RPM Garage offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of luxury car retail, where the owner shares insights on selling 130 cars a month, sourcing unique vehicles, and the challenges of financing high-end cars. The conversation touches on the importance of social media marketing, the thrill of selling dream cars to clients, including celebrities, and the balance between personal collections and inventory. With a focus on creating a fun dealership atmosphere, the episode highlights the evolving landscape of car sales and the significance of customer experience.
In Episode 411 of The Independent Dealer Podcast, we take you inside RPM Garage in Dallas, Texas for a full shop tour with special guest Patrick Ellefson.
This episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at a specialty dealership built around classic cars, exotics, high-horsepower builds, and truly one-of-one inventory. Patrick breaks down how he sources unique vehicles, prices inventory for faster turn time, and uses social media to generate consistent inbound demand in a niche market.
Whether you’re a buy here, pay here dealer or an independent used car dealer, this episode delivers practical insight you can apply to inventory strategy, marketing, and dealership operations.
How RPM Garage sources specialty inventory without relying on auctions
Why faster turn time can outperform chasing high gross margins
The risks and realities of selling modified and high-horsepower vehicles
How social media drives real car sales for independent dealers
Why dealership presentation and atmosphere impact buyer trust
Turning your dealership into a destination, not just a lot
Using social media as a core sales channel
Managing inventory risk in specialty vehicles
Building a business around what you enjoy selling
If you’re an independent dealer looking to stand out, improve turn time, or rethink your inventory and marketing strategy, this episode provides real-world insight from a dealer who’s doing it differently.
Support the businesses who support the podcast:
BlytzPay — credit card processing and text communications for independent dealers (3 free months when you mention IDP)
Buckeye Risk Services — education and reinsurance solutions
TaxMax — flexible tax refund solutions for car buyers
Website: www.theindependentdealer.com Email: [email protected] Facebook Group: @independentautogroup Luke Godwin: @lukegodwin Jeff Watson: /sendtojeffw
Like, subscribe, and share with another dealer who needs fresh perspective.
"Like, in general, like, if you said, OK, it's, you know, a GT3, or what is your favorite? I'm a big Porsche guy."
The Porsche 911 GT3 is a special version of the Porsche 911 that is built for speed and performance, especially on racetracks. It's known for its powerful engine and great handling, making it a favorite among car lovers.
The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance variant of the iconic Porsche 911 sports car, known for its track-focused design and powerful naturally aspirated engine. It features advanced aerodynamics and handling characteristics that make it a favorite among driving enthusiasts.
"I'm a big Porsche guy. Me, too. Classic Porsches."
Porsche is a famous car brand from Germany that makes high-end sports cars. They are known for their speed, quality, and unique designs.
Porsche is a renowned German automotive manufacturer known for its high-performance sports cars, particularly the 911 series. The brand has a strong motorsport heritage and is synonymous with luxury and engineering excellence.
"...you're going to call me and be like, hey, Patrick, I got this Mustang that I cannot sell him a lot because it's too modified for me. Well, you like to buy it."
The Ford Mustang is a popular sports car that has been around for many years. It's known for being fast and stylish, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
The Ford Mustang is a classic American muscle car known for its performance and iconic design. It has been in production since 1964 and has undergone numerous generations and updates over the years.
"...with these modified cars, you know, things can break easily more like a high horsepower car. So, you know, something sometimes we buy cars and something is wrong..."
A high horsepower car is one that has a powerful engine, which means it can go really fast. However, these cars can sometimes have more problems because the engine works harder than in regular cars.
A high horsepower car typically refers to a vehicle that produces a significant amount of power from its engine, often resulting in faster acceleration and higher top speeds. These cars can be more challenging to maintain due to the stress placed on various components.
A clutch is a part of a car that helps change gears. If it gets worn out, it can cause problems when trying to drive the car smoothly.
A clutch is a mechanical device in a vehicle that connects and disconnects the engine from the transmission, allowing the driver to change gears. In performance cars, clutches can wear out faster due to the increased power and driving style.
"So yeah, our transmission in something like this could be just. Yeah, no, exactly."
The transmission is a part of the car that helps it move by transferring power from the engine to the wheels. It can be automatic, where the car changes gears for you, or manual, where you have to change gears yourself.
The transmission is a system in a vehicle that transmits power from the engine to the wheels, allowing the car to move. It can be automatic or manual, affecting how the driver controls the vehicle's speed and power.
"...right now, maybe I'm selling a lot of Camaro's and then next, you know, I'll have 20 and I can sell Camaro's."
The Chevrolet Camaro is a well-known sports car that is famous for its powerful engines and sporty look. It's been around for many years and is often associated with American muscle cars.
The Chevrolet Camaro is a popular American muscle car known for its performance and aggressive styling. It has been a staple in the automotive market since its introduction in the 1960s and continues to evolve with modern technology and design.
"...like the G wagons with the crypto bros, for example, really, it's like a status car. Yeah, I have one before it drops terribly."
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class, or G-Wagon, is a fancy SUV that looks unique and is great for off-roading. Many people buy it to show off their wealth and status.
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class, often referred to as the G-Wagon, is a luxury SUV known for its distinctive boxy design and off-road capabilities. It has become a status symbol, particularly among celebrities and affluent individuals.
"Those guys like the muscle cars. Yeah, Camaras, Corvettes. So we do a lot of cars to those guys."
The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast and stylish sports car that many people love. It's famous for being powerful and is often seen as a symbol of American cars.
The Chevrolet Corvette is an iconic American sports car known for its high performance and distinctive design. Since its introduction in 1953, the Corvette has become a symbol of American automotive engineering, often discussed for its powerful engines and racing heritage.
"This car is special for me. A body car. That's an R8. This is an R8, 2018."
The Audi R8 is a fast and stylish sports car made by Audi. The 2018 version has a powerful engine that makes it very quick and fun to drive.
The Audi R8 is a high-performance sports car known for its striking design and powerful engine options. The 2018 model features a mid-engine layout and is available with a V10 engine, offering impressive speed and handling.
A V10 engine has ten cylinders, which helps it produce a lot of power. It's often used in fast cars because it can go really fast and sound great while doing it.
