“Repos” are when the car is taken back because the buyer didn’t make payments. For dealers that do their own financing, handling repos well is crucial to staying profitable.
Risk management means the dealer tries to avoid losing money when customers can’t pay. With BHPH, that usually involves careful screening and having a plan if a car has to be taken back.
BHPH means the dealer sells the car and also takes care of the financing payments. That’s different from a bank loan, and it can be riskier for the dealer if customers fall behind.
This is about a government changing the rules so cars that were previously not allowed can become legal. The hosts are saying that this kind of change can make it harder for dealers to get cars back.
A bill of sale is a paper that proves who sold the vehicle to whom. Here, the point is that Mexico is treating that paperwork as sufficient to get plates and registration, which affects what happens to vehicles dealers have.
A lien is like a legal “hold” on a car when someone still owes money on it. In this story, the concern is that when the car gets handled through Mexico’s process, those claims may no longer protect the lender/dealer the way they normally would.
A “collections boot camp” is training for staff on how to get paid when customers fall behind. It teaches the right steps and timing so the dealership can recover money more effectively.
EPIADA is the local chapter the speaker leads, referenced as being important due to the distance from larger hubs. Local dealer chapters often coordinate events, training, and support tailored to regional needs.
Concept
dealer association local chapter
The speaker emphasizes that having a local chapter matters when dealers are far from major cities or central meetings. In practice, local chapters reduce travel burden and help members solve problems faster through regional relationships.
Curbstoning means selling cars like a dealer without being a licensed dealer. It’s often done informally, and that can lead to legal trouble and problems for buyers.
Concept
finance side of it
The “finance side” is the part of the car business that deals with getting customers approved for loans and managing the money side of the sale. It affects both how much the dealer earns and how risky the deals are.
Flipping a car is when someone buys a car and sells it again pretty quickly to make money. The goal is to sell for more than they paid, but they have to cover things like repairs, transport, and paperwork.
They’re saying they didn’t plan to become a dealer at first—they just started selling cars. Over time it grew, but starting without a plan can be risky because you still have to handle the rules and the money side.
Term
license out of place
Dealers usually need a license that’s tied to where they operate. If you’re “out of place,” it means you might not be legally set up at that location yet.
Company
TIEDA
TIEDA is a dealer group that helps independent car dealers network and learn from each other. Going to conferences through it is a way to stay up to date in the industry.
Topic
managing risk and growth in a used-car dealership
They talk about how a dealership owner runs multiple offices and uses insurance to help stabilize the business. The idea is to grow without putting all the risk on just buying and selling cars.
Concept
inventory risk (cars vs insurance)
They’re saying car inventory is risky because you have to buy and store cars and they can lose value. Insurance is more like selling a service—more paperwork and less physical risk—so it can feel easier to manage.
Reinsurance is like “insurance for the insurance.” If one side has to pay out big claims, reinsurance helps cover some of that risk so the whole system doesn’t get overwhelmed.
This is a type of dealer financing where the dealer is basically the lender. Since the dealer takes on more risk, they often use extra tools to protect themselves.
In-house risk means the dealer tries to handle the coverage risk themselves instead of outsourcing it. That can give more control, but it also means the dealer has to be prepared for claims.
Buckeye Risk Services is a company mentioned as helping dealers set up coverage and risk protection. Think of them as a specialist that helps you get the paperwork and setup right.
Insurance companies track how often claims happen and how expensive they are. A “claims ratio” compares what they pay out to what they collect. If your ratio is too high, they may get stricter or charge more.
Liability insurance helps pay for damage or injuries you’re legally responsible for. If something goes wrong, it can cover lawsuits and repair costs. Dealers often try to set this up for customers as part of the deal.
They’re talking about selling more than one insurance type to the same customer—like renters plus auto, and sometimes business or homeowners. Doing it together can be easier for the customer and may come with discounts. It also helps the dealer make more money from the insurance side.
CPI is an insurance acronym mentioned as something the dealer provides, but the episode doesn’t define it here. It likely refers to a specific coverage add-on tied to the vehicle or the deal. You’d want to ask what CPI stands for and what it pays for.
They’re discussing what it’s like to sell cars to customers in other states. Different states have different rules and paperwork, so it can be more complicated than selling only locally.
Registration is the paperwork that makes a car legal to drive in a given place. If registration becomes easier to obtain, it can affect whether a car can be recovered later.
They’re saying the car might only be worth a small fraction of what it cost once it’s recovered or sold. So the lender/dealer loses money even after getting the vehicle back.
They mention Mexican license plates to explain that the car is being used/registered differently after crossing the border. That can make it harder for the original lender to find and recover it.
A title is the paperwork that proves who legally owns the car. If it’s a Texas title, it can matter for what steps a dealer or lender can take under Texas law.
“Repo” means taking the car back because the buyer didn’t keep up with the payments. The rules for how you can do that can change depending on where the car is titled and what laws apply.
Moving a car across the border can make it harder to enforce the deal if there’s a problem. That’s why the dealer may avoid selling if the car will be kept over there.
Underwriting is the process of deciding whether a buyer is a safe risk for a car loan. If there’s a chance the car will be moved out of the dealer’s legal reach, the risk goes up.
To re-register a car, you usually have to get it inspected first. If the car can’t legally cross the border, it can’t be inspected, and then it can’t be re-registered.
“Stuck there” describes a failure mode in cross-border vehicle recovery: the vehicle can be located but not legally moved or processed, turning a recoverable asset into a stranded one. This increases dealer/lender risk because the cost and time to resolve the situation can grow quickly.
Concept
50 to 50 hours
They’re saying it takes a very long time to handle these cases. When it takes that long, it costs more and becomes riskier for the dealer trying to recover the car.
A utility bill can be used as proof of where someone lives. Lenders ask for it to confirm the address on your ID is real, which helps them feel more confident about approving financing.
