dealer model we have been accustomed to for the better part of 100 years at this point.”
Hall explained though the industry can only talk “potential benefits” at this point to the alternative model, one upside could be that with taking out the middle man, or dealer, it’s possible there will be better value for consumers down the road.
According to the survey, many would agree: thirty-three percent of women and 31 percent of men feel they could get a better deal directly from the manufacturer.
That said, Hall noted one potential pitfall, as well, since dealers are also seen as advocates of their customers.
“When you have a dealer involved in the mix, say you are having a problem with your vehicle, you then have someone lobbying on your behalf to help you get that vehicle fixed and make whatever wrong is right. In the direct model, you are going to lose that third-party representation,” he explained.
Interestingly, the numbers weren’t quite as high as Hall would have expected when consumers were asked whether they think the direct model would work for all car and truck brands; 50 percent of women and 57 percent of men answered "yes."
“Part of it is that I’m surprised the number was actually that low because all we are asking is, ‘do you think it could work for other makes?’ Not whether or not they are going to do it. I was surprised it wasn’t a higher percentage than that,” said Hall.
Though he noted he is neither a promonant of combatant to the alternative model, Hall said, "I think it was interesting that only approximately half of the people thought that would work with other existing makes. The reality is at the end of the day, it would be very difficult to remove the current model because of all the state franchise laws.”
That said, Hall pointed out, “If it works for one, it should work for others.”
For those consumers still loyal to the dealer model, 14 percent of women said they would still want to pick up their car at the dealer, compared with 26 percent of men.
Also, 50 percent of women said they can do service and financing without the dealer compared with only 38 percent of men.
When asked what would prompt consumers to go direct to the manufacturer for their next car purchase or lease, 50 percent of women said they wouldn’t mind avoiding the dealer negotiation process, compared to 46.5 percent of men.
Many in the industry have cited a distaste for negotiation and haggling as a factor that have driven many consumers away from dealerships.
And a lot of testing has been done among dealers on this point, with many dealer groups, such as Auto Nation’s SmartChoice Express digital sales site, adopting a one-pricing approach.
Hall thinks, though, many consumers still find negotiation as fun, or a little bit of a game, even though they might be loath to admit it.
“I think it’s also interesting that even if you do have a no-negotiation type process on the new-car side, I’m not sure how well that is going to work on trade-ins and other aspects of the transaction, such as arranging financing, and potentially aftermarket products and what have you. It remains to be seen how thoroughly that non-negotiation idea will be held to,” Hall added.
At the end of the day, Hall, who has experience in automotive retail prior to his tenure at Swapalease, said much of the acceptance of the new model among shoppers could be due in part to a lingering “used-car salesmen” mentality.
“I don’t really think that exists anymore in 2015, but a lot of people still have that in their head. I think for that reason, people are open to different ideas and whether it works for Tesla, which remains to be seen — it seems to be working well so far — which would be more representative of the luxury brands, but I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t work other household nameplates, like your Chevrolet and Ford, as well.”
As for what can be done in the auto industry to reverse the negative stigma often held for automotive dealers, Hall said a lot of things have been done, such as manufacturer customer satisfaction surveys, for example — “but it’s a hard fight to fight.”
“What is has typically see in many markets is 98 percent of dealers will do a great job, and it’s unfortunate that where you have a couple that don’t or maybe are a little bit older-school, if you will, and maybe have prolonged that stereotype, that negative noise gets heard above all the positive noise. And I think that is unfortunate."
In other words, “I don’t think public perception has really caught up with reality yet. Hopefully, that will happen sooner rather than later," he concluded.
An upcoming mark-up of a proposed Republican transportation bill featuring regulatory and consumer protection reforms, which may contain several provisions that could directly impact dealers, is scheduled for Wednesday morning. And several industry sources have already offered their thoughts on this measure (more on that below).
Update: check out some of the ramifications for used-car dealers decided upon at Wednesday's mark-up meeting here.