A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder engine configuration that is known for its smooth power delivery and high performance. It is commonly found in high-end sports cars and supercars, providing a balance of power and refinement.
"It's called Gold Rush Rally. Pretty similar. It's the biggest rally in the United States."
The Gold Rush Rally is a fun road trip event where fancy cars drive across the United States together. It's a chance for car lovers to enjoy the journey and meet others who like cool cars.
The Gold Rush Rally is a high-profile rally event that takes place across the United States, attracting luxury and exotic cars. Participants often drive in a convoy, experiencing scenic routes and engaging in various activities along the way.
"These cars are super reliable. They are reliable. These cars won't break."
When we say a car is reliable, it means it usually works well and doesn't break down often. You can count on it to get you where you need to go without problems.
Reliability in cars refers to the likelihood that a vehicle will perform well without frequent repairs or breakdowns. A reliable car is one that can be depended upon for consistent performance over time.
Ferrari is a famous car brand from Italy that makes very fast and expensive sports cars. They are known for their racing and high-quality performance.
Ferrari is a renowned Italian sports car manufacturer known for its high-performance vehicles and racing heritage. The brand is synonymous with luxury, speed, and exclusivity.
"So let's talk about the difference in this in a hurricane. Huracan. Just, I mean, they're the same car. So this is Huracan's same thing. Huracan's won't break. They don't break here. They don't break."
The Lamborghini Huracan is a fast and powerful sports car that many people love. It's known for being very reliable, which means it doesn't break down often.
The Lamborghini Huracan is a high-performance sports car known for its powerful V10 engine and advanced technology. It is praised for its reliability and driving dynamics, making it a popular choice among supercar enthusiasts.
"Next favorite. I got that backdrop racing Cobra. We just sold it today."
The Shelby Cobra is a classic sports car that was made in the 1960s and is famous for being very fast and light. It's a favorite among car collectors because of its racing history.
The Shelby Cobra is a legendary sports car created in the 1960s, known for its lightweight design and powerful V8 engine. It has a significant place in automotive history due to its racing success and remains highly sought after by collectors.
"You know, it's always fascinating to be about these cars. Is there are a ton of Cobra replicas out there, but they still sell."
Cobra replicas are cars that look like the famous AC Cobra but are made by different companies. They are usually more affordable than the original and can be a fun option for car lovers.
Cobra replicas refer to cars that are modeled after the original AC Cobra sports car, which was produced in the 1960s. These replicas are often built by various manufacturers and can vary in quality and performance, making them accessible to a wider range of enthusiasts.
"So back in the day, you could buy a factory five, a really nice factory five car for 25 to 35. Is that where they at now?"
Factory Five is a company that makes kits for people to build their own cars, often based on famous models like the Cobra. This lets car lovers create unique, high-performance vehicles.
Factory Five is a company that specializes in manufacturing kit cars, allowing enthusiasts to build their own high-performance vehicles. They are known for their replicas of classic sports cars, particularly the Shelby Cobra.
"...ell a small compact two door sedan, like my Mazda Miata, my Saturn Skies."
Mazda is a car company that makes different types of cars, including the Mazda Miata, which is a small and fun sports car. People like Mazdas because they are enjoyable to drive.
Mazda is a Japanese automaker known for producing a range of vehicles, including the popular Mazda Miata, a small and lightweight sports car. The brand is often celebrated for its fun-to-drive characteristics and innovative engineering, making it a favorite among driving enthusiasts.
"...my Saturn Skies. The Saturn Skies are good..."
The Saturn Sky is a small, sporty car that looks cool and is fun to drive. It was made by a company called Saturn for a few years and is similar to another car called the Pontiac Solstice.
The Saturn Sky is a two-door roadster that was produced by Saturn from 2006 to 2009. It shares its platform with the Pontiac Solstice and is known for its sporty design and enjoyable driving dynamics.
"...maybe I'll be lucky to get myself a Solstice. I'm making like three to four grand..."
The Pontiac Solstice is a small sports car that was made by Pontiac. It's known for being stylish and fun to drive, and it was available for a few years before the brand was discontinued.
The Pontiac Solstice is a two-door sports car that was produced by Pontiac from 2005 to 2009. It features a sleek design and offers a spirited driving experience, making it a popular choice among enthusiasts.
"...now, what is our, what do we try to make? Here's my model and I think that's why I became known and big in ..."
The Tesla Model Y is an electric SUV that is roomy and has a lot of modern technology. People like it because it's good for families and can drive long distances without needing to charge often.
The Tesla Model Y is an all-electric compact SUV that combines performance, safety, and advanced technology. As part of Tesla's lineup, it has become popular for its spacious interior and impressive range, appealing to families and tech-savvy drivers alike.
"...we'll have like 2016 Ford Focus, 80,000 miles, one on their super clean car."
The Ford Focus is a small car that's easy to drive and great for getting around town. The 2016 version is known for being reliable and good on gas.
The Ford Focus is a compact car known for its practicality and efficiency. The 2016 model features a variety of engine options and a comfortable interior, making it a popular choice for daily driving.
"...It's like a 27-inch lift. You could drive underneath."
A lift is when a truck is made taller by changing its suspension. This allows for bigger tires and helps the truck drive better on rough terrain.
A lift refers to the height increase of a vehicle, often achieved through modifications like suspension upgrades. In this context, a 27-inch lift means the truck's suspension has been raised by that amount, allowing for larger tires and improved off-road capability.
"I think those are like 42s. Yeah, those are like $1,000 tire usage."
42s means the tires are 42 inches tall. Bigger tires help trucks drive over rocks and mud more easily.
'42s' refers to 42-inch tires, which are large tires commonly used on lifted trucks and off-road vehicles. These tires provide better traction and ground clearance for off-road driving.
"So I did notice that I haven't seen any EVs. We have some EVs from time to time."
EVs stands for electric vehicles. These cars run on electricity instead of gas, which makes them better for the environment and often cheaper to maintain.
EVs, or electric vehicles, are cars that are powered entirely by electricity instead of gasoline or diesel. They are known for being environmentally friendly and often have lower operating costs compared to traditional vehicles.
"...I'm talking like Lotus, Genesis, something cool, right?"