“Documented” means you have the proper legal paperwork to be in the country. The hosts are discussing how that can affect whether a dealer feels comfortable financing someone.
They’re saying a change in what IDs are accepted can affect whether customers can keep their car legally registered. If customers can’t renew plates, the car may end up stuck with the dealer instead of being used normally.
Concept
swapping a bunch of ownership
They’re talking about cars changing owners a lot. That usually means lots of paperwork and uncertainty about who is responsible for the car at each step.
They’re discussing how a dealer finds cars when they’re not near big cities. It’s basically about where the inventory comes from and how hard it is to get it there.
The dealer explains that they rely on Arizona—specifically the Phoenix area—for sourcing cars because it’s closer to El Paso than other markets. This is a common strategy for independent dealers: choose the nearest high-volume inventory region to reduce transport cost and time.
BlitzPay is mentioned as the payment solution the dealer uses to manage money flow. The host claims it reduces issues compared with a previous provider, which matters for operational reliability.
Automated texts are messages that get sent automatically to customers. The goal is to prompt a quick response—like clicking a link to pay—without staff having to do everything by hand.
Term
AI
In this segment, “AI” refers to artificial intelligence features used to improve dealer communications—specifically audio-based phone calling and (soon) texting. The hosts frame it as a way to increase efficiency in collections and customer follow-up.
The “collections process” refers to how a dealer follows up on overdue payments—contacting customers, negotiating, and attempting to recover delinquent balances. The hosts connect it to automation and AI, implying faster outreach and more efficient payment recovery.
“Buy here, pay here” (BHPH) is a dealer-financed model where the dealership sells the vehicle and also collects the customer’s payments directly. Because the dealer is effectively the lender, collections efficiency and risk management are central to the business model.
“Lease here, pay here” is a dealer-managed financing/contract structure where the dealership is involved in both the vehicle arrangement and payment collection. Like BHPH, it increases the importance of collections processes, payment handling, and reducing delinquency risk.
Credit card processing is how a business accepts and completes credit card payments. The fees and approval speed can affect how much money the dealership keeps on each sale.
Term
carrying your own notes
“Carrying your own notes” means the dealer is the one lending the money to the buyer. Instead of immediately selling that loan to a bank, the dealer keeps it—so they earn interest, but they also take on more risk.
A line of credit is like a credit card for the business, but with a bigger limit. The dealership can borrow up to a set amount when it needs money for things like buying cars or covering expenses.
Cash sales are when the buyer pays right away instead of getting a loan through the dealership. Early on, that can be easier because you don’t have to line up financing, but it can also slow growth if you don’t have enough money to buy inventory.
It’s basically the paperwork that lets a dealer finance a car sale. The customer pays monthly until the price is fully paid, and the contract defines what happens if payments stop.
Concept
payment strings
“Payment strings” is a way of setting up the payment plan so money comes in consistently. It usually means the financing is organized through a partner so the dealer isn’t guessing how payments will work.
Think of a portfolio like a bundle of car loans. Instead of depending on one customer, you have many loans at once, which can make the business steadier.
This is about protecting the dealership’s cars. If someone tries to take a vehicle or disable tracking, having more than one tracking method (and a decoy) makes it harder to fully get away with it.
A VIN is like a car’s fingerprint. It helps the dealer identify exactly which car it is, and it’s used for paperwork and tracking if the vehicle is recovered or goes missing.
They use two different service companies for the GPS so if one has trouble, the other can still work. It’s meant to prevent the system from going offline.
Topic
Texas Quality Dealer of the Year
They mention a dealer award in Texas. It’s basically a way of recognizing dealers who run their business well.
They’re talking about required paperwork that should be signed for every sale. If it’s missing, it can cause legal trouble and make the deal harder to manage later.
Term
OCCC
OCCC sounds like a state rule or oversight group that affects dealerships. The key point is that dealers have to follow whatever requirements it brings, and missing forms can create compliance problems.
Concept
state enforcement differences (Texas vs Utah)
They’re comparing how strict different states are with enforcement. If one state is more aggressive about inspections and penalties, dealers there usually have to be more careful with paperwork and processes.
Concept
audit
An audit is an official review of a business’s records, processes, and compliance with regulations. In dealer contexts, audits can include checking paperwork, licensing, and whether the dealer’s practices match what regulators require.
Concept
state controller
The “state controller” is a government office that can oversee public funds and/or compliance-related matters depending on the state. In the transcript, it’s referenced as another regulator that can audit or enforce rules affecting dealer operations.
The segment highlights that dealers can be regulated by multiple levels of government and oversight bodies (state, local, and other agencies). For BHPH dealers especially, this means ongoing compliance work—staying current on rules to avoid fines, enforcement actions, or license issues.
“Recon” means getting a used car ready to be sold. It can include fixing damage, making sure it’s safe, and cleaning it up so it looks and drives right.
When a car is “totaled,” it means the damage is so expensive to fix that it’s not worth repairing. Newer cars can get totaled more often because the safety tech is costly to replace and recalibrate.
Many newer cars have safety features that use cameras and sensors to help with things like staying in the lane. If the car gets into an accident, those parts can be expensive to fix and may need calibration.
Concept
thick skin
They’re saying this kind of car business can be emotionally tough. You have to be able to handle setbacks without letting them derail you.
Concept
20 group
A “20 group” in dealer circles usually refers to a peer group or mentorship network (often named after a founding cohort or program) where dealers share best practices and strategies. The speaker credits it with shaping how they run the business, implying structured learning and operational support. Without more context, the exact organization isn’t identifiable from the transcript alone.
Concept
cars that maybe driving themselves
They’re talking about cars that can drive themselves or do more of the driving. That could change how people buy cars and how dealers plan for the future.
