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October 4, 2010
www.usedcarnews.com
Dealer Grows with Referrals By Jeffrey Bellant
ROSEVILLE, Mich. – Michigan’s economy may be struggling and its unemployment rate may be high, but that doesn’t slow down Al Tiano. The owner of A & B Motors was named the 2010 Michigan Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s Quality Dealer of the Year. “I was really excited when I found out,” he said. The dealership, which opened in 1993, stocks 120 units and includes a second location nearby that features a two-bay repair shop, Tiano said. He sells some cargo vans, as well. Two days after receiving his award, Tiano was back working his lot on a Monday morning. One couple was looking at a minivan while another customer was looking at trucks. Bus driver Zach Reed, who was browsing the lot, said several of his co-workers have purchased cars from A & B Motors, so he came by. Tiano said a lot of his sales are from referrals, and he
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offers $100 for those. “I can’t tell you how many checks I’ve written out (for referrals),” he said. The down economy has shifted Tiano’s business a bit, as he closes more subprime deals than he has in the past. “We partnered with Credit Acceptance Corp. about a year-and-a-half ago,” he said, “and that’s doing well.” Tiano also does straight retail deals along with some buy-here, pay-here. “I’m not doing as much buy-here, pay-here as I used to,” he said. Tiano’s inventory is made up of mostly late model units, 2006 and newer, with an average price of about $14,000. “But I carry cars priced from $5,000 to $29,000,” he said. The dealership’s repair shop is mainly for his own vehicles, though he does some outside work. Tiano hires retirees from a local church to move vehicles from the auction to his repair and reconditioning shop. Television commercials make up the bulk of his advertising. “More than 70 percent of my advertising goes to local (broadcast) television,” Tiano said. He uses a Detroit-based station that broadcasts reruns of syndicated shows, court programs and religious programming. Tiano said he runs ads throughout the day and not any specific time period. He has his salespeople in the television ads so that customers will recognize them when they come in. Although Tiano hasn’t been a member of the association very long, his late
Photo by Jeffrey Bellant QUALITY GUY: Al Tiano, ownerof A&B Motors, awaits business in front of his Roseville, Mich., dealership. Tiano is a familiar face in the Detroit area, with ads featuring him and his staff airing often on one of the local television stations.
brother, Joe, served as president of the Detroit Metro chapter. Tiano said he joined the association when a fellow dealer and longtime Michigan IADA member, Maurice van Collie, pressed him into getting more involved.
“Van just kept pushing me,” he said. Tiano is glad he did and received his Quality Dealer of the Year award during a, ceremony in Dearborn, Mich., on Sept. 25. Tiano said he looks forward to competing against other state winners for the
National Quality Dealer of the Year award, which will be given out at the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s annual convention in Las Vegas next June. (See one of the competitors for the national title on page 14.)
IN THIS ISSUE • Dealers react to new consumer finance laws. – Page 3
• Remarketers share their views on the industry. – Page 8
• Changes give teeth to curbstoning rules. – Page 6
• CarMax saw higher profits in its latest quarter. – Page 16