Car Guy Coffee Feb 17, 2026

Car Guy Coffee Podcast Presents #5Liner feat. Paul de Vries

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Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a car company from Germany that makes many popular cars, like the Golf and the Beetle. They are known for their quality and engineering.

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Hello and welcome to the CarGuy Coffee Podcast. This brew has been brought to you by Certified

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Let's brew! What's going on CarGuy's and CarGuy's? This is Freyland Arts, the subprime hero.

And we are brewing solutions on the CarGuy Coffee Podcast, excited to be brewing

with each and every one of you. But you all know what we need to do. Let's get this party started

by getting as many people in the cafe as possible. So tag a CarGuy. Tag a CarGuy and share, share,

share, share, share. Let's get this out there folks on Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. We are

live right now. So if you're listening to this live, it is time to share it out there. If you

listen to this on a replay, it is time to share this out there because we got some great information

to share with you. We got a five-liner that's going to be legendary and I'm excited about this.

We're getting really close to the end of 2025. And the way we're wrapping up this year has been

amazing, not just inside CarGuy Coffee but inside Certified Solutionaries Lou. We've been very blessed.

I'm excited to have this gentleman on the show because he literally is a gentleman that we've

run into a bunch of times and we've seen him speak. We've seen the knowledge that he brings

and also the knowledge that he's bringing over the pond, right? He's from overseas and he's doing

big things. Matter of fact, where he's at right now, it's a lot later than it is right here and

I'm so happy that he's on the show and he's given us some time to be able to share his great news.

So let's go Lou. I'm pumped up to get him out here. So for those of you that don't know that there

are so many incredible people inside of this industry, make sure that you do go to CarGuy Coffee

and you listen, get you a couple of brews on some of the great people that have been

interbrewing with us over the years. There is definitely so much that you can't consume it all

inside of one setting, but that's exactly why you keep coming back to the cafe for some more

of the good brew on some good guys, gals and those that are making things happen inside of the

industry. We are so thankful that today our guest is visiting us and he is spending some time as he

does do things on our worldwide stage for the industry and this incredible industry has so

many different avenues that you can take going where it is that you need to go, but today we

want to make sure that we do bring in a guest that we are really honored to have on the show

and we're thankful for. He is increasing the quality of the brew that we have for each and

every one of you out there. So help us to make welcome. You can drop a coffee cup emoji, you

can put some claps, you can put some thumbs up, maybe a couple of high fives inside of the comments,

but make us. Help us to make welcome. The one. The only.

Let's go. Welcome to the party. Welcome to the party, brother. Thank you for joining us. We're

excited to have you on the show. Thank you. Thank you very much for this non-modest introduction.

I'm really happy. I'm really happy. We're really happy to have you on the show. Your

reputation precedes itself, right? And I think anybody who's ever had a chance to have a conversation

with you just feels that and senses that, you know, you don't just communicate with people,

you listen to people very well. And I love how you take it in and then you give your opinion on

what you've heard at that moment, which is really strong. And your opinion goes a long way with a

lot of people. One of the guys that's really told me that this is somebody I need to be connected

with is one of our good friends, David Cain, who I consider the gentleman of automotive,

the nicest guy I've ever met in my life, but also one of the hardest working go-getters that

knows people, but also knows a lot of stuff about automotive. So I'm so blessed to say, hey,

I need to know, you need to know Paul, you should be connected with Paul. He's been saying that to

us for years and now we finally got you on the show. I'm excited to share who you are to our

audience. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, Anami? Yeah, Paul, welcome to the party.

Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. And of course, David is a very good friend of mine,

becoming through the years. We are calling him the Silver Fox like you are doing.

And he is speaking in our events for three times now and it's always a blast, always a gentleman

and also known here in Europe as the most gentle, most friendly American we ever had.

Wow. I believe that. There's no doubt that's what people say about him, right? No doubt about it.

You guys definitely say kind words about each other. That's the reputation as you over here,

coming from overseas and being an automotive, really a guru of what it takes to do what

internet sells, everything that has to do with anything digital. You're the man at that, right?

And I love that you come here, you bring your ideas here and people are listening to it because

it's working so well. And so you bring us in reputation here. You're the gentleman of Europe,

brother. So let's go. Thank you. So we are pumped up to see you, to have a conversation with you.