“Charged rather than taking gas” points to electric vehicles (EVs) that run on electricity instead of gasoline. For dealers, EVs can impact inventory strategy, charging-related customer questions, and servicing/repair planning.
Topic
NQD
NQD looks like the name of an event the guest is attending. The excerpt doesn’t explain what it stands for, so it’s mainly a reference point.
A “collection boot camp” is training on how to handle late payments. The goal is to get customers back on track and reduce the number of cars that end up being taken back.
LIVE
You know what? It really wasn't an issue until recently, the past couple of years.
I mean, for New Mexico, it's not a big deal.
We just, you know, it's like the street next door, it turns into New Mexico, you know.
So we go right to the vehicles, we're used to that.
But we started losing a lot of vehicles in Mexico the last couple of years.
Because the Mexican government came up with the bright idea that, you know what,
we're going to try to legalize all the vehicles that are here illegally.
So all you had to percent was a bill of sale and you get your plate, get your registration,
and you're set.
Well, guess what?
A lot of my vehicles started going over there.
They didn't hit it.
Yeah, your liens.
Your liens are gone at that point, right?
Correct.
Hello, and welcome to this advertisement for Godwin Consulting Group or whatever this is.
Thank you so much for helping me with this, Jeff.
You know, it's all 20 bucks gets you.
You know, that's what 20 bucks gets you around here, Jeff.
Take it away.
Hey, bud.
So are you coming to Atlanta on May 14th?
I am strongly considering it.
I like that.
I get to see you.
And that's what I just love to see your pretty bald head.
Thanks, buddy.
Yeah.
So, Jeff, are you bringing a collector or just you?
I would definitely bring my collector, yes.
Okay.
In fact, I may just send her by herself.
Well, I want to see you, man.
Yeah, but it's a collections boot camp.
So we send her in, she learns, she comes home.
It's Atlanta.
Come on.
Yeah, in and out.
All right.
You're right.
You're easy.
No cost.
It looks like it's a good timeframe.
So I can justify it.
Okay.
Well, I like that.
I'm glad you're sending someone and it's super easy.
Godwinconsultinggroup.com.
Go there, register and come see me and Jeff's collector.
We're also going to have it around there.
Let's pay and Maggie will do a lot of role playing.
We're going to just teach you how to collect the money.
And that's what it's about.
Collecting the money after we sold all these cars
for tax season.
Yeah, absolutely.
What were the dates?
May 14th in Atlanta and you can fly in, take a Uber.
It's probably a $3 Uber ride to the Homewood Suites there.
And it's going to be all day, super easy.
Then you can fly home from Atlanta the same day.
So make it easy.
All right.
See you there.
Hello and welcome to the Inda Pendant Dealer podcast.
Luke, we have our Caesar squared, Caesar special.
Our Caesar salad.
I guess you can call it.
I like the Caesar salad.
So last week we had our friend Caesar Torres.
And this week we have our friend Caesar Stark.
And they're both in Texas, Jeff.
That's crazy.
And they're both incredibly successful.
So I don't know what's in the water.
I don't know how you guys do it down there.
Maybe he's bigger.
Everything's named Caesar.
Maybe you should change your name to Caesar Watson.
That would make, dude, I'm good.
If I could have hair like these guys in the lifestyle,
I would do it.
I'd play one, man.
So, man.
Upgraded 2.0, Caesar Stark.
Thank you for coming on, man.
Really appreciate it.
Introduce yourself to the podcast community.
Kind of, you know, where are you located?
Your dealership.
And then we're going to go back into your history
and learn about how you got here.
Oh, sure.
Well, my name is Caesar Stark.
Like you got said, I'm in El Paso, Texas.
I'm on the other side of the state.
They're from Caesar Torres.
You know, in the far west end of Texas,
we border New Mexico and Mexico.
So we're right there on the border.
Two states, two countries, you know.
And I am a member of TIADA.
I sit on the board with them and been on the board
for six years.
I am the local president of the local chapter, the EPIADA.
Been doing that president for six years.
There's nobody that wanted to take to recently.
So, and then I've been helping with that.
So to get that chapter going since around 2011.
So I've been very involved in the business
and, of course, an active member of TIADA.
Well, that's, I guess, being that far out in Texas,
having that local chapter is super important
because, I mean, how far is it to Dallas for you?
Eight-hour drive?
Oh, my horse.
Oh, my gosh.
I can be in Washington, D.C. at eight hours
and I can be in almost Miami, Florida at eight hours.
That is mind-blowing.
It is crazy.
As soon as you drive in from New Mexico to Texas,
there's a sign that we see there
and it tells you just outside of Houston, it's 898 miles.
I'll take you whole day.
And then some.
Yeah, it's a long drive.
So yeah, having the local chapter and it's been helping us
and it's pretty strong.
We're about 85 members.
Wow.
That's as big as Utah, yep.
Yeah, yeah, you almost got us beat.
So in Texas, us and Houston and San Antonio
are the ones that have active chapters.
Okay.
That's great.
Well, it's great that you're involved too.
I mean, a lot of dealers, I know this personally
because we had our state convention yesterday,
which I'm in charge of.
A lot of dealers don't care.
They don't show up.
They don't participate.
They're not in their local associations,
either their chapters or their state or even national.
So I want to definitely talk about that too
and how you got to that point in your life of giving back
and volunteering your time and caring.
But let's go all the way to the beginning first off
because I want to have this foundation built for us.
How did you get into the industry?
Like what was that catalyst?
A lot of dealers, you know,
sometimes we fall into it backwards
because we're curbstoning and then we got to get legal.
Some of us have the PhD and we get into it.
And other of us, like me,
I kind of fall in through the finance side of it
where I was kind of chasing money
and ended up tripping over cars.
So how did you get into it?
I have a unique story to that.
When I was in high school,
I started working for a local insurance agent
as a file plan.
You know, back then everything was paper, you know?
