Dealers Use Video to Boost Recognition, Sales
By Jeffrey Bellant
LAS VEGAS – Independent dealers with a flair for the dramatic shared tips for boosting a social media presence through video, during a panel discussion at the NIADA Convention & Expo this summer.
Shea Phillips, of Number One Auto Sales in West Virginia, kicked things off dressed up as “Uncle Glory,” a human American flag. He was joined by Kelly Midgett of Kelly’s Automotive in North Carolina and Craig Stowell, from Flying Wheels Inc., in New Hampshire on the lively panel.
Phillips started out in Uncle Glory character.
“Even Lady Liberty gets goose bumps when she hears my deals,” Phillips said. “Can I get a ‘Heck, yeah?”
And the crowd hollered back, “Heck, yeah.”
Phillips’ dealership has been in business 30 years and to reflect the panel’s focus, his father, Sid, was in the audience video recording the panel.
“As you can tell, we try to do things a little different and have some fun,” he said.
Midgett, an independent dealer with a long thick beard, hails from the Outer Banks of North Carolina and has been selling cars for 15 years.
Each dealer does video differently than the others.
“A lot of my income comes from social media, including my dealership because a lot of my sales come from the videos I make,” Stowell said.
Since it doesn’t cost him anything to make the videos, any income that comes from it is pure profit.
“I have 450,00 subscribers on YouTube, 200,000+ on Tik Tok and a couple million views per month,” Stowell said. “Literally millions of people watch our videos per month and I don’t pay a dime to advertise.” He said the same day of the panel he heard from three people – one who wanted to sell a Rubicon, another who wanted to buy a Corvette he saw in one of Stowell’s videos and a third who wanted to do business because “you seem like an honest guy.”
Stowell said his videos may differ from Shea’s and Kelly’s, because the key for his social media video success is to “be yourself.”
Phillips said he spent about 10 years on the radio building their brand as Sid & Shea Phillips, the father/son dealers of Number One Auto Sales.
“We’ve had a lot of success doing that,’ he said, “But over the last couple of years we got into video, so we
Continued on page 3
Social Media
08/18/2025
Video – Continued from page 1
can match the experience from the radio, because not everyone listens to the radio, but a lot of people are on social media.”
Phillips’ reasoning is that since buying a car is often a stressful experience for people, he uses social media to show there’s a relaxed, fun atmosphere at the store, so people will gravitate toward that.
Midgett said his move into video on social media was pretty simple.
“The main reason I started doing video was just so people knew who we were and how we did things,” he said.
Midgett doesn’t dress up or even have a script, but he gets “jacked up about cars.”
He loves buying them and that passion may be why his simple videos hit home with his audience.
“I just started doing random videos about whatever,” he said. “All my videos are from the hip. I’ll sometimes have an idea of what I want
to talk about and sometimes I don’t talk about that. I just go off on whatever pops into my head.
“But it works. People around town stop me and say they love the videos.”
After buying cars at auction, Midgett will stop and film a video showing off his haul.
“That will, a lot of times, sell a car,” he said. “It lets people know what we’re doing.”
Since Midgett was the most recent convert to videos, he was asked how he made that leap.
“For years, I would freeze,” he said. “We could be in the office, just cutting it up, having a good time. Somebody would turn a video on and I was like ‘ugh,’ I didn’t know what to do or how to act.”
But something changed and he credits watching others who do videos to see how they do it – like the YouTube show “Auto Alex” – which gave him confidence, he said.
He stopped being self-conscious. “Somehow, I just quit caring,” he said.
Now, Midgett said his “dent guy” told him he was inspired to start doing videos because of Midgett.
Phillips, on the other hand, had always worked at making his advertising and marketing creative.
But he didn’t revamp his strategy for video.
Back when newspapers were his main advertising, he did ads like every other dealer.
“We got the idea one day to turn our ad upside down,” Phillips said. “People had to actually stop and turn the paper upside down, so they were focused on our ad.
Even the newspaper staffers would receive calls from readers saying they were screwing up the ad, but it’s the way Phillips wanted it.
He also pulls ideas from current events like Saturday Night Live, and
spoofing the song “Rich Men North of Richmond.”
