Used Car News 5/24/2021

Used Car News 5/24/2021

Legend of Sox & Martin Looks Back

By Jeffrey Bellant

IN THIS ISSUE:

• COMPLIANCE • RENTAL UPDATE

• RETAIL

Rush - Dated Material

MARKETS

There are a lot of famous duos in sports, from Ruth and Gehrig to Brady and Gronkowski.

But in drag racing, the duo of Sox & Martin is the one that stands out for those who knew drag racing in the 1960s and 1970s.

Two former competitors – Ronnie Sox and Buddy Martin – joined forces in the 1960s to create an iconic brand and a force in Super Stock and later, Pro Stock drag racing. In 2007, the pair was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, one year after Sox succumbed to cancer at the age of 67.

Today, Martin, 85, is still a car guy, working with his son Chris, who is president of Team EZ Auto in Fayetteville, N.C. “I’ve always been around cars since I was old enough to drive,” he said.

Martin remembers how he got into racing 59 years ago.

“I had an opportunity in 1962 to buy a new Chevy 409 and decided to go racing,” Martin said. “I ran it in ’62 but found out there was a guy by the name of Ronnie Sox. I raced against him and he won.”

By the end of that year, Martin wanted to partner with his competitor.

“I approached him and told him that Chevrolet was coming out with a new Z11 (Impala) in 1963 and, asked him, if I could get my hands on one, would he be interested in driving it?” Martin said. “He said he would and so I was lucky enough to get the car and lucky enough to get Ronnie.

“That’s where it started.”

Martin’s son, Chris, tells the story of how Buddy once explained why he turned his race car over to Sox to drive.

“My dad would say, ‘Ray Charles

could see that Ronnie was the better driver,’” Chris said.

Sox’s driving skills were legendary.

“He just had a God-given natural talent,” Buddy said. “He had tremendous hand-eye-foot coordination.

“Some people would get in a car and barely get it down the track and Ronnie could get in any car and get it down the track.”

With Sox taking over the driving duties, Martin joked he became the team janitor.

“The janitor does everything,” he said.

From marketing to mechanics, Martin was involved in every part of the Sox & Martin team.

The pair not only raced for the American Hot Rod Association, but it also ran for the International Hot Rod Association and the National Hot Rod Association.

“Plus, match racing was very big at that point,” Martin said.

“So, we would match race a lot, maybe three, four times a week.

This wasn’t neighborhood racing. The pair traveled all over the country.

Martin attributes the team’s overall success to a few different things.

“I think, No. 1, we tried to have our cars in top shape and put on the best program that we could,” he said. “Also, we were not like other racers who wanted to rope themselves off and not allow people

up close. We never did that.

“We would allow people to ask

Continued on page 5

CARFAX HAS THE MOST ACCIDENT & DAMAGE INFORMATION

DAMAGE LOCATION

MINOR

MODERATE

SEVERE

DAMAGE SEVERITY SCALE

NEW DAMAGE SEVERITY SCALE AND DAMAGE LOCATION TOOLS FROM CARFAX GIVE YOU MORE INFORMATION FOR BUYING AND SELLING. GET THE MOST ACCIDENT & DAMAGE INFORMATION NOW. CARFAXFORDEALERS.COM/UCNMAY

Dealer Compliance 5/24/2021

Industry Veteran Surveys Compliance Landscape

By Jeffrey Bellant

Nearly three dozen states are in legislative session at press time and those in the industry are keeping an eye on changes that could affect dealers everywhere.

One thing which is hard to anticipate is the repercussions of government policy.

Corinne Kirkendall, Passtime’s executive vice president of compliance and regulation, has been working closely with the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association on legislative and regulatory matters.

“The biggest things that I was seeing was restrictions on repossessions,” she said. “That was kind of the big thing when COVID-19 hit.

“But most of them have either loosened or expired.”

One place where restrictions remain is in Washington D.C. “It’s a unique situation because Washington D.C. has to get United States Senate approval,” Kirkendall said.

If lawmakers do not take any action on a new bill currently being discussed at press time, then the repossession restrictions will automatically be renewed.

The other issue, while not directly affecting car dealers, may be a precursor to other restrictions.

“We’ve been watching a lot of the moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions due to the pandemic,” Kirkendall said. “Because I feel like a lot of the stuff that they do on foreclosures and evictions typically rolls over into automotive.

“I think they lump mortgages and automotive together, typically.”

She said surprisingly there are more restrictions on mortgages and foreclosures than automotive repossessions.

Kirkendall said since everything happened so fast at the start of the pandemic, people didn’t think things through about how to handle these issues.

“Where do those payments go? Do we tack them on to the end of the loan? Do we renegotiate?” she said.

“All of those things have compliance issues that creditors have to think through.”

Dealers also have to think about when the appropriate time to repossess is after restrictions are lifted, she said.

Passtime’s clients simply follow the law, going back to where the contract was at the time of the repossession freeze, Kirkendall said.

Another issue has popped up in Illinois with the passage of a rate cap restriction.

The Predatory Loan Preservation

Act caps the interest rate at 36 percent, similar to the Military Lending Act’s restriction.

