Dealers often finance cars while they’re waiting to sell them. The “floor plan clock” is basically the countdown for how long that financing runs—so costs start right away, even before the car shows up.
Company
Auto Hall or Exchange
This is the name of the company Frank Zombo is associated with. In dealership talk, it usually relates to how cars are bought, sold, or processed.
Landed cost is what the car really costs the dealer once it’s fully in their possession. It’s more than the purchase price—there are extra fees and transport costs too.
Term
AI plus psychology
This phrase means using AI to help with selling, but pairing it with how people think and decide. The goal is likely to make the sales conversation more effective and tailored.
F&I is the part of a car dealership where they help you with financing and sell things like warranties and other add-ons. The host is saying AI could change how that sales process works.
Company
Bellanese
Bellanese is the business Marion Kane works with. They’re being used as an example in the conversation about how F&I sales might change.
They’re talking about cars coming from China and how the industry is reacting. The host’s point is that restrictions alone won’t beat competitors—you have to make better cars.
A tariff is a tax the government charges on imported products. The host is saying relying on that kind of restriction won’t solve the competition problem by itself.
They’re talking about whether the US should restrict Chinese auto companies. The reason given is that it could help protect sensitive technology and personal data.
Direct-to-consumer means the company tries to sell cars straight to customers. Instead of waiting for a dealer to handle the sale, they market and list the cars online to reach buyers first.
Hertz is a rental-car company that’s also selling cars. Here, they’re trying to sell more cars directly online instead of mainly through other businesses.
Amazon is another big online platform mentioned as part of Hertz’s strategy. The idea is that Hertz is selling cars through online channels, not just dealerships.
Wholesale is when a company sells cars to other businesses instead of selling them to the people who will drive them. The segment says Hertz wants to sell more directly to customers.
Gross merchandise volume is a way to measure how much money is being sold through an online marketplace. Here, it’s used to show that eBay’s vehicle listings get a lot of business.
Digital presence means how easy it is to find and evaluate a dealership online. If the dealership’s website and online tools are strong, more shoppers will contact them or buy from them.
USMCA is a big trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. If it gets changed, it can change costs and timing for parts and cars—so dealers may see different prices and inventory.
Service history is the log of work done on a car—like maintenance and repairs. If it’s complete, it helps buyers feel more confident about what the car has been through.
Carfax is the company that provides vehicle history reports. Here, they’re adding a badge to certain used cars to show the selling dealer also took care of the car’s service history.
CPO means Certified Pre-Owned. It’s a used car that’s been inspected and approved under a program, usually with extra protections versus a normal used car.
He’s saying that common places dealers look for used cars aren’t working as well anymore. Auctions are one source, and social media/marketplaces are another—he thinks they’re not producing good inventory right now.
“Used to new” means how much a dealership sells used cars versus new cars. If you sell lots of used cars, you have to find good used inventory sources.
Facebook Marketplace is a consumer-facing online listing platform where people can buy and sell vehicles. In the transcript, it’s discussed as a lead/source channel, but the dealer notes it lacks “proven analytics” and doesn’t reliably produce the right kind of inventory.
Instead of getting used cars only by trading with other dealers, you can buy them at an auction. Dealers bid on cars there, then bring the ones they win into their lot to sell.
“Aged inventory” refers to used vehicles that have been sitting unsold for too long. As inventory ages, dealers often face tougher pricing decisions and slower sales, so they try to keep turn rates high.
“Re-up those units” is dealer shorthand for continually replacing inventory so cars don’t sit too long. The underlying goal is to keep the used-car lineup fresh and avoid aging inventory, which can hurt sales velocity and pricing power.
“Turns fast” is about inventory turn rate—how quickly a dealership sells through its stock. Higher turns generally mean less cash tied up in cars and a fresher mix of vehicles for buyers.
Reynolds and Reynolds makes software that car dealerships use to run day-to-day business. Here, they’re talking about adding it to the new store’s system so they can manage pricing and workflows.
Cox Automotive provides tools and software for car dealerships. In this story, the dealer had to remove some Cox tools so they could switch to a different software setup.
AutoVision is a software tool dealerships use when shopping for and evaluating cars. The host says it gives them the information they need quickly while they’re buying cars online.
Viotto is another software tool dealerships use. The speaker is basically saying AutoVision works better or is more advanced than what they had before.
Wingman is another software tool that helped them replace what Stockwave used to do. The host says the transition was smooth because Wingman handled the key tasks they relied on.
An “auction screen” is the website or software view where dealers look at cars and bid. The point here is that they need fast, real-time info while they’re buying cars online.
“Market day supply” means how many similar cars are available in the market right now. Dealers use it to judge how competitive the buying environment is.
“Recon” means reconditioning a used car—repairs or detailing needed before it’s ready to sell. The host says they factor those costs into their buying calculations.
“Transportation” is the expense to move a car from where you buy it to your dealership. The host is saying they want those costs visible while deciding whether a deal makes sense.
The speaker argues that every store should have a dedicated, full-time vehicle buyer. The idea is that buying used cars is a specialized job with enough complexity that it shouldn’t be treated as a side responsibility for someone with other roles.
Topic
use car buyer vs GSM/GM responsibilities
They debate who should be responsible for buying used cars at a dealership. The question is whether it should be a dedicated buyer or someone who already has other duties.
A collision center is the shop that fixes cars after crashes—body work and repairs. It’s often part of a dealership’s service and reconditioning process.
“Variable ops” is basically the dealership’s sales side. How much money it makes can change a lot depending on what people are buying and what the market is doing.
“Fixed ops” means the dealership’s service side—like repairs, maintenance, and collision work. It’s usually steadier than the sales side because cars keep needing work over time.
A collision manager oversees the body-shop side of repairs after accidents. They help coordinate the repair process so cars get fixed correctly and efficiently.
Car acquisition is the dealership process of sourcing inventory—often via auctions, trade-ins, and wholesale channels. The transcript connects acquisition to the need for reconditioning from both service and collision operations.
EV range is how far an electric vehicle can go on electricity alone before it needs more power. The speaker is saying they’re starting to sell EVs, but they still have to compete for buyers.
OEM means the automaker that makes the car in the first place. In this conversation, they’re saying the automaker’s direction affects the dealership, but the dealership’s service business has its own dynamics too.
Dealers often talk about sales as the “variable” part because it depends a lot on what’s selling and what inventory and pricing look like. When prices rise or entry-level options get squeezed, sales can get harder.
A recall is when a carmaker says a safety problem needs fixing. Dealerships often handle the repairs, so “recall business” means the service work and customers that come from those recall notices.
Mobile repair means the mechanic comes to you. Instead of driving the car to the dealership for every job, some repairs and service can be done where the customer is.
“PMA” here is dealership shorthand for the normal in-store setup where you show and handle things at the dealership. They’re contrasting that with mobile service, where the work can happen off-site.
“Days on hand” is how many days the dealership’s used cars would last if sales stayed about the same. Lower usually means cars are selling faster; higher means they’re sitting longer.
They discuss how dealers handle cars that come in through the service department and how those cars can become part of the dealership’s used inventory. The emphasis is on appraisal and making sure the customer experience is good.
A dealership “service department” is the shop that performs maintenance and repairs for customers’ vehicles. The speaker highlights that it’s a major source of repeat customers month-to-month, which makes it a key place to look for sales opportunities beyond just new-car or used-car inventory.
“Collision side” is the part of a dealership that handles car crash and body damage repairs. If storms hit your area, you can get a lot of cars with dents and other damage that need body work.
When a car is “totaled,” it means the damage is so costly that it usually doesn’t make sense to fix it. The insurance company treats it as a total loss and the owner typically needs a replacement car.
“Off lease” cars are vehicles that are coming back when a lease ends. Dealerships buy them to resell, and they can be easier to judge because the lease terms usually track mileage and upkeep.
A “shadow program” is when someone new spends time watching and learning from people who already do the job. It’s like a guided introduction before they start working more directly.
Concept
DOT Blitzweig
This sounds like a special enforcement day or period where transportation officials do extra checks on trucks. The idea is to catch violations and make sure carriers and drivers are following the rules.
A “37 point inspection” means the officials check a truck and driver using a long checklist. It’s meant to verify safety and rule compliance before the truck is allowed to keep going.
ELD stands for a device that automatically logs when a commercial truck is driving and working. The government requires it so drivers follow the legal limits on how long they can be on the road.
Way stations are official stop points on the road. Trucks can be pulled in there for checks, which can add delays to deliveries.
Term
fuel costs over five bucks a gallon
When gas and especially diesel get more expensive, it costs more to move vehicles. That can slow down deliveries and make it harder for dealers to get inventory on time.
The FTC is a U.S. government agency that helps enforce fair advertising rules. In this segment, it’s mentioned because it warned dealers about how they disclose pricing in ads.
“Bait and switch” describes advertising a low price to attract customers, then adding conditions or fees that make the final price higher. In this context, the host argues that advertised fuel pricing becomes more expensive once add-ons like a car wash are required.