Phillips said dealers should look at what people are doing in your market and do something different.
“Find your own niche,” he said. Often, the videos aren’t focusing on inventory or cars, but the videos draw them to the dealer and the viewers remember when it comes time to buying a car.
By focusing on selling yourself, you show your authenticity, Phillips added.
The key is also to put up something and make it consistent, whether it’s once a week or every day, make it consistent, the panelists said.
“Absolutely don’t overthink it,” Stowell said.
Midgett added that you should make sure you’re in a good mood when you turn the camera on.
“One of the tough parts about social media is you have to be feeling sociable for it to work.”
State News
State Warns About Digital Privacy
NEW JERSEY -- Looking to protect consumers’ privacy, the Division of Consumer Affairs has sent letters to more than 3,000 N.J. auto dealerships reminding them of their statutory obligation to help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive consumer information stored on vehicles relinquished for resale or lease.
According to privacy experts, linking mobile devices to a vehicle’s computer – or “infotainment” system” – to make calls or listen to music can leave a treasure trove of personal information stored in the vehicle’s memory. This information can include cell phone call logs, text messages, vehicle navigation history, and garage access codes. In-vehicle apps, such as music streaming or mobile payment apps, may also store links to sensitive financial data, such as bank accounts and credit card information.
To protect this stored data from falling into the wrong hands, in January 2024, Gov. Phil Murphy enacted the New Jersey data deletion law,
which mandates that dealerships offer to delete consumers’ personal data when accepting vehicles for resale or lease.
The letters advise dealerships that failure to comply with the law could result in civil penalties of $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.
“By requiring New Jersey dealerships to offer to delete this information for the consumer, we’re raising awareness of this growing security risk and providing consumers with a way to protect themselves from unauthorized disclosure of personal information,” said Elizabeth M. Harris, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs.”
The letters specify the requirements for the data deletion process, including performing data-clearing procedures by following manufacturer-specified techniques, or performing a factory reset.
Under the law, dealerships are permitted, but not mandated, to charge a reasonable fee for data deletion services, but the fee must be disclosed to the consumer prior
to performing the service. Dealerships must also advise consumers that they may attempt to delete the personal information themselves or through another vendor.
Man Sentenced in Ponzi Scheme WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Greenville man was sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release for mail fraud in connection with a multi-year investment fraud scheme. Willard Timothy Sutton, age 64, pled guilty to the charge on February 26, 2025. The court also ordered Sutton to pay $8,986,162 in restitution to the victims of the offense.
“Mr. Sutton ran a local business for many years, purporting to help those with poor or no credit get much needed vehicle loans,” said James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina. “When he ran into financial trouble, he chose to commit a federal crime rather than admit his business was failing. The FBI hopes today’s sentence and restitution offers some sense of justice to those who trusted him to legitimately invest their hard-earned money.”
According to court documents and other information presented in court, between at least 2019 and 2023, Sutton conducted a largescale Ponzi scheme in connection with an investment program offered through his business, Greenville Auto World, LLC (GAW). As a result of the scheme, more than 65 victims in Eastern North Carolina suffered net losses totaling approximately $9 million. Investigators estimate that Sutton collected more than $63 million in investor funds during the offense period
GAW was a buy-here, pay-here (BHPH) car dealership. Between approximately 2012 and 2023, as part of an investment program sponsored, promoted, and administered by GAW, Sutton sold BHPH finance contracts to outside investors.
Beginning in approximately 2019, Sutton falsely and fraudulently led BHPH investors to believe that their investments were safe and secure, and that GAW was collecting sufficient repayments from loan customers to be able to fully pay the principal and interest owed to them.
Sutton operated the BHPH program as a Ponzi scheme in which Sutton would (in a typical transaction) sell a legit loan contract to one investor and then sell false and fabricated versions of that same contract to other investors without their knowledge. Sutton then used the proceeds of the fraudulent sales to pay off earlier investors.
Finance News
08/18/2025
Floorplanner Employees Help Feed Poor in Motor City
By Jeffrey Bellant
OAK PARK, Mich. – Members of the Kinetic Advantage team traveled to the Great Lakes State and volunteered their time to help feed the hungry of the Metro Detroit area.