It will void any contract that exceeds the cap. Other states are looking at similar legislation, she said.

Kirkendall said states are also looking into privacy issues.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced the Consumer Data Privacy Act in March.

It would give consumers the right to know when businesses are collecting personal information, what personal information is being collected. It would also give consumers the right to opt out of businesses selling their information.

The law would also give consumers the right to ask businesses to delete any personal information that has been collected within the past five years.

Kirkendall said Passtime was able to work well remotely with its clients.

She added that the pandemic actually made it a little easier to reach out to new dealer customers.

“It seemed like people were a little more willing to listen because they had more time on their hands,” Kirkendall said.

In terms of serving current customers during the pandemic, Kirkendall said it depended on where the business was located.

Corinne Kirkendall

“If they were in Texas, it was business as usual,” she said. “If it was North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia, it was business as usual at the start, but then they shut down in the middle of the pandemic.”

Then a state like California has been shut down most of the time.

Being available to answer questions was critical, especially with the moratorium on repossessions and the nature of the Passtime payment assurance products.

Although the stimulus money has helped customers with payments, it has made tax season harder to pinpoint, especially as deadlines were delayed the last two years.

Continued on page 8

Judge Sentences Another UAW Leader to Prison Dennis Williams, the former president of the United Auto Workers union, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for conspiring with other UAW officials to embezzle UAW funds, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Saima S. Mohsin.

Williams, 67, of Corona, Calif., was sentenced to 21 months in prison, $132,000 in restitution, one year of supervised release, and a $10,000 fine by U.S. District Judge Paul Borman based on his conviction for conspiring with former UAW President Gary Jones and other senior UAW officials to embezzle UAW dues money between 2010 and September 2019.

Between June 2014 and June 2018, Williams served as the president of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. The UAW represents over 400,000 active members and

over 580,000 retired members in more than 600 local unions across the United States. Prior to serving as UAW President, Williams was the secretary-treasurer of the UAW from June 2010 through June 2014.

Williams was convicted of conspiring with at least six other senior UAW officials in a multi-year conspiracy to embezzle money from the UAW for the personal benefit of himself and other senior UAW officials.

UAW officials concealed hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenditures as part of the cost of UAW conferences held in Palm Springs, Calif., Coronado, Calif., and Missouri.

Williams and his co-conspirators used the conferences to conceal UAW funds spent on lavish entertainment and personal spending for all of the conspirators.

As part of his conviction, Williams

admitted that he and other senior UAW officials used UAW money to pay for personal expenses.

As part of the court’s sentence, Williams was ordered to forfeit a custom-made set of Titleist golf clubs and various golf clothing and equipment seized from Williams during an August 2019 search of his residence.

In addition, Williams has been ordered to pay $15,459 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service on embezzled items that he personally received. Finally, the Court ordered Williams to pay $132,517 in restitution to the UAW. Williams is the 16th defendant convicted in connection with the ongoing criminal investigation into corruption within the UAW or relating to illegal payoffs to UAW officials by FCA executives In December 2020, the United States filed a civil lawsuit against the

UAW under the Anti-Fraud Injunction Act based on the criminal investigation of the UAW, FCA US LLC, and FCA’s executives. Subsequently, the United States and the UAW entered into a Consent Decree to settle the lawsuit that was approved by the U.S. District Court.

The United States has proposed a candidate to the court to serve as the independent monitor of the UAW for the next six years.

The monitor is tasked with providing federal oversight of the UAW concerning fraud, corruption, and misconduct within the UAW. In addition, the monitor will conduct and oversee a referendum of all UAW members to determine if the membership wants to adopt a direct election, also known as “one member, one vote,” method of electing the members of the UAW’s International Executive Board.

Continued on page 8 3

People in the News 5/24/2021

all its locations.

Tucker now oversees a team of America’s Auto Auction has recogfour, managing graphic design, web nized Megan marketing, Tucker for her social media contributions broadcastto the coming and digipany, naming tal and print her the recipiproduction ent of its Spotfor internal light Award and external for the month marketing colof May. As the Megan Tucker Mark Ford lateral. national graphics/web marketing manager, she directs brand Manheim Announces Changes Manheim announced that Mark awareness and marketing strategies for the company and its 23 auto auc- Ford, regional vice president for the Florida region, will retire at the end tion locations.

Tucker has worked for America’s of this year, capping off a 33-year caAuto Auction since 2007. She began reer.

The company also announced the at America’s Auto Auction Greenville in South Carolina as a part-time promotion of two new auction manoffice clerk. She stepped in to help agers within Manheim’s Mid-Atlanwith some of the auction’s market- tic Center at locations in Maryland ing activities, relying on the training and Virginia.

Since 2013, Ford has been responshe had received in pursuing a degree in graphic arts from Raleigh NC sible for Manheim’s 12 operating loSchool of Communication Arts. She cations in Florida.

Ford began his automotive career soon was handling the marketing for

Auction Group Honors Staffer

as a condition report writer at Bishop Brothers Auto Auction in Atlanta before joining Manheim in 1989. He held leadership positions at several Manheim sales before being named market vice president of the North CenJohn Gleason tral Market in 2010.