So there was a bunch of paperwork to be filed
and then eventually I started selling insurance,
became the office manager
and then ran the insurance offices locally for him.
He had multiple agencies.
So anyways, long story short,
I was soliciting business back in 97.
I decided to branch of my own as far as my insurance agent.
So started from no customer base, you know?
So I'm knocking on doors,
camping at it at the local dealerships
and being around dealers all the time.
That kind of ignited something in me and said,
maybe I can do this, you know?
So not leaving my insurance business aside,
I just bought a car, put it for sale, flipped it,
and then that one car turned into another one.
And next thing I know, like you're saying, you know,
they kind of look at you like a curb stone
and I said, no, and eventually, you know,
got to get a license out of place
and all of a sudden I'm a dealer without planning it
or without, you know, even having a business plan in place.
It just kind of by luck, you know?
And it's been taking off since 2000.
We just celebrated 26 years in business.
Wow, yeah.
And this is very active.
A buddy of mine invited me to my first conference.
I was TIEDA back in 2011,
and I haven't missed a beat except for the COVID year,
you know, dinner every year.
So, Cesar, did you keep the insurance agent open?
Agency open?
I still open. It's still open.
I got three locations, three offices to town.
I'm blessed to have my sister help me run it
so I can kind of leave that in her lap, you know,
and she runs with it.
And then, of course, I'm the local recording agent,
so, but I also wear my dealer cap.
Well, that way that insurance is a great business.
I have several friends that are in the insurance business
and they've got a good bit of money doing it.
The inventory for insurance is a lot easier
than the inventory for cars.
Yeah, definitely.
That's just a bunch of paper and a printer.
Do you write a lot of the business that you sell to?
Do you write the insurance as well?
Well, I used to until I got my reinsurance started, you know,
then instead of sending it, you know, the other way,
I said, no, I'm going to keep this one, you know,
and that's one of the things that should have done
a long time ago, you know.
Hey, sorry to break in real quick,
but make sure you guys know about Buckeye.
Long time, awesome sponsor of the podcast
and who I use for all my reinsurance products.
I can't thank them enough for teaching me so much
about reinsurance over the years
and coming up with new products
and new ways to get my portfolio secured.
My customers have options of warranties
and service contracts, gap.
I think it's just been great, Jeff.
It's absolutely been a great way for me to build wealth,
put away some money.
So if you are a buyer, pay here, lease here, pay here
or retail dealer, it works for all dealers.
You can set up a reinsurance company.
You can insure your own stop giving money
to those third party providers
that aren't going to cover your stuff anyways.
Keep it in-house, call the guys and girls over at Buckeye,
risk services and get set up ASAP.
That is super interesting, CJ.
I want to make that point
because you were in the insurance industry.
You saw the percentage of premiums
that were going out and coming in
and you knew this is their premium.
I make tens, I make two cents on every dollar
that I collect for the insurance company
and they're still watching my claims ratios
and I've got to be within a certain ratio
or they're going to start getting mad at me.
So you saw what the ratios were, what your claim ratios were,
what your total losses were through your insurance agency.
Did you drag your feet getting into reinsurance ever
or was it like a no-brainer the second you saw it?
That was it.
I just had no knowledge that it was available,
a reinsurance program through the dealers
and I found out through the conferences
and I met a couple of companies that do that
and finally decided to go ahead and get it started
and it's worked out great for me.
Well, I'm sure you're able to still write the liability
through your company
and probably pick up the renters insurance
and the other types of stuff as that goes, right?
That's all we try to do.
Yeah, we get them the liability
through the insurance agency and the CPI through us
and then hopefully we get their auto, their business
and renters, you know.
Yeah, the homeowners for those that have it
and that's really awesome.
You're kind of a one-stop-shot when it comes to consumers
and I will assume you have a big base
of Hispanic business down there.
Well, El Paso is predominantly Hispanic.
I venture to say 80 to 85% is Hispanic, you know.
Most of them are Spanish speakers too.
So were you born in El Paso?
I was born in El Paso.
I lived all my childhood across the border in Mexico
because my father had businesses over there.
He had a couple of restaurants and some bars
so I lived on my childhood there by the time
I was going to getting ready to go into middle school.
Well, guess what?
They put me in the middle school here in El Paso.
We still lived over there.
I used to ride my bike every morning across that bridge,
you know, come to school and then ride it on the way back.
But now I wouldn't even let my kids, you know,
when the first fall ride the bike to the park, you know,
but back then where there were different, different,
different times, different, different, different.
Well, and that's it.
So you didn't have any interest in getting into the family
business, restaurants and bars and things like that?
Not really.
I did jump into it.
But that was after I had my insurance agency and a lot.
I said, you know what?
I'm going to open my restaurant bar.
I did it for about three years, but it was just too much for me.
You know, I was getting out of here at 6 o'clock,
go home, shower, and then go to the restaurant
and it was just killing me.
I said, no, no, I got to pick my fights, you know.
So I decided to keep going and keep at it
with the with the dealership and the agency.
Very neat.
I find it, Jeff, I find this interesting.
And you're kind of in that area too, where you,
you sell cars into multiple states.
You've got Nevada, you've got California, you got...
Arizona.
Arizona right there in your backyard.
And Caesar has New Mexico as he talked about and,
and Mexico.
How do you, how do you deal with that situation Caesar?
Because that to me just seems overly complicated that
because I'm sure you sell cars in,
into El Paso, Mexico too, right?
You know what?
It really wasn't an issue till recently,
the past couple of years.
I mean, for New Mexico, it's not, no big deal.
We just, you know, it's like the,
the street next door, it turns into New Mexico, you know.
So we go right to the vehicles that we're used to that.
But we started losing a lot of vehicles into Mexico
the last couple of years because the government came,
the Mexican government came up with the,
with the right idea that, you know what?
We're going to try to legalize all the vehicles that are here illegally.
