Retail Markets

Mississippi

Randy Luster, owner, Hazlehurst Auto Sales, Hazlehurst, Miss.

“We opened in 2012 and have always been at the same location.

“COVID caused changes, but now we’re going back to the way we used to do things.

“Obviously, the biggest thing that changed was our costs.

“Our average ACV (actual cash value) right now is double what it was three years ago.

“It absolutely affected getting employees and we had to pay them more to keep them.

“Our average inventory, not counting tax season, is 25-30 vehicles. I like to take tax season out of it because those are future numbers, so we average 15 sales a month. In February and March we usually sell 60.

“Probably 60-70 percent of our sales are SUVs, 30 percent cars. We don’t sell a lot of pickup trucks because we’re buy-here, pay-here. I can buy two cars for what I pay for one truck.

“Everyone wants a truck until you get one on the lot. You put four or five trucks out and since you’ve got to get so much down on them, no one buys them.

“I go to auctions in person because as a BHPH I can get burned online. Most of the cars I buy I try to check out ahead of the sale.

“You know, most dealers don’t want to give out what their favorite auctions are, but I like Dealers Auto Auction in Jackson, Miss. I frequent the Atlanta and Dallas markets.

“Our average down payment for last year was $2,200. We try to keep ev- erything under four years.

“If there’s something to do to a car, I do it. Most of our reconditioning costs are on repossessions

“I’m not really looking for an average age of a car, it’s really just about price. I’ve got to buy something that I can get a decent down payment on.

“My average vehicle is probably 10 years old.

“One of the biggest things that helped me is that I operated on the skinny for 10 years, just trying to build it.

“I’ve got friends who sell a couple cars, make some money on ‘em and then spend it, instead of reinvesting it. If you do that, you can run yourself out of cash real quick.

“The last car I sold was a 2009 Hyundai Sonata with 119,000 miles. I sold it for $9,995.”

Garrett Smith, co-owner, Smitty’s Auto Sales, Greenfield, Ohio

“My grandfather started our business in 1947. Now I co-own it with my dad.

“The size of our inventory fluctuates. The number we have on the lot, being a small-town dealer with not that big of a parking facility, the most we’ve ever had is 45-50 cars.

“Right now, we’ve got about 30. We probably sell four to seven a month.

“The price of gas is going up. Gas prices are kind of like Forrest Gump and a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. Cars are like that, too. People just want something to get them from point A to point B.

“We go regularly to the auctions, if possible. But that takes away from us being at the shop. We try to go Tues-

Compiled by Ed Fitzgerald

days through Thursdays. Or we’ll go online to find a certain car that someone is looking for.

“I don’t do any buy-here, pay-here. In some cases, if they’re local, and they’re just starting out, we’ll try to help.

“But sometimes someone who likes a $40,000 car has only $200 to put down. There’s only so much you can do. We’re starting to see a trend where people will buy late-model, high-mileage cars.

“I always want to help people get something better than what they used to have.

“My dad always said we’re not a new-car dealership and we’re not here to make a lot of money. But this is our business and our passion.

“The last car I sold was a 2018 4WD, very clean, Jeep Cherokee, with only 54,000 miles. We sold it for $19,245.”