Genesis is a luxury car brand from South Korea, part of Hyundai, known for making high-end sedans and SUVs that are stylish and packed with technology.
Genesis is the luxury vehicle division of the South Korean automaker Hyundai, offering premium sedans and SUVs with a focus on design and technology.
"Is JDM, is that a, is that a new market you're doing in that market?"
JDM means Japanese Domestic Market. It's about cars made for Japan that are often special or different from those sold in other countries. People like these cars because they can be unique and cool.
JDM stands for Japanese Domestic Market, referring to vehicles that are produced for the Japanese market and often have unique specifications or features not found in models sold elsewhere. These cars are highly sought after by enthusiasts for their performance and rarity.
"...the ice cars aren't going away and they're getting more valuable. Yeah."
ICE cars are vehicles that run on gasoline or diesel fuel, using an engine that burns fuel to create power. This is the most common type of car before electric vehicles become mainstream.
ICE stands for Internal Combustion Engine, referring to vehicles powered by gasoline or diesel engines. These cars are traditionally the most common type of vehicles on the road.
"...you have the new Challenger EB, you have all these new, like high horsepower trucks that are extremely fast."
The Dodge Challenger is a popular sports car that is known for being powerful and fast. It's designed for people who love driving and want a car that stands out.
The Dodge Challenger is a muscle car known for its powerful engines and retro styling. The newer models include high-performance variants that cater to enthusiasts.
"There's also a niche for EB modified custom unique. Yeah."
EB modified means making changes to electric cars to make them unique or better. This can include things like changing how they look or improving their performance.
EB modified refers to electric vehicle modifications, often enhancing performance or aesthetics while maintaining electric powertrains. This term is becoming more common as electric vehicles gain popularity and customization options expand.
"Yeah. Like a lowered plant or something, or the lucid air with like there right now, if we go full EB, For..."
The Lucid Air is a fancy electric car that can go a long way on a single charge. It's known for having a lot of cool technology and is part of the growing trend of electric vehicles.
The Lucid Air is a luxury electric sedan that has gained attention for its impressive range and high-tech features. As a newcomer in the electric vehicle market, it represents a shift towards more sustainable and innovative automotive technology.
"Yeah. And as we sit here in this Nissan 350Z, it reminds me of another take away is like just..."
The Nissan 350Z is a sporty car that is fun to drive and was made between 2002 and 2009. It's popular because it handles well and has a powerful engine.
The Nissan 350Z is a sports car that was produced from 2002 to 2009, known for its rear-wheel-drive layout and strong performance. It has a dedicated fan base and is often discussed for its balance of power and handling, making it a popular choice among car enthusiasts.
Select text to request an explanation
We sell 130 cars a month.
What? No, no, no, no, no, stop.
Yeah, sure.
You do not sell 130 cars off this location.
Between 120 to 140.
And how many do you typically have on hand?
Because these are harder source, and then I would figure kind
of hard to, it's hard to finance these cars.
It's hard to finance some of them for sure.
We got the banks that do it, too.
We tried the time.
We learned what to do and what not to do.
But yeah, I mean, just we have 280 cars.
We retailed 120.
And people know us for these cars.
So they used to come to me.
What kind of a flooring line is that?
We have floor, half-cache.
OK, but you're talking like, I mean, that's
got to be 10 to 15 million.
We got about 8 million in inventory.
Woo.
Oh, my goodness.
We're not in Kansas anymore, buddy.
This is exactly what I thought it'd be.
Wow.
You're not a typical buy, hair, pay, hair.
This is not a buy, hair, pay, not a money, do you?
Hey, what's up, man?
Jeff, nice to meet you.
Hey, Luke, how are you doing?
Nice to meet you.
Wow, that's great.
This is something else.
What do you think?
You buy here, pay in here.
Classic cars, right?
I literally am.
Man, what's this crazy thing?
This is 1930s with one of the biggest super chargers
I've ever seen.
Man, that is nuts.
It's insane, huh?
I bet it's super loud.
It's extremely loud.
Like, if I start this car in here,
everything would like shit.
Everybody would be like, get out.
It'll be bad, actually.
Oh, my gosh.
Very cool dealership, man.
I mean, obviously, you kind of specialize in just
anything unique, just specialty stuff.
You know, it can be $10,000.
It could be $500,000.
OK, as long as it's a one-on-one.
If it's going to be $10,000, it's going to be something cool
about it.
How do you source cars like this?
You know, we started small and now we're pretty known.
So cars come to me pretty much.
Oh, wow.
The Dallas is full of unique cars.
People know for, yeah, Dallas.
Cars in Dallas is just huge.
So, yeah.
That's so cool.
What's your favorite car?
That I have for an hour, that I have.
Like, it's a favorite type.
Like, in general, like, if you said, OK, it's, you know, a GT3,
or what is your favorite?
I'm a big Porsche guy.
Me, too.
Classic Porsches.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I got a couple of myself.
So those are the cars that I like the most.
That would be the hardest thing.
And I want you to show some of the stuff you've got for sale
right now.
But the balance between what's for sale and what's mine.
You know, like, how do you not go on to every thing?
That's always a tough thing.
I get something cooler every other day.
And I'm like, I want to keep it.
Yeah.
And then my wife comes in the pictures.
She's like, get it out of here.
Do you have a rule where you're like, I'm only going to have X amount
wrapped up in personal cars?
Or do you just look for the one on?
I have a garage in the back that fits a lot of cars.
And they're all my personal cars.
So that is the issue.
I got like 12 cars that I probably shouldn't have.
But. Oh, wow.
Just keep rotating.
Keep it fun.
And do you do you do not have them for sale at all?
Like, they're not even.
Yeah, those are just my personal cars.
That's the hardest thing for me.
I buy something and then, like, two days later, I'm like,
I should list this on my website.
Like, I can't just sit on this and then I list it and it gets sold.
And then you fall in love with something.
And then a week later, you get something cooler.
So yeah, the cars that are my cars, I don't listen for sale.
Like their mind, they sit there and that's it.
You know, that's my problem.
I buy something for myself and I sell 57 Porsche.
And then in two weeks of 57 Porsche will come in.
That is nicer than mine.
So then I'm like, yeah, you have to swap.