So all you had to percent was a bill of sale and we get you played,
get you registration and you're set.
Well, guess what?
A lot of my vehicles started going over there.
They didn't hit it.
Your leans, your leans are gone at that point, right?
Correct.
Oh man.
When you say, when you see your vehicles,
this is buy here, pay here stuff.
Okay.
So let's rewind even before that because being so close to the border
and you going through the 2008 recession,
I know for me, I didn't do really much Hispanic Lenny in 2008
because no one spoke Spanish in my dealership.
And so when 08 hit and all the construction workers
kind of went to where the work was,
I knew a lot of lenders that lost cars over the border
and couldn't recover them and this, that, the other.
Did you have that?
And is it, I mean, once the car goes over the border,
is it gone?
Pretty much, pretty much.
And the thing that I'm encountering,
Jeff is, it was customers that were past due.
Well, it's just the car across.
Yeah.
Put a Mexican plate on it.
It's not not even that selling with their Texas plates,
you know, cents on the dollar,
you know, a couple of thousand on a $10,000 car.
And, you know, they get 2000 to give them for sale.
And the other customer, not knowing that the vehicle
was still load over here, you know,
he's driving out with Mexican plates.
We got in a couple, you know,
recovered when they come across with the GPS.
And, you know, but, but.
So once it comes back over, is it now American rule
you can repo it because you have a Texas title?
Correct.
And there's customers like, hey, I bought this
from so-and-so six months ago.
Correct.
Oh my goodness.
What a mess.
But they don't have that.
So I guess you do only sales you would do to,
to cars going across would be cash sales.
I mean, you would, there's no, I mean,
there's no way you would find us a car
into Mexico, right?
Oh, no, no.
I mean, you underwrite it and you do the best
you can.
Look, but, you know, this, this community,
the two cities are just like one, you know,
that's what I, that's what I always heard.
So I figured you were selling back and forth.
There, there's a, if I'm know that the vehicle
is going to be garage or, or kept overnight
and across the border, I won't do it
because a minute they fall behind,
they won't bring it back anymore.
And I have nobody that's brave enough
to go repo it down there.
So, and now, you know, the reasons why,
you know, yeah, well, I agree with you.
And then we feel the same way, you know,
once we've got a handful that have,
that have gotten lost down there in the last 24 months
and we see the GPS, we know where they are,
but yeah, the customer can't get it back
across the border because his,
his American registration has expired
and he can't pay to get it re-registered
and he can't even get it over here
to get it inspected to get it registered
because he can't bring it back
across the border with expired plates.
And so, so they get stuck there,
but when you're doing it and it's,
I mean, for me, it's, you know,
50 to 50 hours.
You're 15 minutes away.
How do you prevent that?
That just seems like I couldn't lend anyone.
How do you do it?
You know, the, and you try to underwrite it
the best you can, you know, try to get,
you know, make sure that they're established
here in El Paso, make sure that they have
ties to El Paso.
They actually work and live here.
You know, you do the best you can.
Yeah, they can produce a utility bill
for maybe their mom
at that same address that they're giving me
that's on their license,
but they may actually be living across the border
because the cost of living is a lot cheaper a litter.
You know, they earn dollars and spend pesos.
So it goes, it goes,
their wages go a lot longer.
Wow.
How do you do it with citizenship?
Is it, is it you have to be documented
because I don't know if you're going to get
deported tomorrow?
You know what, Texas just passed the law
in July and,
and we gone through some changes where
basically the governor said, you know what,
in order to register a vehicle
in Texas or renew registration,
we got to have a valid
text SIB or license
before, as long as they had an IB.
Yeah, or any license.
Our passport, you know,
it didn't matter if it was Mexico,
wherever it was, as long as it was valid,
we were able to sell them a car
and then get plates and, and renew and everything.
But all of a sudden that changed.
And it's hurt a lot of my buddies that,
you know, deeper down in, like in Dallas
and Houston, San Antonio,
where a lot of the customer base was,
those immigrants, you know,
and what's, what's going to happen
once the customer cannot renew their plates?
What's going to happen?
Turn it back into a dealership here.
I can't use it and drive it.
Can renew it, you know, so it,
it's really created a problem.
We didn't have that issue here
as much because I probably sold about
two to three with the,
with the Mexican passport a year.
It's not an explanation,
but I do see the, the issue
deeper into Texas, you know,
in the big cities in Texas.
Yeah, it makes sense because even here
we would sell some with foreign driver's licenses
because we could register on any license.
But
you're right, we had less
risk thinking, okay, hey,
they're established here, they're here,
their families here, whether they're the chance
of them going back, but for you,
you were very cautious, which has paid off.
It seems like with that law change,
that's, that is,
that is pretty crazy, man.
It is crazy, it is crazy.
Like I said, buddy of mine,
he was telling me 80% of his portfolio
is based on that type of customer
and come January 1st next year
when they can't renew no more.
It's going to be an issue.
It's going to be swapping a bunch of ownership
because in her sister or brother.
He's always going to find a way.
They'll find a way.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
You know, they'll find a way.
See, another question I have for you being
where you are. I mean, you're in a very
remote location. I always kid with chat,
chat randomize about this being in Montana.
Sourcing cars
that far
in the middle of nowhere. Is it
difficult? Are you still relying
on Dallas
and Houston and places like that
or Arizona to get your cars?
How does that work in El Pasad?
A lot of us
rely on
Arizona, Phoenix.
You know, it's closer to us
than any big city in Texas.
So, we're
six hours away from Phoenix
and eight hours away from Dallas.
So, a lot of
the inventory source
from there.
We get some also from Dallas
or even Lubbock.
When you need a truck, we go to Lubbock.
Okay.
Truck country.
That adds an extra cost
to every transaction you do, right?
Definitely.
You've got to take into account that transportation.
