Yusuf shares his journey from food reviews to becoming a successful used car dealer, emphasizing the importance of transparency in the automotive industry. He discusses the challenges of running an independent dealership, the impact of social media on car sales, and the need for honest communication with customers. The conversation also touches on the evolving landscape of electric vehicles and the psychological aspects of car buying. Yusuf's insights reveal how personal experiences shape his approach to sales and customer relationships.
Welcome to The Doug Horner Show, an original series spotlighting timely, relevant dialogue across customer experience, agent performance, dealership culture, and innovation in retail automotive.
Hosted by Doug Horner, General Sales Manager at Mercedes-Benz of North Olmsted and a rising voice in automotive social media, this new podcast brings a transparent, high-energy perspective to dealership operations, leadership, and digital engagement.
Known online as @BenzsandBowties, he has amassed 450K+ followers and 25MM+ viewers monthly across his channels where he often blends humor into content resonating with agents, operators, and customers alike with authenticity and real-world dealership insights.
"We all are consuming social media all day long every day,” Horner shared in a recent Car Dealership Guy interview. “If everyone is doing this all day long, then that's where we need to be.”
The Doug Horner Show dives into what drives dealership success today through candid conversations with respected industry leaders, performance coaches and digital creators shaping modern automotive culture.
Episode 3 - , I sit down with Yusuf Benallal better known as Ride With Yusuf. Yusuf started reviewing little known food spots online before transitioning to car sales and even owning a car dealership, filming his interactions with clients and day to day responsibilities in the dealership. He talks about that journey and what he's learned about the car business and the mindset of car buyers.
About Doug Horner
Doug Horner is General Sales Manager at luxury dealership, Mercedes-Benz North Olmsted, and the creator of @BenzsandBowties, a brand centered on real dealership culture and leadership perspective, and the joy of the work, as an auto industry influencer.
About CallRevu
CallRevu is the leading communication intelligence platform built for automotive retail—empowering dealerships to take control of every conversation, from the first ring to the final result. Our holistic solution combines an automotive-specific hosted phone system, call monitoring, performance training, and reputation management–fueled by AI-powered analytics that turn every customer interaction into actional intelligence. Founded in a dealership in 2008, CallRevu was created by the industry, for the industry to drive revenue, improve performance, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
"I was definitely into like, you know, back then, there were like Hondas and Tecra on the on the civics."
The Honda Civic is a small car that many people use for everyday driving. It’s famous for being dependable and not using too much gas.
The Honda Civic is a compact car that has been produced since 1972, known for its reliability and fuel efficiency. It comes in various body styles such as sedan, coupe, and hatchback.
Car
Honda Tecra
"I was definitely into like, you know, back then, there were like Hondas and Tecra on the on the civics."
The Honda Tecra is a small SUV that looks like a car but has a higher seat and more space inside. It was made in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The Honda Tecra is a compact crossover SUV produced by Honda from 1998 to 2005. It blends car-like handling with the higher stance of an SUV.
"[508.0s] I mean, it's actually funny. It was a Mercedes. It was funny. It was a Mercedes. And I think this one of the videos, maybe you probably followed me on. It's crazy. It was two years ago. It was a CLA 250 or something."
The CLA 250 is a small, stylish car from Mercedes‑Benz that comes with a four‑engine and looks like a sporty sedan.
The Mercedes‑Benz CLA 250 is a compact luxury sedan from the CLA‑Class line, featuring a turbocharged four‑cylinder engine and sleek coupe‑like styling.
"For, I guess for me and many other independent dealers are meeting potatoes is the vehicle itself. It's not so much the add-ons and, you know, the fees and all the back end and you guys get that participation from, you know, Mercedes-Benz financial and other banks..."
Mercedes-Benz makes fancy cars that many people like to buy. They’re known for being safe, comfortable, and a bit pricey.
Mercedes-Benz is a German luxury automotive manufacturer known for its high-quality vehicles, advanced technology, and strong brand reputation.
"I pay 80 grand for a Toyota Highlander. What? The dealership did that."
The Toyota Highlander is a popular family SUV that can seat up to eight people. It’s known for being reliable and comfortable, with a hybrid version that uses less gas.
The Toyota Highlander is a midsize crossover SUV produced by the Japanese automaker Toyota. It offers three rows of seating and is known for its practicality, reliability, and available hybrid powertrain.
""the Mercedes Lawson incentive saying, you know what, I'm going to give you $30,000 on this EV vehicle,""
An EV is a car that runs on electricity stored in batteries, so it doesn’t use gas and produces no exhaust fumes.
An EV vehicle is an electric‑powered car that uses batteries and electric motors instead of a gasoline engine. It typically offers lower operating costs and zero tailpipe emissions.
""There's an aggregate payout. You paid 10 grand for warranty. It only covers 20 grand.""
Aggregate payout is the biggest total amount a warranty can pay for repairs. Once you hit that limit, you’ll have to cover any extra costs yourself.
Aggregate payout refers to the total maximum amount a warranty will pay out over its entire duration. It caps how much the insurer or manufacturer will cover.
""The warranties aren't explained correctly. There's an aggregate payout. You paid 10 grand for warranty. It only covers 20 grand.""
A warranty is a promise that the car’s maker will fix or replace parts that break within a set time, so you don’t have to pay for those repairs yourself.
A warranty is a guarantee from the manufacturer or dealer that certain parts will be repaired or replaced if they fail within a specified period or mileage. It protects buyers from unexpected repair costs.
""how much interest will I pay on this vehicle or what's the depreciation schedule on a Mercedes GOB?""
Interest is the extra money you pay to a lender for borrowing cash to buy a car. It’s added on top of the car’s price.
Interest is the cost of borrowing money to purchase a vehicle, expressed as a percentage of the loan amount. It adds to the total amount you pay over time.
""how much interest will I pay on this vehicle or what's the depreciation schedule on a Mercedes GOB?""
Depreciation schedule shows how much a car will lose value each year. Knowing this helps you plan how long to keep the car before selling or trading it.
A depreciation schedule outlines how a vehicle’s value is expected to decline over time, usually expressed as a percentage each year. It helps buyers estimate future resale value.
"[3314.2s] with electrification what do you think that does for the future of EVs"
Electrification means cars are moving from gasoline engines to electric motors or a mix of both, which helps reduce pollution and dependence on oil.
Electrification refers to the shift from internal combustion engines to electric or hybrid powertrains in vehicles, driven by environmental concerns and technological advances.
"[3332.7s] I think that the EV technology has made hybrid technology a lot more efficient"
EV technology is the set of parts that let a car run on electricity, like batteries and electric motors.
EV technology encompasses the components and systems that enable electric vehicles, such as battery packs, electric motors, power electronics, and charging infrastructure.
"[3569.2s] Doug like you can post a video about a vehicle like for instance I post a video about the Bentley [3573.9s] that I did with 89,000 miles right"
Bentley makes fancy cars that are very expensive and have a lot of luxury features. They’re known for being smooth, fast, and having very comfortable interiors.
Bentley is a British luxury automobile manufacturer known for its high‑performance, hand‑crafted vehicles such as the Continental GT and Flying Spur. The brand emphasizes opulent interiors, powerful engines, and a heritage of racing success.