Thank you for taking some time to jump inside of the cafe. But for those that don't know,

for those who are not aware, some of our audience may not know too much about who Mr. Paul is and

what he actually does. He is a wizard in this business, folks. He definitely is a tall man

in accolades, but he's also a very tall man. A short guy over here. But I am excited to let

the people know a little bit more about you. So in a quick maybe type of an elevator pitch,

let people know a little bit about who you are, what you do for the industry, brother.

We will make the online automotive a better place. That's our mission statement. And we

want to help everybody, anybody in the automotive space, if you are an OEM, if you are a Frances

dealer, if you are an independent, if you are an intern, I don't care if I can help you with

something to make online automotive even better. I want to help you in an honestly way. I don't

want to sell anything because I think I will try to win the marathon because I will always

lose the sprint of anybody. But I want to finish the marathon in life and in business and on a

very good note. So I want to help people in the automotive business. And I'm working in that

space from 1998. I sold my first car online. And that's what I do. Wow, that's awesome. We can't

wait to get a car liner with you. Absolutely. He says since 1998, folks, that was before

anybody was even thinking about doing it. There was a kind of like a joke about it, right? It was

before really the dot com age really even began. It was just started the internet literally was

brand new at that moment. So to be really innovative enough to realize Hey, this isn't something

that's just going to happen once this is something that we need to make sure that we get good

throughout the whole future. Because this is really going to explode. And boy, did it explode. Not

only did it become something it is the thing, right? And today, if you're not internet based,

if you don't have websites or mobile, am I locked up over here? But if you don't have mobile and all

that type of stuff, you can get lost in the world today. There's a lot of dealers out there who

think that they don't need it, but they absolutely do need it. And it's cool that you were one of

the first ones if not the first one to be doing it. So your expertise is definitely amazing.

Yeah, but it was a funny story. If you are, if you see from 1998, if you started back then

in a franchise dealership with a brand nobody wants, then the internet was something of a party

because there the chances were equal. If you do that the right way, then you had a chance to

sell your franchise brand better than in the normal market space. So it was very fun on the

other hand, Lou, because I don't see our friend nothing anymore. In that sense, nothing changed

actually. And that's really sad on the other part. Yeah, that is interesting watching the progression

of the automotive and just seeing how it is that we've gotten to where it is that we are.

And with that, we want to find a little bit about how it is that you got to where it is that you

are. Remember this five liner is about the bean that we're brewing with. And today that is you.

You are a solutionary that is making things happen inside of the industry. And we want to find out

inside of this five liner about you just a little bit more and taking it to the next level.

So help us inside of the podcast. If you're watching us on the live, if you're going to be

watching this on the replay, thank you so much. Make sure that you keep sharing this around.

But let's go ahead and jump into the five liner and in any conversation, whether we're building a

relationship with new dealers, with new managers, salespeople, anybody that's working in the industry,

we ask this key question and it is the why. Why is it that you do what you do? What is the motivation

that puts you in the seat that you're in today and has made you do what it is that you've done

inside of your career up to this point? Paul, what is your why? My why is what I said before,

the online making the online automotive better place. That's the mission I stand for. I live by

and that was not a mission statement I woke up to. It was not a mission statement I

sort out with a marketing agency or something that just happened along the way because we were

one of the first to enter that online automotive space to sell actually new cars online.

Then it evolved in a website where we sold new cars online of every brand which was acquired by

ebay in 2015 and then you are getting people knowing you, knowing your story, wanting to

know more about that online automotive space and then you see if you actually help people generally

then they will and give back to you one way or the other. It can endure a lot of times that there

is no return on investment right away but the return on investment in business capital,

in human capital, in France capital is amazing. I'm very happy that I'm in the space and my why is

100% making online automotive better. That's what I stand for and it doesn't matter who you are.

I love it Paul and that is so in line with who we are. This particular show we started

as a gift to the industry wanting to encourage people to know this is an incredible industry.