Car haulers are trailers built to move several cars at the same time. The host is saying that when diesel gets expensive, some hauler sizes are more cost-effective than others.
Term
vehicle logistics space
This means the system that moves vehicles from where they’re sourced to where dealers sell them. If trucking gets delayed or costs rise, inventory delivery can get slower.
If a car doesn’t get moved right away after an auction, the place holding it can charge extra money just for keeping it there. That means the “real” cost is higher than what you paid at the auction.
A condition report is the paperwork that says what condition the car is in when it’s sold. The issue here is that the car you receive might not match what the report said.
“CYA” means “cover yourself” with proof. Here, it’s about taking pictures when the car is picked up and when it arrives, so you can show what condition it was in.
The carrier is the company that transports the car. Taking photos at pickup and delivery creates evidence if someone claims the car was damaged during shipping.
Capital costs are the big upfront costs to get the business running, like buying trucks and trailers. If trips get delayed or trucks run empty, those fixed costs still have to be paid.
“Strapping vehicles down” refers to using tie-downs/straps and securing points to prevent movement during transport. It’s a safety and damage-prevention step, especially when the trailer is carrying multiple cars over long distances and rough conditions.
Diesel engines are the type of engine often used in big trucks. They’re built for heavy work and long trips, and when diesel fuel gets expensive, it raises the cost of shipping cars.
The “snowbird effect” is when people travel seasonally to warmer places. That seasonal movement can change where there’s demand for shipping cars, and where there aren’t enough trucks available.
In vehicle transport, carriers are the companies/operators that move the cars using their trucks and trailers. The discussion highlights how carrier profitability changes when diesel prices rise and when they have to travel “empty” to reposition for the next load.
Company
Orlando
Orlando is mentioned as a place where cars are sourced from auctions. Buying from certain locations can make shipping and pricing more expensive.
A “broker markup” is extra money a middleman adds to the shipping price. It can make the dealer pay more than what the truck/carrier actually gets paid.
“Days to lot” is how many days it takes a car to get from where the dealer buys it to the dealership lot. The faster that happens, the less time the dealer has to pay for storage and transport.
“Price per mile” is a way to measure shipping cost based on how far the car is hauled. If you can keep this number low, you usually spend less on transport overall.
“Destination charges” are fees manufacturers add to a vehicle’s price to cover shipping the car to the dealer (or distribution point). In the transcript, they’re described as increasing and being shown on the MSRP sticker, which affects what dealers and end customers ultimately pay.
Term
MSRP sticker
The “MSRP sticker” is the price number the manufacturer prints on the car’s label. It can include extra fees like the cost to ship the car to dealers.
They’re talking about how a dealership’s attitude and teamwork can make customers trust the place. The idea is that trust leads to better relationships over time.
Nissan is the car brand being discussed. The host is talking about how Nissan’s direction and products help dealers convince people to buy and stay loyal.
FNI means the dealership’s finance and insurance steps. That’s where they help you get the loan and talk about extra products that can be added to the deal.
Term
AI
Here, AI means computer tools that can look at lots of information about a person and help guide what the dealership should say or offer. The idea is to use data to make the finance conversation more targeted.
They’re talking about how AI might change the dealership finance process. The question is what that looks like around May 2026.
Term
PVR record
PVR is a dealership performance metric commonly used to track profit per vehicle retail deal (or a closely related profit-per-vehicle measure). Setting an “all-time PVR record” implies the store achieved unusually strong profitability on its retail transactions.
Spot delivery is when you get the car first, and the lender approval is still being finalized. The dealership is basically setting things up so the loan can be completed after you’ve already taken the vehicle.
The AMC Matador is an older mid-size car made by AMC. People bring it up because it’s a recognizable model from the past and is associated with a certain time period in car history. It’s not a modern car, but it’s still a known name among classic vehicles.
“F and I” is the part of a car dealership where they help you with financing and sell extra protection/insurance products. Dealers often make a lot of their profit here, not just from the car price.
“Tire and wheel” means tires and rims. The speaker is saying the dealership should help customers with those items in a more hands-on way, not just during the sales process.
“Service gross” is the money a dealership makes from fixing cars and doing maintenance. The idea here is that better coordination can lead to more profitable service work.
“Repeat customers” are people who come back again after the first time. In a dealership, that usually means more future service work and more chances to buy additional services.
A “profit center” is a part of the business that makes money by itself. The speaker is saying dealerships often rely on F and I because it can add extra profit beyond the car sale.
Here, “transparency” means being upfront and clear about what you’re selling and what it costs. The speaker is saying customers respond better when they feel they understand everything.
Cash penetration is a way dealers measure how often customers pay for add-ons upfront (with cash) instead of rolling them into the car loan. It helps you tell whether the F&I office is really selling things customers want, or just adding costs to the financing. Dealers use it as a performance scorecard.
A one-pay lease is a lease structure where the customer pays a larger amount upfront (often covering the lease’s early payments) rather than making the usual monthly lease payments. Dealers use it as a product to improve deal cash flow and can make it easier to explain the total cost and timing to the customer. The host frames it as something the F&I team should be able to clearly walk through.
Service lanes are the garage bays at a dealership where cars get worked on. Dealerships like them because when you bring your car in for service, it’s easier to keep you coming back for future purchases too.
That phrase means there aren’t many used cars available right now compared to 2019. When supply is low, prices tend to stay higher and it’s harder to find the right car.
The Ford Five Hundred is a mid-size car that Ford made in the 2000s. It was meant to be a comfortable everyday sedan for families and commuting. It’s an older model now, so it’s usually discussed in terms of used-car history and past sales.
LIVE
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Daily Dealer Live.
I'm your host, Sam Dark, and thanks for choosing to be here on this Monday, May 11th,
2026. Coming up today, we've got a heck of a great show. We've got two dealers and an
operator, including a former NFL player, what was Super Bowl winner of Green Bay Packers.
We'll get into that. Three different answers to the same question. How do you actually make
money on a used car in 2026? Well, first up, Lee Walton runs multiple Ford stores just outside
of Kansas City. His rural Ottawa stores four to one used to new, and he says auctions, well,
they stopped working. Frank Zombo at Auto Hall or Exchange, that's the Super Bowl champion,
says your floor plan clock starts the day you buy that car, not the day it lands. Plus,
he's got an update and a little bit of advice. If you're driving around the roads of these United
States this week, most dealers have no idea what their true landed cost actually is. And finally,
up today, Marion Kane at Bellanese on a Venice, says the future of FNI is AI plus psychology.
And most stores are still running it like it's 2010. Quick one before the news. I'm not a fan,
and you know this, we've debated this many times on this show. I get super nervous on part of our
approach to Chinese vehicles in the marketplace right now. We tariff, we ban, we block. It's not
a strategy. To me, it feels gently like hiding. You don't beat the competition by locking the doors.
You beat them by building a better car, period. So here's my question to Detroit, every OEM,
all the OEMs out there watching this show right now, who's got the vision? Who's willing to take
the risk? Because China, they're not waiting. They're building. And the rest of the world,
or much of it, is buying, which is a problem. And before anybody gets into the comments and tells
me I'm wrong, check out what they're building. Check out this video from LinkedIn. Amica N broke
down the spec sheet on a Chinese vehicle on LinkedIn last week. When you look at that spec sheet,
when you see this vehicle, I think we might have video of it. If we don't, we'll put a link to this
in the show notes. Check this out. You see this car opening, the roof. You see different ways that
the doors maneuver. You see different functions and features and capabilities that this has.
Granted, this is an $80,000, $90,000 vehicle, but the technology and the capability of this
vehicle, at least at first glance, seems impressive. So here's my challenge. I love competition. I
love our free market and would love to see the US dominate in automotive continue as we have over
the past decades, but it's going to take a strong voice in this industry. One who's willing to take
risks, one who's willing to go out and test and fail, test and fail and win to win that. So
we'll keep tabs on that. Don Hall and I debate this topic continuously on the show. Don takes
the other side, as does Senator Bernie Moreno, who say, look, we need to block Chinese competition
in the US for security reasons, for privacy reasons. We don't want a hostile foreign state
on US soil gaining access to all the technology and data that they would have access to.
I think that there's a middle ground that allows us to compete and still win in this global economy.
I never want to be in a place where I'm driving the roads of the US and the vehicles on these roads
are far inferior to those being driven anywhere else. By the way, this week I'm doing a keynote
this week at a SoduCon in Hanover, Maryland. If you're there, we'll see you there. We'd love to
have you come up and say hi. But first, let's break into today's auto industry headlines.
Up first today, Hertz is expanding its direct to consumer retail push, announcing a partnership
with eBay to list its roughly 8,000 Hertz certified vehicles on a dedicated eBay showroom. It follows
a similar move with Amazon last August, and combined with HertzSales.com, Hertz is building
a multi-channel retail operation designed to reduce reliance on wholesale and put certified near
new inventory in front of buyers before they ever visit a dealer lot. Some context on this story,
eBay's vehicles category generated 80 billion in gross merchandise volume in 25,
so the distribution reach here, well, it's real. And for dealers, this makes another non-traditional
player competing directly for the same value-focused used vehicle market in an already tight marketplace.