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All right, you, so welcome to the Doug Horner show. Episode three. Thanks for being here, brother.
Thank you, Doug. Like I said, and I appreciate you inviting me. I'm really excited and looking forward to what your channel brings and congratulations on your new channel. It's nice to see the Mr. Benz and Bowtie without the Bowtie.
No time. Awesome, yeah, of course. The whole premise of what I'm doing here is I hope to inspire maybe the next Doug Horner or the Benz and Bowtie ride with you, so to start making content because they see the benefit of connecting with their audience and going out and accomplishing whatever they want to accomplish.
I think that you and I have some of the most similar content out there simply because we're both doing that kind of behind-the-scenes look at what real-life scenarios and education on kind of the process of buying a car.
I mean, you have a nice hybrid of sort of what I do and maybe like what a George Saliba does where you're a lot of phone calls and then a mix to just the behind-the-scenes stuff, but how did you get into this? What made you start filming and what was the why when you started?
Well, I think the why kind of fell into my lap. So, you know, I never was planning to stay in the automotive industry. So when I was young, I definitely was fiddling with my mom's car, my dad's car. I was replaced. They're all in their breaks. This is a side project.
I mean, I definitely had an act for, you know, sort of the automotive market. I was definitely into like, you know, back then, there were like Hondas and Tecra on the on the civics. And then, actor and Tecra, as I would like, kind of soup up.
Like part of the target kicks kids on them or you know, ask some sort of speakers on them. Other than that, I mean, I went through a four-year college. I got my degree in applied math or business finance.
The action is going to become an actuary, but then decided to work, you know, to bank. I was a middle office analyst. And then my life kind of took a turn.
Somebody kind of suggested kind of a change of plan for me. And, you know, that was God. And I don't know, I actually got famous from doing food reviews locally.
I was in DC. My tech startup has failed and I had to move back to Greensboro, Carolina. And that was sort of like grassroots for me again. You know, my life has always been, you know, the checkers always been out, but there has been some pretty rough like downs.
So I got into vehicles just by starting to flip it off cars off Facebook marketplace. And then it kind of just grew and grew and grew. So that's how I kind of got into the automotive slash selling car scene.
Okay. So you really don't have a very long history of being in the car business. So you sort of worked your way into it later in life. It sounds like.
Sure. Yeah. So like, in the actual car business, I say, 2020 2021 right after COVID, I definitely hit the car business pretty hard. That's when I started the wholesale.
And then started to do retail. But before then, yeah, it was just more of a side project. I just I love cars, obviously.
I was a mechanic for a while. I had a more mechanic business. So as far as anything automotive related, I had a very strong foundation. But to be in the business, yeah, it was definitely recent 2020 2021.
That's amazing, actually, because if I didn't know that about you, I would never guess that you've only been doing this for four or five years.
I mean, you have, when you watch your videos and you see the way that you interact with people, the conversations that you have, it sounds like you've been doing this an entire lifetime.
So that speaks to you and your ability to pick up on things.
Also the gift of gab, right? I talk a lot sometimes. So it's also good for the automotive industry.
Yes, it is. So you basically were making food review videos. And is that why you saw the benefit to you're like,
you know, it's, it's hard grew up. I'm not saying that that city is just, you know, doesn't have many influencers, but there weren't a lot of food influencers. And you know, everybody watches Keith Lee and what. And I said, I said, you know what, I go to these.
I want to say shady. There's just places that not a lot of people go to because of the area you would suspect like, okay, doesn't feel safe. But then the food is great. So I'm like, all right, let me just break.
You know, the ice with a lot of people and just show them my experience. So I went to there's a place called Taco in the box and a couple of places and then blew up. I was like, wow. And I, this is me having like 200 followers on the top overnight.
I did one video on a chicken spot and I went from 200 followers like 5,000. I'm telling you done overnight. It was crazy.
Yeah, yeah. And then during this time, I was working at a dealership rose auto sales shout out to Nick and Mo love them to death. They gave me an opportunity from when I was pretty low in life when it came to opportunities.
They were, you know, the deal was, hey, you said, we'll bring you in whatever car you've seen in front of you. They had, you know, some cars of mechanical issues. I'd fix them. Then we flipped them and I would split the props with them. Right. So they had a retail location, you know, full on blown dealership.
So I would fix them spend, you know, seven hours on this car, eight hours in this car, pretty much, you know, the whole day, fix these cars. We sold them. I split the props with them.
And then I was just curious. I said, nobody's doing videos on the auction was going on with complaining around coin point two. Why are prices so high? Why is interest rates? I was like, you know what? Let me go and just do an auction video.
I did one that video got like 5 million views. And I was like, okay, there's something here. And I need to just hold in and just focus on us. I was like, all right, should I do food or automotive?
And to be honest, there's a lot of competition to food space. I was like, you know what? They're probably not as many people doing the automotive stuff. So there you go.
They're in that time. George was coming up as well. But, you know, obviously he's accelerated and much success to him.
And a couple other people, I think Alex movie mergers coming up as well. So I was I was more of the grassroots guy. You know, like I wasn't doing the fancy cars.
I was the guy showing you to get this valve cover from Amazon. This one from eBay. You could save $34,000 on mechanical fixes.
Right. So I started off the car industry there and then kind of, you know, progressed into what I am now. So that that's sort of how I came into the social media aspect of things.
Just like you said, behind the scenes auction price etc. Okay. So tell me about what you're doing now. You've got a new dealership basically, right?
Yeah. Auto cafe. So essentially, I was when I was with Rose at that time, I was, you know, showing auction videos and whatnot.
By the way, I got banned from the auction for like 90 days for that video. It's crazy. Like I had real dealers.
Yeah. So dealers are actually calling the auction saying he's showing people what we're paying for the car. That's unfair.
And that blew my mind because it's like we brag about how much we buy everything for, but the dealers are kind of like, and at this time in 2022, nobody was making 15 grand on a car.
This is like a peak. Like, you know, everybody was making like on the front end 500 to a thousand and then the back end is where everybody makes their money.
So I mean, that definitely humbled me being the little guy. So I have to be a little more strategic about what I shoot and whatnot.
And then segwaying to Charlotte Auto Center. So I was in Charlottes a little bit and then I kind of grew into a bigger social media following and that propelled me to Atlanta.
I was in Atlanta, I think last year, yeah, last year for legacy motor cars, that didn't work out unfortunately just business.
And then and the reason why I'm telling you building this up to you because during this transition period, I bought a car from the auction man.
I mean, it's actually funny. It was a Mercedes. It was funny. It was a Mercedes. And I think this one of the videos, maybe you probably followed me on. It's crazy. It was two years ago.
It was a CLA 250 or something. Those those motors, the four cylinder motors have an notorious cool and pipe that cracks along the top of the engineering was I fixed it at the actual auction.
I got a coat from Mercedes for like three grand. I was like, forget that. I'm a fix this for like 400 bucks showed the receipt showed everything.
My close friend slash investor slash brother pretty much dropped top Paul. I don't know if you've seen him. He's my business partner Paul. Yeah.
He was so like just captivated and just moved by this guy who obviously came from the, you know, from a high and hitting super low.
Now working with way back up. He was like, I like him. So he actually sold me 15 of his vehicles at once. And I had this on video.