The team worked all morning on July 9 at Forgotten Harvest, a large charity located on 8 Mile Road, the iconic street that borders the Motor City.
Joe Keadle, Kinetic Advantage’s senior vice president of sales marketing, was joined by Lori Kahre, the company’s director of industry relations, and fellow Kinetic members Eddie Bellman, Dan Bird and Greg Huskey.
The folks from Kinetic chatted about his group’s charity efforts.
“Lori generated this idea about 18 months go,” Keadle said. “Because it’s one of the core values of our company, we really wanted to kind
of bring it (charitable efforts) to life.
“So we’re getting great participation. We’ve gone from Houston to Dallas to Denver to Atlanta.”
For this trip, the Kinetic group was also joined by Annette Chapman and Otto Hahne, from the Michigan Independent Automobile Dealers Association.
“What we like to do is help educate, build dealerships and create relationships – among other things – so they have shared knowledge,” Keadle said. “It is so much fun and a key to what we do.
“We want to be the independent for the independents.”
Then groups worked together to sort through donated leftover food, separating the good items from the spoiled.
Acad Sponsor half ad UCN.pdf 1 8/7/25 4:47 PM
Kahre worked with a group that had two jobs; repacking chicken nuggets and puff pastries, which came in bulk donations. Each ship -
ment has to be broken down into smaller packages for individual use.
Forgotten Harvest has hours available when neighbors can come by and receive what they need, Kahre said.
“Forgotten Harvest also has its own farm,” Keadle said, “so people looking for volunteer activities in Detroit can actually do farm work. But having done farm work in the past, I’ll let them do that.”
Compliance News
Fintech Firm Looks Ahead
By Jeffrey Bellant
LAS VEGAS – Lendbuzz continues to grow and expand its reach in the automotive market as it met with dealers during this summer’s NIADA Convention & Expo here.
Vehicles priced to sell
Lendbuzz co-founder and CEO Amitay Kalmar discussed the company’s progress during an interview with Used Car News in the convention’s exhibit hall.
“Things are going great,” he said. “We’ve had strong growth in Q1 and Q2. We’re very excited about 2025.”
Amitay said the company has done a few funding rounds and did a few ABS (asset backed securitizations) transactions.
“We’re gearing up for the next one, he said.
Last month, the company closed a $266 million securitization collateralized by a pool of auto loans made to obligors and secured by new and used automobiles, light duty trucks, and vans.
Prior to that, the company completed an ABS topping $275 million. To date, Lendbuzz has completed more than $2.1 billion of publicly syndicated asset-backed securitizations and remains committed to growing the program as part of its diverse funding strategy. The additional capacity will allow Lendbuzz to continue on its mission to offer fair access to credit for underserved populations.
“We’ve also added a few banks to the platform,” Kalmar said, “and we’ve added the Express Contract feature which allows dealerships to seamlessly and automatically contract their customers. It really reduces contracting time, as well as the entire loan origination process.”
He said Lendbuzz is also planning to offer a VSC product (vehicle service contract) integrated into the platform so dealerships can more
easily sell F&I products.
“That’s been plotting and we’re going to launch it soon,” Kalmar said. “It’s mostly targeted to the independent dealerships, so we’re very excited about that.”
Asked about economic news during the interview in June, Kalmar spoke about his desire for a strong economy.
“We like a stable economy,” he said, “We want everyone to do well. Overall, a stable growing economy is better for us. It means people will go out, feel comfortable, buy more cars and they’re able to pay.”
Kalmar added that Lendbuzz services all auto buying customers, from customers with challenging credit and financial situations to those who are more affluent.
“But I think a strong economy is better for everyone, especially now that inflation is under control,” he said.
Kalmar said at the conference in late June that he expected interest rates to come down because of lowered inflation, but at press time the Fed has refused to cut rates.
This spring, Lendbuzz received the “Consumer Lending Innovation Award” in the 9th annual FinTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by FinTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global fintech market.
“Lendbuzz offers a fresh process that’s appealing to both borrowers and lenders who prioritize transparency and speed,” said Steve Johansson, managing director, FinTech Breakthrough.
