DealersEdge.com Steve Nickelsen: Get Creative in Sourcing Your Used Vehicles

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Coming to us from Puerto Rico, Steve comments on the difficulty most dealers are experiencing finding used vehicle inventory. He has some ideas you might want to try.

Steve is working with a Toyota dealer in Puerto Rico this week and he finds that
sourcing used cars there is much like back home. It's not easy! He comments that the local auction in P.R. usually sells between 400 and 500 vehicles. Last week only 107were available.

Here are Steve's Four Ideas for Sourcing Used Vehicles:

1. Watch your service lane. If a late-model vehicle scheduled for service is one that you would like on your used car lot, prepare a letter notifying the customer that you are interested in buying their vehicle. Or, approach them when they arrive at the dealership and let them know of your interest.

2. Search your database. Have the used car manager prepare a wish list of
vehicles that he wants on the lot and then search through your owner base for a
similar model. Contact the customer by phone, email or mail and again let them
know that there might never be a better time to sell or trade that vehicle. After all
you're willing to pay top dollar!

3. Consider a "We Buy Cars" sign at the dealership, or perhaps on the parts
delivery truck. Let the public know that you will buy their vehicle. A dealer in
Indiana used this strategy recently and purchased 20 vehicles the first month.

4. Consider hiring a Used Vehicle Buyer. Steve comments that Used Car
Managers often do not have the time to search all the online and off-line sources
of used vehicles. Hiring someone just to be your "buyer" could pay off big time in
a steady flow of late-model used vehicles.

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