Manheim also announced two promotions within the Manheim Mid-Atlantic Market Center.

Chad Spearman has been promoted to auction manager for Manheim Baltimore-Washington in Maryland.

Previously the location’s assistant general manager, Spearman joined Manheim in 2013. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern University, a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Ashford University.

Danielle Sweet has been promoted to auction manager for Manheim Fredericksburg in Virginia. She began her career with Manheim in 2015 as field sales manager. Most recently, she was assistant general manager for Manheim operations at Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Rochester.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a marketing/management concentration, from St. Catherine’s University.

DealerSocket Adds Director

DealerSocket, earlier this year, announced the appointment of John Gleason, current Chief Sales Officer at Ryder System Inc., and former chief sales officer at ADP and CDK Global, to its board of directors.

“John brings a deep understanding of the automotive industry as a transformative sales leader for the past 30 years,” said DealerSocket CEO Sejal Pietrzak, “and we look forward to leveraging his valuable perspectives and insights as we launch our unified solution that seamlessly integrates our Auto/Mate DMS with our CRM and Inventory+ product.”

As chief sales officer at Ryder for the past 12 years, Gleason has transformed the logistics and transportation company’s sales organization, spearheaded the creation of an inside sales channel, and was instrumental in driving Ryder’s revenue growth and market share.

Prior to joining Ryder, Gleason spent 30 years with ADP and CDK Global (formerly ADP Dealer Services) as chief sales officer for worldwide sales.

4

Volume 27 | No.3 Published By General Media LLC USED CAR NEWS (ISSN 1555-7413) is published at : Used Car News P.O. Box 80800 St. Clair Shores, MI 48080 Phone: 586-772-5200 or 800-794-0760 Fax: 586-772-9400 www.usedcarnews.com Charles M. Thomas Founder (1947-2002) Lynda R. Thomas, Publisher Emeritus Colleen Fitzgerald, Publisher Editorial: Jeffrey Bellant, Managing Editor Ed Fitzgerald, Staff Writer Advertising: Shannon Colby, Account Manager Tony Moorby Columnist: Circulation: subs@usedcarnews.com Production: Tom Savage, Production Manager Cee Lippens, Web Master Used Car News is published every third week.

Subscribers: We print advertisements as sent to us by auctions and other advertisers. It is not possible to verify the correctness of listed vehicles in auction ads. Most lists are partial and all lists are subject to last minute changes by auto auctions, so before travelling a long distance for a particular auto auction event, contact the auction by telephone for a fax of vehicles in the sale.

Used Car News assumes no guarantees or liabilities concerning the accuracy of any advertisements. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in any form is prohibited without the written consent of the publisher.

OUR ADVERTISING APPROVAL POLICY Payments from first time advertisers must accompany the insertion order.

Distribution is guaranteed by the USPS. The advertising reservation deadline is 12:00 noon Thursday, 11 days prior to the issue cover date.

Ad materials are due by 5 pm Friday, 10 days prior to issue cover date.

For advertising specifications please email colleen@usedcarnews.com.

Join the Conversation!

Visit Used Car News online at www.usedcarnews.com or scan this QR code with your smartphone to be taken directly to the website.

C R O S S WO R D PAGE 14

Dealer News 5/24/2021

Sox & Martin – Continued from page 1 questions, look at the cars, whatever they wanted to do.”

Another reason relates to the team’s iconic colors.

Back in 1964 when the team raced for Mercury, they were on their way to California when they broke the window on their race car.

“Mercury sent us over to Bill Stroppe’s place in California to get a windshield put in,” Martin said.

Stroppe was a builder of off-road racing vehicles.

“Well, that was when Parnelli Jones was driving for Stroppe and they had red, orange and white colors on their car,” Martin said.

“Ronnie and I both thought it looked neat.”

When the pair got back home, they didn’t want to copy the Stroppe colors but they went with a tri-color look.

They painted their Comet red, white and blue.

“The colors just stuck,” Martin said. “People always talked about the red, white and blue car.”

The other thing the pair did was start up with professional uniforms so they weren’t “walking around with dirty T-shirts,” he said.

Martin felt that even if his car didn’t win, if it was nice, clean and looked good, people would still pay attention.

In addition to racing, the team became masters of marketing in a world that was hard to stand out.

“In 1966 we ran a (nitro) fuel Barracuda and at the end of 1966, Bob Cahill, who was the head of the drag racing program for Chrysler, called me to Detroit,” Martin said. “I sat down at his desk. He looked straight at me and said, ‘We didn’t sell a single (nitro) fuel Barracuda this year.

“If we’re going to spend this kind of money on something, then we want to spend it on something we can sell.’”

The goal was to boost interest in the cars and the result was the Plymouth Supercar Clinic program.

Martin said Tom Richardson, a marketing guy, would go out ahead of Sox & Martin to a dealership in Los Angeles or another city.

Whichever one agreed to spend the most money for advertising would draw a visit from Sox & Martin.