“The legacy-based approach in the consumer lending industry has limitations that are fast becoming more evident...It’s our pleasure to award Lendbuzz with the ‘Consumer Lending Innovation Award.’”
Wholesale Markets
08/18/2025
INDIANA
Paul Fetter, general manager, America’s Auto Auction – Clark County, Jeffersonville, Ind.
“I’ve pretty much been the working general manager since 1984. America’s Auto Auctions bought us in 2021.
“Dealer cars are harder and harder to get. Dealers are keeping more cars and selling more used cars than they ever have been. Being part of America’s has helped us expand our reach into institutional cars.
“We have seven lanes; with dealer volume our lower and institutional volumes are higher.
“We run about 750 vehicles and our year-to-date sales conversion rate is 70.2%.
“Volumes are about 50/50 between institutional and dealer cars. When America’s bought is it was 85% dealer to 15% institutional.
“In the lanes, the new-car dealers and those selling higher end used cars are selling well. The guys who are selling mid-priced cars are selling well, as well as buy-here, pay-here. What I think is a little soft, what has changed in the last 90 days, are the inexpensive cars – stuff that’s rough, under $5,000.
“Average prices across the block is about $12,000. It’s a little down from May, but I think that’s mostly because of the less expensive cars.
“On sale day, we’ll start with in-ops, then institutional sales then dealer lanes.
“We have decent consignment of general powersports/recreational vehicles like boats, motorcycles, four wheelers, campers, etc. Those kind of run with the regular sale. I think it’s because we’re seeing more of
those as repos than from the COVID years.
“We are on the verge of starting a specialty line.”
MICHIGAN
Sarah Miller, general manager, America’s Auto Auction - West Michigan, Wayland, Mich.
“I’ve been general manager for five years. Typically we run eight lanes, but we have 12 lanes.
“We do an 8:30 a.m. early sale start, with large consignors or off-lease.
“We’ve been ranging between 800 and 1,200 cars. July is always slower. During the summer, we had a couple of 700-car sales.
Volumes have changed because we don’t have as many off-lease cars. But I think we’re anticipating for them to pick up here soon. Repos have picked up a little bit for us.
“I think when the tariffs were first announced, I feel like everyone overpaid $2,000 or $3,000 above book because they were scared of what would happen and it just didn’t happen at that time.
“I think right now, with dealer consignment being a little lighter, our volumes between dealer and commercial are close to 50/50.
“Conversion rates have still been pretty decent. I think we’re selling around 60%, conversion rates have been up there. I think our demand might be a little higher from this time last year, so our conversion rates might be up a little bit.
“The average price has been around $12,000, which is up from this time last year.
“For sales, we’re getting pretty much 50/50 (online versus in-lane), but we’re selling all through the week.
Compiled by Jeffrey Bellant
“Right now, I’ve heard from dealers it’s been a little slower but that’s because (of the summer market). Then in August it starts to pick up.
“We don’t have any special sale, but we do sell everything and anything in our Friday sale. We’ll sell anything that comes across. Usually, we’ll have specialty vehicles – like RVs – all in the same spot in the sale.
“This auction in particular, I think we have come such a long way. We have the best staff possible – the best team, as well as America’s as a whole. I think we’re at 46 auctions now (at press time).
“We’ve kind of broadened our horizons and got a whole bunch of different buyers in a way that we probably wouldn’t have been able to do as an independent.
“So, I think it’s been really good for us.”
YOUR FULL SPECTRUM SOLUTION
WESTLAKE FINANCIAL
More than Indirect Auto Financing1
Offers a competitive, full-spectrum of rates, vehicles and dealer services.
WESTERN FUNDING
Dealer Driven Financing
The Auto Finance partner who pays you more. Ask how you can get paid three times!
WESTLAKE FLOORING
Flooring Lines of Credit
Lower interest rates and fees when you bundle Westlake Flooring & Westlake Financial!
DEALERCENTER
Cloud Based Dealer Management Solutions
Control your dealership with DealerCenter’s cloud based Dealer Management System (DMS).
GLOBALTRACK
Anti-Theft Technology
Stay protected with the most innovative vehicle tracking devices on the market.
