Car Buying Tips

Guides and advice for purchasing new and used vehicles

Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for Market-Based Used Car Pricing

Why Market-Based Pricing Isn't Optional Anymore In 1985, the average used car sat on a dealer lot for roughly 45 days before it sold. Pricing was simple: calcu...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for an Aged-Inventory Policy That Actually Works

Most dealerships have an aged-inventory policy gathering dust in a binder somewhere, and it's probably not working the way they hoped. You know the one: vehicle...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for the Trade-In Appraisal Process

You're standing on the lot on a Tuesday morning, and a customer pulls up in a 2017 Honda Pilot with 105,000 miles. The paint's still decent, interior's clean en...

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Car Buying Tips

Why Your F&I Compensation Model Is Probably Costing You $80,000+ Per Year

Why Your F&I Compensation Model Is Probably Costing You $80,000+ Per Year Seventy-three percent of dealerships report that their F&I manager compensation plans...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for the E-Contracting Rollout at a Franchise Store

You're sitting in your conference room on a Tuesday morning, and your F&I manager just slid a memo across the table about digital contracting. Your stomach dro...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for the Deal Jacket Audit Checklist

The Deal Jacket Audit Checklist Every Finance Manager Needs According to a 2023 NADA compliance study, roughly 34% of dealerships discovered documentation gaps...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for Subprime Deal Structure Without Losing the Store

It's Tuesday morning in the finance office. Your F&I manager is staring at a subprime deal that just landed on her desk: 2019 Chevy Equinox, 87,000 miles, custo...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for Training New F&I Managers on Product Knowledge

What's Worse: An F&I Manager Who Doesn't Know Your Products, or One Who Sells Them Wrong? Both. But there's a reason dealerships hemorrhage F&I talent in the f...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for GAP Insurance Penetration Rates

Why Your F&I Menu Isn't Selling GAP Insurance (And What Actually Works) Here's the question that keeps finance managers up at night: You've got GAP insurance o...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for Back-End Gross Targets by Store

Most dealers are leaving $800 to $1,200 per vehicle on the table because their F&I operation doesn't have a playbook. They treat back-end gross like it's someth...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for Spot Delivery Contract Risk

How many spot delivery deals do you have sitting on your lot right now that could blow up in your finance manager's face the moment that bank calls with a decli...

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Car Buying Tips

The Dealer's Playbook for Red Flag Rules at the Dealership

The Red Flags That Cost You Money (And How to Spot Them Before They Do) The Federal Trade Commission was quietly cracking down on shady dealer practices long b...

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