“It was a situation where we’d take the race car to the dealership and have it on display,” Martin said.

“We’d show a movie, answer ques-

can’t sell you a driver.’”

Martin guessed that the pair built about 30 race cars for people through the years.

While Sox got the headlines driving the cars, Martin did his work behind the scenes.

“Ronnie didn’t care for the business end, but I did,” Martin said.

“When we’d come back from racing, he knew he could go play golf – he loved to play golf – and I would see

tions, give away jackets and stuff like that.”

Some of the team’s most loyal fans were the Mopar guys.

“It was gratifying, years later, with the number of people that would come up and say, ‘You guys are the reason that I bought a Mopar.’”

The pair also built race cars for others.

Martin said in 1970 when Chrysler came out with the Barracudas and Challengers – the E-body cars as they were called – the pair could build a race car from it for $15,000.

“We stayed very busy,” he said.

Martin said when the pair started building race cars, Sox’s driving ability built up unrealistic expectations.

“If we built a car for someone, we’d take it to the track and have Ronnie drive it first, to show them what the car was capable of doing,” Martin said. “But I would tell them, ‘I can sell you an engine or a race car, but I

that we had the parts and pieces to work with. I also worked to get the sponsorships we needed.”

Unlike today, with all the television and cable coverage or social media available, making branding so much easier, the Sox & Martin brand was created the old-fashioned way.

“We had to build our fan base one fan at a time,” he said.

What was the best part of those years for Martin?

“Winning,” he said.

Sox & Martin were so successful, racing had to change the rules.

“In 1970 and ’71, we won 75% of the national events, so the sanctioning body decided that they didn’t like that,” Martin said.

The Chrysler Hemi cars were so fast, the racing association started requiring them to carry additional weight as a handicap against Chevy and Ford.

“That was very discouraging,”

Martin said. “Because, you know, if you put two men in a hole and give each one a stick, one of them is going to make it better than the other.

“You shouldn’t be penalized for that.”

About that time, Martin had two children and a wife who didn’t see much of him. That started working on him.

In 1975-76, Martin acquired a Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge-Jeep dealership in Texarkana, Texas.

However, he realized when times were good, a newcar dealer could make a lot of money, but when times were slow, they could lose a lot of money.

His family also wanted to go back to North Carolina.

So, they went back home to North Carolina and entered the used-car business, where the investment wasn’t as big and you could adjust more quickly.

Martin’s son, Chris, initially passed on working in the car dealership to go into banking out of college. But after seven years, his son changed his mind and went to work with his dad.

It meant a lot to Martin after all the time he spent on the road during his racing days, At one point, Sox & Martin were doing 75 to 80 car clinics a year, on top of the sanctioned racing and match races. It was an exhausting schedule, Martin said.

“For six or seven years, Ronnie and I were gone about 300 days out of the year,” Martin said. “I didn’t get the chance to do a lot of things or see a lot of things with Chris or my daughter. So, you miss those moments and can’t back and buy them.”

Buddy is grateful that his son came into the car business 20 years ago and the pair has made up for lost time.

“It’s been wonderful,” Martin said.

“To this day, there’s never been an argument.”

5

Rental News 5/24/2021

Avis Budget Rental Group Fights Out of Pandemic

By Jeffrey Bellant

Avis Budget Rental Car recently posted its best-ever first quarter of adjusted earnings, while Hertz is working its way through bankruptcy.

Avis’ path to profit one year after the pandemic was a rocky one, according to Doug Campbell, Avis Budget Group’s vice president of remarketing.

It also required brutally tough choices.

“We publicly disclosed that there were three major actions that Avis took to navigate through the pandemic,” Campbell said.

“The first of which was the actions our treasuring group took to make sure that we had enough cash to survive. They did a great job.”

The second move Avis made involved internal discussions as the pandemic was in its early phase but

6

before the country had gone into lockdown.

“We started game-planning scenario, like, ‘What would that look like if it came to our shores,?’ What if it scaled’” Campbell praised company leaders for planning “what-if” scenarios, involving some tough early decisions.

Publicly, the company disclosed that it reduced its workforce by 70 percent.

“It was pretty drastic,” Campbell said. “I don’t think people understood the direction we were taking.

But it was a case of better safe than sorry.”

The last big move had to do with fleet size.

Avis publicly disclosed that it was able to cancel 80 percent of its existing orders with OEMs. “We were the first to do it,” Campbell said. “We know we were the first

to do it because the OEMs all told us we were crazy when we called.”

But OEMs were good about helping Avis navigate canceling “a ton of existing orders” to preserve cash and manage its fleet size, Campbell said.

“Nothing could prepare you for revenue falling 80 to 90%,” he said.

“There’s no amount of cost-cutting you could do to survive that.”

The actions it was able to take were to keep overhead in line, preserve cash and, as its last move, to sell its fleet.

Campbell said to de-fleet, it moved its spring selling season forward to February, before the market completely turned.

“That helped us get into a better position to weather the proverbial storm,” he said.

“Looking back, I don’t know that any of us could have had to foresight to know how bad it was going to get.