This is a great opportunity for people to make a great living for themselves but also to connect

to some of the smartest people in the world and thankful for people like you that make the industry

better which is exactly why we have you on the show to highlight that today that there are awesome

people that are concerned about more than just moving the needle, more than just making a buck,

more than just moving product but about making the actual experience and making what people

think about this experience even better and we can tell that just by your intentionality

when you are in the places that you are and who it is that you do business with and the way it is

that you do business we can tell that's exactly who it is that you are. You're one of the best

beings inside of the business worldwide and we're thankful for that and you might have maybe braised

by it a little bit as you did some of your introduction but another key piece on this

five-liner after we know why you do what you do we do want to get a little bit of the backstory of

what brought you into automotive. What brought me in automotive was not family, was not a passion

for cars. Yes I have now a passion for cars that's fine that's true on the other hand people in

the Netherlands will say if you like jeeps you don't have passion for cars but that's another

topic for another day but I started my career actually as a gas pump attendant so I helped

people to fill up the their cars with gas and diesel etc and after one year I transferred to

another gas station because I made a career and they actually had a Volkswagen dealership and I

saw the salespeople there with their suits with the nice cars with the nice hands etc and I had

always dirty hands and all the time I said to the owner I can do what they can but I don't have the

experience for that one can I please work at your dealership for free after I did my job at the

gas station so I can learn he said no but one thing I know for sure that I have is persistence so the

next week I just follow up I just ask him again did you thought about it about my proposition he

said I have to talk about it with the commercial director the commercial director said no because

I'm stuttering I still do I don't have a lot of knowledge about cars still I'm true and I didn't

have an education in automotive that's true as well but I have persistence so the next week I just

ask again did you thought about it then they asked the general sales manager at the office

do you want Paul in your store the general sales manager know me about the gas station

and the only thing he said is yes because he needed somebody to pick up the trash he needed to have

somebody to bring the coffee he needs somebody to wash the cars etc and after six weeks I sold my

first car and then I was fired because yeah because the owner was saying you're only the guest

attendant nothing more nothing less we hired you for that one so if you think you are somebody else

and you didn't follow up the rules because the rules were I cannot engage with a consumer

you're out of here and then I wrote every dealer in my neighbor the letter that I had

experience never talked about how long or what the duration was and then I was hired by a

some young dealer and Christ the dealer and then I started the career on top of that but there it

started in automotive wow what a story of resilience and persistence and then leveraging the opportunity

to say I did actually deliver a couple cars I have sold a few vehicles and I do some experience inside

of this business who wants to take a shot at a new guy heck what an awesome story I love that

that's great stuff and that's that again shows the importance of follow up the fundamental mastery

art of simply following up asking the question did you get my message have you thought about it

have you concerned I'm not gonna leave you alone until I get the answer that I want I love that Paul

that's awesome stuff yeah that's funny that every deal I could mess up for them back then

so I went to the other dealership somebody was working with us or with them it doesn't care

how I can I could mess up that deal but I messed up that deal for them so firing me and cost them

not only me as a person which they didn't know for sure but messed up a lot of deals for them

wow yeah I don't understand the mentality of not being flexible or not looking

inside of the the uncommon places for great talent that's just been something that we've

always looked for inside of my career try to find the great people that are right there in the fringes

and right under your nose and for you the one's looking down upon everybody right seeing everybody

down below and being like hey I could probably help out a little bit my biggest challenge I would

have to say with getting started in the business was I didn't have the clothes for it right I didn't

have enough clothes to have to dress like a grown-up jumping into our business and I think that helped

a lot of us be able to get a little bit squared away as we started to fit our fits to the business

but that's a great story Paul I appreciate you sharing that welcome back red welcome back to me

sorry about that MacBook crashed but much like you talked about I got adaptable I overcame

all right I had to go through some stuff but I'm here but I'm sad that I missed the first two I

can't wait to listen to it on the replay and I'm sure all you all who heard it live you guys got

some really juicy stuff here I'm sure you sounds like you went through the why and what brought

him into automotive so those are two really valuable questions to learn a lot from somebody

I'm excited to go back and hear that but what I am excited about is the next question and

there's a lot of really great questions out there but this one about mentors is huge to me