Alright Jeff, sorry to break in
but we've got to talk about putting money
in the bank. How do we do that?
I do it through BlitzPay.
The guys and girls at BlitzPay are
great, amazing, attentive on top of it.
I have had
little to no issues since I switched over
from that other company.
For sure, to me, they're probably the best
services when it comes to
answering phone calls and taking care of
things that I've ever seen a vendor.
And the backing
automation, I've actually been working with that
for a couple of dealers here lately and going
in and changing up these automated texts
that go out. Super simple.
They work.
The customers click and pay.
It's fantastic. And also they got this
AI thing, Jeff. Pretty cool.
Yeah, I'm stoked. They got the audio AI,
the phone caller and hopefully very soon
the texting version of that.
So it'll help my collector be way more
efficient in the future.
I'm super stoked to see the
AI get integrated in the collections process
and BlitzPay is on the cutting edge of it.
So if you're taking credit cards
at all, whether you're buy here, pay here,
lease here, pay here, even retail dealers can take
advantage of this and use BlitzPay for their
credit card processing, incredibly competitive
rates, super easy interface.
Call the team over at BlitzPay
and move your credit card processing
today.
Interesting.
We got distracted with that.
It was very interesting.
But I want to go back to your growth because
you said you went from insurance to starting
the dealership.
At what point did you start doing,
you know, were you all just cash sales
then? Like how did you start getting into
scaling up? Did you get a flooring
lined? And then if you started carrying
your own notes, was that from lines
of credit? Was that family money?
What was it?
Jeff, no money.
No money.
No family money, no nothing.
Basically I started, it was all cash sales
at the beginning.
And then eventually, you know, I think
we sold one and the customer said,
well, can you make it into payments
and it was kind of like
back then, we didn't have the retail
installment contract. It was like,
you know, I'll take your word for it,
you know, sign a piece of paper.
I'm gonna give you a couple hundred bucks a month
and then
that's how I started. I did one,
two and then
I ran out of money. So what
do I do now?
So it started borrowing from the insurance,
you know, but then I said, no,
I'm gonna dry that up real quick.
So once I built a few
notes, I started
working with a company car
financial. They started
doing the, they started doing the payment
strings for me. Yeah, so that
helped me build a portfolio.
But I wasn't really
growing as much because
I will get my accounts,
get to a certain number and then sell
them off. And everybody at the conference
said, don't sell your book,
you know, that's not
what you do. This is that simple.
I didn't have a line of credit.
I didn't have enough money, you know, any money.
So I said, I gotta keep
the door open. So what do I do?
You know, sell it and start
again. You know, and
I did that for a few, few years
till eventually I
I got my line of credit
set up and that started
helping me grow the portfolio now.
I haven't sold any
notes in maybe six years.
So that's
that's kind of how my
dad season started out.
You know, he, I joke
about this now. Nobody could do this now. But when he started
he had $8,000 in cash
and we grew it
to over a thousand accounts at some point, right?
And never had a full line of credit.
But he would build up
notes and then he would sell them off
and actually car financial was
a part of ours years ago. And
it's neat
to see that happen and how you
can grow. You know, people talk about growing now
and they have to have the big lines.
They have to do this. There's other ways, right?
Yeah, correct. There's definitely
other ways. There's other
partners out there
that can help you do that.
But there is
a lot of hard work and
while I'm preaching to the choir, you guys
know what I'm talking about. You know, it's a lot
of work, a lot of long days
and keep watching your
numbers and your portfolio like, you know,
like it's gold.
Watching your portfolio
like it's gold and that is
100% right because so many people
they put the
it's easy to put the car on the street, right?
Then they don't know how
to get the portfolio
to perform like it should
and then they're broke and out of business and
somebody comes and takes their portfolio.
But I like that.
You know what, and what's funny also
when I was telling somebody
how I started
I said, well now that I
sit down and look back
I said, I used to sell it
without a GPS just by
praying they were going to pay me, you know
and I know when my car was going
and as I like
I took, you know, some
guts to do that, man.
I wouldn't put a car on the street without a GPS.
I put two of them right now.
That's it.
But you're right. I think the customer
is different today
than when we first started.
We would lose a car here
or there, you know, years ago
but man, without a GPS today
I can't imagine the amount of cars we would lose.
How about you, Jeff?
Yeah, I mean, back then
the cars were cheaper.
It wasn't that it hurt us
any less. Still, if I lost a $3,000 car
it was a big deal for me
and those GPS's
were like $500
and they had a big old fat backup battery
you have to find a spot for.
So the technology has definitely come along to the point where
for you it's cost effective to put two in
throwing a wired one and then throwing a wireless
just as a decoy
and then a backup because it's that important
that we protect the asset.
We talked about it before, we got VIN numbers
and these VIN numbers got to produce
payments for me as long as possible.
And that's
part of it is like man, just the
peace of mind to sleep at night
Yeah, I couldn't imagine doing it
the way I did it back in 2005-2006.
And actually
my first devices that I started using
it was the little ones you have to punch in the numbers
for it to start.
It was in a GPS
I think it was called On Time
On Time Device
Yep, I remember those too.
That was cool because
no payment, no code given to the customer
the car wouldn't start.
Your phone was actually ringing to get
the money in
and the reason why I started doing
two GPS's like you said Jeff, one
wired, one wireless
and one thing that I do is I
use two different providers.
I had a bad experience
Of course
the vehicle you're looking for is the one that the device is not going to work.
Always
Always
So I started doing two
so if one goes down on me
this one is being provided
by somebody else better
I can't have that much of a bad luck
for both of them to be out.
Yeah
So Cesar, I mean you've come from
starting your business 26 years later
and I'm pretty sure that
you won the Texas
Quality Deterer of the Year
at TI-80A in
2025 and you're up for NQD
this year. Talk about
how that process has been
and your
philosophy of giving back.