We'll talk about that much today with all three of our guests. Next up today on the consumer side,
a new YouGov study found that 15% of Americans plan to buy a car or truck within the next 12
months, led by millennials at 36% of most likely buyers. SUVs and crossovers dominate intent at
43%. That's nearly double sedan interest, and 66% expect to buy a gas-powered vehicle with another
21% eyeing hybrids. Only 9% are planning on an EV. Price is the top purchase factor at 75%,
and 43% of shoppers plan to buy used. Franchise dealerships remain the preferred
buying channel at 51%, with Toyota leading all brands in both consideration and in customer
satisfaction. All in all, affordability, SUV inventory, and a strong digital presence are the
three levers that matter most right now. Next up today, seven major trade groups sent a letter
to the U.S. Trade Representative this week urging the Trump administration to preserve
USMCA ahead of the July 1 renewal deadline. The groups representing automakers, dealers,
parts suppliers, they all argued the agreement is essential to keeping the U.S. competitive
as a production base during a period of rapid technological change. Early signals from the
administration are mixed, with U.S.-Mexico talks appearing more productive. Formal bilateral
negotiations are set to begin the week of May 25th in Mexico City, while U.S.-Canada relations
remain, well, strained. Bottom line, we'll be watching this closely because a disrupted or
significantly renegotiated USMCA is the kind of policy shift that flows directly into vehicle
pricing, production schedules, and inventory availability. So stay tuned here to CDG News
for more on that. And closing out today with something practical for the used car floor,
Carfax launched a new quote, homegrown badge last week for vehicles where the selling dealer
also sold the new car and handled at least 75% of its service history. The badge appears directly
on the Carfax report and is designed to signal to buyers that the dealer knows this vehicle
personally, the technicians, the history, the condition, why this matters with used vehicle
inventory at its lowest level since 2019, and CPO supply under pressure. Carfax says homegrown
vehicles are already selling faster and at a higher profit. And for dealers with strong service
lane retention, this is a free differentiator on vehicles you already have, worth making sure
your team knows how to surface it in the sales conversation. And in a world where we're fighting
for the best of used car vehicles and the best of retention as a tool for thriving and growing
an automotive, that's a good best practice, it seems to me. Well, that's a wrap on today's auto
industry headlines. All right, as a reminder to everybody before we dive into our first guest,
we are streaming live across all CDG social media platforms. This is our one year anniversary plus
one week. We're now two shows into our 12 month cycle, which is pretty cool. We continue to grow
going into the chat. Patrick Block Venture says happy anniversary to the first sale of VW stock
to the public in 1960. Bet you didn't think they'd be going direct, did you? Hannah Farmer says happy
Monday, everyone. Thank you, our own Hannah, who was on the show last week for our anniversary
episode. All right, we promised high value content today in the used car arena, the transportation
arena, and even a little bit of FNI thrown in. First up today, Lee Walton, dealer principle and
vice president at Bob Allen Ford Ottawa. Welcome to the show. Thank you, glad to be here. Lee,
your first time on Daily The Dealer Live. We appreciate you joining us today. So for our
audience that doesn't know you, tell us who you are and what you do. So I'm Lee Walton from Bob Allen
Ford in Ottawa, Kansas. I have a couple of Ford stores. I've actually been involved with our
organization. This is my 32nd year. We have three rooftops. We have a large store in Overland Park,
Kansas. And then we have kind of two rural satellite stores in Pleasanton, Kansas, and
Ottawa, Kansas being where I office out of most of the time. How's business this May of 2026 in
your worldly? You know, it's doing pretty well. You know, leading off of March, which is predominantly
a great month for auto dealers. We moved that right into April, had another solid back to back
month. And May seems to be very similar in projections at this point. Obviously, there's
been more challenges as of late with auto supply. Yeah. So it's interesting, you actually set in
your intake form. You said, look, Facebook, Barca Place and auctions are broken in 2026. They are
not a good place to go for used vehicle inventory. Tell us what you mean by that. As a store that
sells four to one used to new, you would know. Yeah. So, you know, we're about 40 minutes outside
of Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City has predominantly, you know, 16 to 18 Ford stores.
So there's a lot of competition at the auction. And I've got to bring a lot of that buying pool
outside of the city area to the rural market to predominantly by the same cars. So I have to be
not only price competitive, but I've got to have the car with all the bells and whistles and auctions
just to get the service lead to get those folks to give us an opportunity. So what's your alternative
in 2026 again, selling four to 64 to one used to new? What's your best source for used cars
today, John Geely? Well, right now, we are trying, as you mentioned earlier, Facebook,
Marketplace, different platforms. There's just not a lot of proven analytics to support it,
in my opinion, at this nature for us to go out and sign up for those programs.
You know, what works best is getting the car right in your dealership parking lot. And so
in most cases, whether you trade for the car or you're buying it at auction, you have to look
at thousands of cars every week just to try to fill the supply, so to speak, as you sell off your
inventory. Yeah. So what are you, give us last month, thinking about April, how many used vehicles
did you acquire and what were the source of those used vehicles, Ballpark? You know, we bought,
we bought 30 through the Mannheim auction site. We probably traded for another 15 and we sold 45
used cars at the single rooftop in Ottawa, Kansas. So, you know, we're turning the supply.
The key is not letting those vehicles get aged. So we're always looking to re-up those units.
The challenge really is, you know, there's thousands of people looking for that same vehicle at
auction. So where do I get that car that turns fast in the market that I can acquire at the right
price to put it into our inventory the way we want to do business? Yeah. And you mentioned
Facebook Marketplace. Have you had success there buying from the public on Facebook Marketplace?
You know, very little success. We see a lot of dealer inventory on there, which we don't want to
engage necessarily with those channels. You're talking to direct salespeople. So it's far and
few between on what you can actually get that is available, that you can talk to the seller to come
to your dealership. Sometimes it seems like they're actually scared off to come to a dealer or they
think you're going to low ball them. Yeah. So you recently made a big change. You went from
Viotto to AutoVision. That's Cox to Reynolds. Both are big players in the space. What prompted
that decision? What did you see inside AutoVision that you were unable to get in the prior tool?
Well, what really drove that change was we had acquired a new store last July in Pleasant,
Kansas, a single point forward. And we really wanted to add Reynolds and Reynolds to the mix
at that store. And really in order to do that, to get the pricing where we were comfortable,
we needed to drop some Cox automotive solutions, which were really good for us. And we'd been
on those programs for a long time. And we had to kind of move cold turkey over to the Reynolds
solutions, which we were introduced for the first time to AutoVision. And when I took a look at
that, I was surprised that it really was was further ahead in the technical aspects from Viotto.
I was most questioned with, what am I going to use to replace Stockwave, which is a great tool
on the Cox side? Well, they have what's called Wingman. And we really didn't skip a beat in
adding AutoVision. So I would encourage a lot of people to take a look at that great tool,
technically sound. What capability did it give you that you felt gave you an advantage or a leg
up in the marketplace? Well, I think I think for me, you know, I'm running two to three auction
screens when I'm online buying cars, and I have to have the data right at the fingertips. So
whether I'm looking at car facts or market day supply or laying in my packs and my recon
and transportation, I've got to have everything, you know, on that one platform screen where I can
see it in real time. So not that Viotto was a bad product, but this is just almost like a refreshed
version. And I think it exceeds what I had been able to accomplish with Stockwave and Viotto.
So you talked about your intake form or conversation in the green room, you talked
how every store needs to have a full time vehicle buyer use car buyer. And a lot of dealers in 2026
they say, Hey, you know what, there's my GM does that, or there's a use car manager that
already owns that even though there are other responsibilities under that person's purview.
Why is that wrong? And what does the job description actually look like at your store of buying
use cars? So I think I think in a lot of stores, the use car manager, the GSM, the GM may be the
one who buys those cars. You know, our situation is a little unique where, you know, I wear multiple
hats being a dealer. I assist our collision collision center as well. So I'm involved heavily on a
day to day basis. And having more of a fixed operations background overall than variable ops,
I just don't have enough time. And so I think the future of it is I want to pass that along to a
smart, intelligent person who can focus on that. And I still think it's important to have boots
on the ground at the auction and go and touch these cars. So you your your background is fixed
ops primarily? Absolutely, I came up five way. How do we miss that? So you're a unicorn in the
auto industry, most GM's, most owner operators, they are first and foremost variable ops. How did
you get into fixed ops? Well, you get to fixed up store you are today. So ideally, I didn't,
I entered the car business at 19 and I found out just how hard it was to sell cars to
people that were two and three times your age. And I said, gosh, I love working here, but this is
really challenging for me. So I ended up getting involved on the on the service and collision
side. And I spent about 10 years running a collision center, which really, you know, if you think
about the cars you acquire in the market, a lot of them need recon from the service side or collision.