He sold about like he owned the rights like 700 subway stores in the tri state area sold them all when there was a big.
I think private bank that bought them all for like $10 billion for subway got to check off.
You want to sell these cars. I told him I didn't have the money for them, but I'll buy this amount the rest.
I'll just put on my lot and consign. Send up ended up sending the money back. And he was like, you know what? You just keep the money. Flip it on the next one.
So took his money, flipped it. And then boom, we turned it into a, you know, multi million dollar brand call auto cafe.
Love that. And I say that because I'm sure this is kind of like a broad stroke picture is like social media can bring you so many opportunities.
You never know. It's not about just, oh, I'm making $500 off of real. It's like the connections you make.
And these are just lifelong can be even more, you know, satisfying than receiving a check from TikTok.
Yeah. Yeah. And I think that for a lot of people, I'm myself included. I'm sure when you start making videos and you are like, oh, TikTok will pay me to make videos.
That's kind of like cool, right? You're like, this is this is sweet. There's, there's sending a check to just film what I'm doing every day.
But then to your point, you quickly realize there's so much more potential outside of that. You know, eyeballs on your business getting introduced to people.
You otherwise wouldn't have been introduced. I mean, you and I certainly wouldn't be talking now if I hadn't started making videos.
If you hadn't started making videos, that's what connected us, right? It's sort of this automotive brotherhood almost where you kind of once you've, I don't know, reached a level of recognition out there in the community.
You kind of have access to everybody if you really want to. That's super cool.
But I mean, I think, Doug, also like, you know, you have played a big part in my success because, you know, you are very much.
I think more in tune in line with the profession of the automotive industry. You know how to sell, you know how to talk, you know how to desk.
The things that learn from you and actually I used to send all my salespeople your videos. I'm like, listen, Doug, this is how it's done.
And having that perspective from somebody like you have so much experience, it helped me grow a lot because it helped me understand and delegate and also under, you know,
when your independent deal is very difficult to kind of trust this more digital adoption approach and, you know, kind of have all the trust in yourself people to bring you to correct information than you move it on because it's my baby.
I want to kind of be selfish and like hold the whole process, but that holds you back, unfortunately, and you taught me like, hey, you know, like, this is what it is.
If it's not going to move on and don't be so emotional, right? We love to go through this emotional cardio, especially in sales and go back and forth and whatnot.
So your channels played a big part in my success and I appreciate the insights you've given because it does help, you know, me and many other people, especially in the sales industry.
I appreciate that. So tell me, you know, you've only been doing this for four or five years now. You've always been on the independent side of the business.
Okay, so for anybody that watches my content, I work for a franchise dealership. It's a very obviously at the end of the day, it's still a card dealership, but there's a lot that's different between a franchise dealership and an independent dealership.
What would use, you know, what is it like working in an independent, you know, I mean, you kind of mentioned delegation to be a little bit hard because it's a lot of times you only have maybe a few people on your team, but, you know, what has, what's it like to the average person that's used to watching me at a Mercedes Ben store and might not totally understand the differences.
Sure, I think aside from, you know, having a lean team, the main differences between independent dealership in the most cases, right, there are independent dealerships that can operate just like a franchise dealership, but that takes, you know, years.
But somebody in my shoe, you know, you, you obviously have a more of a compartmentalized like process, you know, it comes, you know, sort of like a A to B to C to D and then once you finish off boom, typically independent dealers will kind of wear multiple hats during that process.
It can complicate, you know, the deal as far as like taking time away from finishing up, you know, this deal or focusing on other aspects of the business, so it can be very time consuming.
I'm sure your day is super outbound. I mean, just like the amount of outbound things that we have to do, we just kind of forget the little things that come inbound, right.
And with you, you have much more like your support system also.
For, I guess for me and many other independent dealers are meeting potatoes is the vehicle itself. It's not so much the add-ons and, you know, the fees and all the back end and you guys get that participation from, you know, Mercedes-Benz financial and other banks that you have on your platform to incentivize you to use them so you can make more money on the vehicle.
For us, it has to be a lot, our buying has to be perfect, the selling has to be a little more calculated.
And obviously when it comes to products and services, you guys have a little more leeway to kind of make more money on those things and it's also brand loyalty, you know, somebody's going to buy a Mercedes from a Mercedes store much more than they're going to buy from me unless I have a super competitive price or just, you know, sort of that procedure that comes from, okay, I'm going to buy from auto cafe because, you know, it just sounds better, but nothing sounds better than buying a Mercedes from a Mercedes store, right.
So there's some similar or some differences that I think that kind of are between independent and franchise dealers.
Now, yeah, loyalty is a big part of it and I can appreciate how difficult it would be. I mean, you don't really have any built-in loyalty. Now, of course, I think one mistake that a lot of people make that sell primarily used cars is that they believe that loyalty isn't possible for them because it's, you know, they get trapped in the mindset of,
well, people just want to buy a used car that fits what they're looking for and wherever it is, that's where I'm going to buy it.
And to a degree, that's definitely more true than a new car which is replaceable, right. You can get the same new car generally speaking anywhere.
But I would argue that if you've been in the business for a little while, you'll quickly learn that people generally do want to do business with people that they like and they trust.
And if you're a used car dealer, I would argue that it is possible for you to have loyalty and repeat business if people are like, hey, trust, trust you. If I know, I'll tell them this is what I'm looking for and he'll go find it for me.
You know, have you found that that's been possible to have people that want to come back to you over and over again because they just know that you'll figure it out and take care of them.
Absolutely, but the sustainability of that is very difficult because, and I say that because right with use of won't always be auto cafe, right.
I could end up buying it or I could shift and still have auto cafe move forward.
That loyalty sort of fixed with, you know, right with use it for more so that auto cafe.
But yes, take away the social media. Absolutely. There have been situations before social media and other instances where other people have built that brand loyalty.
But, you know, it is more, it's going to be more difficult for somebody like independent dealer.
You have to go above and beyond essentially, right. You have to, you have to really think of something to be like, okay, wow, that is something that I think that I'm always going to come back for.
So, and also it might be a curse as well because in order for me to go out of my way, thanks for you to go out of your way.
There might be just a difference of like an arm's length for you where it's like I'm going 10 miles out of my way to make the customer feel the same experience.
Unfortunately, and that's just the difference between a bigger store and a smaller store.
Yeah, no, I can't imagine what a day looks like for you.
I feel pulled in a million different directions already just running the store or running the sales department anyway.
And, you know, because you've got a huge team of people that could need you at any moment for something.
And then when you've got all this social media outreach and repeat clients even, it's like, if I didn't have a team to delegate to to help me with all of this, I would drown.
It wouldn't be possible. So obviously when you have the franchise behind you, there's inherent demand for that product that might or may not exist when you're at an independent store.
And you've got used cars and they may or may not fit what somebody's looking for. But yeah, I can't imagine what a day looks like for you.
It must be just controlled chaos all the time.
Absolutely. But I mean, that's also my personality. It's very much controlled chaos.
Yeah.
You know, my desk may be a mess, but if you organize it, it'll drive me crazy because I know where everything is and where everything's supposed to be even though I'm able to disorganize.
But also adding the social media element to it, Doug, I think that's what exhausts the process so much because just like you, you know, your content is very captivating.
And to be honest, like, I feel like I know you and I've never met you because very thorough your.