Man that
first of all I was
real humble
there's a work and honor to receive that award.
Never
crossed my mind
that I would have been nominated
because you know Texas is so big
with so many great dealers out there
you know some of my mentors
you know they served
that award you know and for me
to be named
and win it it was just
I was speechless.
Little story behind that is
I lost my dad in
January of last year
and we had our conference in July
and that's when
I got awarded the
Texas Quality Deal of the Year
and first thing came to mind
is that's yours
dad you know
show me how to work how to put in
the long hours
and chase your dreams
and work harder what you want
and honestly that's
he was looking over me
man and I'm pretty sure
that he's happy smiling
out there that he wasn't able to see it
in person but
I'm glad I was able
to present it to him
you know.
Well that's really
hard to hear about your dad
but I'm sure he
he's proud of you
and he was entrepreneur
I mean he was the guy that was out there
working every night right?
Yep he
had some different businesses
he was always hustling
you know and
that feeds off to
to his children you know that's what we saw
you know you
you work you work hard
to do you know and it's paid off
what are some of the
organizations you give back to
and think that are
that are out there that other
dealers could do you think?
Actually what we did
like I mentioned earlier
I'm the president of the local chapter so
when I took over as president and this was
right after COVID we started getting our meetings
together again
I said you know what we got to give back
so we started having
an annual golf tournament to fundraise
and we wanted to give
the funds that we raised back to the community
so we started with
it's called the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation
the one locally here
they help people that are going through
unfortunately those
kind of situations
and then the last couple of years
we were invited to go
take a tour of the local
children's hospital
and that just
that hit hard you know
that open up your eye you can get the walk
through the whole floors of the
hospital and I said
this is what we got to help
and we've been raising money
for them and
you know for the past 2-3 years
we've been giving them a check
at the end of the year and
we will continue to do so as long as
we can have
the fundraiser to do that
and be able to provide
and we
have tried to
implement a lot of
training for my local
viewers you know and like Jeff
said some of them don't care some of them
don't get involved
you know when they get
when they care when they got somebody
and one of the agencies knocking on the door
all of a sudden that sparks an interest
to get involved you know
and of course it never failed
you know before we used to
remember come to our meetings we meet
monthly now
and some of the responses we will get
is oh what is the association
going to do for them well when there was an issue
guess what they were coming
with a check in one hand
and the problem on the other hand
you know
that's when they needed it you know but
we've been able to educate
as a word I guess some of these dealers
and to be involved
you know to stay
involved especially with so many
rules and changes that Texas
is going through so
yeah I actually had a phone call with the dealer this morning
that saw one of my cars and wanted to do a dealer
trade on one and he's
kind of on the roll parts and I was like well
you know I didn't see a convention yesterday
and
blah blah blah blah blah and I was like well there's
a lot of changes and I mentioned a form
that has been out for four years now
that our state implemented
he had no idea what form I was
talking about oh what was that
you said I'm like are you not having this form
signed like is this not in every
deal jacket this was the law
three years ago like
so just blows my mind and Texas
is unique because you got OCCC
that comes out and is in dealerships
actively states like Utah
were very I mean we're not
any more consumer or business friendly
than Texas is Texas is known to be pretty business friendly
but we don't really have
our in bed and enforcement division
is not really out trying to catch people
they're pretty good partners and so unfortunately
that creates a lot of complacency
and dealers like well I've been in business five years
and I've never gotten a fine or they've never stopped
by or I've never got my hand slapped so I'm
just gonna keep going so so you're right
a common enemy
rallies dealers
to each other unfortunately and they don't
really get involved until they get punched
in the throat and then
they want to get active and they're really
involved
then they stay involved and it's
it's kind of weird because one
like I went to
through a no triple C audit
right and then they left
and then I had the state controller
and then they left and then
and then you get your local
we're regulated by so many agencies
that
but you know it
they kind of keep us online
we got to stay informed we got to do
things right you know
real quick to jump in and make sure you know about
a new exciting sponsor here a supporter
of the podcast and a supporter of all
independent activities to be honest with you
Adiron GPS
Adiron GPS they have really really great
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but like you said a big sponsor
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United and they're at every conference Jeff
so make sure you're using
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that's it wrong yep give them a call go to
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yeah I mean
if you're going to be a cardio do it right
and give everybody else a good name don't
be the one that's out there doing it wrong
and and makes us all look bad right
correct correct
Caesar what do you look forward to so you're going to
go up for a national quality dealer and
that's going to be in June
21st through the 24th for
national convention up here in Denver
that's
a tough
uh
it's not even an election it's tough going right because
there's quality dealers from every state they're
going to be there but what is that
kind of like why does it matter
why do you care like what what
what does that even do to have your plaque
with those other dealers you know have your name
up there
you know what it's I think
it's 11 of us that are
competing for that title
just
being out there already as representing
Texas is it's a great honor
you know just being one of
one of the 11
members that are going to be up there one of the 11
dealers it just
you know I
don't get me wrong if I win it you know
that that would be so awesome you know
and and uh
like you're saying it's a plaque
you don't get a check with it but
but you can hang on your wall
and and uh you know be proud
you know because that means some
your fellow
business associates
or fellow dealers are
are taking what you're doing
you know
they're taking it into account
they're they're actually looking at it now
with social media
you know we're so much exposed
to you know everybody
looking at you and and
I mean I don't I don't do
things to be on the spotlight
that just happened to
you know I do them based out of my good
heart and and
if I'm honored to receive that award
you know I'll be humble you know
I'll be humble again and
and I'll continue doing