First, the basics.
South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, announced Thursday that the committee will convene Wednesday to consider and vote on S. 1732, the Comprehensive Transportation and Consumer Protection Act of 2015, which is sponsored by Thune and two other Republican senators: Surface Subcommittee chairman Deb Fischer, from Nebraska, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee chairman Jerry Moran, from Kansas.
The Republican transportation bill is fairly broad, affecting several areas including highway, rail and port-related provisions. Some of the most pertinent provisions of the bill for dealers, according to summaries provided by the Senate Committee, are included in the following excerpt:
Vehicle Recalls
Improves consumer awareness of vehicle safety information and requires franchised dealers and car rental companies to provide consumers with notification of open safety recalls. Increases the time consumers have to seek a free remedy for tire recalls and creates a state pilot grant to inform consumers of open vehicle recalls at the time of motor vehicle registration.
Provides Increased Oversight of NHTSA
Following a record number of recalls for defects linked to fatalities, high profile failures by the auto safety regulator and expert testimony that the most immediate needs are to fix fundamental problem of NHTSA’s defect identification and investigation process and not substantial increased funding, the bill requires the DOT Inspector General and NHTSA to provide updates on how NHTSA is addressing these problems and directs audits of NHTSA’s management of vehicle safety recalls, public awareness of recall information, and NHTSA’s research efforts.
Promoting Crash Avoidance Technology
Adds a requirement that crash avoidance information, such as active braking and lane-tracking technology, be included next to the 5-star information on the car sticker for consumers purchasing new vehicles.
(This chunk of summary, provided by the committee, is by no means exhaustive — read the full summary of the provisions here.)
The Republicans aren’t alone in their aims to make changes to how recalls and other such defects are handled. Democratic Party senator Ed Markey, of Massachusetts, also made an announcement on Thursday regarding his sponsorship, along with two other Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee, of “sweeping auto safety legislation” that was filed in the senate that day.
Along with senators Bill Nelson, of Florida, and Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, the trio, in part prompted by their committee’s investigations into issues such as faulty GM ignition switches and defective Takata airbags, seek to make even deeper-impacting changes on legislation involving how recalls and defects are handled. Two key provisions in the proposed legislation that may directly impact dealers in the used-vehicle market include the following, according to a release from Sen. Markey:
Sec. 205. Used passenger motor vehicle consumer protection.
Section 205 prohibits the sale or lease of a used vehicle that has an unrepaired safety defect or does not comply with an applicable motor vehicle safety standard. The prohibition does not apply to circumstances where recall information is not available or accessible at the time the vehicle is sold or leased.
Sec. 402. Dealer requirement to check for and remedy recall.
Section 402 requires authorized dealers to check for and fix safety defects subject to open recalls when consumers take their cars in for routine maintenance.
(To see the full summary of provisions, click here.)
Curious about how this may affect dealers, Auto Remarketing reached out to several in the business to see how they feel these pieces of legislation may impact the industry.
Shaun Petersen, the legislative and regulatory counsel for the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, shared some of his advice with AR about how he expects Markey and his fellow Democrats to try to get their portion of legislation passed.
“And just by the way of background, my guess is, I think Sen. Markey kind of alludes to it, that the provisions in their bill, they’re going to try to get marked up and put into the Republican bill,” Petersen said. “Because, obviously, the Republicans control the Senate, and Sen. Thune is the committee chair. That would be the vehicle for moving it, any legislation, if anything does move.”
Petersen also says we’ll have to see what sort of verbiage is used to draw out the Democratic bill, which refers to “authorized dealers” but, in his best guess, will end up targeting franchised dealers.
“Without having seen that specific language in the Markey bill … there’s a similar provision in the Republican bill that is applicable to franchise dealers, and our guys wouldn’t be affected by that because we aren’t obviously ‘authorized dealers,’” Petersen said. “Which is what I’m assuming the language that Markey’s bill will have to make it clear that it’s talking about (for example) the Chevy dealer servicing a Chevy car and checking the Chevy system to see if there’s any recalls.”