Learn
WESTLAKE DIRECT
Pre-Qualified Leads
Get free leads from Carzing, and our other amazing partners!
WESTLAKE CAPITAL FINANCE
Commercial
Real Estate & Credit Lines
Buy or refinance real estate or get the cash you need for operations, maintenance, or other business expenses with a credit line.
NOWPAY
The Leading Omni-Channel SaaS Payment Solution
Optimize payment processing and streamline operations with NowPay’s cutting edge software and innovative tech!
Retail Markets
08/18/2025
NEBRASKA
Karl Jensvold, owner, Priced Rite Auto, Lincoln, Neb.
“I’ve had my own independent store since 2001, but I started selling cars in 1984.
“We keep between 60-80 cars in inventory depending on the time of year. We sell about 35-40 a month.
“It’s been a little tougher since COVID because there’s no free money out there. But prices have started to stabilize and there’s availability of inventory. Today our shoppers start online but most of our deals are done in-store. We do 5-10 percent with the person never coming into the store.
“We do a lot of Teslas and EVs so that helps our cars do better. We’re probably 30 percent cars, 40 percent SUVs and 30 percent trucks, so pretty well balanced.
“As far as auctions, we
probably buy about 60 percent online and 40 percent in person.
“We don’t do BHPH, but we do have Credit Acceptance and Westlake.
“Our customer’s down payment is around $1,000. But we didn’t see the taxtime money this year that we have seen in other years.
“We have our own inhouse mechanics that just re-condition our vehicles. We probably spend about $700 a vehicle.
“We’ve seen a little drop in sales here in 2025 compared to last year. The market seems to be very ‘blah.’ No one seems excited about anything.”
“I would tell new dealers to keep your expenses low and it’s always easier to find more cars than to find more customers. The association will help with the compliance issues, the state rules
and just be the go-between to help you stay in business.
“We just sold a bright yellow 2014 Chevy Camaro convertible with 85,000 miles for $15,500.”
NORTH CAROLINA
Kelly Midgett, owner, Kelly’s Automotive, Manteo, N.C.
“The end of this year will be 15 years I’ve been in business. I was leasing a small lot and a bigger one became available. In hindsight, it would’ve been better to stay on the little corner. But what we don’t know, we don’t know. I wanted to expand and I wasn’t going to rest until I did it. So here we are, I’ve been in the new location since 2018.
“I came into 2020 so optimistic. I had the best staff I’d ever had. I thought I had just grasped how to do this. Lo and behold, everything
changes. Looking back, it’s kind of comical. We were doing service, towing, rentals. I was going berserk. My grandmother died March 1, 2020. So, when the lockdown came on March 15th it was a nice time for me to step back. Over the next year we scaled back to just selling cars. I kept my service shop, but I closed it to the public.
“Before COVID we would laugh at a guy for paying $200-300 too much. It took me about six months to catch on to be willing to pay $22,000 for a truck that I used to sell for $20,000. People were calling us and saying things like: ‘please don’t sell that car, I’m an hour away.’ Book values went up for 104 weeks, for two years. Then about June or July of ’22 the prices started creeping back down.
“We spend about $1,000 on reconditioning a vehicle,
Compiled by Ed Fitzgerald
parts and labor.
“We typically keep about 40 cars ready to go, and we own 55-60. We sell about 25 a month.
“It’s mostly in-person at the auctions. I’m nervous to buy online because the pictures always look good. It’s hard to tell with a car. I’ll drive a car, uphill, downhill, everything seems fine. My mechanic gets in it and says: ‘the transmission is slipping.’
“My advice to the younger dealers is get involved in the state association early and ask a lot of questions. If you go and ask an older, successful dealer they will only try to give you good advice. Dealers will talk about this stuff all day long. It’s literally all we do.
“The last car I sold was my personal ’08 Corvette. My “dent man” bought it. I sold it for 20 grand, which is about what I had in it.”
Let Auto Assign do the heavy lifting, automatically routing vehicles to the best-fit auctions based on your custom rules. Faster decisions. Better results.
