View Single Post
Old 02-10-2017, 08:04 PM   #7
Benny
New Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 4
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by mryan55 View Post
Benny -- question from the new car side of the room... do you find that specializing in off-lease vehicles puts you directly in the targets of CPOV or even new car lease customers? I'm always interested when I see an independent with loads of late model stuff that is off-lease. Of course, here in my neck of the woods new car lease penetration is 70% to 80% for domestics, so sometimes late model used is just a tough sell with the prevalence of leasing.
I very rarely lose sales to CPO vehicles at the franchise dealerships. I am very aggressive with my pricing and I think that is what helps. I'm out in the country, about a half hour from the city, so if I don't price aggressive it is hard to get people to drive out to me. Some people are too lazy to drive an extra 15 minutes to save a thousand dollars or more, other times I'll get people who drive 2 hours to save a bundle.

Occasionally people will ask if my vehicles are CPO. Usually the customer doesn't quite understand what certified means and that I can't offer a certified vehicle to them. I take the time to explain it. If someone is a serious buyer, they usually come out and at least look at my vehicle. Every once in awhile I get someone who has to have a CPO vehicle and I lose that sale. Most people are just looking for the best deal and realize you probably will come out ahead by not buying a CPO vehicle if you play the odds.

I've never heard from a customer that they decided to lease a new vehicle instead of buying one of my off lease vehicles. The people that seem to buy off lease cars are interested in owning their vehicle, not leasing it. They enjoy getting a slightly used car with low miles that still has factory warranty. They like letting the first guy "eat the depreciation."

I can say that I think it is harder to sell only off lease cars. Sometimes they can get close to competing with the price of new cars. I have that problem right now with Honda Civics. I think it's easier to sell middle of the road or lower end cars if you want a faster turn.

Last edited by Benny; 02-10-2017 at 08:07 PM.
Benny is offline   Reply With Quote