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Beard on Street Purchases, Johnson on Service > Sales Handoff | Daily Dealer Live

Beard on Street Purchases, Johnson on Service > Sales Handoff | Daily Dealer Live

Car Dealership Guy Podcast Apr 01, 2026 61 min
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About this episode

Daily Dealer Live tackles used-car strategy and fixed-ops leverage, framed by a big “vision vs. optimization” rant tied to an Artemis-era moon launch. Jonathan Baird (John Elway Cadillac) explains how his team buys CPO inventory via a “street purchase” program where all staff chase off-auction deals, using incentives and fast merchandising to beat recon surprises and auction condition-report variance. Greg Johnson (Mohawk Honda) details a service-to-sales handoff that converts warranty RO customers using transparent appraisals, greeters, and service advisor buy-in—hitting 75 service-drive acquisitions in March. They also debate used EV demand, residuals, and scaling street vs. service-lane acquisition.

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Technical Too Afraid to Ask
Concept

return on investment

"It's in return on investment discussion. [26.1s] Hey, everybody, welcome back to The Daily Dealer Live."

ROI means “is this worth the money we put into it?” For a dealership, it’s about whether marketing efforts bring in customers and make the business more profitable.

Concept

used cars

"Today, we're going to talk used cars, CPO strategy, service sales. We've got two operators with two great strategies."

They’re talking about used cars, which dealerships sell for profit. The key is how you find them, price them, and get them ready to sell.

Concept

Artemis program

"The Artemis program has run $100 billion. [150.6s] That's a lot of money, but it's less than half a percent of the federal budget. [155.1s] This rocket was scrubbed twice in 60 days."

Artemis is NASA’s effort to send people back to the Moon. The segment uses it to talk about how big the program is and how much testing and troubleshooting goes into getting launches ready.

Term

hydrogen leak issues

"This rocket was scrubbed twice in 60 days. [157.9s] It had hydrogen leak issues, helium issues. [161.1s] They rolled it back."

Hydrogen is used as rocket fuel, and a leak is dangerous. If there’s a leak, they have to stop and make sure everything is sealed and safe before trying to launch.

Car

Mercedes-Benz Mercedesbenz Usa

"And this rule could signal how the others develop. Next up in another news today, Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Adam Chamberlain outlined a plan to grow US sales by 30%"

The Mercedes-Benz SL is a luxury sports car. It’s designed to feel sporty and premium to drive. The podcast mentions it while talking about Mercedes’ plans to increase sales in the US.

Car

Mercedes-Benz GLE

"...e specifically, the strategy centers on the GLC, GLE, and GLS, a streamlined dealer approach and stay..."

The Mercedes-Benz GLE is a mid-size luxury SUV. It’s made for families or anyone who wants more space than a smaller car, with a premium interior. The podcast mentions it because it’s part of a focused lineup strategy for dealers.

Company

Hello Auto Group

"Girwati Auto Group just closed on the last of Hello Auto Group's Santa Clarita stores, March 30th."

Hello Auto Group is the dealership group that owned the Santa Clarita stores before this sale. The episode says those stores were sold off as part of a larger restructuring.

Company

Girwati Auto Group

"Girwati Auto Group just closed on the last of Hello Auto Group's Santa Clarita stores, March 30th."

Girwati Auto Group is the company buying these dealerships. The episode is highlighting that they completed the last step of a multi-store purchase.

Concept

M&A activity

"You can learn more about CDG's coverage of all M&A activity across the automotive industry at the full tracker at CDGBicell.com."

M&A means mergers and acquisitions—basically companies buying or combining with other companies. Here, it refers to dealership groups buying and selling stores.

Brand

John Elway Cadillac

"I'm with the John Elway Automotive Group in Lone Tree, which is a suburb of Denver, Colorado at John Elway Cadillac."

That’s the name of a Cadillac dealership in the John Elway group. Cadillac is a luxury car brand, and dealerships like this often sell both newer and pre-owned cars.

Concept

EV

"...a very high demand there in regards to our transition from EV and ICE balance with the market."

EV means electric vehicle. It’s a car that runs on electricity from a battery you charge, instead of gas.

Concept

ICE

"...our transition from EV and ICE balance with the market."

ICE means the traditional gas (or diesel) engine. It’s the type of car most people are used to buying compared with electric cars.

Concept

incentives going away

"But transitioning from EV kind of back into ice vehicles with some of those incentives going away, gas coming back up..."