And, you know, a good run collision center is highly profitable. So fast forward after 17 years
as a service director and a collision manager, I became the general manager at Bob Allen and was
able then to really throw my hat into the ring full circle and get involved on car acquisition.
And are you a part owner of the dealership? Yeah, so I own the Ottawa location and then we
have some partners at the Pleasanton store as well. Lee, we need to have you back on fixed
ops Friday as well because I love this is a success story. There's so much emphasis right
now in 2026 on fixed ops on retention on really, truly serving the customer that I think there's
going to be a trend shift over the next decade or so where more dealer principles, more owner
operators come more from the fixed side than the variable side and kind of fill the gap of what has
been a weakness and experience level. What made you take that leap from GM to owner from fixed
ops to variable to owner? Well, you nailed it, Sam. You know, we don't necessarily always know
where the OEM side with the sales is going. Ford needs to build better products. We have great
technology. You know, we've got our toe in the EV range, but we have to get a car back to compete
with first time buyers, whether it's Kia, Hyundai, Nissan, Honda. I don't always know where the
direction is going on the OEM side, but we do know where it's going on the fixed ops sides,
and you can be sure of that. If you don't build it with solid technicians and processes,
you're not going to grow your fixed and it's going to be ever more challenging with people
wanting to poach your technicians. So I think fixed op is where it's at right now.
So you mentioned some of the weaknesses on the variable side, entry point of the entry vehicle,
right? The price point is higher now than it's ever been. Vehicles are more expensive than
they've ever been. Ford last year was the number one most recalled OEM. So the backside is not
without its challenges as well. How are you capitalizing as a dealer in your small market on
the recall business? Are you leaning into mobile repair? What are you doing to meet that demand?
Yeah. So, you know, we, you know, a lot of dealers are landlocked. You know, it's hard to
change brick and mortar. And so the mobile service game is really growing in Kansas City.
A lot of the larger dealers have one or two large transits where you can do
not only the recalls and the small work, but you can do tires and brakes and oil changes. So
we're just getting into the game now. We actually have a new full size mobile transit
that we should take delivery of in the next couple of weeks. And so the nice thing is, you know,
unlike your PMA where you can display and do marketing with your vehicles, you know,
mobile service, we can go wherever we want to go. And so you work with the municipalities,
the commercial accounts, the fleet accounts. And really, you know, what our hope is that we drive
those folks back into our dealerships, whether it be sales or service, you know, we can't do
everything with the mobile. But if we get them in our stores, we still believe, you know, the
dealership is the place where the customer wants to be and wants to do business to buy a car. So
the fixed offside is imperative that you grow outside of your market.
So as we wrap up this section, we'll have you back as part of the round table with Mary and
Kane at the very end. So just a few questions in from the comments. Go take us back to the
used vehicle conversation. Dan C. says, does Lee have a used vehicle days on hand policy or
target? What's your used vehicle days on hand?
I, you know, are they talking about just turned in the market that we like to acquire?
Yeah, yeah, what's what's the day supply? I think is what is what you're targeting?
You know, I think I think it at large stores, it might be different than where we're at.
You know, I used to try to buy stuff that was 3040 5060 day supply.
You know, anymore, sometimes I say you have to throw the book out the window.
You know, we'll sit on cars longer. And it's amazing to me that
we may not do anything with a piece of inventory the first 75 to 90 days.
And then all of a sudden the car sells and it's like, gosh, we had the right photos,
the right description. It was turning. It's just, you know, you can only spend so much on SEO,
SEM and AI. What do you do to drive more sales? That's a that's great question.
Some good comments, some other good comments from the chat. The automotive retired guy says,
great, I started as a porter and then parts parts manager service consultant and service
manager, then fixed ops director for a total of 43 years. So it seems like a similar success story.
By the way, I may share this at a so do not sure, but I started in fixed ops. I started as a porter.
I was cleaning lots. When they dug up the street in front of my Lily Susie,
Kia dealership back in the 90s and the sales guys stopped showing up. And so I as this kid
cleaning cars started answering questions about sales. And that's how I got into sales. I started
selling more cars than the, than the sales guys good because they were disheartened at the street
being torn up. And I love automotive for that reason. So props to the fixed ops beginning
of many of us yoga cars comes in says, what about service drive vehicle acquisition? Do you have
a process secured on service drive acquisition, Lee? Yeah, I think you like to like to appraise
all those cars and leave something special in the customer's vehicle when it leaves,
you know, coupon specials, trade appraisal. I don't think, you know, I don't think we're far
enough along necessarily at one of our rooftops to be doing that. But, you know, let's face it,
you know, your service departments have the biggest number of customers you see on a month
to month basis. So why wouldn't you be looking in those avenues? And that's another key reason.
I think the collision side's important. If you live in the Midwest and kind of the South Central
region, you know, what have we had recently, tornadoes and wind and hail. Yeah. So we see
those customers come back and we've got cars totaling out. We've got cars with repair damages.
And, you know, I'm always, you know, sometimes the car shouldn't be fixed. We want to sell them
another car. But ideally, you know, when you're small, you have to look at every opportunity.
You know, some of our other stores are large. They have, you know, 3,000 retail ROs a month
in their service department. So we don't always have the luxury to see it that way. So we look
under every rock, every stone and turn it over to see the opportunity. All right. Lightning round.
Just a few questions. Is lightning round? Then we'll come back to you as part of the round table.
What's one number you check, Lee, before in the morning before you do anything else?
I check the weather every day. Okay. Weather. All right. All right. What's the better
source of used vehicles right now? Off lease service lane or private party?
I'd still say the off lease off lease lane from Ford, Mannheim. Okay.
You've got this shadow program this summer, right? And I think you're you can tell people
about that. What's one thing you want a kid to walk away knowing from the shadow program?
I think just how much fun the automotive business can be. You know, a lot of people
get into the car business for a number of different reasons. Some are college graduates. Some
aren't. You know, I wanted to know that more and more kids now are getting into the technical
trade school. And I've oftentimes looked at the automotive dealer as an opportunity, you know,
for kids who don't maybe want to go to college. Why can't we bring him in in zero to five years
and train him to be outstanding kids and young adults, but also in five years, if you hang on
to somebody, they can have quite the pedigree and tenure in all the various departments.
And I think the reason we all stayed at one point in time in the automotive industry is
the financial security that you can offer your family is the ceiling. Yeah.
All right. I'm going to give up my last question to DNC who comes into the comments
says, hey, do you have a tough time finding hail insurance coverage being in the Midwest?
Well, I think it's kind of like when you impact a deer, it's really beyond your control. So there
is a little bit of grace on that from the insurance companies. But I think equally,
whether it's homeowners insurance or auto insurance, I think you have to shop it regularly,
just like you're looking for a car. And there's not a lot of loyalty left in that market.
True story. So I used to be, work up the road from you. So in a prior life,
before joining Ziggler and the CDG gig, I was at Universal Underwriters right up on College Park
Boulevard. So I know that area well. And I also know the market. So that's a lot,
a lot coverage can be a challenge, although I know Ford's got a really good program
that takes care of that a lot as well. So Lee Walden, dealer principal and vice president of
Bob Allen Ford, Ottawa, we look forward to having you back as part of the roundtable. Thanks for
joining Daily Dealer Live to share your perspectives. Thanks for being here. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Cool interview. That's fun. Fixed stops to variable, fixed stops to ownership,
fixed stops to dealer. That's kind of the American dream now. I love it. All right,
today's episode is brought to you by Uber for Business. Let's talk Uber for Business.
Loaner cars get the job done, but between insurance, maintenance and fleet management,
they're one of the most expensive ways to move a service customer. Uber for Business
gives you another option. When a loaner isn't necessary, set your customers up with a courtesy
ride instead. Same convenience for them, a fraction of the cost. And right now,
Uber for Business is offering lunch on them. Just for learning more, book a demo and they'll send
you an Uber Eats gift card. Head to businesses.uber.com forward slash CDG. I'm going to give that to
you again because that's a long address. Businesses.uber.com forward slash CDG,
or you can just click the QR code right there to my left, or you can go into the show notes if
you're watching post live recording to claim your lunch or click the link in the show notes below.
Props to Uber for supporting today's content, including that great conversation with Lee
Walton on used car acquisition in a smaller metro market, 4 to 1. So he's trying to find
every opportunity he has. And then his take on all things fixed ops and others, we'll get him as
part of the round table at the very end. But before that, let's turn to a former Super Bowl champion
as part of the Green Bay Packers. But that's not why he's here. Frank Zombo, VP of Sales at Auto
Haller Exchange. Frank, welcome back to the show. Sam, always nice to be out. Nice to see you.
It's good to see you as well. It's fun talking about football, isn't it in the Midwest? So you
got to get a little bit of traction on that. And I think I brought it up on every single show. So
sorry about that. It makes sense. We just got done with the draft, right? I thought there's a good
job of always staying relevant. They space it out just perfect throughout the year, right?