You have to swap.
Let's see this.
Yeah, show you guys.
Here, just go through here, please.
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They're one of your sponsors.
You don't even know it every time you go to a convention or something like that.
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Isn't that right, Jeff?
Yeah, absolutely.
I have not seen a company so willing to get behind the dealers
from an education, from a support standpoint.
I mean, there's a handful that we see in our sphere that are very active
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So call Buckeye.
How'd you get into this?
I always been a car guy.
So, you know, I figured if I was going to sell cars,
might as well start the phone with us, right?
Well, that's, you know, what was interesting when we were talking about this outside
was how fun it would be to sell things that are beautiful and that you like,
you know, in the buy here, pay here industry, a lot of times,
you're selling things that just make money.
And it's a commodity, not something that's beautiful.
You know, I spend more time here than in my house.
So might as well try to have fun while I'm doing it, right?
So we started kind of as a dream, like, let's see if this is possible.
And it turned into this.
We sell 130 cars a month.
What? No, no, no, no, no, stop.
Yeah, sure.
You do not sell 130 cars off this location.
Between 120 to 140.
And how many how many do you typically have on hand?
Because these are hard to source.
And then I would figure kind of hard to it's hard to finance these cars.
It's hard to find some of them for sure.
We we got the banks that do it, too.
We try to try the time we learned what to do and what not to do.
But yeah, I mean, just we have 280 cars, try to retail 120.
And people knows for these cars.
So what kind of a flooring line is that?
We have floor, half cash.
OK, but you're talking like, I mean, that's got to be 10 to 15 million.
About 8 million in venture.
Wow, man, that is wild.
To move that many cars, you're buying a lot of cars.
And you mentioned that people come to you.
But is that really like your number one source?
People are bringing you stuff they want to sell or are you going out and looking?
No, they come to us.
We're also known with other dealers.
So let's say if you go to a Ford store, right?
Yeah, then you're going to call me and be like, hey, Patrick,
I got this Mustang that I cannot sell him a lot because it's too modified for me.
Well, you like to buy it.
That's how I buy my cars.
So how do you go about marketing these cars?
Are they going to bring a trailer or are they going to eBay?
They car gurus, car fucks, just regular marketing for car dealerships.
We we became pretty big on social media.
So people knows for this and that's kind of what's help us boost ourselves.
And it's it's Instagram, it's TikTok.
I mean, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, you know, all of it.
All the stuff you buy here, pay here, dealer would do.
But yet there's a whole nother demographic in there.
People really want to see these cars, right?
I mean, there's a subculture.
Oh, these have got the eye candy, man.
Look at this. This looks like a showroom.
You know, you know, I don't believe that you're rotating 150 out of it.
These look like they've been here forever.
You know, that's what I tell people.
They're always like, hey, you don't go to car shows.
I'm like, man, I'm not trying to sell them.
But my dealership is a car show every day.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, we come here and we get to play with cars.
We couldn't there be some marketing with cars and coffee and things like that?
You could do. Yeah, no, we know all of the guys.
We're too busy, really, but we know them all.
We do car shows from time to time.
We're not tubing into car shows mostly because we don't have the time.
But we do them all the time.
So what about like when you say that many in my brain?
I say, yeah, you're probably losing on three and making a killing on one.
Like, is that ever the case?
Do you ever have somewhere you're like, yeah, for sure.
I bought that wrong.
Let's get it. Yeah, with these modified cars, you know,
things can break easily more like a high horsepower car.
So, you know, something sometimes we buy cars and something is wrong
to the point that I got to maybe send it to the auction
because I know it's not going to be a good car for somebody.
So, you know, we take a loss from time to time.
And all of a sudden you're like, oh, I got to do a clutch.
And you're like, oh, that's like a clutch in a car like this.
It's not the same as a clutch in a Civic, right?
So yeah, our transmission in something like this could be just.
Yeah, no, exactly.
Talk to me about so with that, you have to be the expert on so many different
everything, all the nuances between like, you know, when they changed over a half
year and all of a sudden this was more desirable.
Like, you know, are you learning all this stuff?
Are you reaching out to your network?
Like, how do you make a good buy on something that's just like these one?
I'll be honest with you.
We really learn from our mistakes.
You know, maybe I buy this car and I'm like, I will never buy this car again.
Maybe I buy it and I'm like, hey, it really sells.
Let me buy another one, right?
So I just slowly with experience, I learned that and, you know, like it's weird,
like the time change, the people change, the trends change.
So right now, maybe I'm selling a lot of Camaro's and then next, you know,
I'll have 20 and I can sell Camaro's.
So it takes me like a month to sell them, but what causes those changes
you think in the market, you know, I think nowadays with social media,
there's a lot of influential, like how can I say, like resources out there
that if somebody that is somebody drove this car, everybody wants it, you know,
everybody wants it.
And that's kind of like something that I've seen that he happens like 2000
and like the G wagons with the crypto bros, for example, really, it's
like a status car.
Yeah, I have one before it drops terribly.
They don't drop good.
Yeah, but it's like a status thing, right?
So a lot of people, business owners, this and that, that want to have
certain level of status, that's right, like to get it, right?
A lot of rappers, for example, we sell to a lot of rappers or NFL players,
you know, people that want to be seen as something with status, really.
About not having a car.
Who is the coolest person you've ever sold to?
Oof.
I don't want to say the coolest because I'll upset some people.
Oh, OK, OK.
But you know, maybe most famous.
A bunch of football players, a bunch of rappers.
We've done Soulja Boy.
We've done multiple Cowboys players.
I can't even think of them.
Do they roll in with like suitcases of cash?
You know, that's a pretty, you know, you would think it's like that.
But it's really sometimes they don't even look at the cars.
They send a wire and that's it.
They make a phone call.
They like it and then they send us a video smiling next to it.
And you're putting in like their legal name and you're like, wait a minute.
Soulja Boy, their legal names are funny.
I'm always like, well, yeah, it's funny.
A bunch of those guys to use their managers.
So the managers do the whole thing, call us, even put in a LLC or something.
Yeah.
Just buy the car.
Oh, that's so crazy.
It's actually kind of simple to deal with those guys.
