Why "I Can't Find Cars" Is a Lie You're Telling Yourself

Am I hearing you right of what you're saying? Am I understanding that right?

Yes.

Yes.

So your best, your best wholesaler, so Justin Campbell, who's, you know, my partner, owner of Unique Auto.

Justin Campbell is really amazing at understanding the wholesale market and how the wholesale market and how the retail market impacts his wholesale market.

Meaning, if he doesn't have a thorough understanding of when I bought this car, what dealer is going to come into my lane and buy this car from me, I lose.

So there is no wishful thinking, right? E- on the wholesale side, your best wholesalers, you know, Justin Campbell, Unique Auto, Bob Hollinshead, Give Me The Vin, right? Like, all these guys, they understand who's coming into my lane to buy this car.

Am I just taking a chance and buying a $50,000, $100,000 car? I already have someone in mind that's going to show up and buy that car.

So that's number one.

But then you think about this and you go, "So how does that translate to me, the retailer?" Well, I need to work backwards.

I need to understand that if I don't have a customer for this vehicle, all the data points to I don't sell these things well at all.

I'm a Ford store, and this is a Nissan Altima, and I haven't sold a Nissan Altima, you know, in the last 90 days profitably, and every time I have one, I'm sitting on that vehicle and it's waiting to age out on me.

Well, I have to understand that because my value, I, I'm not going to give market value perhaps on that vehicle knowing that I have to go take that car to auction, and I need to be able to sell that car profitably at auction.

So my value might look a little differently on that vehicle, right?

Mm-hmm.

More times than not, when I hear, and, and I talk to dealers across the country, and I hear the same things that you hear, right? Like, "Well, wholesale, wholesale, I gotta have a wholesale exit strategy." Why are we thinking about wholesale exit strategy when you just told me you have five leads on that same like vehicle, and you could sell the one today and have four more customers lined up tomorrow that still want to buy this vehicle?

Mm-hmm.

Why are we talking about wholesale exit strategy on a vehicle that clearly is a vehicle that you're going to retail profitably and turn it fast? That's the part that doesn't make a, a lot of sense when you, when you hear that.

And so when I say that back to dealers, they go, "You know what? You're right.

I could be stronger on this vehicle." Great.

Mm-hmm.

Let's go be stronger on that vehicle.

Let's be stronger on that vehicle, and let's be stronger on that vehicle whether we're stronger on that vehicle in the appraisal lane, my service drive, Facebook Marketplace, let's be strong there.

Mm-hmm.

Also, equally, let's be strong at the auction on that vehicle as well.