Bought a car lot

CobraBob · Jan 3, 2011

The used car market is pretty healthy right now. If you stock the cream of the crop (vs. the mundane stuff) you might have a good market. Depends on the area you're located. We have a dealer in town who sells mainly higher end used stuff that he hand selects. His prices are reasonable. With good service after the sale you could have a winner there. Will you be servicing cars as well? Or just selling them?

Silver95 · Jan 3, 2011

I sell for Nissan....but wanna move somewhere nice n hot. Maybe I can work for you while living in a nice climate

Good luck man, I love the business.

sunburned · Jan 3, 2011

Good luck man. I've thought a lot recently about trying this out, but I think there are way too many small dealerships around here like yours. Mostly Persian/Indian dudes for some reason.

While buying my BMW, I went to many small car lots that specialized in higher end and custom cars, and eventually bought from one. The dude had everything from BMW's and Mercedes' to modded Supras and S2000's in his lot. Most of the places I went were in industrial parks where they just rented out a big open bay and made a small office inside. Then again, you don't have to deal with much winter weather.

Jaysin · Jan 3, 2011

Good luck! Hope everything works out exactly how you want it too, cool to see people venturing out doing stuff like this!

thomas91169 · Jan 3, 2011

CobraBob said:
The used car market is pretty healthy right now. If you stock the cream of the crop (vs. the mundane stuff) you might have a good market. Depends on the area you're located. We have a dealer in town who sells mainly higher end used stuff that he hand selects. His prices are reasonable. With good service after the sale you could have a winner there. Will you be servicing cars as well? Or just selling them?

Id actually focus more on the economical right now, especially with rumors/fears of $5/gal gas prices.

L82ford · Jan 3, 2011

Best of luck to you!

s_x_i · Oct 4, 2011

WOW! That took a lot longer than I'd expected...

oke:

So rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd bump this original one, keep all the updates in one spot.

My original goal when I bought the place was to be open on January 1st - boy was I off base! I spent a small fortune re-habing the building and getting the land ready. I poured some concrete, but not nearly enough, that shit's expensive. I have a solid driveway and entranceway, then it's back to the gravel until I save up enough for paving.

I'm going to spare you most of the details, but State licensing took until late May, then finance licensing took until the beginning of this month. There aren't too many people who walk into a dealership with cash (although it has happened) so I was turning people away left and right.

Well I just (like phonecall at 5:45pm) got approved with the final financing paperwork, I also got a generous floorplan in place for acquiring inventory. I only have 6 cars right now, but I have about $40k tied up in those. It's amazing how much capital it takes to operate one of these places. I WAY underbudgeted. Didn't help that my wife quit work last year to start our family. One income sucks! I've been comfortable for years, and now I'm back to scrambling! :O Do not like!

Anyways, I'm not going to post a bunch about this, or spam the classifieds with F/S threads, I just thought some of you might be interested. I plan on posting updates in this thread from time to time. My grand opening will probably be in about 3 weeks, I'll try get everything looking nice, then take some pics for you guys :beer:

If you want to follow along, you can like us on facebook: SpecialistMotorSales.com - Automotive - Bryan, TX | Facebook

Or you can check out my 60% completed website here: SpecialistMotorSales.com - Bryan College Station Used Cars I'm hoping to have it completely finished before the grand opening.

Let's see what the future brings! :burnout:

QuickV8 · Oct 4, 2011

like the flag on the logo

Red Turtle · Oct 4, 2011

s_x_i said:
WOW! That took a lot longer than I'd expected... oke:

So rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd bump this original one, keep all the updates in one spot.

My original goal when I bought the place was to be open on January 1st - boy was I off base! I spent a small fortune re-habing the building and getting the land ready. I poured some concrete, but not nearly enough, that shit's expensive. I have a solid driveway and entranceway, then it's back to the gravel until I save up enough for paving.

I'm going to spare you most of the details, but State licensing took until late May, then finance licensing took until the beginning of this month. There aren't too many people who walk into a dealership with cash (although it has happened) so I was turning people away left and right.

Well I just (like phonecall at 5:45pm) got approved with the final financing paperwork, I also got a generous floorplan in place for acquiring inventory. I only have 6 cars right now, but I have about $40k tied up in those. It's amazing how much capital it takes to operate one of these places. I WAY underbudgeted. Didn't help that my wife quit work last year to start our family. One income sucks! I've been comfortable for years, and now I'm back to scrambling! :O Do not like!

Anyways, I'm not going to post a bunch about this, or spam the classifieds with F/S threads, I just thought some of you might be interested. I plan on posting updates in this thread from time to time. My grand opening will probably be in about 3 weeks, I'll try get everything looking nice, then take some pics for you guys :beer:

If you want to follow along, you can like us on facebook: SpecialistMotorSales.com - Automotive - Bryan, TX | Facebook

Or you can check out my 60% completed website here: SpecialistMotorSales.com - Bryan College Station Used Cars I'm hoping to have it completely finished before the grand opening.

Let's see what the future brings! :burnout:

Liked! Congrats man, and the car business is not very easy. As you know, most think it is all gravy.

Are you going to specialize in anything or dabble in everything? Are you going to carry the paper for your challenged customers? Have you established relationships with lenders? Where are you getting your inventory from?

Sorry to ask a bunch of questions, but I am interested as I used to be in the business.

There is a lot of money to be made in the business, but you can lose your ass at the same time.