I've had a lot of great mentors along my way we talked about David Kane he is a more recent

mentor to us over the last four to five years but he's a huge mentor to Lou and I and there's so

many others out there that have really helped me get to where I needed to get to in life it all

started with my parents it did but for you Paul I'm sure you've had some great mentors you may

have one mentor that really sticks out along your way your journey your way of growing up to where

you're at today who have been some mentors or who has been the mentor to you of course the most

important one is my parents of course my father as a businessman he is not in automotive for sure

but he taught me very valuable lessons which I didn't appreciate it back then and I asked him to

when I was 23 years old I was coming out of the army I spent one day at the army because

then they have enlisted people they have to get rid of the enlisted people so I served one day

and then I said to my father which company is mine to have to take over because I always work at

his companies and he said to me and he will always say he never told me that but he said to

me you have to close your eyes that's for you everything else is for me so you have to do it

yourself and that's something which I didn't appreciate it back then but now I appreciate it

way more when I'm 53 now that it was a valuable lesson back then to give me some grind that's

some muscle to overdure some of the challenges in life for sure in automotive my first boss

which I don't like that much anymore today because of circumstances etc but

he gave me always the lead to pilot everything and he never asked about the return on investment

and I was completely free to investigate that internet to make websites we had the first photo

studio we had the first button call to action button for buy me now etc and there was never

a discussion about anything what is the return on investment on that part and for the last

years for sure Brian Pesh which is now a personal friend of mine for the last 10 years he taught me

a lot about everything in life and in business I talk to him almost every day about anything in life

and I will and wives are very good together I spent a lot of time with him in Italy or in Florida

down David came for sure because we are on the same topic most of the time online automotive

sales online lead follow up I'm doing that from a European perspective he's doing that from an

American perspective the client is the same but the sales people are definitely not the same

so we have different ways to go and and co rejection my partner called the trip where we are the

research for in Europe they are the free people and we have now wow wow so that's a nice list of

people from people yeah absolutely and it's I love that you started with your father fathers

are the only ones we have and when you have somebody who can leave an oppression with you

who really taught you a really valuable lesson at that moment I think that's pretty amazing

he knew you're young he was like this you could figure this out you're gonna have it and it

pushed you to that next level think about it and then of course people like Brian Pesh

phenomenal right this guy's been around the block he's seen a million things and it's amazing

that you would your wives connected to and made it become like family in a lot of ways yeah but

the strange thing of Americans in your cultural thing is that if a dead sky are saying my house

is your house we are saying that from blood politeness standpoint we never expected you're

coming to our door and spend the night that's not the one thing we meant by saying that

you Americans are actually mean it yeah so when I first time with Olga in Florida I actually

reserved a hotel next to his home in the neighborhood that was not included that was not

appreciated at much notice in our house you are family or friend whatever and that's the same thing

of Kobe or David over whatever so we say it from a politeness thing but don't don't show up

you Americans are actually meeting them that's a big difference that's pretty that's good to know

so I'll know if I remember if I'm ever overseas and I'm visiting when you say my house is your house

you mean the hotel by my house is your house

because the country is so small like Maryland that you are from north to south in two and a half

hours it is not common that you're staying at somebody's house you're just going to your own

house yeah and when I'm in Spain that's more included because Spain can be 12 hours driving

time oh yeah so then that whole thing has changed so it's more cultural makes sense

but I'm very glad to take that compliment for America go team Mikasa Sucasa that's right

anytime you're here my house that's a great lesson to learn especially about Americans because

it's awesome to know that our culture is as welcoming as it is and I believe that we are a

welcoming country for new cultures new people new ideas new industry new business so much of that

in that we're just like any other country that has its measure of challenges measure of struggles

measure of hard lessons that we've had to learn and that leads us to this next question on our

five liner which is for you Paul as you've dealt with having your father stiff arm you and say

yeah you need to go make your own way not one of these businesses is really for you I made this

that reminds me of Shaq how Shaq says to his kids no I'm rich you know I'm rich it's hilarious

that's good but that does it makes us have to grow our own muscles it makes us have to grow

our own way forward and chart our own path which is great with that though we do have those lessons

so what Paul would you say over your career and over the span of time whether it was from a mentor

or whether it was from an experience or whether it was from a crazy challenge what would you say