But it was one of those deals where you had to do all that you could do (like 9/11 or the Great Recession).”

Campbell said as revenues started to pick back up throughout 2020, Avis began to look at the idea of acquisitions.

The Hertz bankruptcy does offer opportunity for Avis to capitalize on market share, possibly coming out of this a stronger company.

Campbell said the shortage in the semiconductor market is another factor that makes the 2021 rental remarketing market so hard to predict.

“I think there were something like 1.9 million cars sold into rental in 2019 and just under 900,000 sold into rental in 2020,” Campbell said.

Avis returned to the fleet assetbacked securities (ABS)_ market at press time with a bond issuance of $527.5 billion.

News 5/24/2021

Compliance

UAW – Continued from page 3 In a press release, Acting U.S. Attorney Mohsin commended the work of the IRS – Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Labor-Management Standards and Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in conducting a comprehensive criminal investigation into labor corruption activities involving a vital sector of the local and national economy.

“The court’s sentence for former UAW President Williams demonstrates that the very highest level of leadership of the UAW has been held accountable for betraying the trust of the UAW’s membership,” said Mohsin. “Today’s sentence sends a strong message that union leaders must strictly adhere to the highest ethical standards in running their unions.”

Irene Lindow, Special Agentin-Charge, Chicago Region, U.S.

8

Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, said her office will continue to investigate corrupt union officials.

“Instead of serving the interests of the hard-working men and women of the UAW, Dennis Williams conspired with senior UAW officials to embezzle over $1 million in union funds,” Lindow said. “Williams spent the embezzled funds on extravagant meals, liquor, golf, and travel for personal enrichment. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate corrupt union officials who betray the union members they are entrusted to represent.”

Timothy Waters, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Detroit, said the sentencing is one step in “restoring the UAW” and making it work for its members.

“Williams’ sentencing is another chapter closed in a culture of cor-

–Cont. from page 3 ruption that permeated the UAW to the very top,” Waters said.

“We will continue to work alongside our partners in law enforcement to root out wrongdoing and end pervasive greed among those who abuse thier positions of power for their own enrichment.”

Thomas Murray, District Director, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards, added comments on behalf of his department.

“Safeguarding financial integrity in labor unions and combating financial malfeasance is a very high priority for the U.S. Department of Labor.

“While the vast majority of union officials do their work diligiently and without incident, Dennis Williams betrayed the trust the UAW membership placed in him and embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the UAW.”

Kirkendall said the Passtime team was able to dodge the problems associated with the microchip shortage.

By “being creative” they were able to find avenues to acquire the material needed for the product.

One challenge for everyone continues to be the inventory shortage and Kirkendall doesn’t see that improving any time soon.

“That’s eventually going to affect our business, too,” she said.

“If there are not cars to sell then there are not cars to put devices on.”

Kirkendall praised the work of NIADA and Brett Scott, its vice president of government affairs.

“We’ve worked well with NIADA and they have been the catalyst in the industry to pull everyone together,” she said.

Retail Markets 5/24/2021 Compiled by Ed Fitzgerald

NEBRASKA Karl Jensvold, owner, PricedRite Auto Sales, Lincoln, Neb. “PricedRite has been in business since 1987. I purchased the majority of the business in June of 2018.

“We shut down for one week because of COVID. Then the PPP money came through and we sent everybody back to work. In Nebraska, car dealers were never in the conversation for being shut down. We took all the precautions. We have a young man who comes in every night with a cleaning solution and bleach, he wipes switches, armchairs, door handles, everything.

“Before COVID we were already aggressive online.

We moved the needle and went from selling 20 cars each month to about 45 in the first 90 days. We then moved up to 70 cars. COVID

10

backed that off and 2020 was 50 cars a month, but we feel like we’re back on track to ’19 volume numbers.

“We sell about 40 percent trucks, 30 percent SUVs and still do about 30 percent cars.

“We sell 65 percent domestics and 35 percent imports. We sell a lot of Nissan Titans. But trucks are about 90 percent domestic.

“We are very aggressive with buying cars online with ACV Auction. We’re not afraid to buy online across the nation. We have an independent auction that local dealers bring cars to.

And then there’s Manheim Omaha.

“Our average down payment is probably $1,200 to $1,500 over 60 months.

“We have our own service department with two mechanics. We probably spend about $600 a vehicle in re-

conditioning. We do almost 90 percent of that in-house.

“Our average model year is probably 2013, with about 120,000 miles.

“If I was just starting out in this business, I would pay attention to my marketing.

If you look at the guys who are struggling, they have no marketing plan at all. If what you’re doing isn’t working, then re-allocate your money.

“The last car I sold was a 2015 Chevy Silverado with 57,000 miles. It sold for $33,000.”

OKLAHOMA Kelly Smalygo, owner, Smalygo Auto, Claremore, Okla.

“I’ve been in business since April 16, 2002. I have a twin brother with a store in Collinsville, Okla.

“We never really shut down in our state because of COVID. There was about

a month where we couldn’t get back to business.

“Probably 90 percent of our business is buying and selling with auctions. We may return to doing more retail.