Yeah. Do you have any big predictions for the year? I know this isn't on topic. It's not
off the way for your time. But anything in the NFL world you think is exciting coming into
into it after the draft? I don't follow it like I obviously like I used to. It was like my life
for my job for so long. So now it's probably no more about the players. You know, obviously I
still follow the guys that I played with, you know, Aaron Rodgers, Pat Mahomes, Kevin Stosey. But
now I'm seven years removed. So NFL stands for not for long. Average lifespan is about four years,
three years. So the guys I played with are pretty much gone. Now I'm washed up just watching my kids
play. I love it. That's awesome. Well, hey, you had a piece of advice for dealers this week because
the DOT is up to something that could impact dealers running vehicles and transportation across
the United States right now. What's up? Yeah, I mean, I'm almost sick of making excuses for my
dealer partners to be honest with you. It's like you get the high fuel prices. I think the national
average for fuel in one year is gone about $2.10. So that causes delays or it causes more, you know,
higher prices to move the vehicles. Now we got DOT Blitzweig, which is taking place tomorrow for
the next few days where, you know, state troopers, different way stations are going to be doing like
a 37 point inspection on all truck drivers, the big ELD mandate. So vehicles that are
carriers right now, even though they feel like they're 100% legal and everything's correct,
they still don't want to be checked. So they're like, I'll take my vacation during DOT Blitzweig
every year. So again, we're already dealing with somewhat of a smaller carrier network, I would
say. They just pile on one more reason to keep them off the road, right, and which causes delays.
So gas prices are increasing by some measure. I read a quote or read a stat last week, 40%
since February, I think is what gas prices are up. We're seeing fuel costs over five bucks a gallon
at many pumps, which by the way, you know, the FTC sent out that letter to 97 dealers across the
country over pricing and advertising disclosure. I have gone to gas pump after gas pump over the
past week and I'll get sucked in on a cheap price. It'll be like 3, 4, 17. And then you see in the
fine print on the board with car wash or with some other type of a purchase. How is that not
bait and switch, Frank? Why is the auto industry? It ends up being, you know, it ends up going from
four or 50 to five bucks a gallon because you're not getting the car wash. That's crazy.
Especially you being in Michigan like I am, we just dealt with some of those refineries that
went down in like Indiana or Illinois and we saw gas dump a dollar a gallon just for regular fuel
and not diesel. I can't imagine what that is currently. So, you know, I feel for the drivers
and in a lot of times some of my dealers who are buying from auctions maybe just want one or two,
three units. Well, those three car haulers aren't efficient when it comes to these high
diesel fuel prices. So a lot of those guys are kind of parking those and going to the five to seven
car haulers or nine car haulers where you can't fit the big units, the fleet units on those big
haulers. So it's just kind of messing up the market a little bit right now in the vehicle
logistics space. So you gave us some examples of way high gas prices are impacting the way
truckers are moving inventory. How should dealers be protecting themselves? May of 2026 in light of
the high gas prices. What's the strategy for us to impact that? I think everyone has like different
quote tools to give you a rough idea, to give you an idea of what it would cost to move a vehicle
from A to B. Make sure you're paying attention to that and probably in your mind, maybe think
to yourself maybe like 10 to 15 percent more than that. If you want to get it quick, right, because
there's a whole another animal of expenses that come when a vehicle is sitting at an auction,
whether it's storage fees, you know, interest your paint on that vehicle because as soon as you,
you know, buy that unit, you're starting to, the unit's already depreciating, you're already paying
interest and then storage fees are go. So, you know, maybe a 50 to 100 dollars more of vehicle
just to get it moved quickly is in your best interest to get it on your lot, you know, get it
through recon, get it through photos and get it presented to the customer, you know, as quickly
as possible. So, that's kind of the recommendations we're giving to some of our dealer partners.
And it is interesting, timed a lot is a big deal right now in our world, but to your point with
flooring expense being what it is. The other thing we're seeing a lot of, and I'd be curious if you
see it from your end, you know, buying vehicles from auction, condition reports are a challenge
right now, because, you know, a lot of the inventory is just, I mean, everybody's fighting over
inventory right now. Are you seeing issues where inventory ends up on a dealer a lot, a little
different than what the auction stated it was, and how can dealers in 2026 protect themselves
against that sort of an issue, which I feel like is becoming a bigger issue. We've seen it on the
show. That's a great question. You know, what we say in the NFL is CYA, cover your, and I would
make sure if you, whatever you're using, make sure that that carrier is taking photos at pickup
and at drop off. So, in case there are some unforeseen damages or whatnot that you have
somebody to compare to, because the auction is not very, if they don't have that proof,
they're not going to help you out, right? So, make sure you have that proof and make sure that
carrier is taking pictures at pickup. There's been a lot of pictures.
Frank, I've even seen issues where you have the proof, because you've taken pictures. You can show
that it was damaged, but because either time elapses or the damage isn't a big enough line item
expense, they won't, they, you know, they won't mediate it. They won't, you know, deal with it as
an issue. Are you seeing a trend where maybe some transports, they go to pick something up, it's not
exactly what they say it is, and they refuse to pick it up on behalf of the dealer. Can you say,
hey, don't get this if it's not that, it's not the right condition? All the time. I see it all the
time. And then just make sure you have your, like I said, your ducks in a row and it's kind of a
game you're playing with. You want to obviously save a little money, but you need to get it within
that arbitration window. So, when things do go wrong or they, you buy something that you didn't
think you would bought, you can, you know, legally return that back or get compensated for it.
But yeah, it's a, it's a little vicious game right now of all that.
Which guides to an interesting topic. There's a lot of dealers that will use auction provided
transport because it's kind of bundled in, it feels free. And you've said, unbundle it. And,
you know, from a dealer perspective, that adds a vendor, it adds a workflow,
adds a manager who has to learn a new tool. What's the, what's the answer on the friction
trade? Where does this not pencil out bundling them? I think everybody, everyone's dealing, if
you're vetting your carriers the correct way, everyone's dealing with the same network of
carriers. It's not like somebody has my own carrier group or my own truck. No, everyone's
dealing with their same, same network of carriers. It's all about how you approach those carriers.
And I think, again, with Auto Hall Exchange, we're allowing our customers to post their price
directly to a network of carriers that we're vetting consistently. Instead of paying a broker
a quote price, and then they're posting it, it just takes out a lot of the transparency in the
space. And when, again, they can give you that price, but they're not so concerned about speed,
they're concerned about that margin in between what they're paying the carrier and what they've
quoted you. So by giving our customers more control over the price, especially in this
market where it's changing every day with fuel prices and in different demands out of certain
states, let's give more control to our customer and allow them to price it directly to a carrier.
Dan C comes into the chat and says, hey, approximately, how much does a nine vehicle
hauler cost? Get to perspective on capital costs on operating a transport business. What do these
haulers cost? I mean, hundreds of thousands of dollars, I have to assume. I don't, I don't drive
any of these trucks and I don't know if I want to. These guys think about what a vehicle
transporter is doing, getting on those big haulers in the ice and the heat to strap those vehicles
down. And when you talk about delays, to think about what those machines are going through
and the amount of stress they're put under with the weight of all these units to go across country
and those engines, those diesel engines to get to, it's a pretty strenuous deal. And I can see
why delays take place. I can see why the cost of doing business is going up.