9/18/2024
2020
ADESA Boston September 12, 26
508-626-7000
ADESA Charlotte September 4, 18
704-587-7653
ADESA Chicago September 12
847-551-2151
ADESA Cincinnati/Dayton September 16
937-746-4000
ADESA Golden Gate September 2, 16, 30
209-839-8000
ADESA Indianapolis September 2, 16, 30
317-838-8000
ADESA Kansas City September 2, 16, 30
816-525-1100
ADESA Lexington September 25
859-263-5163
ADESA New Jersey September 4, 18
908-725-2200
ADESA Salt Lake September 9
801-322-1234
ADESA Tulsa September 12
918-437-9044
Columbus Fair September 17, 24 614-497-2000
Manheim Atlanta September 4
404-762-9211
Manheim Dallas September 9 877-860-1651
Manheim Milwaukee September 10 262-835-4436
Manheim Atlanta September 4, 17, 18
404-762-9211
Manheim Baltimore Washington September 9 410-796-8899
Manheim Dallas September 9, 10, 24
877-860-1651
Manheim Denver September 10
800-822-1177
Manheim Detroit September 4, 18
734-654-7100
Manheim Fredericksburg September 11, 25 540-368-3400
Manheim Milwaukee September 10, 24 262-835-4436
Manheim Minneapolis September 3
763-425-7653
Manheim Nashville September 23, 24
615-773-3800
Manheim Nevada September 19
702-730-1400
Manheim New England
September 16
508-823-6600
Manheim New Jersey September 10, 24 609-298-3400
Manheim New Orleans
September 10, 24
985-643-2061
Manheim Orlando September 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
800-822-2886
Manheim Palm Beach September 24, 25
561-790-1200
Manheim Pennsylvania September 4, 5, 12, 18, 19, 26
800-822-2886
Manheim Phoenix September 11, 25
623-907-7000
Manheim Pittsburgh September 10
724-452-5555
Manheim Riverside September 9, 11, 23, 25
951-689-6000
Manheim Seattle September 17
206-762-1600
Manheim Southern California September 4, 18
909-822-2261
Manheim Tampa September 4, 18
800-622-7292
Manheim Texas Hobby September 4, 18 713-649-8233
Manheim Atlanta September 4
404-762-9211
Columbus Fair
September 24
614-497-2000
Manheim Dallas September 9
877-860-1651
Manheim Milwaukee September 10
262-835-4436
SEPTEMBER 2025
Manheim Nashville September 24
615-773-3800
Manheim Nevada September 19
702-730-1400
Manheim Orlando September 9
800-822-2886
Manheim Palm Beach September 24 561-790-1200
Manheim Pennsylvania September 4, 18
800-822-2886
Manheim Phoenix September 11
623-907-7000
Manheim Riverside September 11, 25
951-689-6000
Manheim Seattle September 17 206-762-1600
Manheim Nashville September 24
615-773-3800
Manheim Nevada September 19
702-730-1400
Manheim Palm Beach September 24 561-790-1200
ADESA Boston September 12, 26
508-626-7000
ADESA Charlotte September 4, 18
704-587-7653
ADESA Golden Gate September 16
209-839-8000
ADESA Salt Lake September 9 801-322-1234
Columbus Fair September 17
614-497-2000
Manheim Dallas September 10, 24 877-860-1651
Manheim Pennsylvania September 4, 18
800-822-2886
Manheim Riverside September 11, 25
951-689-6000
Manheim Seattle September 17 206-762-1600
Financial Services*
Manheim Fredericksburg
September 11, 25 540-368-3400
Manheim Milwaukee September 24 262-835-4436
Manheim New England September 16 508-823-6600
Manheim New Jersey September 10, 24 609-298-3400
Manheim Orlando September 2, 16, 30 800-822-2886
Manheim Atlanta September 17
404-762-9211
Manheim Dallas September 9 877-860-1651
Manheim Milwaukee September 10 262-835-4436
Manheim Pennsylvania September 5, 19
800-822-2886
Manheim Pittsburgh September 10
724-452-5555
Manheim Seattle September 17
206-762-1600
Manheim Southern California September 4, 18 909-822-2261
Manheim Palm Beach
September 24
561-790-1200
Manheim Pennsylvania September 4, 18
800-822-2886
Manheim Riverside September 11, 25 951-689-6000
Disconnected Jottings From
Tony Moorby
08/18/2025
Age and gravity are having their way! While we live in a community, mostly populated by retired people, when we moved here I didn’t really count myself in their number.