Understand the process and not even that you have your moments where you take the tie off, right?
So the tie symbolize you with Mercedes, but now the ties up.
This is my goal place is people will grab me just because of like you said you seem friendly.
Let me tell you about my day or whatever it is. And I'm stuck like an hour.
I don't want to say stuck is a negative connotation, but you know what I'm well out with friends or family or, you know, whatever it does drain you.
And especially the dealership, I have people come literally have people drive from Pennsylvania to buy car for me.
And then you're stuck with them and are paying them because they're like use of I came for you.
So yeah, it's sort of my expectation. So it can be very cumbersome.
And I'm sure you have had your same experience as where people are saying, I want to see Doug.
You know, how can I help? Even though you put those things in place like there are four salespeople that come before you at GM.
Hey, he's busy. He's busy. And they're coming to see you.
So I think that's what kind of complicates things a little bit, especially, you know, for people like us when we have a following.
Yeah. Yeah, you know, interestingly, I guess fortunately, there are a lot of people that have driven and flown even great distances to come and do business with us and to meet me.
And it's like, I'm floored by that. I mean, I'm obviously I'm so humbled. And I love that.
And it means like to me, it's the fulfillment of this mission to show people that buying a car can be fun and transparent.
You can do it without getting ripped off. And we'll get into that because I think you and I are very, we have a similar mission there where it's maybe peeling back the curtain in a way that most dealerships are like, you know, kind of to your point about the auction where a lot of dealerships might not necessarily like my content because they're like, all right, he's he's showing and saying too much.
You know, but anyway, one of the things that is great about having a team is that they're like an extension of me.
And so a lot of times people will work with them and that I'll be involved but it won't I won't have to be fully involved like maybe you do.
And when I was talking to George recently and I don't know that this necessarily made it into the podcast, but he was mentioning that a lot of times now people will show up to the dealership from great distances away.
That was somebody on his sales team and they won't even seek him out like he'll like see the person there.
And maybe there's like a quick eye contact, but the person will buy the car that'll leave and then afterward they'll message him and be like, hey man, like love your content.
Just got a car from you guys like thank you so much. And he's like, I wish they'd come and say said hi, but like when you have that team there, it almost becomes this kind of filter for you to for people to be like working with you without directly.
Taking up your entire day, if that makes sense, which sounds like probably happens to you because you have such a lean operation.
Well, not even that I've said that boundary, but sometimes my title clerk and my sales person.
If I'm being a little bit of an ass that day when people come in to see me like he's right there, I'm like, I told you I'm not here today.
But it's all good. It's it's fun. I do get to meet a lot of people understand the situations.
But like I said, I'm the type of person dug and I'm sure you are to I carry everybody's weight.
So whatever interaction I have that customer that's good or bad, it'll stay with me for a long time.
So in most cases, I think and we'll get to the the part where you were talking about how we can be a little more transparent or a lot more transparent in the car industry.
And then transparency kind of shifts the notion to be like, OK, well, he's telling the truth. He's being transparent that moves you can help me.
And it's really hard to draw that line between people that can't be helped.
And people that just understand they should be doing it the right way and understand how the process should be and what it should cost and what is the best way for you to save your time and money.
But I think you're right. I think if I had a bigger operation, I'd be able to remove myself a little bit more.
But then again, it's just like are we doing a disservice because it's Doug Horner bends in both sides.
You know what I mean? It's that's the brand. That's where people are coming to see.
But I don't think I've had experience like that so far.
Everybody that comes to see me or messages to me. It's all about me and people won't even work.
They won't even work with branding or Laura or Sebastian. They're like, I want to speak to you.
If I don't speak to nobody else and it's like it's proprietary information.
And then I'm like, how are you not going to help? It's like, I want to sell my Honda.
Okay.
Right.
Brandy can help with that. I'm going to transfer you over.
Yeah, yeah.
So let's talk about kind of the car business in general from the perspective of the transparency.
I mean, what, you know, everybody or not everybody, but so many people look at maybe what you and I do and they say,
oh, you're giving up the tricks of the trade or you're shown too much or you're pulling back the curtain too much and that's not good.
Why do you say I disagree with that? Why do you give the level of transparency that you do show the process?
Why do you tell some people in some cases, I'm not going to sell you a car and here's what you need to do, which is like in general, the opposite of what's happening in a lot of dealerships.
Sure.
I think the reason is is because I've lived that process. I've been in the best case of worst case scenario.
I've had my cars repossessed before and been encrypling debt.
And I've been in very bad fellow situations. And, you know, I tell I did a video on this.
It's very expensive being poor. And with that mindset of like always just
getting things that shouldn't necessarily make sense in the long run, but since it's in front of you, it's kind of your escape away from reality.
But like, oh, I just bought a brand new Mercedes Benz, but it's like a 25% interest and you're just like, I can make it work.
There's a lot of that out there. And unfortunately, everybody blamed education and whatnot. I'm just like, well, no, it hasn't been talked about enough to be honest.
I think I was one of the first creators to ever video. And I may be wrong. And again, this does not mean trying to put me ahead of the game and be like, oh, I'm the one that didn't know. I did just just my observation.
Where there was an approval from West Lake and then you know, you're not out of credit with somebody with very bad credit.
And by the way, just if I wanted to watch this podcast or this episode, I don't deal with mostly bad credit customers.
Those are the ones that are always asking for a hand out or just trying to get away to getting to a vehicle. And it's not even the smart vehicle.
It's always the expensive vehicle. I want to get what I want. I know what I do.
But I'm off. Anyways, I think it was one of the first creators to post an approval. I removed the name and everything. And I showed people.
I was like, listen, this is what bad credit gets you. And the dealership can bump you up to points.
The amount of negativity I got from dealerships. And I haven't had dealerships put bad reviews on my old dealership because you shouldn't be showing consumers the rate bump.
So what? Like in the day and then you'll go to that dealership page. I'm like, dude, you have literally a 2.5.
And you're talking about you're worried about people knowing industry. How about selling cars that won't break down every 300 miles or doing this or doing that.
So the transparency aspect is genuinely me trying to have a more refreshing view so that others can be more comfortable.
Like, you know what? I am more confident. I know that I can use my reach to my fingertips, but Doug, to be honest.
And I know you've seen this. I will post a million videos showing what transparency looks like.
Showing how bad credit gets you high interest. I don't know, I'm famous in negative equity. People don't listen.
And what I'm trying to, I say that because dealers and dealership owners are so worried about the transparency.
I can see their numbers haven't been messed up. If anything, repossessions are still skyrocketing. People are defaults in the payments.
People are still in getting in worse positions. It's not situation where like, oh, use of videos are going to change the game.
I'm not sure there's been some sort of like rattle or some noise that's been made from them.
But it's not to the point where it's just like, oh, you shouldn't be doing that. It's a little deceptive to be honest.
Yeah, I mean, look, there's a level of education you can put out there and it will benefit some people.
And some people that maybe need it most won't take anything away from it. And obviously you can't make somebody learn something they don't want to learn.
But I think that the overall benefits of being transparent are far outweigh the negatives.
Because will some people maybe feel like they know a little bit too much and like they don't like the way that a car dealership makes money?
Yes, sure. I guess you could make that argument. But the reality is that everyone at the end of the day knows that a car dealership is a business, right?