what I'm doing and and serving the
community and educating
them and serving the associations
you know at both national
and state level and my local and the local level
and continue to do that
for great yeah that's awesome
that's so great see there's so
let's wrap this up with what do you see
for the industry
car dealer industry over the next five to ten
years like what what's your plan do you see it
is is being hopeful
um you know cost of car
affordability right to repair
uh you know
all those things do you see that going in the right
direction wrong direction what are you doing to kind of
prepare
well
I see it getting tougher
I do see it getting tough
arch on that getting cheaper
cars are getting more complicated
you know and more expensive
to fix so recon has
kind of increased
on us here the last couple of years
uh
with the with the cpi
you know you get a wrecked vehicle
sometimes you most of those are going to be
total because they have full sensors you know
just the cameras and the
lane assist and all that stuff
is just gets expensive so
it is going to be tough
it's uh
I see the buy here pay here
as a great opportunity
for the ones that are established
but
you gotta I
I take that advice myself I gotta be
careful as how fast
I want to grow I don't want to
grow myself out of business
uh we have seen a lot of the big guys
you know come down
you know
tricolor
auto mark
I think it was the last one I read
uh
I think when you don't have a dealer principle
that's that's involved in the daily
operations
it's it's hard it's hard to run those
things because you know
and uh I'm here every
you know I try to be here every day at least
you know present see what's going on
you know I still
most of my customers by name
you know uh at least uh
the ones that pay late I know
who those are
the ones that are on auto
pay and and you don't hear
from them is you know they're a blessing
but uh I'm very
familiar with the with the with the other
ones that once that you see on that sheet
every every other week or so you know
and uh but
it's a great it's a great
business I mean
but it's not for everybody
you know you gotta have some thick skin
or you or you're gonna grow some thick skin
once you get in this because the
first uh couple of blows
you know you they hurt and
you take it you take it personally
you do you do
I said are you gonna
I think it was a car it was worth a couple
thousand dollars it was gonna cost me
four grand to go grab it I said I'm
gonna go grab it you know this
I think
I flew down to Florida and drove it back
yeah
but hey I got it
no but it
becomes personal at the beginning we have
kind of uh
kind of uh I keep learning I keep
learning every day being involved with my 20
group man I'm surrounded by I'm blessed
to be surrounded by great dealers
from across the nation
have learned from them
I learned from
I'm in a VA group also
with Jim you know he's a great
uh
mentor I can call
my mentor uh he's
very knowledgeable so
uh I just keep learning
every day I mean like going
to school every day you know everything changes
and and uh that has really
helped me besides
doing my own reinsurance the
next big thing that I that I
has really shaped my business
or changed the way I do business is
being in a 20 group yeah I mean
it's one of the best decisions
I have I have uh ever
taking so yeah I agree
it's it's it's
if you're not if you're not out there
going to convention and being in 20
group and not learning every day you're falling
behind this this business is moving
fast it's uh gonna move
faster with AI and it's gonna move faster
um
with cars that maybe driving themselves
or they're charged you know rather
than taking gas so um
Caesar you're you're the model of what
dealers should be and and that's
being good in your community giving back
to the community that brought you in
and uh man we
we wish you good luck at NQD
uh you just thank you so much
and and you gotta be
involved and stay dedicated uh
attend some of those collection boot camps
you should definitely you should
definitely attend collection boot camps
see Caesar Caesar knows what
he's gonna like it
you said a couple you said a couple ladies last time right
yeah I like it see
there we go Jeff how are your numbers
oh your numbers that's right
yeah I said how are your collections
numbers after that they better
right Caesar and better
see they all come home and they all came home
ask for raids
no absolutely not
I don't train I train him to work as little
as hey for as little as possible
just work extra hard
alright Caesar thanks for being with us today
thanks buddy thank you thank you
for the invitation guys see you
your national
About this episode
Caesar Stark, an El Paso, TX buy-here-pay-here dealer, breaks down how border dynamics and policy shifts have changed his risk management. He explains how Mexican vehicle legalization led to more cars crossing the border, wiping out liens and complicating repos, especially when Texas registration rules tightened for customers with certain IDs. Stark also covers his growth path from insurance into dealerships, scaling without family money, and why GPS tracking, portfolio discipline, and collections systems matter. He ties it together with years of TIADA involvement, community fundraising, and his upcoming NQD competition.
In this episode of the Independent Dealer Podcast, Jeff Watson and Luke Godwin sit down with Cesar Stark, CEO of S&S Motors and President of the El Paso Independent Automobile Dealers Association, for a deep dive into what it's like to run a buy here pay here dealership on the U.S.-Mexico border. Cesar shares how growing up across the border shaped his business, how the Mexican government's vehicle legalization program started costing him cars — and his liens — and why slow, disciplined growth has been the key to his 20+ year run in the industry.What You'll Learn:-How Cesar got his start in the car business after a career in insurance — and how that background led him to reinsurance-Why the Mexican government's vehicle legalization program became a major threat to BHPH dealers on the border-How selling notes early on kept the doors open — and why he hasn- t sold one in 6 years-The reinsurance strategy he wishes he'd started sooner-Why being deeply involved in TIADA and NIADA has been one of his biggest competitive advantages-What Cesar sees coming for the BHPH industry over the next 5-10 years — and why he's being careful about how fast he growsIf you're a buy here pay here or independent dealer navigating a unique market, thinking about reinsurance, or trying to figure out how to grow without outrunning your capital, this episode is full of hard-won lessons from a dealer who's been in the trenches for over two decades.Support the businesses that support the podcast:Buckeye Risk Services - Reinsurance and wealth strategies for independent dealers.https://theindependentdealer.com/buckeyeBlytzPay - BHPH payment processing with fast funding and text-to-pay.https://theindependentdealer.com/blytzpayIturan GPS - Asset protection and customer management for BHPH and retail dealers.https://theindependentdealer.com/ituranFollow & Connect:Website: www.theindependentdealer.comFacebook Group: @independentautogroupLuke Godwin: @lukegodwinJeff Watson: /sendtojeffwLike, subscribe, and share this with a dealer who needs to hear it.
