Wholesale Markets

Texas

Wayne Cook, president, Greater Tyler Auto Auction, Tyler, Texas

“Volumes have been off here since June hit. I don’t know what happened. I must have missed it. Since June our numbers have been dipping some.

“We were running closer to 250 before June and now it’s (around) 200.

“Retail has been slow for a lot of the dealers, especially the buy-here, pay-here guys. What seems to be the problem is we get some high-end cars and then we get some that are older (with more mileage) and need work. There’s not as many of the cars in between those.

“People kept these cars during the pandemic and put more miles on them because they couldn’t find anything to trade for.

“Now, ½-ton trucks are getting to be everywhere.

“The heavy trucks are bringing in money even if the used have softened. I say that even though we just sold a 2020 or 2021 Ford-350 diesel for $65,000. Those trucks are still in big demand.

“Overall, we’re selling close to 60%. Now dealers are picking and choosing a little more.

“We sell mostly dealer vehicles and some repos.

“We recently got over 200 bidders in a recent sale. We just need some more cars. I’m hearing some slowness from new car stores because, along the way these interest rates (hurt).

“Online sales are about 10 to 15%. We have some people who used to attend the auction are now buying online. I think what helps an auction online is that (bidders) feel good about us and our post-sale inspection process and that we try to be fair. We don’t have favorites.

“One thing we’ve seen an uptick in is GSA cars. We do that once a month. It happens on sale day, with GSA in the morning and our regular sale in the evening. Next one is July 11. This one I expect 60-70 and I believe the number is only going to accelerate.

“Overall, I think the car business is going to get better. There’s a pent-up demand.”

Wisconsin

Kristie Letizia, president, Greater Milwaukee Auto Auction, Milwaukee, Wis.

“Our consignment has gone up from 500 to 600 cars a week.

“What we’re noticing is that the new car dealers are starting to get more inventory and they’re sending them