And I'm sure you've heard it before. I've heard it many times early in my car selling career.
Like, I get it, you're a business, you got to make money, right? And like, you know, maybe they're like, I just don't want you to make any money on me or whatever.
But most people understand, right, that, hey, like anything else in life is a business.
And if you're buying something somebody in order to continue to be in business and to offer a product for sale, right?
There has to be a level of profit that is occurring. It's just I think that most people have a fear that they're just not going to be treated fairly that they're going to just have the wall pulled over their eyes that they're going to be taken advantage of.
And when you can tell somebody that yeah, you know, we're going to make a little bit of money. That's how we stay in business. But we're going to treat you fairly.
We were going to give you all the information. We're going to take care of you. Then they're like, OK, I'm cool with that, right?
It's that the fear of the uncertainty goes away. And so it's like to me, the fact that anybody would want to like hide everything and keep it close to the vest and keep all their customers in the dark.
I just don't get that because I think that overall, most of those people are going to leave the process with you, maybe not feeling great about the decision they made.
Like maybe they'll be happy with the car because they're emotional about it. But if they didn't feel good doing business with you, then do you ever expect to see them again? Talk to them again? Have them send friends family? Probably not.
Sure. And I agree with you 100%. Also, I feel the transparency sort of.
The problem is in the car industry and the car market in general car dealerships. It's just deceptive marketing. And I've called us out multiple times.
I can't stand where people will try to validate this deceptive marketing cars.
And you get there as I'm being 15. Why? Why would you waste somebody's time? Because if you do on the flip side, I'm sure everybody will be upset.
Well, this is one way to bring people in. It's not the right way. And unfortunately, a lot of people when they go.
And this is pretty much and consumerism is like just a very interesting topic psychologically, how people work.
Once you get out of the door, that's it. I mean, they're yours. And especially when it comes to car sales, you can be very, very aggressive.
And sometimes it's so tactics where that's where people get afraid from. You know, they hear one. And I think social media perpetuated that because you'll hear somebody.
I pay 80 grand for a Toyota Highlander. What? The dealership did that. I mean, that would in my like, I wouldn't be scared to go into a Toyota dealership if that's what norm was.
I got a 20% interest rate. What? And people, some people are just. It's crazy how anecdotally people live.
Oh, I've got a 2.9. Okay, that's great. But the problem is is maybe the other person next to you wants more information of how they can process and how they can.
Drop better and this transparency that what you're showing what I'm showing what other people are showing helps.
And it has made a difference, Doug. I get so many messages from people saying, you said thank you so very much. You saved me from this.
Or I saved 2% on this or you helped me negotiate 5k or dealership literally dealership reached out to me saying you said thank you for showing me how it's supposed to be done.
And this is just what it isn't. I think that speaks of all you. And if anybody says otherwise cool. Okay.
Anybody, like you said, it's a business. Everybody's free to go do business anywhere. If you want to go get, you know, the world will offer you cool.
Go do that. You want to go to the transparent guy cool at the end of the day. You don't have to do business with me. You don't have to do business with Doug.
It's a free market. You don't have to do business with anybody. And that's the, that's a moral disorder to Doug is just like think about what you're buying before you're not tied to anything.
No, you're not. And so to that point, you and I have spoken about this before.
And again, you haven't been, you know, I've been in the business for 15 years now, 15 years plus, which is kind of crazy to think.
And you've only been in it for maybe a third of that time. But you've been in it long enough to see that the car, what fascinated me about the car business was that it has in many cases, a well-earned reputation of dealers that aren't transparent might take advantage, don't give a good experience.
So I understand why so many consumers have their guard up. And it's like, it's just, it's this weird business where it's like we sell something that people really want. And they're really excited about. And it's like the process of buying it, they're like, I'd rather get a root canal.
Right, it's like, which is, I don't think there's anything else in life that I can think of where it's like, oh, I want this thing so bad, like it makes me happy. It's a part of my life, but like the process of getting it is miserable. But that's this business doesn't have to be that way, but a lot of people have had that experience.
Now, on the flip side, how much of it, there are instances, and I know you've seen these, I've certainly seen these, how often is it the dealer's fault that somebody is in a bad position? Okay, sometimes yes.
Can you make the argument that there are times where a consumer puts themselves of their own free will in a situation that they most definitely should not be in?
Absolutely. But like you said, there's nothing like the car industry. If you really want something, you're just in your television. You don't care if you hear this or you're paying 30 grand an interest, it's just I want to get to the finish line.
So that's why you sign sign sign. But that's life, Doug. I think, and that's why I think purchasing a car transcends our content transcends buying a car because it generally is a very big decision that you're committed to for a very long time, whether it's a two-year lease, three-year lease.
Five-year financing term on a vehicle. That's a long-term commitment. So it's not just something where it's just like, oh, so yes, it is very crazy.
And I've been in situations, and I've recorded the situations where I'm just like, listen, these are your options. You're going to have a high interest high on loan payment. This is what you want to do.
Yes, I didn't say, Doug, you're grown. You're grown up. You're an adult. You make your own decisions. I'm here to make money at the end of the day that does not make us, I believe does not make us a hypocrite because like you said, we are a business.
It is your responsibility to decipher what information is in front of you and make sure it fits your needs. Now, there have been times where I just said no because it's just too young to process. And unfortunately, that's I still think there's a responsibility to a dealership to a salesperson in any industry, especially car industry.
Yes, you're selling an experience, but also you're also selling something that is going to be a very long-term commitment to somebody. So you should be as transparent as possible. You should lay out both options.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's why do you think though that it is that if somebody buys a car that they regret, like, this is what I see all the time. Okay. And a lot of it, I'm sure people have bought cars from our dealership before and then a certain time later, they're like, no, this wasn't the right car for me, but I'm sure that happened, but every day at least three or four times a day of salesperson is coming to me.
Part, a lot of this is because of the social media, right? People feel like, hey, let me go to Doug and his team and see if they can figure something out, but it's like a car that somebody has bought within the last 12 months.
They hate it, quote unquote, right? They're, or they feel like they got taken advantage of it the dealership. Maybe they did. Maybe they don't didn't. I don't know. I wasn't there, right?
In some cases, it's as recent as three to six months, right? And now they are in these negative equity situations, which I've seen my fair share of bad ones, you've seen your fair share of bad ones.
It's like, obviously, I feel bad and I want to help, but on the other hand, I'm like, how did, how did we get here? Right? It's like, what is it about cars that, and they're blaming the previous dealership? And it's like, well, how responsible is that dealership?
Really in that situation, you know what I mean? I don't know that we go other places like if you go to target, and you buy a bunch of random housewares, and then a month later, you're like, you know what, that walk lock. I didn't need that. That was dumb. I shouldn't have bought it.
Are you going around telling everybody like, hey man, target really screwed me. They like they took advantage of me. I was in there. They had that walk lock right up front. I didn't need it. They knew I didn't need it. They sold it to me anyway, right?
It's like, I don't, I don't feel like people really do that. But when it comes to cars, it's like, we're going to bus roll the dealership all day every day.
I think the main equation to that is just, since you are, in most cases, everything is financed or leased, so there's some sort of insurance or money factor.