Independent dealers will have to wait to see how they may be affected. Regardless, Petersen says they will still need to utilize their franchised dealership connections to have repairs made to vehicles with safety recalls.
“We would absolutely have to,” Petersen said. “Certainly on the Republican bill, and then what I’m assuming is going to come out of the Markey bill, that element is not going to change. We’re beholden to somebody else to fix these vehicles for us, and certainly we want to make sure our customers are aware of information pertaining to recalls.
“And we, as a best practice, are going to advise dealers to get them fixed if they can and use that as a best practice and make sure that they’re staying in communication with their customers and disclosing recalls, particularly with those that can’t be fixed.”
When reaching out to others in the industry regarding these legislative acts, a representative from the NADA provided Auto Remarketing the following statement on behalf of the association.
“The National Automobile Dealers Association is a strong supporter of data-driven efforts to improve recall completion rates, and believes that legislative or regulatory proposals should avoid unnecessarily raising costs for consumers or unfairly punishing small businesses. The overwhelming majority of recalls involve issues that do not warrant the drastic step of grounding, which is why NADA continues to work with policymakers and regulators to identify the most effective, most efficient and most consumer-friendly way to increase the nation’s recall-repair rate.”
Another industry resource, vAuto's Dale Pollak, was quite clear with his dissatisfaction with the dealer-facing provisions of the legislation.
“The responsibility of checking and remedying open recalls for all used vehicles prior to sale is an excessive and unreasonable burden to dealers,” Pollak said. “This is because dealers frequently do not possess the resources, expertise and/or parts to make the necessary repairs. Moreover, this situation is exacerbated in light of the fact that dealers cannot practically refuse trade-ins on the purchase of new vehicles.
“These trades represent a significant portion of the customer’s payment, and therefore, the receiving dealer must have the ability to turn the trade quickly in order to convert the asset to cash,” Pollak continued. “The inability to do so as a result of the proposed legislation will likely deny all dealers the necessary capital to sustain operations.”
Pollak offered his own advice to the policymakers.
“A more reasonable alternative would be for dealers to identify open recalls and prominently post notice thereof on all affected vehicles,” Pollak said. “This would allow consumers the opportunity to make informed choices and would facilitate more efficient recall remediation.”
Dealers – what are your thoughts? How do you feel the proposed legislation may positively or negatively affect your business and your customers? Any suggestions? Let us know in the comments or via one of our other social media outlets linked at the bottom of the page.
DealerSocket has a simple suggestion for dealerships going into the Fourth of July weekend: Man the phones and make sure managers have a formal appointment confirmation process in place.
Why? DealerSocket data showed 93 percent of phone leads resulted in a scheduled appointment. From that point, the results could mean plenty of fireworks going off in the dealership in terms of principal-pleasing metrics such as average total profit and improved vehicle turns.
In fact, DealerSocket found that potential buyers set more appointments to test-drive used vehicles (34 percent) versus new models (23 percent). That higher test-drive penetration leads to more sales, too, according to DealerSocket, with 44 percent leading to a used-car turn and 38 percent resulting in a new-model delivery.
While that phone appointment led to a tidy average total profit for a new model of $1,428, DealerSocket’s latest information showed that average used profit is even more robust at $2,072.
When customers make contact with the store via phone, DealerSocket noticed the average turn for used inventory came in at 18 days with the new-model inventory selling at an average of 24 days.
And as that inventory turns, DealerSocket pinpointed three brands that are generating the highest average total profits. That group included:
— Jeep: $3,378
— Infiniti: $2,995
— Buick: $2,647
DealerSocket went on to highlight several other data points, reinforcing the importance of monitoring leads, especially on a holiday weekend if potential buyers aren’t just grilling hot dogs and watching fireworks.
