u/c inventory

[rjs]

i know this is parts but my owner has asked
me for ideas on reducing their aging used
car inventory. i need some innovative ideas
as all the standard answers have been tried.
any suggestions ?

[Doug]

Take a listing of the 90-day-old cars and really go out and look at 'em..... quite often you'll see the problem without having to look very hard.

Sometimes a car slips thru the cracks and just doesn't look that nice. A set of floor mats, removing some door dings etc etc may make a difference. Also, over-aged cars at our dealership are brought back into the detail shop for a quick fluff and buff.

Do you have a process for returning cars to the service department if they don't "drive right" (noisy brakes, pulling left/right, AC inop, etc)? An odd clunk or freeway
speed vibration can sour a prospective very easily. Are such problems reported to the service department ?

Of course if your're upside-down in the car no amount of TLC will solve that problem...especially if you're upside-down in a real clunker.

If your sales managers are "putting a number" on trade-ins without any true examination or road test.....well, that's a sure way to end up buried in a car. You're in in too much to wholesale but there's not enough room to re-con it properly, either. Our sales manager usually dumps these at a loss without delay....why prolong the agony and "hope" some sucker will come along a bail you out ?

According to 20-group stats our used car dept spends way more on used car reconditioning than other dealers....but they also hold a very high gross and have minimal over-age inventory. It's money well spent and, as a bonus, the higher quality inventory helps your reputation.

Bottom line from a Service Managers perspective? Spend more on re-con....all of it "in-house", of course !

Doug