A lot of people don't take into account that cost. And as a cost, your insurance is a cost. So when they look at their accounts six months later, and all the interest is going to the balance and you've only in five in your principle, it's very understandable where somebody would be upset to be like, my car is worth $10,000 less than what I owe.
And I think you are right. There should be some sort of understanding of it's your decision. It was your vehicle was your wants versus your needs. This is your problem.
I don't feel as bad as maybe you would because I wish there was a law where people would stop trading out of bad deals.
I just think it gets progressively worse. Like you said, somebody came to you six months later and they're negative situation like I want to trade into it. You're just going to be in a worse position.
You know what I mean? Or a year later, I tell people all the time trading out of a car, what seems to be or what is a bad deal is not a good deal unless it's like you have a crazy down payment to eat the negative equity or the Mercedes Lawson incentive saying, you know what, I'm going to give you $30,000 on this EV vehicle, which I don't know if it exists anymore.
In order for you to get into a car, but then the car is probably more expensive, et cetera.
I think it's a tricky one, Doug, because when you're going to target, like you said, you're not adding these backend products that obviously there are values worth X at the time of signing, but then it's worth two X four years down the line or three years down the line.
The warranties aren't explained correctly. There's an aggregate payout. You paid 10 grand for warranty. It only covers 20 grand. It's in the contract.
Who's really going to read 400 pages of financing contracts, Doug?
On this, to your point, I do agree going on Google, I mean, there is somebody will bring CAD to you for their whole entire life.
It's not that hard to be like how much interest will I pay on this vehicle or what's the depreciation schedule on a Mercedes GOB? You're absolutely right.
And honestly, Doug, I think one of my biggest pet peeves in the industry is when somebody has this regret six months down the line,
like you said, and they're coming to saying, well, use the violence as a car for me. It's just like, do you want me to give you full price for the vehicle or for all your things?
What is the expectation here? How long are we really married to the deal?
But I agree with you. Darrye McCampy made two certain accept. I do think consumers have a limited capacity, especially when buying things.
And most companies think advantage of that psychological thing that people go through to just buy now, instant gratification, let me get it done.
I don't care what you said. You know, how can we make it more transparent, other than telling you what the fees are, and etc.
And the truth and lending form is all that I 100% agree with you.
Yeah, but at the same time, can we blame people for being people? It's just it is what it is.
No, not and I don't know the answer. It's just for me, I guess now I'm so interested in just the psychology like you of why people do the things they do.
It's just it's kind of like this great mystery to me of how so many people end up in these positions where they buy a car, which like you said, it should be it's a huge purchase.
It is. And so I don't know if tighter regulation on lending parameters is the answer or what what the answer is, but it's yeah, I don't know.
It's just it's a wild. It really is the wild wild west of the industry. And I think that when you've got such a wide spread of dealerships that are doing things transparently versus dealerships that don't like do anything to get the sale today.
It only muddies the water further because you might have if so if you fall in love with the car, you get emotional about it. You go and buy it and it happens not to be a dealer that has or happens to be dealer that doesn't have your best interest in mind.
Yeah, you could end up in a really tough situation for many reasons even if still all the forms are signed and all the everything is done properly.
Like you said, people get emotional, they kind of put the blinders on and they don't really read through the process or they don't really take it all in and fully understand what they're getting into.
It's just it's such a complicated industry and it's fascinating, but it's especially right now coming out of the covert era where everything was so inflated price wise.
And this is not just true for cars. I mean, it was lumber everything was everything.
Everything. Yeah.
But I think people also people are making less money and things are getting inflated, which is another issue in the car industry and you know.
It's sad to see the mom of three kids right in a 25,000 on a regular situation their cars broke down is that 100% but you know I think we're both limited on what we can do.
We were here to make money and we have to decipher whether or not.
You know, and kind of have a game plan of like why you need to brand your car and and to your point, I think the regulation has to change because Doug, I don't believe in most situations.
The last couple of years, the average interest rate for use car was like 13 14% back in 2018 17 16.
That was some prime numbers. I mean, if you got 13% you have bad credit. I mean, you were having 5006 out of credit score, right?
You were looking at yeah, 3% 4% was like the average for somebody with good credit and correct me from wrong. I mean, that was what I was used to back then.
Now we're tripling the rates cars are super expensive. There has to be some sort of regulation because I don't think.
Life happens and if you have under 650 credit score out of 18 20% straight, you shouldn't be buying a car at a credit card industry. I'm sorry that to me that's just.
That's where it kills a deal. Doug is interest and I think that should be the emphasis on most things just explaining and understanding that interest is what really get through these situations because if I'm paying two years.
Of a very front heavy interest bearing product, then that means my principle is going to stay the same for two years.
I don't know what they're revolving door for you guys is for most clients we have they're changing out every two to three years. They're never saying the five six years.
I talked a lot about this and people always argue with me in my comment section about it because there's no.
You really can't search it and get a very direct answer, but all of the.
All of the data that I've ever been shown over the years from any DA JD power, you know, Edmunds all the third parties right there data shows that the average American is getting a new car or car that is new to them within three years right two to three years.
So that has nothing to do with now.
That is the average person right that means that of course there's going to be people to keep their cars a lot longer right those are the always the ones that show up in the comments section where they're like I've had my car for 15 years and it's like that's right right.
More people should be like you but you are not the majority of people right I see people every day that get a new car twice a year.
Now a lot of them can afford to do that.
I also see some people doing it that maybe can afford to do it but the average American yeah they do not keep a car very long and so that just means that more people than not are getting in and out of cars in two to three years.
You're exactly right and they but they they finance them as if they're going to keep them for six or seven and that's the problem.
Yes I want to agree with you and to your comment about people in the comments the let me tell you something being a social media influencer.
The comments will always entertain me but they also frustrate me it's so everybody kind of things that all everybody's on the same page when they come into the comments section absolutely not.
There are people are so disconnected from society they're like like you said I've had my car for 50 years awesome man this is so cool but that's not the norm but you're so anecdotal it's like life is not anecdotal there are other people that.
Oh my god you can get a 30% interest rate on the car yes you can and that's a lie.
This is fake content you this is a this is a fake call okay says the person who as a construction worker or whatever it is this a job that has nothing to do with the role of construction work is by the way you know I love everybody that job is not the industry.
You're on the industry exactly so why are you talking about something that I am frontline and actually calling on the bank trying to figure out how to get this a better deal.
Yeah so buying a car I think is probably the most important thing that anybody ever do whether your season whether your first time buyer.
And I do think that there has to be some regulation changes and just a mind such as like you said Doug like sometimes like the excuse that I hear to change their car it blows my mind like I like the color.
Two years later you like the color right.
I want the new update a screen.
What's wrong with the old screen anyways but it did well usually.
Yeah go ahead usually what have you heard have you heard by now the expression buyers are liars.
So I think that you know I always laugh at that phrase and I think that a lot of people in the industry don't fully understand what it means or they they take it like.
Very literally and they make it like this like combative thing like oh buyers are liars they'll you know they'll say anything and it's not that I look at that phrase as.
A little bit more lighthearted and playful in the sense that people will just say things.
That are not true because it's the easier thing to say than what is true right in the sense that like the person that comes in and they're like yeah I don't like the color I want a new car it's like.