has been your hardest lesson to date my my hardest lesson is that you always have to have one

point in your life which has a light in it and that that can be very happy to say that but I

want to explain it when I had a website where you actually can buy a new car online it was

very successful at a time and then my partner went bankrupt and that was a strange time because

the company was not bankrupted but one of the shareholders was bankrupt and that and gave them

very strange challenges in 2009 where we have the crisis and all those kind of things then you

have to search for money and then you have to go to investors to portal third party websites etc

and they all want to meet you but nobody wants to give you money back then in 2009 I became a father

for the first time in the last time and I actually had to spend I don't want to say the assembly

money from the empty bottles and you are getting more money back to bring them in from that money

we bought the diapers and we were four months behind the market etc and there was a very heavy

time for us as a family but there was always a new meeting there was always a new opportunity

where people say no but I didn't know from back then that was a no and a no and a no and a no

but there was always a new opportunity always a new meeting always a new guy or girl who wants to

meet me to talk about that new adventure and in the end we sold it to ebay so it was a very good

journey but if I didn't have that point in in the near future to have another meeting to have a new

opportunity to talk about the possibilities I didn't know if it was so good mentally

in your mental health but always to have something to look up to to look forward to was very meaningful

for me wow it kept you going it's that spark what's the carrot that we need to keep running that

race and that's phenomenal that you had that it is that's good that you did you were I guess the word

would be like blind to it or I don't want to use the word ignorant you just didn't know you're like

yo these meetings any one of these could turn out to be the one and you're always one conversation

away from a good conversation that's that and but then turned out to be ebay and ebay was like

yo we'll do it yeah yeah and some yeah and the best way to lose your company is actually to sell it to ebay

yeah no kidding I believe that I believe that that's another lesson that we could talk about

nickel but they don't want to pick up the $10 bill because they're supposed to have

a $20 bill there yeah I understand that yeah that's the way it is that's amazing and you're

still climbing from there that that turn gave you another opportunity and that just kept you pushing

and that's what's so beautiful about the the whole journey of life at the end of the day

whether it's automotive or it's just life in general we go through things thank you for being so

forthcoming almost really being behind in mortgages and all this stuff is a stressful time in life I

think a lot of people which is a blessing just to know is like during that time a lot of people

were going through that right it was really scary time economically around the world I know here in

the United States it was really scary during that time if you're in automotive we were scared of death

but at the end of the day we kept pushing through we kept striving dangling carrots in

front of us knowing that things were coming great things there's going to be another opportunity we

just got to keep pushing and that's the that's that's the journey that we all love and if we have

that behind us having support and family having a child right in the middle of all that I can't

imagine seriously Paul that had have been a lot but the fortitude what it taught you no different

than the than the vice your father gave you and told you hey you figure this out close your eyes

that's all yours right it's yours responsibility for sure absolutely and you but you took it and

you pushed through it brother that's amazing yeah that's a great help anywhere somehow but I think

that again Lou mentioned you're a man in that's largest stature it's not just how tall you are

you're a big tall guy you definitely can handle when you walk in it but your energy and who you are

and the things that you've been through have defined who you are now right and that's what's

these lessons the why that you had can't wait to hear it what brought you an automotive I'm

want to go back and replay this folks you go back and replay it too mentors along the way that you

listened some really great people and you honored your father right off the rip even when he did he

the biggest lesson he'd handed to you was you can do this by yourself you this is yours and

and then of course because a lot of people are like too easily given stuff and they don't realize

how great it is learning lessons it's tough too so it's amazing yeah for sure when that leads us

all to this last question and this is a really big question for the purpose of why we do things

all the way up to this point you've been through some stuff you're we've been through your why

what brought you this industry what mentors you've had along the way the hardest lesson that you've

learned what has been your greatest reward for all the work that you've done so far

from a business perspective any perspective how do you feel you can say both if you want

no i'm very blessed i'm very blessed with the life i have with opportunities i have with the

family i have of course but that's just what everybody is saying right but the best reward

is what i'm getting from a business perspective is that people are just generally thanking you for

an impact you had on them 10 years ago when you are teaching a class of the automotive academy in

