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New Mexico
Roger Barkoff, owner, Affordable Auto Sales, Albuquerque, N.M.:
“This store has been here for 25 years, I took it over five years ago.
“We stock somewhere between 40 and 45 cars. We turn about 35 a month. We’re up at least 12 percent in sales from last year.
“We really like import cars, and some domestic trucks. The Acura 3.2 TL is probably our favorite car.
“We mainly carry cars that are under $10,000. But sometimes we stretch that to $12,000.
“We’ve been getting newer and nicer cars, so our prices are higher from last year. Our sweet spot has changed. Our typical vehicle is a 2000 model year Japanese car with between 80,000 to 100,000 miles. We’re getting pickier. Better cars for better customers.
“Our average cost per unit was $3,800 last year. Now it’s about $4,800 per unit.
“We price our cars for retail, but we do a mixture of buy-here, pay-here, retail and wholesale.
“We do about 40 percent traditional retail, 30 percent buy-here, pay-here and 20 percent wholesale.
“Our buy-here, pay-here sales are usually for cars in the $6,000 to $8,000 price range.
“Our down payments are usually based on how comfortable we are with the customer. If it’s a customer we know, we may get nothing down. For others, we may try to get half down. Typically we ask for a third down.
“We do monthly payments. We use Enfotrace GPS devices.
“We get our inventory from a mix of new-car dealer trades and auctions.
“We go to Phoenix and we use Manheim New Mexico. We used to get more of our cars from new-car dealers, but lately we’ve been better off at the auctions.
“We try to do whatever it takes to get the car ready for sale without focusing on the cost. We do the detailing in house, but everything else gets sent out.
“We really don’t use the Internet a lot. We mainly advertise in the local shopper. We also get a lot of repeat and referral business.
“I’ve owned this place for five years, and right now I own all my inventory and notes.
“We just sold a 2001 Ford Explorer with 130,000 miles for $4,300.”
Pennsylvania
John Kyner, president, Kyner’s Auto Sales, Chambersburg, Pa.:
“This is our 40th year. I started this dealership years ago, and it’s grown into one of the largest dealerships in Pennsylvania.
“There was a time a couple of years ago that we were selling 100 cars a month on the retail side and about 250 a month on the wholesale side. Needless to say it’s just not like that anymore.
“We carry between 150 and 175 cars.
“Right now we’re usually retailing about 40 cars a month and wholesaling about 60. From two years ago, we’re off by about 50 percent on the retail side and 70 percent on the wholesale. A year ago we were doing about the same.
“Things were really going good two years ago. We saw the start of the downfall in September 2007. Then 2008 was mediocre.
“In 2009 we’ve maintained a decent profitability after we scaled down and made some cuts.
“We did pretty well in the first three quarters. The bottom line was good, and that’s what matters. October and November weren’t as good, and December was typical. I usually don’t make a profit in December. I have made money in December maybe twice.
“I carry a mix of pretty much everything. We have everything from 2009 to whatever, it’s a good cross section of everything here.
“I keep about 50 percent cars, 25 percent SUVs and 25 percent trucks.
“Trucks and SUVs do very well in our market.
“Our average retail price is between $12,000 and $14,000, but we pretty much buy based on what we feel the car’s worth in our market.
“We aren’t a buy-here, pay-here dealership.
“A lot of the other dealers I talk to have been complaining about financing and floorplanning.
“We have a couple of local lenders that have been doing a good job for us. They’re still buying pretty deep.
“We get most of our cars from new-car dealers, but there was a stretch four or five months ago where we couldn’t get anything.
“Right now, new-car dealers just aren’t trading as much and some of my regular buyers have gone into other lines of work. Things really are tough.
“We recently started buying some cars online through OVE and Openlane. That has really helped us to fill in some spots in our inventory.
“I also get cars from off the street, but new-car dealers have been my best source of getting good inventory.
“I think that makes for a good situation for the dealers on both sides. It saves them the expense of hauling the car to the auction, and it saves us the expense of going there and paying fees.
“With the auction fees and other costs eliminated, we’re probably saving $500 on each car, which is a good thing.
“Sometimes it seems like the auctions make more per car than the dealers.
“We do recondition each vehicle if it’s needed. I have an 18-bay reconditioning facility with three full-time workers and a part-timer.
“We do almost everything here, but we send out all the paint and body work. We don’t do automatic transmissions here either.
“We advertise in the local newspaper and radio station. We’re also on AutoTrader.com, Cars.com and our own Web site.
“Overall we still manage to hold our own.
“We recently sold a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a 2007 Chrysler Town & Country and a 2002 Land Rover.”
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