Turn time is how long your cars sit on the lot before they sell. If you sell faster, you get your money back sooner and your dealership runs more efficiently.
Flooring money is the money a dealer has to pay up front to get cars on the lot. If the cars don’t sell quickly, the dealer keeps paying costs while they wait.
Term
curtailments
Curtailments are financial penalties that can happen when cars sit unsold too long. They can make it more expensive for the dealer to keep inventory on the lot.
Lot rot is what happens when cars sit on a lot for too long. They can get dirty, damaged by weather, and sometimes develop problems that make them harder to sell.
DMS is the computer system a dealership uses to manage things like inventory and sales. The hosts are saying to use it to find the numbers you need for the calculation.
Merchandising is how the dealer “shows” the car to buyers and markets it. Better presentation can help the right customers notice it sooner and buy faster.
LIVE
Hey everyone, welcome to the Monday Minute. Quick reset to help you build better, think
clearer and build your dealership with intention. But before we get started, Jeff, did you review
yesterday's newsletter?
Yes, I always review the newsletter that comes out on Sundays to make sure I am paying
attention to how to strengthen my dealership.
And if you're not registered for the newsletter, you need to check it out, go to our website,
click subscribe, all that good stuff. And Jeff, may the fourth be with you.
Oh, that's so good. Hey, just remember, the Monday Minute is the mindset, the newsletter
is roadmap. All right, Jeff, what we got this week, buddy.
Okay, one of the most important numbers and is often ignored is our turn time, right? Our
turn time. How fast are we actually selling through our inventory? We get this a lot.
People are always like, well, what's good? What's bad?
You don't make your money when you buy the car. You don't even make it when you price
your car. You make it when you sell the car, right? That's literally how you make the money
and get the cash back in the bank. And the faster you can do that, the more efficient
your entire operation becomes, right? Most retail dealers, your turn should be around
one to two times a month. That sounds like a lot.
I like the 45 days. I like 45 days. Okay, so one and like a half to 175 a month, right?
So if you're by here, pay here, we can stretch that a bit, right? But the principle basically
turns the same. The faster you turn, the more you win. Because turn time means a couple
of things, right? It means you're using your flooring money more efficiently, not getting
hit with, you know, curtailments and crazy interest after certain days, all that stuff,
fees. You're avoiding lot rot. And lot rot is a real thing, man. I can point at two cars
right now that are literally grown into the asphalt of my dealership. They've been there
so long. And then keeping your inventory fresh, I think a lot of dealers ignore that. Like,
yes, you are eventually going to sell that grand caravan on the 18 inch rims with the
scratches and the faded paint, but you're missing opportunities to get something new in that might
have been more exciting, that might be noticeable. And you're minimizing that depreciation because
we all know outside of COVID times, your cars depreciate. So slow inventory is quietly killing
profitability. It ties up cash, it ages out, it forces you to discount the car. And before
you know it, you're working harder for less money. Yeah. So let's talk, let's just keep this
simple. Okay. Go in your DMS, look at the last 12 months, and then pull your average inventory
level, divide that value average monthly sales, and that's going to give you your turn. There's
no guess where just math. Here's a benchmark. If it's three, you need to pick it up a little bit,
right? One to two, I think is where I like people to be 1.5 is perfect. And then if you're under
one, it's a super tight operation, you can get a little too quick there. But you know, that's
what we're talking about here. So here's a real question. What's slowing you down? Is it pricing?
Well, that's fixable, right? Is it reconditioning delays? Maybe. Is it merchandising? Which I think
it's a very interesting topic that we talk, that we can talk about. Oh, poor inventory selection,
because that happens unknowingly, but it does happen. Turn time's not just a number, it's a
discipline. You got to really bake that into your idea of buying and your people selling and
recon, okay? But your assignment this week is super easy. Calculate your term, your turn,
be honest and identify one thing you can do to pick up that speed, because one little thing
could make a big difference. It's the business. Speed isn't pressure. It's just the strategy
for being a good car dealer. So let's build this together.
About this episode
The hosts zero in on inventory turn as the metric that drives cash flow and profit in used-car retail. They explain that money is made when a car sells, not when it’s bought or priced, and warn that slow inventory creates lot rot, aging, discounts, and extra flooring costs. They also give a practical benchmark for retail dealers and a simple DMS-based way to calculate turn, framing speed as a discipline rather than a slogan.
Welcome to the Monday Minute, brought to you by Collections Boot Camp with AI from Godwin Consulting — your weekly reset to lead better, think clearer, and build your independent dealership with intention. You don't make your money when you buy the car. You don't even make it when you price it. You make it when you sell it — and the faster that happens, the more efficient your entire used car dealership becomes. In this episode, Luke and Jeff break down one of the most ignored numbers in the independent dealer business: turn time. They walk through what a healthy turn looks like (1.5 is the sweet spot, around 45 days), how to calculate yours straight out of your DMS by dividing your average inventory by your average monthly sales, and why slow inventory is quietly killing your profitability. Lot rot is real — Jeff can point to two cars literally grown into the asphalt of his dealership. Aged units force discounts. Flooring fees, curtailments, and interest pile up. And every week a car sits, you're missing the chance to put something fresher and more exciting in front of a customer. Luke and Jeff dig into what's actually slowing dealers down — pricing, reconditioning delays, merchandising, or simply the wrong cars on the lot — and give you the math and the mindset to fix it. Turn time isn't just a number, it's a discipline. Your assignment this week: calculate your turn honestly, and identify one thing you can change to pick up the speed. Speed isn't pressure — it's the strategy for being a great independent car dealer. Review this week's Sunday newsletter at www.theindependentdealer.com for the full theme and exercises. Not subscribed yet? Sign up now. https://theindependentdealer.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=603446580871d8522a454418d&id=50aae74348Let's build this together. SPONSORED BY COLLECTIONS BOOT CAMP WITH AI — Godwin Consulting Group 📅 May 14, 2026 | 📍 Atlanta, GA Learn more & register: www.godwinconsultinggroup.com/training