The firm indicated the average total profits by lead source settled as follows:
— Floor: $1,867
— RevenueRadar equity-mining technology: $1,595
— Internet: $1,469
— Phone: $1,392
DealerSocket also shared the top five marketing channels by number of new prospects received and average total profit per vehicle:
— Dealership website (7,729 leads/$1,381 average total profit per vehicle)
— RevenueRadar equity-mining technology (3,135 leads/$1,703 average total profit per vehicle)
— Autotrader (2,276 leads/$1,231 average total profit per vehicle)
— OEM website (1,709 leads/$1,576 average total profit per vehicle)
There’s quite a bit of hubbub being made in the consumer-facing media following the recent flooding in Texas and the vehicles that suffered water damage.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau, based on estimates from Copart, recently reported that the fallout from the flooding affected between 7,000 and 10,000 insured vehicles in the area. While the majority of media is focused on warning consumers, this feature will hone in on protecting auctions and dealers alike.
There is a good chance that there will be folks who try to trade in a flood-damaged vehicle or that many of these cars may end up at the auction. But through Auto Remarketing’s recent conversations with dealers around the country, it seems there are a variety of ways for the industry to handle this challenge.
Dealers we’ve reached out to, from both coasts and even in the heart of our automotive industry in Michigan, have said they haven’t seen any impact in trade-ins or in the lanes from the recent Texas floods.
At least not yet.
One such dealer, who is intimately familiar with flood-damaged vehicles, is Frank Fuzy, owner of Century Motors of South Florida in Pompano Beach, Fla.
Positioned near the coast of the Sunshine State and less than an hour’s drive from Miami, Fuzy — with 31 years of automotive sales in both retail and wholesale settings — is no stranger to identifying the negative effects of water on vehicles.
“It would be pretty obvious if you had any more than a foot of water in a car,” Fuzy said. “I’m sure when the floods hit, it was probably that brown Texas color so I’m sure it would be excessively stained. I’ve seen some flood cars down when the hurricanes hit the Keys, and I’ve seen where I’ll have shells in the engine blocks in a Toyota or something. You can see the rust line and the water line, and fair enough, you can check under the seats, and they’re all rusty, too.”
One pro tip that Fuzy provides is simple: check the seat tracks to see if they will move.
“Those seat tracks will freeze up pretty quick if they’ve been wet,” Fuzy said. “So that’s usually a good tell-tale.”
Fuzy, although not worried about the potential threat, knows better than to not expect the unexpected, even though he hasn’t seen any sign of flood-damaged vehicles recently.
Fuzy said, “It’s probably that it’s not a real issue for us now, but it’s definitely good to watch out for.”
For any vehicle that has been mostly or completely submerged, Fuzy says it’ll be pretty obvious that you need to avoid it.
“A fully submerged car, if it was ever wet, I could smell it probably without even opening the door,” Fuzy said. “Those should be pretty easy to detect. The second item is if it’s submerged up to the seat lines — usually, if the power seats don’t work, that should be a red flag. There’s no reason the power seats wouldn’t work in the car unless it went under water and the modules got wet.”
Although a vehicle may have some flood damage, the extent of the damages may not mean the vehicle is a complete wash, so to speak.
“I have had Corvettes come in, they sit low, and I have seen wet seat tracks,” Fuzy said. “But the extent of the water in the car was about an inch or two, not like a foot underwater, so all the computer stuff works. It just depends on how you evaluate a flood car.”
On the West Coast at Capistrano Volkswagen in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., you’ll find Harry Haber, the dealership’s used-car manager.
Haber, whom we spoke with toward the begging of June, is approaching the situation with a conservative mindset, even though he hasn’t personally seen any flood-damaged vehicles in about a year.
“Anything from the Texas area, presently, if I see a registration or a prior history that a car was in the state of Texas I’ve been kind of shying away from those cars unless they’re from a financial consignment lane,” Haber said.
“Today I was previewing some cars and they had Texas registrations on them here in the state of California,” Haber continued. “They’re at the auctions. I marked ‘no interest’ on them.”