Really that like that's not why you're here right let's be real and if you can learn to ask good questions you'll you'll come to find out that maybe it's.
I can't afford the payment anymore or it's breaking down and I or it's it's too small I don't my family doesn't fit in it like it's usually there's something else going on.
But yeah a lot of times people that are in the industry will just like the customer will say somebody then they'll take it at face value and they'll just assume that that's the truth one of the times it's not no different that I got a better deal down the street and somebody's like oh okay like.
Well let me see what's the deal let me see if I can match it whereas I'm like then why are you here.
What like that that might just be your way of saying like try and y'all right to make sure that you're getting the best possible dealer it's usually not the truth like I I'm going down a total rabbit hole your side.
You're not you're not all the time here's my favorite when somebody's like oh I got quoted like $500 a month less by another dealer and I'm like $500 but but it's it's I don't like the color.
It's it's always the color I'm like listen.
That thing could be pink with a yellow interior and for $500 less a month I'll figure it out and I think you would too right so like what's really going on here you know what I mean.
So anyway I thought but ultimately we'll find out the truth like listen you're in the industry and you already know.
Anybody that's calling in doing credit app income is inflated by 20 to 30 40% you know doing this I'm doing that you find a truth in the end and this is why like.
I think the transparency speaks volume for our pages because I have also have had clients come in should be a little more straight up with me but okay you know what you said.
I can't afford the car anymore I want to sell it and I've had that old camera before I'm like I appreciate you being real and those people that truly help out more rather than somebody saying like.
I you know it's not like I'm selectively people help out more but.
If you're honest about what you have going on I definitely think it makes the process a lot easier and I don't spend three four hours trying to you know work on.
And that's something that I hope that any you know I'm sure a lot of people in the industry are listening to this and there's maybe people that are listening that are just automotive fans and they like buying cars whatever.
You're exactly right people that lay it out for you and they're just honest about the scenario they really give you every all the information that you need.
It makes the process so much easier makes it very easy for me to help you if I really know what your motivation is what you're trying to do.
And there's and to what the point you just made I don't it's not about like oh I'm going to be nice to this person not nice to this person but we've all met people in our lives.
That you just feel more drawn to or you just you're like I like this person I want to help them and it's not because you were in a different mood that day it's just because the way they're approaching me the way they're.
Handling this interaction with me I just feel good about them and I want to like go above and beyond to figure out a solution whereas people that are like guard is up combative maybe even a little bit rude.
It's it's just like you inherently like you know what how much time am I going to really spend with this person because they're actually just not even pleasant to speak with and I can't tell if they're even giving me the truth of in the scenario here so it's like the way that people approach the situation there's definitely reciprocity the dealership is going to be much more willing and able to help when you lay out all the cards.
And to be honest Doug like in this industry time is definitely money so you know as you know like every lead we get we have to just kind of.
That can come it through as much as we can to make sure that there's something there not miss anything turn over every rock but with people that kind of paint this picture like you said or not being as upfront oh I found a car 500 dollars cheaper a month or this guy gave me five grand off all right have a good day go over there.
And then because the issue is now they come back to you now they look like you please ask and then it's like you they want you to have the ball in your court just tell me like five grand is where you need to be off I would came off another 1500 had you just told me straight up but no no you have five grand somewhere go get it somewhere else and I think that situation has happened so many times Doug in the industry the amount of people that do shopping and and for me like I've always been the person even before social media.
I will send you out the numbers out the door to me means taxes fees everything it's not just a sale price I don't know if anybody else in the industry that's right no out the door should be that is an outdoor price 100% make anybody who is watching argue with me and say out the doors is sales price who done that what is no no no no no no that's that's how people get taken advantage of right when they only get the selling price and then they don't see all the other extra curricular activity going on behind the scenes yeah absolutely.
Yeah absolutely good on you for doing that yeah always I'm like I emailed to you look it over because Doug the amount I think also the game has changed so much because like you said people are just like instant gratification they'll make a quick sale I could say something wrong boom they go to the next competitor I mean that's how quick this industry has changed in my opinion of like all the opportunities and and and all of the competitiveness in this market you're being held by this like thin line are you going to be able to close them or not.
So that's why I just I value that time and when I sense a bullshit I'm just going to call it I'm like you know what I don't want to do with you in a very special way have a good day but the person that comes out here I generally I'm serious I've stayed till 10 11 p.m. talking to West like talking to banks trying to get them in a situation that makes sense for them because that's what they came for you know I think in any situation when you are vulnerable financially mentally mostly to come and tell hey Doug man I can't afford this car I had to have this I'm going to help you man I mean I'm going to
appreciate that you trust me and now it's my responsibility to give you that or I'll just tell you you're too far going I can't help you unfortunately go get your car to do this so yeah I mean that's the way it should be Doug and and I I'm glad we're on the same page on that I feel like something go crazy when people just say oh you should help everybody equally I will but you kind of give me that respect that you said reciprocity that means you'll be up front with me I'll be up front with you I'm not going to lie to you if you lie to me but I'm not going to waste my time yeah so to kind of bring it home here I'm not going to waste my time yeah so to kind of bring it home here I'm not going to
have an interesting question I don't know if you've ever considered it before but would you ever consider working for a franchise dealer or do you prefer the independence and ownership of an independent store I would 100% go anywhere if the opportunity was there there's pros and cons I think a lot of us romanticize like being a business owner it's awesome I have freedom you know
so for me to definitely expanded this opportunity into something that I never thought possible but it does come with this drawbacks and even in the car industry you know you're coming at 6-7 you leave at 11 p.m. sometimes and I think having a more structured more compartmentalized you know business to work for franchise or not sometimes it's more appealing and the consistency I think because as a business owner it can be very insistent over with horrible Doug
and you know master in the car industry October just lower months but for independent dealers we get hit harder because you guys are able to float service in this and that but for us it's like if we do not make it sales that's it right so the consistency is definitely I appealing so yes I would I would definitely consider working for a franchise dealer even owning one if I ever am awarded the opportunity but yes I would definitely work for a franchise dealer it's nice as to you know do your job and leave sometimes but also it's nice to do whatever you want like today I'm at the mall
my family they took my credit card and they're going to just run it up while I'm having this wonderful conversation with you so I won't be able to do this sometimes in the regular setting so well I apologize I didn't realize this interview was going to cost you a undisclosed sum of money but no I appreciate you Doug because now I don't have to see what's being bought so there's a level of like art you know what I got distracted and this is I'd rather have this you know this conversation with you then spend five hours walking from store to store and figuring out what looks like
good and what doesn't look good so there you go yeah you just have to deal with the aftermath you don't have to watch the carnage I have yeah there you go yeah we'll deck money over from credit card and just pay that debt that's it that's it that's all I do I have to be the expert experience well good deal brother any any closing thoughts that you have where do you I I'll ask you you know kind of one final question that might not I don't know I don't know how much sense it makes in your world in general but the
I just I'm curious everyone's opinion on on EVs you know because that was such a hotly it was so politicized for so long
and now it's like the whole world has done like a 180 so what does the future of automotive and this is
really kind of more of a new car question but anything that happens with new cars then trickles down to the