I wish you all the luck and success.:beer:

s_x_i · Oct 4, 2011

Red Turtle said:
Liked! Congrats man, and the car business is not very easy. As you know, most think it is all gravy.

Are you going to specialize in anything or dabble in everything? Are you going to carry the paper for your challenged customers? Have you established relationships with lenders? Where are you getting your inventory from?

Sorry to ask a bunch of questions, but I am interested as I used to be in the business.

There is a lot of money to be made in the business, but you can lose your ass at the same time.

I wish you all the luck and success.:beer:

I plan on assigning the papers to banks, I have relationships with several. I will carry paper later on, but right now I'm trying to get into the car business, not the finance business.

I generally get my cars from the Houston Auctions, but I'll also re-sell clean trades if they are good deals. If not, I just kick them to wholesale.

I'm going to be about 50% trucks 40% cars and 10% specialty, but right now I have to focus on bread and butter and keeping the lights on. I have a small fortune wrapped up out there and I'm about to add another 20 or so cars to inventory.

Just going to play it by ear and see what happens, there's a bar next door, so if any of you guys are in the area, be sure and stop by and say hi!

QuickV8 · Oct 4, 2011

u can get personalized license plate frames on ebay real cheap. could put your website URL on it. when a car sells, if the buyer keeps it on then its free advertising

Teal Terminator · Oct 4, 2011

Best of luck and congrats on making the leap to owning your own business!

lobra97 · Oct 4, 2011

should've been SVTPIITBMotors.com .....

Congrats thats really cool.

SVTullio · Oct 4, 2011

It takes quite a bit more money than one would think to start this kind of business.

-Buying cars at auction requires cash money.
-Said cars will need maintenance.
-Some need paint, tires, replaced windshields etc etc
-Always remember, the more cars you have on the lot= the more people that are gonna come to your lot=the more cars your gonna sell!

It is in your best interest to make a lot of friends who are mechanics, paint techs, sell tires, SMOG TECHS, people who do body work...

Plus you gotta be there all the time. I would imagine its tough to pay full time employees or sales reps right when you start.

Good luck, hope you do well.

s_x_i · Oct 4, 2011

SVTullio said:
It takes quite a bit more money than one would think to start this kind of business.

-Buying cars at auction requires cash money.
-Said cars will need maintenance.
-Some need paint, tires, replaced windshields etc etc
-Always remember, the more cars you have on the lot= the more people that are gonna come to your lot=the more cars your gonna sell!

It is in your best interest to make a lot of friends who are mechanics, paint techs, sell tires, SMOG TECHS, people who do body work...

Plus you gotta be there all the time. I would imagine its tough to pay full time employees or sales reps right when you start.

Good luck, hope you do well.

Truer words have never been spoken!

Luckily, I have money for inventory, I grew up in a shop, I'm a global mod for a local car club and I know a lot of people!

Interesting fact one of my bankers told me... he said that for small to medium dealerships, 50% a month turnover is average. If I want to do 20 cars a month, I should plan on keeping 40 on the lot. Not sure how accurate that is, but I guess we'll find out.

I'm definitely spending more and more time tied up with the place, I still have clients with my legal business, but I'm going to have to pay attention to the lot for a while - now we've got financing, my hand has been forced! Honestly, I'm really looking forward to it, I think we're going to do just fine.

Z28 · Oct 4, 2011

Good luck with the new business!

Red Turtle · Oct 4, 2011

s_x_i said:
I plan on assigning the papers to banks, I have relationships with several. I will carry paper later on, but right now I'm trying to get into the car business, not the finance business.

I generally get my cars from the Houston Auctions, but I'll also re-sell clean trades if they are good deals. If not, I just kick them to wholesale.

I'm going to be about 50% trucks 40% cars and 10% specialty, but right now I have to focus on bread and butter and keeping the lights on. I have a small fortune wrapped up out there and I'm about to add another 20 or so cars to inventory.

Just going to play it by ear and see what happens, there's a bar next door, so if any of you guys are in the area, be sure and stop by and say hi!

Look into carrying your own paper. I don't know what the laws are there, but you can make a fair share this was as well. 20-30% down and weekly payments....miss a payment or have to chase for the money.....repo the car and put it back on the lot.

It would also be wise to create relationships with the Used Car Managers at large dealerships in the area (or who send their wholesale cars to auction). You can save a lot of money buying wholesale cars from dealers before they go to auction, but it is tough getting in with a large volume dealer. Usually the manager requires you to grease his hand in order to sell you his wholesale inventory. Be careful at the auctions as you can be taken very easily. If you are an outsider, other wholesalers will beat you up when trying to buy a car.

Remember, Reconditioning is one thing but don't spend too much trying to polish a turd.

I would agree that you need to have the inventory to sell cars. Yes, 40-50 cars would generate 20-25 cars per month..... if you have the traffic or customers. Turn you inventory every 60days, whether it is trading or sending to auction. Stale inventory will drive down sales.

I never ran a small lot, but worked in the business for 6yrs.

heypal · Oct 4, 2011

wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man...need some of those

Looks good man good luck.

DVJ38 · Oct 4, 2011

Goodluck, the car biz can be tricky sometimes. Sounds like you have the right attitude for success though! :beer:

s_x_i · Oct 4, 2011

Thanks for the well wished and advice fellas! :beer:

I took the time and uploaded a few pictures:

This first one was right after I got in the place and I'd stripped the outside of the building, removed the sign, primes some of the walls and started working on the trim. Notice the condition of the fence.