“We’re making a lot more money after COVID, but it’s been a lot more work, too.

It’s a lot more headache and heartache trying to find inventory.

“Our average inventory value, before COVID, was about $1.3 to $1.7 million.

Now, we’re just not able to get the number of cars we were before.

“About 70 percent of our sales is made up of mid-size, SUV and heavy trucks. And the rest is cars.

“We sell about 85 percent domestic, 15 percent imports.

“We buy a lot from ADESA and Manheim. We find that’s actually a cheaper vehicle vs.

an independent auction. We try to buy some lower grade stuff and make it higher grade. For purchasing, we go to live auctions, for selling we are doing more online.

“Our reconditioning costs are more since COVID because we’re buying more of what I call ‘rougher’ vehicles. We probably spend $1,200 a car. Most of it is farmed out.

“The average age of our vehicles is probably four to six years old.

“Our advertising budget before COVID was probably $6,000 a month when we were retailing. We still keep our website up in case they shut us down and we can jump back into retail. Now it’s $1,000 a month.

“The last retail vehicle I sold was a ’14 Chevy Express cargo van. We dealt with a lot of commercial type stuff for the last five years.”

Wholesale Markets 5/24/2021 Compiled by Jeffrey Bellant

TEXAS Wayne Cook, president, Greater Tyler Auto Auction, Tyler, Texas: “We’ve got four lanes and we could be running fewer lanes. But some of those dealers have established a presence in certain lanes so we keep it at four.

“At our May 11 sale we ran about 280 units. Pre-pandemic we’d run about 350 or 375. We’re mostly dealer cars.

“Cars are tight. Sales percentage has been the savior for the auction business.

Auctions are getting 75 to 80 percent (conversion rates).

“We’re seeing a huge increase in the online presence for dealers.

“We’ve sold online for many years. But when the pandemic hit and we went (all) online, I thought, ‘We’ll starve to death if we have to depend on this.’

12

“But online is growing.

“I think day in and day out, in-lane will bring more money. People are doing pretty well. If you’ve got (cars) you can make some money on them.

“Now, I don’t see the supply rapidly increasing, but I also believe in American ingenuity.

“We’ve also added a GSA sale. We’re new to it. But the guys who have been purchasing these cars are loving them.

“They bring plenty of money, but people are selling them and asking for more. We’re pleased to be part of that.

“The GSA is about once a month and (the timing) depends on when they get cars.

They’re just wanting to get value for their merchandise and in today’s market we’ve managed to make them happy with what we’re getting

for them.

“For the regular sale, I think prices are going to continue to be high and inventory is going to be short.

But I don’t know how much more this stuff can bring.”

WASHINGTON Dave Blake, general manager, DAA Seattle, Auburn, Wash.: “We just celebrated our eighth anniversary.

“We run six physical lanes and one virtual lane. It’s set up in a way where dealers can still have a similar bidding experience.

“We also have a MAG Now sale that runs for the organization every Wednesday.

“For our regular sale, lanes have been healthy and we’ve seen an increase in consignment. It has been around 675, just under that 700 number. (Pre-pandemic) it would have been 750 or 800.

“Conversion rates are extremely high. We were hovering near 90 percent for quite a while. We began to see a market adjustment so now we’re in the 70-percent range.

“Another thing taking place is 65 percent of the purchases during the Friday sale are online buyers. Thirty-five percent is in-lane.

(Pre-pandemic) it would have been 25 percent online.

“We were in a pretty good position because of how progressive this organization is in presenting the vehicle online. It’s identified well through photos and the condition report. That’s always been a strong initiative of ours. But we even made improvements to that.

“The mix is similar to prepandemic. It’s normally 40 percent commercial and 60 percent dealer volume.

Maybe there’s been a slight

adjustment – maybe 30 to 35 percent on the commercial side.

“In the physical lanes, we’re getting 125 to 150 dealers.

“We do have a monthly motorsports sale, roughly the third Wednesday. We’ll have 100 units. We moved it here from Spokane (DAA Northwest) a little over a year ago just before the pandemic. Harley-Davidson is our staple consignor.

“We’re building that dealer community. It’s a different community (than the vehicle community). There’s no real overlap.

“Motorsports is just a fun market. But they are experiencing shortages like any other market as manufacturing has slowed down.

“Our average price was $21,000 recently. People still need vehicles. They still want to purchase.”