use car market within two three years generally so this big 180 that we've seen kind of globally
with electrification what do you think that does for the future of EVs the values of EVs that exist today
and kind of what you know where we headed as far as power trains etc what do you what do you you know think it's going to happen
I've always had my money on hybrid I think you know Toyota Honda they've all had a strong market share of the hybrid market
I think that the EV technology has made hybrid technology a lot more efficient a lot more you know
um I think capable to have a longer electric range and my EV fan I think if it makes sense like
you know family in DC and New York so when I drive there yes absolutely EV makes sense and it's
better for the environment it's just it's a lot more refreshing to have something that you don't have
to warm up and make a lot of noise etc but I think to me I'm truly a car person I love cars like
I've had all types of cars and I think the characteristics of each car make it unique to drive
when I drove a Tesla when I drove until I drove the Porsche Taycan and the EQS actually EQS I love
the UF that Mercedes-Benz done amazing vehicle um I think the reason why I was so against it was because
I actually did a video on this they were so expensive Doug I mean I think I feel so bad for people that
bought over like a hundred thirty hundred forty especially like the Hummer EVs and they
so you have 50% off Doug it was wild so for me I was just like look the hype definitely didn't live
up to the expectations but now I do think as we're moving forward I think I think this far selling
EVs they have definitely become more popular for me I've never had luck selling EVs up until maybe
these last six months um I'm definitely getting a lot more uh EV um sales now and George it's
something it's not absolutely true it's only how Elon just shifts the market completely I've seen
people literally you know um I have uh I used to like reviews that but I got Tesla I have
you know this BMW have this I don't want any Tesla's like why like yeah I don't want to do with
Elon it's crazy that and that might mean how powerful Doug like if you're in social media and I'm
going off of a tangent here but if you're in social media if you represent a brand you are the
brand right so if I say something out of pocket then auto cafe will suffer the same way Elon says
something he can move you know masses with Tesla either on the downside or on the upside yeah
so um I definitely think that EV may not be as sustainable as hybrid so I will have my money
on hybrid when it comes to technology and I think the other market has been doing very well um
I mean guys I see you know Mercedes which never really used to be very hybrid intense a lot of
your performance vehicles are more hybrid a lot of the you know the GOB 53 and all these other things
have the mild 48 volt hybrid system so I think hybrid is more sustainable to be honest okay
and then final question uh to for the people that might be considering social media
there is I'm sure most people that watch me watch you watch George watch Russ watch Tommy whoever it
is that they like that they see building a business building a brand um or or just helping whatever
it is that they're already doing they see the benefit but so few people can actually kind of get
off the couch so to speak to start doing it you know what if you could go back in time to before you
picked up the phone and started recording yourself uh reviewing food what would your advice be to
somebody that is like yeah I get it but like I just they always have a reason why they're not going to
do it right they always have an excuse and like what would you say to yourself back then like
start doing it now and here's why
now it's gonna be very controversial um you know a lot of people will encourage everybody to do
the same thing and I don't think we're all built the same um not many people can pick up a camera
and just pick a topic and talk about it for you know four or five minutes straight and not many
people can just change their life and their perspective on things and understand how can I make
some captivating content from it but that doesn't stop me from I guess helping people educate themselves
or motivating them to post social media because it is life changing I mean it's crazy
Doug like you can post a video about a vehicle like for instance I post a video about the Bentley
that I did with 89,000 miles right Doug I had 120 plus leads from that one video
like I don't think people understand how crazy that is to think like I pay four grand for car
gurus 1200 for car facts I am on Facebook marketplace we have cars like we have
seven eight grand a month on marketing expense and I get maybe five or ten leads a month
on the belly but one video that was free I got a hundred and point leads and I actually am closing
the sale because of that video I mean if that's not powerful enough or does it motivate you enough
to be like wow right so I think some of the things that I would tell myself going back
just don't over complicate things um I definitely learned real quick that people have a very short
tension span you know like I said I have the gift of gab so I can make a 10 minute video that should
have been one or two minutes keep it short keep it concise um you know keep people moving and I
think you don't have to focus on the quantity focusing the quality and like a lot of people say well
you know I'm thinking about it but I'm trying to figure out a plan of how I can build a system
sustain all worry about 500 views worry about the 200 views and all you need to just one person
just to convert a captivating just one right you don't need millions of people to captivate you
can have one person be like oh I really like what you do and that's a beautiful thing about this
ecosystem of social media you can have the same product but have 50 people selling it
and you're selling the experience because it's like oh I like duck I'm gonna go to him how
many Mercedes Ben store are in America but people fly and drive to you because you make that
experience for them so I think I would make it all more personable I wouldn't just generalize don't
be so cookie cutter and I think cookie cutter doesn't work but just add your own little spin I think
that's what makes moves so that's what I would do if I had to give myself advice don't over complicate
shorten it make it sweet concise simple and just be real you know I think everybody says
fake it so you make it but they'll never realize this dog everybody thinks they'll make it and
they're still fake after they make it it's so crazy it's like they're still right so yeah
and yeah so just start doing it start filming because you never know you never know
yeah you never know absolutely and and and I think it's just that one video dog it took that
that one auction video right it was like man man man man an auction video I mean just
it's it's overnight man and I think with that don't let that dissuade you from the consistency part
right just poke post post every day you know and and even if you can't just make sure that it's
captivating post ahead of time and it's crazy dog I mean me and you started with just doing it
ourselves and now we have clipping armies and we have this and we have that it comes to a point
where you just like you don't even think about like oh wow I just start by you know doing
the 500 TikTok and on CapCut like going to that little thing and like adding get it and they're like
doing this it's crazy man like how just think it's it's it's fast so I'm telling people
is just get on the bandwagon do it post and if it doesn't work out cool at least you tried
and I think that that's that's life you know you just gotta give it this energy and if it's not
receiving it it's all good there's something better meant for you yeah I agree I love it
well you said I appreciate you brother thank you for being here today I hope that you have an
amazing end of the year October was tough right but you know what all we can do is control what we
can control and that's shown up every day doing our best educating people entertaining them and I
know that you and I will continue to do that and I appreciate you being here absolutely hope
hopefully people start listening because I don't know Doug I'm thinking about changing my way to
Doug I'm telling you it's getting it's getting to this point man it's like you want me to be
that stigma I don't know man I might start charging you know three four points over and then 10 grand
over and it's our fee for vehicles uh I hope I hope you don't buy get it I know but I I feel
you I know it's I don't know what the answer is but my hope is that the more of you and me that are
out there the more dealers we can encourage to to follow suit and little I mean it's I know it's a
tall task but little by little we can make this industry better um and yeah I don't know it's the
the more times that people support a bad dealership the harder it'll be to make the change so
absolutely but like you said um that was obviously a joke but yes I appreciate
no of course I know this this wonderful show and I again I hope this takes off into millions of
followers and it just gives perspective from all of your guests about what it's like to be you know
an amazing you know general manager Doug Horner just I love this Doug and I really I really hope
it takes off and I know it will because you're just the type of guy that knows how to talk how to
plan and just people want to learn from you and I want to learn from this as well so I'm super excited
to be on episode three and I appreciate it and like I said you have been a very big catalyst to
my progression in the sales industry and I hope people continue to watch this and watch all your
older videos there were some gems in there absolutely love them and so again yeah thank you very much
that's a lot of like wise brother appreciate you I will talk talk soon yes sir
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