If discounts or tax breaks for certain cars end, those cars cost more. That can reduce demand and push buyers toward other options, including gas cars.

Concept

shortage on new cars

"with a little bit of the war, getting away from EVs, shortage on new cars, oil kind of where it's at, and it's just a moving target."

When new cars are hard to find, people often buy used cars instead. That can make certified used cars more popular and sometimes more expensive.

Concept

Colorado marketplace

"Yeah, I mean, in your Colorado marketplace, it was never all EV, right? There's some markets, California and others that were trying to go all in EV."

They’re talking about how different states buy different kinds of cars. Colorado seems to prefer gas cars more than some other places, so dealers there plan inventory differently.

Concept

CPOs

"All right, so we wanna talk CPOs, but we also wanna talk about this buy center."

CPO means “Certified Pre-Owned.” The dealer checks the car and usually offers extra warranty coverage, so it’s meant to feel safer than buying a random used car.

Concept

Facebook Marketplace

"So Facebook Marketplace, the street, outside of our drive also."

Facebook Marketplace is a place online where cars are listed for sale. The dealer is using it to find cars without going through an auction.

Concept

recon costs

"A lot of those are gonna exceed $2,500 per copy on recon. ... So those recon costs can be higher from our street purchases where we can deal with a person."

Recon costs are the money spent to fix and prepare a used car so it’s ready to sell. If the car arrives with hidden issues, those repair costs go up.

Concept

Incorrect condition reports out of auctions

"You mentioned something that is a hot topic on this show. Incorrect condition reports out of auctions. Well, how is this happening?"

The big problem being discussed is that auction paperwork about a car’s condition can be inaccurate. That means the dealer may think the car is fine, then discovers extra repairs once it arrives.

Concept

recalls on new cars

"My ultimate thought is kind of like how it's rumored to kind of be recalls on new cars and stuff like that"

A recall is when a car maker says, “We found a problem and you need a fix.” If a car has recalls, it may need repairs before it’s fully ready to sell.

Concept

discrepancies with the CR

"I think some of it is not able to be made sense at this day and age that we can still have this many discrepancies with the CR."

“Discrepancies” here means mismatches or inconsistencies in the condition report—either between reports and reality, or between different inspections. In a dealership/auction context, discrepancies can drive reconditioning surprises and disputes over condition and value.

Part

grill

"mainly cosmetic differences to where they didn't know a grill was broken on the car."

The grille is the front part of the car you can see through (often with openings). If it’s broken, it usually looks bad and may mean the front end took a hit.

Company

OverFuel

"Go to overfuel.com and use code CDG500 in the comment box [1981.3s] for our 500 bucks off. [1983.0s] We appreciate OverFuel."

OverFuel is a company that helps dealerships with their websites and online marketing. They’re advertising a discount code during the episode.

Concept

used vehicle acquisition

"including that conversation with Jonathan [1985.6s] on all things used vehicle acquisition. [1991.3s] And again, we'll have Jonathan back at the end of the show [1993.4s] as part of the round table."

Used vehicle acquisition is how a dealership gets pre-owned cars to sell. It’s basically the buying/sourcing part—finding the cars, checking them out, and paying the right price.

Brand

Mohawk Honda

"Greg Johnson, general manager at Mohawk Honda. [2001.0s] Greg, welcome back to the show."

Mohawk Honda is a Honda dealership. The guest is the general manager there, so his comments are about how that specific store is doing.

Concept

automate appraisals

"[2192.3s] will automate appraisals as long as it meets the criteria [2196.2s] that we've set forth. [2197.6s] And it's a great tool."

Automating appraisals means using software to generate trade-in values based on set rules and vehicle inputs. This can standardize offers, reduce manual data entry, and speed up customer response times.

Brand

Kia

"[2865.9s] Yeah, I was surprised to hear that Hyundai and Kia off lease [2870.9s] EVs have an under 30 day market day supply [2874.3s] because they are coming back so cheap."

They mention Kia because Kia EVs are also coming back from leases and selling quickly. That can influence what kind of deals show up for used EV shoppers.

Brand

Hyundai

"[2865.9s] Yeah, I was surprised to hear that Hyundai and Kia off lease [2870.9s] EVs have an under 30 day market day supply [2874.3s] because they are coming back so cheap."

They’re bringing up Hyundai because Hyundai EVs are showing up on the used market in a way that affects pricing. It’s an example of how lease returns can change what deals are available.

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