the Netherlands for free because you have the mission to make online automotive better and 10

years after that they're coming to you and they are saying that was the most impactful lesson we

we had of the three years here and you are only there for one hour two hours to make an impact

and that's something which i really enjoyed because from that perspective all good things

happening and i listened i listened 10 years ago a lot of to the six sickler tapes

and oh yeah and and brian tracy's and grand cadeau and etc it brought me a lot of wisdom

brought me a lot of thinking a lot of structure in thinking to what i want to do in life and

to see it all work out in the end it's really remarkable in business and in in private life

and one thing which strikes my mind is that we have a lot of discussion in the Dutch automotive

space about going to the meda and from a culture perspective we don't want to spend money so there

there is a saying you are saying going Dutch there is something behind it and so the one

question did is will ask what i'm getting in return so i will say to them it's the only

funded trip from the taxpayers perspective because you have right of so that's the only thing

you should go and bring your wife with you because i'm doing that as well for sure but to go there

the first time 13 years ago 14 times 14 years ago met the first time with brian pass met the first

time with david king taught me so much which is not compared with the money i spend there there

is no return on investment on that capital that human capital the friendships the partnerships

you gained along the way and then you can say i don't want to spend the 5000 euros to go to las

vegas where you have breakfast for 100 euros which makes no sense whatsoever but

to have that experience actually is also fun yeah it is and to your point these are the places where

somebody gets to meet the next paul right where you get people that did the same thing that you've

been able to do to them that legacy that's being left the that friendship that you create the

knowledge that you gain from the people that you surround yourself with who you surround yourself

with matters it really does and when you start to do that people like brian pass david king and so

many other great car people paul you're right there on that list my friend and when you surround

yourself with people like you all like minded folks who are so willing to give things for free

education because we all believe and i think that we all know that it could be charged we could but

when we give it for free only so many people are going to actually take it and use it anyway so

let's give it to them let's let them have it right and when and then 10 years from now they may come

up to you tap you on your shoulder and say hey paul hey lou hey fred hey whoever hey you who's

watching the show because you're doing stuff like this they're going to come to you say hey

that one thing you said that thing that you did that you taught me that one day made all the

difference in my career it took me to the next level i want to thank you i haven't had a chance to

yet those blessings that you're talking about those rewards that you get those give me goosebumps

thinking about that like right now i'm getting goosebumps thinking about anybody who's ever

said that to me thinking about people saying that to you paul you know it's the truth though and

that's a blessing that we've all been able to do that's a legacy that we're all leaving here and at

the end of the day that's all we have to leave on this planet is our legacy how are we remembered

and you will be remembered as one of those guys that transformed the world when it came to automotive

wasn't just one place one country you've been able to do it across the world brother

and congratulations to you and you're still and you're just begun you still just begun

so it's there's so much more left inside you i generally think that i'm not even close no i believe

that yeah we have so much to learn and so much to to give yeah in that sense man to that brother

and every day is another opportunity to get something started that has never started before

that has never happened before blaze in Israel we always have today to be able to make something

new happen and yes we have plenty of years in front of us and i believe that we are just getting

started at being able to really change this industry and see you go to the next level

but it is ever evolving and it is always something that we need to continue to upgrade our thinking

in and we're so thankful that there's people like you paul that continue to push the envelope

and continue to open up other people's horizons to what automotive is like on a worldwide stage

one thing about us here in america is we often think we're the only ones doing anything

going on all throughout the world and we're so very thankful for the opportunity to get the

perspective from people like you that can tell us about that so we're so very happy that a lot of

things you are up front and there are a lot of things you are behind i believe that 300

the one and the fourth f-150 pickup truck is the example of that if gas is cheap you're going

to make a v8 with no horsepower whatsoever in comparison with the engine because gas is so cheap

it doesn't matter anyway if you have no privacy laws etc you can make data work for you

but if you have privacy laws and you have to figure out in another way you're getting way more

sophisticated more i don't know the english word on top of my head but

you're getting more creativity with the possibilities you are getting

yes that's the whole thing that's right yes being we have to learn and in this industry i think that

it is a common trait of car guys and car gals in all aspects of the industry worldwide is that