You will think it's like more complicated sometimes, but it's kind of like,
yeah, I like it how much it is.
Send the wire.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, they're not like sending guys over to inspect it and test drive it and get
all picking about it.
It's easy to deal with them.
We right now we're selling a lot to like social media influencers.
A bunch of like we have a bunch of the like the Jim Bros, the huge workout dudes.
Yeah, what do they want to drive the Camaras?
Those guys like the muscle cars.
Yeah, Camaras, Corvettes.
So we do a lot of cars to those guys.
A bunch of models and stuff.
So that's kind of pretty big right now.
Yeah, so some of those are only fan models we were talking about.
Only fan models, but a lot of cars from us.
Always cash, no questions asked.
Cash, believe it or no, they can prove a lot of income.
Like that was my first question with the first time I dealt with one of them.
They make money.
They prove it.
But if you touch it, you own it.
If you touch this, it's now yours.
I don't want it back.
Yeah.
We're filming only fans.
I don't know what's going to happen in that car.
When you leave.
Yeah, it's probably not good to come back.
That's horrible.
Yeah.
So show us right here and now your favorite car inside the building.
Well, this car.
Talk to us about it.
This car is special for me.
Okay.
A body car.
That's an R8.
This is an R8, 2018.
A V10 or is it the?
It's a V10.
Yeah.
You have to have the V10.
Gotta have the V10.
Gotta have it.
So I bought this car to do a rally across the United States with my wife.
Is it the Cannonball?
It's called Gold Rush Rally.
Pretty similar.
It's the biggest rally in the United States.
So this one we did from Beverly Hills all the way to Chicago.
So it was like 12 days.
Every night you stop somewhere different.
A bunch of cool people.
100 exotic cars.
Wow.
So this car.
It wasn't my favorite car in here.
I really bought it just to do the rally.
But then, you know, put some good time, some good mouse on it with my wife and whatnot.
So we had some good experiences.
Yeah.
And it made it the whole way.
It made it the whole way.
No issues.
These cars are super reliable.
They are reliable.
These cars won't break.
Yeah.
You can buy a Ferrari.
You're going to have some issues from time to time.
These cars are bulletproof.
So let's talk about the difference in this in a hurricane.
Huracan.
Just, I mean, they're the same car.
So this is Huracan's same thing.
Huracan's won't break.
They don't break here.
They don't break.
Super reliable cars.
I had a bunch myself.
Personal cars too.
No problems.
All right.
So next favorite?
Next favorite.
I got that backdrop racing Cobra.
We just sold it today.
It is another example of a Shelby Cobra here.
Yeah.
We sold this two days ago.
We sold that one this morning, I believe.
You know, it's always fascinating to be about these cars.
Is there are a ton of Cobra replicas out there, but they still sell.
You know, it's just for the money.
You get such an iconic car.
Everybody's going to respect that.
If somebody doesn't have money, you can be a billionaire.
I'm still going to look at it and be happy about it.
You know what I mean?
So back in the day, you could buy a factory five, a really nice factory five car for 25
to 35.
Is that where they at now?
Sold this one today for $67,000.
Wow.
Factory five.
And then we got the backdrop racing cars.
Those are close to $100,000.
Wow.
Yeah.
So I've sold some backdrops before for $140,000.
$160,000 to $180,000.
Entry level.
And I know when I sell a small compact two door sedan, like my Mazda Miata, my Saturn
Skies.
The Saturn Skies are good.
Maybe I'll be lucky to get myself a Solstice.
I'm making like three to four grand if I'm lucky on something like that.
When you sell something that I don't know if this is nicer or not, is this nicer than
my Solstice?
Oh my gosh.
A little bit nicer.
So you know what's funny?
A lot of people, I know what you're going to ask me.
You're going to ask me how much money you're making something like this.
What do we make on it?
What's our gross margins?
You know, what is our, what do we try to make?
Here's my model and I think that's why I became known and big in my side of the business.
We don't try to make much.
So for example, this car, we made probably $4,000.
And some people will think like, hey, you got to make 10, 15,000 to buy this.
I don't.
I think it's actually less than 4,000.
I just like to move quantity.
So for me, if I get a good deal, my customer's going to get a good deal and the better the
deal, the faster it's going to sell and the faster I can replace it.
So for me, I just want a lot of metal, you know?
Because you don't want to sit on it too long because that price could go the other way.
It's not popular.
And you know, a lot of people with this type of cars, with this type of dealerships, they
try to make a lot to the point that they don't sell that many.
I figure out, let me make less, let me sell more.
And you know, for me, I'm very good at buying cars.
That's my main thing.
You love it.
I hate the paperwork.
I hate all the dealership little things you're under.
Take me to buy a car.
I'll be good.
I'll buy a good car.
And that's what I know what to do the best.
So for me, it's like, let me just get more and more and more.
That makes a lot of sense, man, because we do talk about that with dealerships and everyone
just tries, it's like turn time.
You just got to turn that car because that creates a referral, which creates another opportunity,
which creates another opportunity.
Then you get a trade-in.
Then you have somebody else that trusts you, they're going to send somebody else.
So when you get a, I mean, because I'm sure sometimes you're getting just regular old
car trade-in, right?
Of course.
All the time.
Do you sell regular old cars?
Do you send those to the auction?
Well, I send those to the auction most of the times.
You know, from time to time, we'll have like 2016 Ford Focus, 80,000 miles, one on their
super clean car.
Why not put it on the website, right?
That's a good car for somebody.
But most of the times they go to the auction.
You can do like a buy one, get one, you know, buy my fancy sports car, get a free Mustang.
Get a matching little Ford Focus.
A little Ford Focus.
You know, there's a dealership.
A body of mine has a dealership that he was selling a Bugatti that came with a matching
Rolls-Royce, some colors.
Like you buy the Bugatti, you get the matching Rolls-Royce.
That's so nuts.
Like that was his thing.
And I used to say you have like some rail buggy up there and a legend's car.
I mean, anything that is fun, anything that has a title on Ford wheels, I can sell.
What I love is that he's having fun selling cars and I lost that at some point and it
was about, you know, the business model and doing it.
But you've been able to combine both, which is, I mean, that's like, that's perfection.
Yeah.
It's been a little work.
