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May 16, 201 1
www.usedcarnews.com
Still Going After 70 Years Dealer Runs Store Started Before Birth By Jeffrey Bellant
Nearly 70 years ago, Roman “Slim” Sarwark opened up a car dealership, selling used vehicles and even an occasional new car. Today, his son Frank carries on the family tradition at Consolidated Auto Sales, a buy-here, pay-here store in Phoenix. The dealership carries about 80 to 90 units and sells 35 to 40 per month, keeping the family business alive all these years. How different was it from when his father started? Sarwark joked, “I don’t know what it was like when he started because I wasn’t born yet.” But he heard stories from his father, who earned his nickname because of his tall and slender stature. Slim was creative in finding ways to
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obtain inventory and draw in customers, his son said. “When he started, it was during the war,” Sarwark said. “So they weren’t making any new cars at the time.” Slim had to scour the neighborhood and area to find inventory for his lot, something that his son can appreciate in today’s market. Sarwark said his father used to go down to the newspaper plant and get a copy of the daily paper right off the press before it even was delivered. That same night, Slim would check the classifieds and call people who were selling cars and then purchase the vehicles – sometimes before people got their papers the next morning. Sarwark can relate to his father’s effort in a market with a short supply. “The challenge, in some ways, is kind of like today,” Sarwark said, “in terms of obtaining inventory.” By the 1960s, when financing a car meant 30 percent down for a two-year term, people were having a hard time getting financing. Slim started carrying paper, becoming a buy-here, payhere lot, and the dealership has done the same ever since. Sarwark said the dealership is still steady and he’s fortunate to obtain his inventory without need of a floor plan.
Photo by Mark Henle HIS FATHER’S SON: FrankSarwark, of Consolidated Auto Sales, carries on his father’s legacyat his Phoenix dealership. Sarwark added the family name to the sign to honor the memory of his dad, known as “Slim.”
He’s seen several dealers wiped out when lenders pulled their floor plans, even though they were successful and paid their bills on time. But Sarwark does face the challenge of acquiring inventory and price wars in the lanes. He travels to auctions and seeks out private sellers, just like his father did. Sarwark has brought his family legacy into the digital age, using tools like Craigslist and social media to market and sell vehicles. He also uses a Hispanic classified publication, but
doesn’t do television or radio anymore. Sarwark said, after all this time in the business, he sees these days as the most challenging, with everything from supply to financing to unemployment. “I think we’re in uncharted territory,” he said. Although the business name remains the same, Sarwark added the family name to the sign outside, as an homage to his father. With third-generation customers coming to the lot, families still remember Slim. Sarwark, who attends
auctions regularly, said his father was one of those guys who walked the auction lane like he owned it. If he wanted a car, he was going to outbid anyone else. Back in those days, a dealer carried a card so that when he won a bidding effort for a car, he would hand it to the attendant after the auction. Sarwark said when Slim saw a car on the block that he liked, he simply handed the card in right away, as a way of saying, the bidding was over. “It was intimidating to all the other dealers in the lane,” Sarwark said.
IN THIS ISSUE • Toyota and Honda make up a third of certified sales. – Page 3
• Buy-here, pay-here dealers face new regulations. – Page 8
• FTC plan looks at auto financing issues. – Page 5
• High gas prices start to affect consumers. – Page 16
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