Blaine Marston, the general manager of the CARite location in Monroe, Mich., echoed a similar message.
“We have not seen any flood vehicles,” Marston said. “If discovered, we would not retail a flood-damaged vehicle.”
To recap, here are just a few spots recommended to check for flood damage:
- Seat tracks: Do they move? Are they rusty? Check the bolts on the rails and look under any caps — if the bolts are rusty, the vehicle may have previously been involved in a flood. If the vehicle has power seats, do they function?
- Engine bay and exterior: Are there water lines anywhere in the engine compartment or on the outside body/inside the fender wells? Rust lines? Unusual debris?
- Interior smell: Does the vehicle have a musty odor? Is any of the interior upholstery discolored or look unusually new or replaced
And for more tips on flood damage from the auction side of things, be sure to check the information on auction standards and various other resources available through the National Auto Auction Association website.
After announcing a fourth location back in March, AutoMatch USA is expanding its presence in the Sunshine State.
The dealership chain that specializes in foreign and domestic pre-owned vehicles of all makes and models has opened its fifth full-service auto super center in Ocala, Fla., located at 3550 South Pine Avenue.
The company also has locations in Morton Grove, Ill.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Fort Myers, Fla.; and Draper, Utah.
"We are pleased to announce the opening of our fifth AutoMatch USA location after experiencing great success across our dealerships in Florida, Utah and Illinois, and are very excited to expand our services to the greater Ocala area," owner Marcus Lemonis said. "As a company, we will continue to offer the best value for people searching for reliable and affordable transportation, as well as the financing, insurance and warranty to go with it."
The grand opening festivities for the store begin June 19 and will run through June 28. The store will be offering service specials, and complimentary lunch on weekends from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
A ribbon cutting will also be held with the Chamber of Commerce on June 19 at noon.
The company retails pre-owned vehicles from brands including Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Mazda, Jeep, Cadillac, Chrysler, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Porsche, BMW, Lexus, Toyota, Honda and more.
Cars.com said Tuesday that the site has reached a new milestone: 1 million consumer-generated online reviews of dealerships.
The company launched the review feature four years ago.
“We're proud to reach 1 million reviews for our dealer customers. It shows just how engaged Cars.com shoppers are during the dealership visit and the value they put on reviews in choosing who to do business with," said Barbara Mousigian, vice president of product at Cars.com and a 2015 Women in Remarketing honoree.
“Since we launched the feature in 2011, we've maintained our transparent and honest model for generating consumer feedback, which better serves our shoppers and customers,” she added.
Citing Digital Air Strike’s 2014 Automotive Social Media Trends Study, Cars.com noted that 91 percent of consumers use dealership reviews in picking out a dealership.
And at Cars.com, two-fifths of the new dealer reviews are about the service side of the dealership, the company said.
"A few years ago, online reviews were limited to restaurants and entertainment, but now they're essential to nearly all consumer transactions," said Mousigian. "We've seen a transformation within the automotive category, as both retailers and manufacturers have embraced the power of online reviews as a means to build their brands with potential customers."
As part of hitting this milestone, Cars.com has launched a new homepage that aims for a “more tailored consumer experience across all devices,” the company said. It includes more integration of Cars.com editorial content and service tools, and is designed to make it easier to browse inventory.
With the update, consumers can submit dealer reviews via mobile devices, including through the Cars.com iOS and Android apps. Additionally, Cars.com said automaker customers “will benefit from enhanced digital ad offerings.”
The company noted that the fully responsive site is scheduled to be complete in the first quarter of 2016.
“We’ve been working toward the development of a fully responsive site for several months. Earlier this year we launched new, responsively designed industry news pages, and the new home page brings us one step closer to our goal,” Mousigian said.
“We know consumers frequently transition between devices throughout their shopping process, often moving to a smartphone as they get closer to purchase. These site updates allow us to provide a seamless experience regardless of screen size or device preference,” she said.