He hasn't always been smooth, but you know, now that we're kind of bigger, I get to, and
you know, the people that come by cars from us to the cool thing about it.
And if you guys are by here, pay here, you just probably experience something different,
not every time, but something different.
The people that come by a car for me, they're buying their dream.
They're buying something that maybe whenever they were 15, they had a poster of this car
in the world and now they can afford it.
So the interactions I have with people are very welcoming.
It's nice.
There's a story.
They're going to be very happy, excited.
So we deal with a lot of happy people having happy moments.
Yeah.
So that's really cool.
What's the most expensive car you've sold?
Yeah, that's a good question.
The most expensive car, five, $600,000 Lamborghinis.
Oh my gosh.
And you sell those quite often.
I mean, is that normal?
I like to stick with it.
$200,000 one.
Yeah.
But you know, from time to time, I'll have something more expensive.
When it was here at your live, did you sleep in it to protect it?
Yeah, sometimes I just sleep in the car making sure nobody touches it.
Yeah, it's definitely like...
They're keeping up an eye on the liability.
You know, less people can afford something like that, so it gets more complicated, but...
Yeah.
Not something you'd prefer to have.
I like my $40,000 or a Mustang.
No, I agree.
You probably make better margins on those.
It's a truck dealership, so I get a bunch of trucks for him and other friends here and
there, and a bunch of them go to auction, too.
It's kind of like a little side of the business just to keep things moving, too.
Yeah, I see some big jacked up truck back there.
What in the world is that?
Yeah, that one came in yesterday.
We were actually doing funny videos, seeing who could get into it.
It's like a 27-inch lift.
You could drive underneath.
Drive underneath.
27-inch.
27-inch lift, yeah.
What size wheels are those?
I think those are like 42s.
Yeah, those are like $1,000 tire usage.
You don't want to get that wrong.
How much would a lift like that cost to put on a truck?
Do you have any idea?
These guys spend...
We have $110,000 in resets.
Wow.
And I'm selling the truck for $70,000.
Ain't that nuts?
So this truck stock will be worth $55,000.
I'm selling it for $70,000 with a $100,000 worth of resets.
So that's what I'm known for.
You could drive that home from here.
I could.
That's good.
Let's go.
Gas mileage isn't going to be good.
Yeah, they got bought a Mustang.
It's too much.
Let me get a Mustang.
Wow.
That's so interesting.
Do you have anything on your showroom now that you just missed on?
Do you have anything you're going to own forever?
Yeah.
It's right there.
That little rail by the hip hop?
So a little midget car.
That's a legend's midget car, right?
It's lit.
So now it's welded on top of a little office.
Well, there's an office over there.
Do you have a salesperson that kind of sits on that?
Yep.
Somebody sits in there.
But now that little midget car is decoration.
It's staying with me forever.
You hook it to the wall.
It's hooked up to wall.
It's depreciated.
As well as that one.
That's the 1920s.
Oh, geez.
That's 28 Chevrolet.
You could sell that.
That's a 1920 Chevrolet.
20 Chevrolet.
That you could sell, right?
I could sell it.
I made a bet with a friend of mine.
I started the auction and I said, hey, if this goes for less than $10,000 on buying,
I'm going to put it on my roof.
Oh.
Decoration out.
I had a 28 Chevrolet.
No way.
Yeah.
That looked sort of like that.
But it might have had a full top.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's actually more rare with a top.
And it was green.
Okay.
Yeah.
Did you have the wheels like that?
You know, I don't recall, but if anybody wants to look, it's on my, it's on Gamma Motors
YouTube channel.
And it's for sale.
Yeah.
It was on my Gamma Motors YouTube channel.
And I, years ago, made a video of it.
And it's got a ton of views.
So it's for sale right now?
No, I sold it.
Oh, okay.
I probably sold it about five or eight years ago.
Hey everyone, just a moment here to talk about BlitzPay.
BlitzPay is my payment process provider, PPP, PPPP, whatever it is.
But they're wonderful.
They get the money in the bank and that's really what matters.
And it's simple to use, Jeff.
So simple.
And it helps us with our collection process.
Yeah.
You know what I've really liked and I'm going to fine tune this even more is their cash
pay network, which is a crucial component because we do have a lot of customers that
want to pay cash, but I don't want to take cash in the office.
It's dangerous.
It's scary.
I got to make deposits.
So we're pushing it more and more and more.
And then there's, you know, there's always the few customers that don't quite understand
technology and push back, but we're educating them more frequently.
And it's really making my anxiety go down because I don't have large cash deposits in
the end of a Friday.
Yeah.
I'd hate for you to lose any more here.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's stressful.
But the self-help options are really what makes the difference.
You don't have to have customers calling you, Hey, run this card, run this card, run
this card.
No, they can help themselves because the portal is so easy.
It's mobile friendly.
It's all right there on their little phone, which everyone has and they can take care
of their payments themselves.
That's the most important part.
Yeah.
Everybody's called.
Let's pay.
Get them to hook you over pay all the time, but I learned not to be emotional about it.
Yeah.
You know, it's just drive the hardest bargain you can.
Yeah.
Sometimes I have to buy something that maybe is going to give me a bunch of Instagram likes
that maybe I'm going to break even on.
Yeah.
But you know, it's something so special that it's just so expensive, so unique that everybody
wanted that I had to pay up to get, but it helps us in other ways.
Can we, can we switch for one second to how you design the space and what, what did you
find was, was, what's the inspiration?
So, like, like that said, it was all a dream.
I worked a couple of dealerships.
I worked at a regular dealership and then I went to an exotic car dealership.
You know, even in the exotic car dealership that I was selling up on the thousand hours,
the warehouse is, they're just pretty blend, you know, like just great building and stuff.
I wanted to make this place fun.
Like, you know, I would tell everybody, like, why do we go buy a felt that Gucci, we can
buy a felt thing.
Yeah, they do the same thing.
So I wanted to build that, that style that people wanted to come to me, even though maybe
somebody had the same car for the same price somewhere else that my, it was probably closer
to them, but because I look cooler to me.
So my whole vision was to make a fun, cool atmosphere where people can come and, you
know, just have a good time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, you, you have, you know, screens everywhere.