It's a pretty strenuous business for sure. The automotive tired guy comes in and says
half a million. So that's a potential answer from the audience there, which probably seems,
you know, I don't know. So are you seeing, because not only within your business, Frank,
but you're seeing kind of the industry, as gas prices go up, diesels through the roof,
are you seeing an impact to transportation of vehicles? Do you see people like trying to source
vehicles closer to home? Are you seeing less people shipping? Are the gas prices having an
impact in the industry? Yeah, I would say there's certain, we try to help our, is there certain
markets to kind of stay away from? And I'd be honest with you, like the Southeast area, Florida,
Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, that whole area, still a little bit like a snowbird effect
right now. And there's a large demand of units trying to get out. But the problem is, is carriers
can't get in very easily. There's not a lot of stuff going down to Florida. So carriers with
these high diesel prices are trying to get down there to pick up units, but they're losing a
lot of money if they're empty going down there to pick up these units. So it's, I would just say
it's more market conscious we're trying to be. And we try to tell our partners, like if you're
buying from auctions right now, you know, Mannheim, Orlando is probably, you're going to spend more
to transport that vehicle out as a simple supply and demand game. And there's a lot of demand to
get out of those areas right now. The automotive retired guy comes back in says diesel in South
Florida, it's 678 now. So definitely going up. And I had never thought of that before. I appreciate
your perspective of empty trucks coming into the state. They don't have anything they're going
down because everybody's leaving because it's summer and it's hot there. Although to me, I'd
rather be in the heat. So if anybody needs me to drive anything to Florida, I'll take it. But
yeah, hey, you recently had a big success. And then we'll wrap up with a couple auto groups
focusing on their transportation number and seeing a return on that anything you want to
share with us there. And by the way, before we go into I appreciate the market updates and the
economic perspective on all the things you've shared fuel economy, some of the challenges
with shipping right now and things to watch for on damage at auction pickups. So anything you've
seen with successful with groups. So we have a big partner and you guys are just talking about some,
you know, the the honours of the world and things we're big with VINQ. VINQ had a dealer partner
that Baxter Automotive based in Nebraska that VINQ reached out to us like, hey, we got to thank you
for, you know, being represented on our solution. But we had a dealer partner that paired with you
six months ago and saved $75,000 in six months. And that was up to April. So I don't know what
they've said, you know, obviously in May, they probably saved some more. But when you hear things
like that, especially not even from the customer, but from one of another vendor in the space that
we adore, and that we love working with. And then Cable Dommer is another one, they did a for one
year, they're based in Kansas City as well and Lee's market. But and they move a lot of vehicles,
Tom Berry on the show, saved a half a million dollars in one year. And again, they move a lot
of stuff, but a half a million dollars in one year, you're talking about saving some front end
costs there, just to try to get a little something back in this economy. Yeah. So Frank, in a time
of increased gas prices, labor costs, the whole thing, how are you calculating that savings? Like,
what's the what's the math to that most dealers would be interested in hearing? Yeah, and then
that was just the cost of transport. That wasn't even the cost of, you know, getting the unit
quicker and saving and depreciation interest and all that. That was just the cost of the
broker markup that they weren't aware. They were just paying a quoted price. They don't know what
the carrier is getting paid. But once you're able to price it directly to that carrier, now you see
exactly what those carriers need to make their, you know, complete their track or, you know,
transport your vehicle. So that's where that was just on the front end of transport that that was
the money they were saving in the six months in one year. All right, as we wrap up just a couple
lightning round questions. And if you don't know the answer to these, it's 100% okay. But do you
calculate average days from purchase to lot across your dealer book? Yeah, we do. So four days is
our average from average four days. Yeah. Wow. One auction company doing transportation right.
Which auction company is doing transportation right? Yeah. Is there anybody? I couldn't tell
Yeah, I don't really don't know which one. Yeah, I don't know. Okay. What's the best dealer side
KPI on, you know, getting a vehicle from auction to lot vehicle to lot. I mean,
obviously days days to lot is probably the best KPI days a lot is by far the best one.
Yeah, I say that's what they're most concerned about is their days for about a lot. And then
the price per mile as well. That's another one that we try to tell you like, you know, try to
keep it around 80 cents a mile. But if you look at, you know, other sources, it might be up to a
$1.20 amount, you know, whatever that is. Yeah, okay. Coming back in, Dan C comes in and thanks
the automotive retired guy. By the way, I love this with our daily deal live audience. They have a
conversation in the chat. If you're not watching live, if you're watching the podcast version
or on YouTube, that's fantastic. Go for it. But it's fun the conversation automotive retired guy,
thanks for the response asked because the manufacturers are charging a lot more today for
destination charges on the MSRP sticker up to three grand a unit. Frank, any thoughts on, I mean,
you know, gas is going up the cost to transport labor wise, manufacturers are starting to get in
on the game and charging more on the sticker to us as dealers and to the end user as a consumer.
Yeah, it's not just vehicle logistics. I buy jerky once a month from a company
and usually it shows up at this time every month. Well, it was two weeks delayed this month. Like
everything in the logistics is just slower right now and everyone's trying to get used to these
higher fuel prices, you know, whatever it is to stay profitable because they don't want to move it
and lose money. They're still working. They still need to make a profit. So what is that number?
You know, so that's kind of what we're at right now. We're kind of trying to figure it out.
Yeah. Frank Zombo, VP of sales at Otto Haller Exchange. Thanks for being on the show. We'll
have you back during the NFL season and get a little bit of your perspectives that way. So
love it. Thanks for being on. Thanks, Sam.
Gas prices. When's it going to, like it's so interesting. I was at a dinner recently,
had a conversation. Hey, gas prices are going to come back down soon. Things are going to change.
I don't know. It'll be interesting to see. I love your perspective. Put it into the chat too.
It seems like, you know, we're in an odd moment in time and the gas prices absolutely impact
transportation, which impacts days to lot, which impacts recon. The best dealers right now are
having to execute at the highest level. We've executed that for a long time, which brings us
to our final guest today, Marion Kane, founder of ACE dealer principle, managing partner of
Bella Nissan of Venice. Marion, welcome back to the show.
Hey, how's it going, Sam?
Good. How are you doing? By the way, you always look like a million bucks. Come on.
Hey, I appreciate it. feel like All a blessing from God.
But I'm pretty excited. You said that you're going to be doing a keynote address.
You know what, Marion? I don't know yet. Like I've been ideating on some things.
I don't believe you.
There's some things I'm passionate about. There's some things I'm passionate about.
By the way, a lot of the takeaways from this show, I'm really inspired by some of the success
stories that we've seen in this show, right? Scott said, Hey, I'm going to go into business.
So I don't know fully yet. I'm working on it. So is it Chinese vehicles? I don't know. We'll
see. Do you have any ideas? What would you tell me to speak on, Marion? What do you mean?
I mean, like that's the same thing. I follow your show and then every time I see you,
we always have a great captivating conversation. So I was just wondering it could go any direction.
But I mean, your growth and what you see in terms of talking to different people,
like just getting a compendium of all these different conversations and then like where
the industry is going in your viewpoint. I mean, I'd show up. I'd pay for that.
Come on. You guys, that'd be fun. Actually, you know, be fun is find 10 dealers in the audience,
bring them all up on stage and just have a great group conversation.
That's always good too. Because it's amazing right now with podcasts, the growth of podcasts
is that people are genuinely thirsting to be a part of solid conversations, you know,
and it's those things that are generating and that are pushing not only marketing,
but also the eyeballs. That's what people want to see.
So I have a theory. AI is such a big deal right now. And this artificial intelligence,
you kind of second guess everything you see on the internet, you kind of second guess
everything you read. And half of it's AI, not. I think there's a hunger for to your
point real conversation. Yes. And live fits at that intersection. And I think it's not going
anywhere anytime soon because you and I having a conversation and uncovering truths together
that others can learn from. I mean, that's, that's awesome, right? That's life. Speaking, of course,
of course. So what's happened is that everyone's thirsting for this arms race for the best AI
product. I was the same one. That's why I went to NADA this year. Vegas was nice, but I went there
also because I wanted to get that step up, but you have to understand once everybody has all
the same tools, it's going to be back to a race of who's more human, who has the best talent,
who has the best experience, you know? So that's the folks have to understand is the whole process,
not to see yourself at the beginning, but to look ahead and see yourself at the end.
That's the real difference because truthfully, all these AI companies, they're doing what they're
supposed to do. They're supposed to create this whole doom and gloom. There's going to be a huge
meteor that's going to hit the job industry, wipe out everyone's jobs. And the solution is to give
them millions of dollars to fund their company. You know what I mean? You're doing what they're
supposed to do because they're trying to raise money, but at the end of the day, that's not going
to happen. Yeah, they play fear. Yeah. Oh yeah. And that's, and that's, it's a tactic, but you have
to see through it. However, there are aspects to technology, just like everything else, that
not only can enhance the experience, but can be those small levers that swing big doors. And
that's what people are looking forward to. But eventually, everyone's going to be back on the
same level playing field. All right. So let's, let's, let's do some discovery here because I am
fascinated. We were together at NADA and you're on our live show. Thank you for doing that. Well,
by the way, it's a beautiful set brought to us by Reynolds. And we're looking forward to doing
similar this next year. We'll announce where we'll be for that coming up. But what's a big win,
Marion? You've had since NADA in automotive that others could pull from.
Easy, easy, easy. Relationships. Relationships. Like the CDG party, amazing. All the people that
got together, the level of conversations I had there on the highest level, I was able to compress
weeks and months of time into just having conversations with people there that was able
to, you know, turn around and I could immediately implement it back into my dealerships that
increased not only growth, but also increased speed and efficiency, but more importantly,
trust with our consumers. Also, when I was there, I got a chance to look at a lot of the different
AI offerings. And it was able to help me to get a lot better viewpoint of what's out there and
what's available and what's coming down the pike. Yeah, awesome. So you are a dealer principal at
Bella Nissan. And in your intake, you said, hey, I love to talk about the intake of AI,
FNI and psychology. You think about those three areas, AI, FNI, psychology. Those are not
intersectional. Those are not three trends. It's one playbook. Will you unpack that for us, Marion?
Yeah. Well, the dealer principal of our group, that's Andre Smith. He's one of my mentors.
Amazing, amazing person. I'm talking about one of the best operators in the business.
Definitely part of the team. And what's nice about that is it's a group of us that have not only
seen a vision of what we can do in the automotive industry, but we're all committed to doing that
in the future too. Because it's all about not just selling cars, but creating a culture.