Despite countless surgeries for this, that and the other, I was as fit as a flea and Terry and I got involved with our neighbors and built a social network and calendar that was dizzying. We both love to cook so entertaining was a catalyst for making new friends.
In a youthful spirit I treated myself to a Jaguar F type R Coupe in Sorrento Yellow. It’s not my everyday car but excuses to unleash all those horses (and that exhaust note) come along with some regularity! Although I’m not an acrobat I was able to jump in and out without looking like I needed a shoehorn.
A little while ago I accidently injured my back and where I would happily walk for a couple of miles, now I’m reduced to going fifty yards before having to stop due to pain and numbing in my hips and legs.
An MRI proved that surgery was out of the question and even injections would be useless
Taking things carefully now means slowly. That includes getting in and out of the Jag – where’s a shoehorn when you need one!?
So, much as it pains me (duh), it’s got to go and be replaced with something a little more sensible.
I’ve had many different Land Rovers and still have an affection for their, sometimes, quirky character or quizzical mechanicals.
So an investigatory visit to the local dealership proved to be a real eye-opener. I’ve
By Myles Mellor
29 People who operate a system
32 Manufacturer
34 Classic Cadillac
10 Traffic snarl-up
11 A while back
12 Bentley sedan
13 Aston Martin sports car
14 Writing instrument
15 Toyota sedan
17 Price
18 Recently produced
21 Trucker’s radio
22 Geo wagon
23 Chevrolet sports car model
25 Corn on the
27 Ford vehicle mode designed to improve fuel efficiency
28 RDX maker
37 Russian name
40 America’s well known uncle
41 Classic (car for example)
43 VW minivan
45 Danson, of Cheers
47 BMW’s Mini
48 Open-top two-seater sports car
Down
1 Former Chevy SUV
2 Big book that comes with the car
3 Poodle for example
4 Bat (Batman’s home)
been in the car business all my working life and I was dumbstruck; a nicely equipped Range Rover is over two hundred thousand dollars.
So that now involves me looking at something smaller or used with a thinner price tag. I’ve been casting around some of the local dealerships and I’m dumbfounded.
Most cars, SUVs or trucks are adorned with such high specs that prices are through the roof.
I’m left wondering how a guy or girl starting out could get new, reliable transportation; something basic with air and a couple of doors. Something like the old Mini comes to mind – basic but cool-looking. Or how about a small pick-up truck so running chores or using it for work still fits into a lifestyle. We don’t always have
to haul 8’x4’ drywall – that’s what borrowing is for.
I realize that safety is a consideration but surely today we can come up with a design that works universally. The Mini became so popular in any social group; it was like reverse snobbery.
Today’s Mini looks nothing like it’s forbear and I’m not sure it has the same panache as the original. I had four of them. The first was a van version as basic as a roller skate but my brother and I went everywhere in it. (It was the one that I wrote about a while ago that was clocked!) It ran like a top because there wasn’t much to go wrong. A Mini pickup may have some appeal.
One of my best buddies had a Ford Ranger base model; he upgraded newer ones with better specs each time he replaced them but you get my drift.
• 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
So now I’m thinking of a used Defender 90 or 110 with its boxy look and easy access as well as utility when I need it. The off-road bit is way in my past but I used to love it.
I’m lucky to be in a position to choose what I want; I can’t justify an arm and a leg – just my back.
5 Kia sedan
6 Acura
7 Historic British luxury car
8 Factor in resale price
9 Together, prefix
16 Subaru SUV
19 Golf clubs
20 Toyota hybrid vehicle model
22 Therefore
24 GT2 Stradale and Levante
25 Classic Jeep from the 70s
26 Lamborghini sports car
30 Corvette color in song
31 Popular Honda model
33 Tiny social insect
35 Buckeyes’ sch., abbr.
36 Doctor’s org. abbr, 38 6 in Roman letters
39 Like a road surface after rain
42 Madison ___, abbr.
44 SSW’s opposite 46 Hesitation sound in speech
Tony Moorby