JUNE, 2021 YOUR SOURCE FOR QUALITY, SELECTION AND VALUE

A broad selection of pre-owned vehicles from an industry leader ADESA Boston June 4, 11, 18, 25 508-626-7000

ADESA Washington DC June 23 703-996-1100

Manheim Orlando June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 800-822-2886

ADESA Brasher’s June 23 916-991-5555

Columbus Fair AA June 2, 9, 30 614-497-2000

ADESA Charlotte June 3, 17 704-587-7653

ADESA Boston June 4 508-626-7000

Manheim Milwaukee June 23 262-835-4436

Manheim Palm Beach June 9 561-790-1200

Manheim Palm Beach June 9, 10 561-790-1200

ADESA Golden Gate June 15 209-839-8000

Manheim Nashville June 2, 30 615-773-3800

Manheim Pennsylvania June 3, 17 800-822-2886

Manheim Atlanta June 3, 16, 17 404-762-9211

Manheim Pennsylvania June 3, 4, 11, 17, 18, 25 800-822-2886

Manheim Atlanta June 16 404-762-9211

Manheim New Jersey June 23 609-298-3400

Manheim Phoenix June 3 623-907-7000

ADESA Chicago June 25 847-551-2151

Manheim Dallas June 9, 22, 23 877-860-1651

Manheim Phoenix June 3, 10, 17, 24 623-907-7000

Manheim Dallas June 22 877-860-1651

Manheim Orlando June 22 800-822-2886

Manheim Riverside June 10, 24 951-689-6000

ADESA Cincinnati/Dayton June 1, 29 937-746-4000

Manheim Denver June 23 800-822-1177

Manheim Pittsburgh June 23 724-452-5555

ADESA Golden Gate June 1, 15, 29 209-839-8000

Manheim Detroit June 3, 17 734-654-7100

Manheim Riverside June 8, 10, 22, 24 951-689-6000

ADESA Indianapolis June 1, 15, 29 317-838-8000

Manheim Fredericksburg June 10, 24 540-368-3400

Manheim Seattle June 2, 16, 30 206-762-1600

ADESA Kansas City June 1, 15, 29 816-525-1100

Manheim Milwaukee June 9, 23 262-835-4436

Manheim Southern California June 3, 17 909-822-2261

ADESA Lexington June 10 859-263-5163

Manheim Minneapolis June 16 763-425-7653

Manheim Tampa March 3, 17, 24 800-622-7292

ADESA New Jersey June 3, 17 908-725-2200

Manheim Nashville June 2, 8, 9, 23, 30 615-773-3800

Manheim Texas Hobby June 3, 17 713 649-8233

ADESA Salt Lake June 8 801-322-1234

Manheim New Jersey June 9, 23 609-298-3400

Southern AA March 23 860-292-7500

ADESA Tulsa June 11 918-437-9044

Manheim New Orleans June 9 985-643-2061

Manheim Atlanta June 16 404-762-9211

ADESA Boston June 11 508-626-7000

Manheim Fredericksburg June 24 540-368-3400

Manheim Pittsburgh June 23 724-452-5555

ADESA Salt Lake June 8 801-322-1234

Manheim New Jersey June 9, 23 609-298-3400

Manheim Seattle June 16 206-762-1600

Columbus Fair AA June 2, 30 614-497-2000

Manheim Orlando June 8, 22 800-337-8491

Manheim Southern California June 3, 17 909-822-2261

Manheim Denver June 23 800-822-1177

Manheim Pennsylvania June 4, 18 800-833-2886

Southern AA June 23 860-292-7500

ADESA Golden Gate June 15 209-839-8000

Manheim Milwaukee June 23 262-835-4436

Manheim Pennsylvania June 3, 17 800-833-2886

Manheim Atlanta June 16 404-762-9211

Manheim Nashville June 2, 30 615-773-3800

Manheim Phoenix June 3 623-907-7000

Manheim Dallas June 22 877-860-1651

Manheim Palm Beach June 9 561-790-1200

Manheim Riverside June 10, 24 951-689-6000

Choose Chase on ADESA.com and OVE.com for quality bank-sourced vehicles.

Contact auctions directly for current sale information.

The Jaguar word mark, the Jaguar logo, and Jaguar Financial Group are trademarks of Jaguar Land Rover Limited and any use by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”) is under license. The Land Rover word mark, the Land Rover and Oval logo, and Land Rover Financial Group are trademarks of Jaguar Land Rover Limited and any use by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”) is under license.

The tradename “Subaru Motors Finance” and the Subaru logo are owned / licensed by Subaru of America, Inc. and are licensed to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”).

Maserati Capital USA, the Maserati logo and model designations are registered trademarks used by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”) under license from Maserati S.p.A. The tradename “Aston Martin Financial Services” and the Aston Martin logo are owned by Aston Martin Lagonda Limited and are licensed to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”).

Neither JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”) nor any of its affiliates are affiliated with ADESA, Inc. or Manheim, Inc. Each auction is solely responsible for their website content, sales events, promotions, fulfillment and operation of the auction. ©2021 JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC (21-006) 6/21

Disconnected Jottings From

Tony Moorby 5/24/2021

Like many during this imposed ‘imprisonment,’ Terry and I have been surveying our same four walls and wondering what improvements we could make without breaking the bank.

The master bathroom was looking a little dated and we were quite aware that it would involve more than a lick of paint.

We spend a great deal of time (and money) in the kitchen so we thought we’d splurge and spend some time and money on the kitchen. Since buying the house a few years ago we’ve never been entirely enamored of the counter tops and have flirted with the idea of opening it up to share more room with the lounge. The more we thought about it, the more appealing the ideas became and we decided to get the project going.

Many years ago we had

a house built from scratch – an exercise that normally stresses the relationship with the builder and the marriage. Our experience was as enjoyable as it was rewarding and our relationship with Jeff, the builder, has blossomed into an abiding friendship to this day.