You got fun music playing.
You have a game room.
You have wooden wall.
It's, you know, it's, it's really inviting.
Awesome murals.
I mean, thank you.
Thank you.
I try to, oh, like, press it and once I can, you know, like, put everything here on there.
What's a good example to me and a good take home is like, yeah, these are exotic cars.
You're catering to a high end clientele and, and, but any Joe Schmo can do this with their
dealership to a level.
They can keep it clean.
They can have some artistic talent.
I mean, some of the stuff you could probably do on the cheap.
You might not have to have a custom muralist come in and paint, you know, whatever, but
you can do stuff to your dealership to make it inviting because everybody wants to buy
from a dealership that is clean.
Your cars look better when you're building.
I think a lot of people in the car theater world, world for God, they have the nice
cars, but then they, they don't care about the place.
Right.
And I think it really matters now.
There's more with social media and, you know, like, like you said, referrals, that's our
biggest thing to, you know, people are going to talk about us.
That's what I wanted to say.
So I did notice that I haven't seen any EVs.
We have some EVs from time to time.
Okay.
I usually don't do good with them.
Oh, okay.
So we got, we've got a trading here and there, but yeah, the market's been so volatile.
It's really hard to like cars and make a lot of noise.
Yeah.
And they have the ones where you can pipe through the, you got the RPM.
It's got to have a high RPM.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, I mean, I'm just certain at what you, what you have here.
This is good.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
What would you say is the future?
Like, where do you see this you going in the future for your dealership, for this high
end market?
Like there's money in the generation, the TikTok generation.
You think that's going to continue and these people will keep buying?
Do you see the baby boomers kind of now the baby boomers have money and they're
wanting to get their nostalgic cars, their youth?
There's, there's a lot of young money nowadays.
And that's another thing that I feel a lot of old school dealers tend to forget
sometimes for sure.
How have we done?
We welcome, I mean, we're all young in here too, right?
So, so I think it's going to keep getting bigger and bigger.
There's a bunch of like crypto money going on.
Yeah.
This is unlimited, right?
So for me, the next step will be, I would like to buy some sort of like franchise
dealer, but I'm talking like a specialty brand, not like a Ford or anything.
Yeah.
I'm talking like Lotus, Genesis, something cool, right?
Yeah.
A lot of gear, something to go.
So something that I keep growing my business, keep growing my cars, start getting
nicer and nicer cars, but, you know, slowly.
Yeah.
I mean, in this, these cars are cynical.
They, they become very popular than they go down.
Is JDM, is that a, is that a new market you're doing in that market?
Yeah, for sure.
We, we're into the JDM market.
Really anything cool, anything iconic, you know, you can have a 2006
Corvette right behind your, I mean, that car, we're selling a car for $50,000.
You know, that car, that car five years ago was $30,000 value.
So people also started to realize some of these cars with this EB world are
starting to become harder to find in good condition.
So the point that they're going up in value, you know, and there's, there's
a, there's a following for these cars.
No, so that's what we do.
So, I mean, and that's the future is, is bright.
And it's because it, the ice cars aren't going away and they're getting more
valuable.
Yeah.
I think it's still going to be a while until there's full, fully EB, but also
we go back, if we go to EB, I mean, you have the new Challenger EB, you have
all these new, like high horsepower trucks that are extremely fast.
There's also a niche for EB modified custom unique.
Yeah.
Like a lowered plant or something, or the lucid air with like
there right now, if we go full EB, Ford's is still going to be making most
things.
It might be EB, they're going to be a Mustang.
Camara's are still going to be out there.
The E-ray, EB's still for that.
You know what I'm saying?
So maybe that changes, but I still think I can have the unique colors, the
unique modifications, the unique things.
Can you talk to me about two dynamics with your, with your personnel, your
employees, right?
So to me, I would think that hiring for a salesman has got to be just easy.
I mean, it's got to be easy.
Like every salesman in the world wants to work here.
Easier than hiring for by here by yourself.
Well, I mean, the funny thing you say that about once a day, maybe once every
two days, we get somebody on our Instagram.
My God.
A hundred percent.
I have such a small team that I always tell my team, if it works with our
small team, let's keep it small.
You know, everybody eats, you know, the more people you put in the team, the
less everybody tries.
So I try to keep it small.
We're going, if we're like a little family here, all my, all my, all my
employees are, they're my close friends.
I see them more than my own wife.
You know what I'm saying?
I mean, my wife works with me, but you know what, I mean, I'm here all day.
Uh, but you know, so we're like a small family.
It's, it's, it's just fun to work with all of us.
And that's what I'm saying is like, it's got to be fun to sell these types of
cars to the type of clientele you're dealing with.
It's easy to find somebody that would work there.
Now the hard part I would think is you've got somebody calling up that knows
everything about the C8 Mustang and you've got a salesman that just doesn't
know that world.
Well, you know, the funny thing is how is he selling that car when he just
doesn't know the funny thing.
Funny thing with us is that like I said, they say you dream of this car all your
life or not even all your life for the past six months, these six months, you
did all the research you could do about this car.
You might come to me and even though I sold a hundred of them, you know, you
might know more than even me.
So I don't have to educate you.
So most of the people that come to me, they come educated themselves or to
myself as to the point that it's a very easy like interaction, like, Hey, I
like you, you like me and you like the car, sell it to you because you're
educated.
Now we have the, the, the situations where you come to get this car and next
thing, you know, you're feeling in love with the audio, right?
That you have no clue about, yeah, we'll gonna educate you, educate you about
it.
And my sales guys are pretty, you know, about like modified cool cars.
So yeah, we know how to educate you into that part, but most of the time, like
customer comes knowing everything.
Yeah.
What I mean?
So it's, it's really not hard to sell a car here.
Yeah.
They come educated.
That makes a lot of sense.
Where can people find you on Instagram because I think this would be cool to
look up.
Yeah.
Well, Instagram is a RPM garage Dallas.
Yeah.
We got a website, Facebook, YouTube.
We do a bunch of funny things on Instagram.
Yeah.
Friends going on between the teammates and whatnot.
It's fun to watch.
Who does that in the dealership?
Is that a full-time content creator?