And that culture is what breeds trust. And that trust, that breeds the relationship.
And that's the type of group we're in. And it's fantastic. And it doesn't hurt that we're by the
beach too. Oh, that's awesome. Venice, Florida then. You're in it. Yes, sir.
Well, so did you see the interview with Tiago last week with Nissan?
Yeah, we're at some of the salient points. So he's just talking about the future and the growth,
the way that they're winning right now. What's your take on Nissan and the direction that they're
in right now? It's an amazing product. I'm telling you, one of the first things I did before,
I was even going to move my whole family down to the dealership before we purchased it. I
wanted to sit in the vehicle. And I had come from a luxury background. So I said, you know,
Nissan, this is going to be tough. I was literally blown away. Even the basic base model, the Sentra,
sitting inside of it, it's an amazing product. The Armada on par with X7's highest level out there
in terms of luxury. So really what it's really about is helping the public and the masses,
not only to see the brand, but to see where it's going and to retain the customers that we have,
but to bring new people into the fold, to be a part of the whole experience and part of the family.
And I'm telling you, when people sit inside, they're amazed. I mean, they're blown away.
So it's just about creating that whole experience. Because truthfully, there's so many different
vehicles and so many different brands and stuff out there. And it's not just about people or car.
Right now, you're helping people with their cash flow. Right now, the price of everything has
increased. Homes, insurance, cost of living, they're all exponentially going up. So these
conversations that you're having aren't necessarily just about a vehicle. You're talking to individuals
about their cash flow, their future, where they want to go. And importantly, that vehicle you're
selling is their mechanism and means to get there. Yeah. So you said those three words,
FNI, psychology, and AI, speaking of those decisions that you make with people, the
conversations you have, broad as they are, what is AI and FNI look like in May of 2026?
Everything, everything, everything, everything. Well, what's going on? I can just talk from
my own personal experience. I was able to walk into Sonic, one of the larger groups in the whole
United States, and took a store that was at the dead bottom to not only be in the top,
but setting the all-time PVR record for the company. So the way that was able to be done
is not only a fantastic group of salespeople and team environment and stuff that's with
there too, but also to sit there and to really go through the FNI process with each person
that comes in. You have to have empathy. You have to see where they're at, how they sell,
how they buy. And one thing that really helped me in the past was I did, I worked for a while
selling RVs. And when you sell RVs, you have to spot deliver these large units that cost
almost $200,000 to $300,000. It's a house back then.
Right. So you have to spot deliver it. I'm talking about without a bank approval.
So the whole spot delivery sheet really taught me really how the banks think, really taught me
how to really break down and understand how we can make the whole purchase a mutually beneficial
relationship, but not just the consumer, but also the bank, but also with the dealership.
So when you're bringing those things in, and then also when you add AI, that actually puts
it on the next level because people use AI a lot too. It compresses a lot of information. So you
can get a lot of the information from the person, from their social media, their buying habits,
where they drive, their transportation, their commute.
Is there a particular tool, Marion, you're using or advocating to users? Is it just an open AI chat
GPT, Claude search type thing?
No matter what job you have right now in 2026, you have to have two screens up.
One with your regular work, the other one with an AI to the side, whether it's, I like Claude,
I like chat GPT, in terms of things like Matador, there's a green light, there's a lot of different
other things that you need to use, but you always need to be playing around with ways you can increase
your job because AI is not going to take your job, but the person that can use AI,
that's the one that's going to take your job. So what happens is, is if you can put in your own
personality type, I really suggest you do like one of Myers-Briggs, you figure out your ENTFJ,
you put your own personality type inside of the stuff you want to ask for the customer.
So you go through, you can read the individual very quickly, figure out whether they're more of a
passive thinker or more of a more aggressive thinker or they're more logical or whether more
intuitive, you figure out exactly the way that person views the world, you see their buying habits,
you see exactly some of their conversations, you briefly look at their social media,
you can literally just plug in your notes and then say, how would I sell this person
and take into account my personality? What should I say? But most importantly, what should I not say?
A way of talking, a way of being, interacting with that consumer. How long have
you done this for, Marion? And what are the quantifiable results of it?
Like I told you, well, I was able to, you know, with God's help and a good staff,
we're going to break the store record six times. Just came back from a cash bash last year.
It was number one. Our group was store was number one in terms of a lot of a couple of different
categories. So the actual tangible proof is there. But most importantly, it's not just about
winning awards and it's not just about making the money. It's about how you can serve and benefit
the whole dealership, right? Because what I've really learned is, is that F and I is the crux
of everything. When volume, volume solves all problems, right? So when your F and I team is
humming, you can take more deals. When your F and I team is selling the products, but most
importantly, following up with the customer to make sure they use the products, right? Yeah.
If your F and I guy is over in the service department and is sitting there in the mornings
and is sitting there helping the customers use the tire and wheel, make sure the ones that had
the breaks and the maintenance calling them up, okay, come in and make sure you use it.
You create a different type of relationship. And at the same time,
you're exponentially increasing service gross. And at the same time, you're going to exponentially
increase repeat customers because they're going to come back and they're going to do more service
drive purchases as well. So Marion, in the auto industry for years, we've been relying on F and
I income F and I has been an important profit center in automotive. The FTC letter that was
sent out a couple months ago to 97 groups sent a shot over the bow of all F and I.
What's your take on how that's impacting that as a profit center and automotive today?
And how are you adapting your approach in F and I when value exceeds costs, people buy
every single time. One of my, one of the best trainers in the whole business,
one of my mentor, Shaka Dyson, he always taught us from day one, Shaka is the best.
Everything's about transparency. Everything is about being there for the person.
Everything is about that experience. Yes, sir.
Where did F and I go wrong, Marion, where the FTC had to send out 97 letters or there's a
perception there is friction in the F and I department in May of 2026.
Why is there friction still there given all the tech tools, AI and everything else?
And how do we fix that?
Well, see, I love you brought up that point because there's two types of friction.
There's the bad friction where you're just sitting there waiting or you feel like you're
getting aggressive and being pushy. But then there's the good friction,
which is usually associated with luxury products where people want to be there.
You have a five-star Michelin meal. You don't want that to end. You have a luxury cruise.
But that's not friction though, because people are running towards that and they're enjoying
that experience, right? Right. So I love how you brought this point up.
So that's the main thing I teach my crew and also teach the other folks I train,
is that when they get into the F and I office, I don't care what type of dealership you're in,
you have to feel like you're in a whole different world.
I have in my refrigerator right there, I have stuff. I have drink stocked and I don't have
regular Kirkland water. I have Fiji chocolate. I have candy. I have fresh
baked cookies. I have a whole different experience when you walk in there because from a psychological
standpoint, when you share a meal with somebody, you're automatically a friend. You automatically
connect because you're using all five senses, taste, smell, touch, and you only do that with
friends and family. And when you have that type of experience, when you get into the office,
I'm telling you, it creates complete different shifts. And then mixed with that too, you're
sitting down, you're going through with the person's credit, you not only give them a path,
the only to save money there, but also in the future, a lot of people never really look at
their credit. A lot of people never really saw a path to, okay, how can I get this better?
What can we do? It becomes very exciting where you go from instead of being adversary,
immediately you turn into an ally. And that person, you actually have to stop them from
buying more stuff. Yeah. All right. Going to the comments, Paul Salisman comes in and says,
he's using an LLM as an AI, AI FNI interaction optimization assistant, sounds like a business
opportunity for another AI startup. And that's good use of tools to help connect and work with
the customer. Paul Salisman goes on and says, FNI went wrong when they forgot to put clients first
and acted in their own best interest. I also think there's an element of laziness too.
The best of the auto industry ends up helping and serving the consumer. The worst of the auto
industry is self-interested, is opaque, it's trying to hide stuff. And the future of automotive
is running towards that full transparency. And that's why we're here doing this show. All right.
Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Oh, no, the last thing I was just saying is it's really about just meeting
the customer's needs. And so you can tell a lot about your FNI team by looking at their cash
penetration. Because that's the whole situation. When you're looking at the cash penetration,
you really can see whether they're really selling, adding value, or if this is just
something they're just stuffing into finance. And the same thing goes with using products
such as one-pay leases. You have a high cash penetration. When you really sit down and you
explain the one-pay lease process, you explain leasing process, you can really explain it.
What that becomes is a portable story. They can then turn around, make a smart decision.
Then they have something they can share with their friends, their other business partners
while they're talking. And you don't know how many people call back, hey, explain what you just did.
Explain what you just said to my friend. And you have multiple people coming back.
Because like I said, this is not an adversary. Now you're an ally.
Yeah. Yeah. All right. Lightning round because we're actually, you know what, I'm going to add a
few last questions for you, but I want to actually get back to the round table with Lee Walton. So
Marion Kane, founder of ACE. Thank you so much for being on the show, sharing your perspectives.
We're going to put you back into the green room. We'll bring you back for a round table.