So we naturally called upon him to advise us and guide us through the exercise.

This ended up as: “if you’re retiling the shower, why not move it to the other side of the bathroom and make it bigger, while you’re at it, why not retile the floor and heat it too?” And so on.

A new vanity became another requisite along with the freestanding soaking tub and a refit in both dressing rooms. The old handles needed to keep up with the times in the same style as the new accent lamps and a stylish loo to go where the

old shower used to be.

I reminded Terry of the old adages about renovations – things would get worse before they get better, they’ll be at least 50% more expensive than we budgeted for and things will take twice as long as we thought they would. All the above is proving out but the finished bathroom is going to be stunning. As a break from cooking programs and Netflix series I’ve been watching some home renovation shows. I have no idea where those folks in Laurel, Miss., get their prices for revamping kitchens but they sure don’t get them anywhere near Nashville! I’ve spent as much on a fridge and a cooktop as they manage to spend redoing a kitchen from top to toe!

Of course, time lapses are never addressed in the ideal fairy world of televi-

By Myles Mellor

Across 1. Mercury model 5. CUV from GMC 10. Changed gears 11. Accesses to freeways, 2 words 12. Pass over

30. Version of a car (style)

sion makeovers. COVID-19 has caught supply chains off guard so getting major appliances in short order is out the window. The truck carrying our bathroom tiles got lost between the coasts and ‘couldn’t be located.’ I reminded the suppliers that if I ordered a tube of toothpaste from Amazon, I could tell where the delivery truck was within a few miles. Excuses in the building trade are almost as bad as a dealer’s service department!

Putting a kitchen together requires scheduling of deliveries and the presence of the requisite artisan in whatever discipline is being applied to fall like dominoes – they do on TV! “Can’t fit the new island till the mechanical guy moves the gas pipes!” “Can’t move the gas pipes till the plumbers run the new water lines.”

So a six-week project is

Tony Moorby • 50-year veteran of the industry • President from 1997– 2000 of ADT Automotive • Served as ADESA’s executive vice president of sales and marketing • Moorby & Associates 2006–present • NAAA Hall of Famer • IARA Circle of Excellence To see past columns from Tony Moorby, visit www.usedcarnews.com/ columnists/tony-moorby

now into its tenth week with probably another four to go. But we’ve entertained the whole thing with good graces and a great group of guys doing the work. To a person they’re humorous, hardworking and polite. We’ll owe them a feast when it’s all said and done.

Play Online at Us e d C a r N e ws. c o m 7. Floor model

1

2

3

4

5

32. Off-shite car color 34. Arts degrees, abbr.

9. VW model

36. Former Oldsmobile 12. Wood sometimes minivan used on trim 37. Powerful auto en14. Pressure measuregine, 2 words ment, abbr.

10

29. Goal

6. Bend in the road

12

13

14

25. Early 20th century car brand

15

16 18

17

19

20

21

22 23

24

25

26

27 28

29

30

31

32

34

33

35

36

37 38

39

40

26. Subaru SUV

41

1

2

T

U

27. Single note

3

C

S

E

N

I

35. “Immediately!”

6

I

P

P

7

8

L

O M A

T

E

I

A

C

11

A

D

I

L

L

A

C

D

E

A

L

E

R

12

O

A

B 14

M

I

R

A

V

A

15

G

E

16

M

E

C

H

17

A

N

I

C

18

A

R 19

S

R

20

A

C

U

O

21

C

E

N

22

T

S

O

A

P

E

C

T

R

A

23

C

U

M

24

33. Luxury Toyota make

5

D C

10

13

31. It’s under a driver’s feet

4

O

9

A

A

T

I

L

O

C

L

I

K

30

V 28

A

I

N

C

O

L

T

29

I

D

L

A

R

G O

S

31

H

S

26

K

27

C

W

25

N

S

32

E

33

C

O

34

A D

S

A

I

36

A

S

C

E

U

A

H

37

A

R

A

V

A

W

38

A

N

T

V

E

E

A

N E

A

R

R

R

39

A

S

40

38. British sports car

E 41

E

Solution to this puzzle in the 6/14/2021 issue. Call 1.800.794.0760 for a FREE subscription.

14

8

11

35

4. Recommend

7

9

8. Classic British roadster, ____ Healey

13. Isuzu mid-size SUV 39. Certain 15. Canine’s quest 15. Two-fold 40. Aston Martin coupe 16. Kelly blue book 17. Weight measure41. Lexus __ 460 activity ment 17. Lincoln’s full-size 18. Where the Hyundai luxury sedans, 2 words Down Pony car was made 19. Classified ad abbre1. Lincoln sedan 20. Buick SUV viation 2. GM manufactured 23. Slippery, as roads SUV that was marketed 21. Pontiac compact 24. Island off Greece

by Buick 22. Color band, often seen on minis 26. Hyundai coupe 3. To that point, 2 words 24. Car body 28. Company title ending

6

S

S

E

X

R

E

Solution to the 5/3/2021 puzzle