I was going to say, yeah, that's a, we talk about that all the time.
Like that's a new position inside of most dealership.
Yeah.
You got a document.
You got a film marketing budget.
Hey man, appreciate the tour, Patrick.
Very nice to meet you.
Look, we had a great time at Patrick's place here at RPM garage.
I mean, what an operation.
What a business model.
Just like really, really inspirational for a dealer who's just having fun doing
what he's doing.
It's, it's inspired.
Honestly.
Yeah.
We can all get in the ground.
I've been doing this since I was 16 years old, you know, 30 years now.
And it's, it's great to see somebody with, with enthusiasm about what they're doing
and what they love to do.
And an operation like this, it inspires you.
Yeah.
And a truly generous man.
He lets us come in here, film it, see it all, sit in his Mazda Miata.
Like this is a, it's a beautiful small car, not built for a tall man like me.
Uh, but luckily you're catching a lot of bugs.
I'm super aerodynamics.
So that's helpful.
And Mazda Miata, whatever this is, a Saturn Sky.
He's just a great guy that, I mean, it just seems like he's doing the business
model right.
He is.
I mean, we're sitting in a factory five Cobra replica.
So just to get that straight in your non car knowing person.
Yeah.
But he is, he loves what he does.
He's making a good profit.
He's selling a lot of cars and he's having fun doing it.
And that's really what it's about when it comes to, to the heaven of business.
Yeah.
And as we sit here in this Nissan 350Z, it reminds me of another take away is
like just the marketing side of it is so important no matter what you're doing.
And that's something I can take away as a buy here, pay here dealer is he's
heavy in social media.
He's heavy in Instagram and Tik Tok and he's creating content.
Now I get it.
His content is like, he's got super models that he's putting on the camera.
I get it.
I got, and you're the only super model.
Yeah.
No, not even, I'm saying the cars themselves, right?
They're beautiful eye candy to put on that kind of a thing.
So I run into that roadblock of like, well, nobody wants to see a 2015 Ford
focus, but I can find ways to make my content entertaining.
I won't have the popularity or the viralness that maybe he does when he
puts a, you know, a Pontiac solstice like this on Instagram.
But it's going to be content that I can create that could be engaging.
Jeff, we're getting close.
We are getting so close to get, getting that money in the bank.
You can smell it.
Those checks are just flying out, right?
I smell those checks.
So we were doing our refund advance right now.
We're in the fourth quarter.
We're doing some estimates with, with the, with their last pay stub.
And when the tax max says, Hey, this is good to go.
They let you print the refund advance check.
So we're not too far away from that, which is really, really exciting.
Um, the second we start filing in our location, we are also going to be
able to start printing out the refund advance checks, which is a huge, huge
helper.
And, and honestly, when you look at the customers and they say, Oh, well,
this is going to cost me a little bit more.
It doesn't matter because they're getting the money now.
And it's completely worth it for them to get into a vehicle today, as opposed to
waiting another eight to nine weeks.
Yeah.
Just imagine the amount of money you say by buying a car in December, then when
you buy it in March, uh, from, from the same person, because prices go up.
Unfortunately, during tax season, but if you buy it early, you're good to go.
Yeah.
And, and what I tell my customer, I say, look, if you wait until March, April,
that car won't even be here.
If it's a third row SUV, if it's a truck, if it's in demand, it won't be here by
then.
So act now, let us file your taxes.
Let us get you the refund advance so we can get you on the road today.
It's super easy.
Call the guys and girls over at tax max, use VIP code to get 20% off the VIP
package, do it right now.
It's not too late.
And don't forget to use it for collection strategies to Jeff.
So.
I love the idea of having in-house social media person.
Yeah.
I think it's great.
And you've done that before.
And, and our social media is nothing, but, um, he had to figure it out.
These cars don't, you know, these cars sell themselves, but they don't market
themselves, right?
Um, there's no traditional model to get them out.
You put this car on auditorator.com and somebody might find it.
They're not really looking for there.
You know, back in the day, you could use eBay, uh, to put it out there.
And, and the problem with bringing a trailer is it's an auction.
You never know what they're going to bring.
Um, cars and bid might, might help, but he's really doing it.
And I'm going to call it the old fashioned, and it's not the old fashioned way.
It's, it's word of mouth.
It's the old fashioned way in with a new fashion span, right?
Right.
It's true content that you put them out there.
The people were loving, people were sharing it to other people and, uh, people
are shopping at two AM in the morning and, and DM and you, I want this car.
And next thing you know, it's done.
I mean, how much fun is that?
Yeah, it is true.
And sitting in this Mazda Miata really makes me realize that my dealership, I
need to like make it a fun place, man.
It's not hard to keep it clean.
And we talked to him about that, like his vision for the environment here, the,
the atmosphere, like you can still have a clean dealership as a retail dealer,
a buy here, pay here dealer, a small one man operation.
And you can do some things on the cheap that make your dealership an attractive
place, people feel comfortable.
They feel safe.
Uh, you, they always say, man, you can tell a lot about a dealership and how
it's run by its bathrooms.
Yeah.
This was a really clean bathroom.
Yeah.
You spent a long time in there.
I went in after you and I about passed out.
So we'll have to pay him for those repairs, but it is a very, it's a great place.
And it's a perfect example of just keeping a nice operation and it's not hard.
We can do it on any budget.
Yeah.
You know, and we, uh, we opened our new store, you know, in 2011 as a new store,
old store now, but, um, it's looking old and now really should probably spend
some money, but who knows what we're doing.
So, um, but they, people laughed at us because we put in palm trees out
front of our, our, our dealership, but I wanted that feeling for buy here, pay
here, it matters where you're buying from and how you're buying.
And for buy here, pay here, uh, customer to walk into a place that looks
really clean and really nice.
That makes them feel comfortable in what they buy and how they're buying.
And, and hopefully it makes them feel good about their purchase.
So they'll pay you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely man.
Well, Luke, this has been a great thing, man.
Let's see.
I don't know if you can reach the pedals.
You want me to get you some blocks?
Well, I'm going to put an extra dent right here.
So the air is over your head.
Can you handle this?
The power this solstice has in my blow, the rest of your hair.
I would appreciate that.
Let's go.
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