we are very resourceful and we utilize what it is that we have and quite often one thing that is

somewhat of an achilles heel for some of us in the business is sometimes we find something that

work and that's all that we do we don't pay attention to what other people can teach us

and how open we can be to growing a little bit better an example for utilizing data

getting data is one thing how you use it is a whole other one and the way that you use it

and when you use it all critical pieces which means that we have to keep educating and what I do

think is an area where we continuously need to grow in this business is constantly sweeping the

corners in the room for improvement because it's a big room in the world we must continue to see

ourselves getting better we all fit inside of it we all can continue growing and we're so thankful

that taking some time listening to a podcast listening to a story hearing from somebody

who's making some great things happen and still believes that he is just beginning is a great

way for all of us to grow just a little bit inside of that room for improvement paul we are so very

grateful for the time that you've spent with us is there any few words that you'd like to share

with anybody watching listening worldwide let them know your heart we're so again thankful for the

time that you have spent with us but anything you have to say in closing guys just listen to the

guy guy goffy podcast all the time that's what i want that's what i'm talking about hey man

i don't know but the other thing i'm cool with it awesome we're gonna use that i appreciate that paul

thank you so much paul just kind of working awesome awesome so there is one thing left to do fred

that's to drop some f bombs we gotta try it paul you know you say you don't know

but you're gonna give it a shot so first things first hands on the shoulder we're gonna wipe off

the weight of unforgiveness we're gonna wipe we're gonna get focused we're gonna stretch out and fly

on a count of three one two three forgive focus fly and keep growing keep growing thank you paul

so much for being on the car guy coffee podcast your favorite podcast in the world thank you so

much thanks we appreciate it this has been a great show lou i'm so excited thank you paul

for doing this for all you all who are watching this send some love to paul today give him some

nice comments reach out to him he is a open book and he's always out there trying to help people

literally what his legacy is let's keep growing my friends thank you very much paul we appreciate

your time car guys and car guys taking time to listen to this on a podcast as you commute or while

you do a little bit of work and watch a little bit of webcast too we appreciate you taking some

time to spend with us to make yourself a little bit better and to be inspired to go what it is

that only you can do for automotive hopefully we've poured something inside of your cup that can

encourage you to go make something happen make a story for yourself and hopefully we get you on

this show as well for those of you that know that there's some people that are brewing some solutions

inside of the industry that have not been on the show please drop them in the comments let us know

we want to brew with all the car guys and car guys that are making things happen

just like today for his first time on the car guy coffee podcast we are honored to have the one

go baby appreciate you brother

About this episode

Freyland Arts and Lou discuss the importance of building connections in the automotive industry with guest Paul de Vries, a pioneer in online car sales since 1998. Paul shares his mission to improve the online automotive space for all stakeholders, emphasizing the value of genuine relationships over immediate returns. The conversation highlights the evolution of digital sales and the necessity for dealerships to adapt to the internet age. Paul's insights and experiences provide a unique perspective on the industry's growth and the importance of community.

Volkswagen

Original notes

Car Guy Coffee Podcast Presents #5Liner feat. Paul de Vries

Welcome to The #5Liner, the show dedicated to the individual journeys that power the automotive industry. It's not about the company; it's about the individual, their career, mindset, and personal story. In each episode, we sit down with a high-quality selection of Car Guys and Car Gals to get beyond the title and into the hard earned wisdom they've gained. Join us as we uncover the wins, challenges, and #5Liner takeaways that have shaped today’s top talent.

In this episode of the Car Guy Coffee Podcast, hosts Lou Ramirez and Fred Lennartz welcome Paul de Vries, a European online automotive leader whose mission is to “make online automotive a better place.” Paul shares how he sold his first car online in 1998, helped build a platform to buy new cars online that was later acquired by eBay in 2015, and explains his marathon-minded approach of helping OEMs, franchise dealers, independents, and anyone in the industry without focusing on quick sales. In the show’s “five liner,” Paul discusses his why, how he entered automotive through persistence after working as a gas station attendant, and how he earned his first sales role despite stuttering and limited experience. His greatest reward, he says, is being thanked years later for teaching and helping others, emphasizing the value of human capital, relationships, and attending industry events like NADA.

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