We're in overtime today, which Frank Swamble would appreciate that. You're going to put me behind
the Super Bowl champion, you know? That's right. That's exactly right. So Marion, thanks for being
here. All right. So we are in a little bit of overtime. We appreciate everybody's patience.
We're going through it. DNC love it. He says, Sam, a great topic for you to speak about would be
ethics within the auto industry. What a topic that would be, right? Ethics and holding to those
ethics is what will make automotive successful in the future or will kill it if we don't. So
all right, let's do a round table today. Lee Walton dealer principal and vice president at
Bob Allen Ford Ottawa and Marion Kane, founder of ACE. Thank you both. Welcome back to the show.
Thank you. All right. A few questions. We don't have a ton of time as we wrap up here.
I want to go back to the news. So Carfax, do both of you use Carfax by chance? They're not
our sponsor today. All right. So they just announced this homegrown badge that they're
going to put on vehicles that you sold new and that you serviced. So Lee, you've got this four
to one used mix. How much of your pipeline would qualify? You know, I would say quite a bit. You
know, we look to those service lanes to have the opportunity to get the customer back in the store.
We know retention is key in, you know, what better way to bid a car, bid a trade and put the
investment back into that car. You know the car. Yeah. Yeah. Marion, does this badge, does a badge
like this? Is this a good strategy by Carfax? Does it move the needle in a Nissan store or is it
normal? I mean, it's fantastic because you have to understand like technology, that that scales
efficiency. You know, time kills deals. People want to make quick decisions. Humans, we scale
trust and anything like what they're doing here at Carfax, it creates more trust. That's always a
plus and it makes things easier for us. Yeah. Automotive Car Guy comes back in the chat. As
long as the dealer and personnel are truthful and other options, that makes sense. You'll have
customers for life. And I think a badge like this, interestingly thinking about it, I think there is
some sense to kind of following the life of the vehicle. It seems like we're getting very focused
on the VIN, the actual vehicle, not categories anymore. We had a vendor on last week talking
about how their pricing used cars based on VIN and the actual history of that single vehicle.
All right. Round rock. It's important because a lot of people, I'm from Boston, originally,
and I would come down to West Palm twice a month to buy luxury cars to bring back up north.
People want the southern cars. They don't want all the snow and the ice and the stuff on it.
And they want to know it's been serviced and taken care of. That is a huge value add.
Yeah. Yeah. All right. One thing you're betting on, back half of 26, and one thing you're cutting
the back half of 26 from your operations or your business. Lee, you can go first and we'll
fall up with Marion. Well, I think you have to key in on your expenses. I think you have to,
your top three expenses are floor plan interest, payroll, and advertising costs. So Marion brought
up some great things centered around the AI. I was at an AI meeting last week, introducing it.
And I think I took two or three other phone calls that whole week regarding products.
And so it gives me a lot of the same feelings that I felt when we turned off newspaper and radio
and went to digital. And I have a hard time believing in everything they're telling me.
How do you differentiate between who has a viable product that you can use that is a great tool
and a resource? And I thought what Marion said tying that into FNI was critical. Value exceeds
cost. And you really don't have to sell a product when the value exceeds the cost. And so we always
take pride in, I want our team to do anything they can to sell our goods as long as it's
good for the client. And it takes care of them when they need it most. Yeah. All right. A bet
and a cut, Marion. What are you going to do? Second half of 26. I'm always going to bet on my people.
I'm always going to bet on my team. Culture is everything. When you see a gross leakage,
it's a result of a communication leakage. You tighten that up. Everyone, all tides,
you know, raise all ships. So what happens is when you train your salespeople and your staff,
you help them to understand their own credit. You help them to understand how to buy a house.
You help them to understand how to start a business, how to set up at LLC,
how to get their taxes together. They become exponentially better salespeople,
employees, but also better humans and better people in the community. And that's what we all
want. We all want to have a place where we work that adds to the community. One thing that I would
take away from is things that isolate people. I don't like job, but like looking at technology
as a means to reduce staff as opposed to seeing it as a means to enhance us. Because it's very easy
to sit there and sell, okay, you can cut this job and make this amount of money. But it's like
called the doorman fallacy. It's easy to see a $60,000 doorman. Let's replace it with somebody
with a revolving door. But what you lose is you lose trust. You lose safety, right? You lose
reputation, you know, and all those things, you might not have an intrinsic value on,
but you see the results later on. And that's the major thing is like, I'm just want to kind of
slow that down, but then train our people to help technology augment them as opposed to reducing them.
All right, last question up for this round table we spent today talking a lot about used vehicles.
So rural Ford in Kansas, Nissan, coastal Florida, headlines are saying that used
inventory is its tightest since 2019. And 66% of the next wave of buyers, they still want gas,
which means there's still decent demand for EV, fairly. From where you both sit,
what's the bigger problem in 2026 as we ran out the year? Supply or affordability?
I think, you know, on the EV side, you know, we sold five Ford Mach Es in the last 45 days.
Really? Wow.
Yeah. I don't think we sold five in a quarter before that. Obviously, the gas prices have increased.
Are people warming up to that? Probably a little bit of both. I think affordability,
if you have the right inventory at the right price, that's always going to trump everything else.
I love Marion's take. Volume solves problems. You know, everything ties in. Volume cures
everything. Culture is imperative. It starts from the top down. And I was curious how many
dealerships still answer the telephone. Something as simple as that.
Yeah. That's super simple. I just have one word, service drive. If you're in the service drive,
you have people there every day. It helps the dealership exponentially. You're getting in
fresh trades from loyal customers. You're helping putting people that are loyal to you in a great
vehicle. And then you're able to also help amplify your used car inventory, but also
keep new cars in your whole pipeline in your relationship. So those are the things right
there because you have to understand people are at different stages and stuff in their career,
in their life, in terms of affordability. They're not going to be there forever,
but you want to be part of their relationship as they go. So you can't have the mentality,
I want to kill them on this one car. You have to help them not only get into where they wanted
the car, they have to take accurate notes. So when they come through, they see that they have
a trusted advisor that remembered them, and then you can help them get to the next level,
the next level, and then you sold them multiple cars. That's the real,
that's the real trick. That's the real value. All right. We appreciate both of your perspectives
on this episode of Daily Deal Alive, this roundtable Lee Walton dealer principal and vice
president at Bob Allen Ford Otto and Marion Kane. Repeat return to Daily Deal Alive founder
of ACE. Thank you both for being on the show today and sharing your perspectives.
And to you, our loyal audience, thanks for being here. Dancy comes back and says,
volume can also hide sins. It can also be a double-edged sword. And I do think that that is
true. And I love Dancy saying, hey, Sam, a great topic would be
talk about ethics within the auto industry. So maybe that will be where I land. I'm definitely
working through that in my mind and excited to join those who are there. And to you,
where you break down the biggest moves in the car business as they happen. Don't forget,
we're here live every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, which means we're back this Wednesday,
1 p.m. Eastern. So if this is your world, hit like, hit subscribe, turn on those notifications,
so you never, ever miss a beat. And we'll see you next episode. Thanks for choosing to be here,
everybody.
About this episode
Dealers break down how rural used inventory gets sourced and kept fresh—arguing that Facebook, “Barca Place and auctions are broken in 2026,” while auction buying still matters if you “The key is not letting those vehicles get aged.” They connect floor-plan timing, landed cost, and recon speed to real expenses, then pivot to transport logistics: fuel, DOT enforcement, and protecting condition reports with photos. Later, the conversation turns to F&I—where “the future of FNI is AI plus psychology,” but transparency and human trust still drive results.
Today's show features:
- Lee Walton, Dealer Principal & Vice President at Bob Allen Ford-Ottawa
- Frank Zombo, VP of Sales at Auto Hauler Exchange
- Marion Cain, Founder of ACE™
This episode is brought to you by:
Uber For Business – Not every service customer needs a loaner. Uber for Business gives your dealership a lower-cost courtesy ride option for customers whose vehicles are in the shop. Same convenience, less overhead. Book a demo and they’ll buy you lunch with an Uber Eats gift card. Visit https://businesses.uber.com/CDG to get started.
Auto Hauler Exchange – Auto Hauler Exchange is the vehicle transportation marketplace connecting shippers and carriers directly to remove inefficiencies, cut delivery timelines in half, and save 15-20% on transport. Visit https://www.autohaulerexchange.com/ to set up your free account today.
Check out Car Dealership Guy’s stuff:
CDG Circles ➤ https://cdgcircles.com/
CDG News ➤ https://news.dealershipguy.com/
CDG Jobs ➤ https://jobs.dealershipguy.com/
CDG Recruiting ➤ https://www.cdgrecruiting.com/
My Socials:
X ➤ https://www.twitter.com/GuyDealership
Instagram ➤ https://www.instagram.com/cardealershipguy/
TikTok ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@guydealership
LinkedIn ➤ https://www.linkedin.com/company/cardealershipguy/
Threads ➤ https://www.threads.net/@cardealershipguy
Facebook ➤ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077402857683
Everything else ➤ dealershipguy.com
