UCN
Used Car News
8/16/2021
McCloskey, NIADA Focus on Members
Buy with Total Confidence.
Joe McCloskey is the incoming president of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. He is president of McCloskey Motors, with three locations in Colorado Springs, Colo. Those businesses, which focus on retail and subprime, include McCloskey Truck Town; McCloskey Imports and 4X4s; and Joe’s Car & Truck Repair. McCloskey, 63, was NIADA’s 2013 National Quality Dealer. He is married to Ann and they have five children. UCN: Could you tell our readers how you got into the used-car business?
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Joe McCloskey: I always liked cars as a young kid. I started sweeping garage floors at age 13 so I could hang around in the shop. Then I got recruited to be a lot boy at 14½. Then at 17, I started selling cars as a junior in high school at a Volkswagen-Mercedes dealership in Pueblo. After high school, I moved to Denver and sold cars there. Later, I came back to Colorado Springs and helped run two franchise stores. I started our business in 1989 at 31. My wife, Ann and I had four children at the time. We started in a garage in a sketchy alley with one light bulb hanging by a cord. It had no phone and the phone company said the trunkline was full. But I had already signed the lease and was committed. They had a new thing called a pager. So, I was running liner ads with my pager as the number. When I got a page, I would run across the street to the shopping center with a pocketful of quarters to call people back. That’s how we started. We got an Isuzu and a Suzuki franchise to get financing for our used-
car business. I’ll never forget. When we were signing the loans to get the new-car franchises, my banker patted me on the back. Then he said, ‘You’re a used-car dealer that happens to have new-car franchises.’ He meant, ‘remember your core.’ Later Isuzu and Suzuki went out of business, so we decided to stick with our core. We kept all of our lenders except one and we kept our reputation. “Shortly after that, I was honored with the Colorado IADA Quality Dealer of the year and then the National Quality Dealer of the Year. UCN: Why did you get involved in leadership at NIADA?
McCloskey: The first thing we did in 1989 was join the Colorado Independent Automobile Dealers Association as well as the NIADA. I did that at the recommendation of other independent dealers. It’s the same advice I give to new dealers I meet. So many people sit around and complain about how things should be. I knew that for me to have a voice at the table, I needed to participate on the state association board. I joined the Colorado IADA board of directors in 1994. I served in each officer position over 27 years. In 2014, I was approached by Continued on page 3