Stop Testing Every Battery on Every Visit (And Watch Productivity Rise)
In 1912, Thomas Edison's electric cars were outselling gasoline vehicles in America. They were quieter, didn't need hand-cranking, and required almost no mainte...
Service Drive Photography Is Overrated (And Killing Your CSI Scores)
The invention of the camera phone fundamentally changed how dealerships think about selling maintenance. Before 2007, a service advisor's pitch lived entirely i...
Why Your Digital MPI Rollout Might Actually Hurt Your Shop (And What to Do About It)
Most dealerships approach digital multi-point inspection (MPI) like it's an obvious win: faster reporting, cleaner photos, instant customer communication, bette...
The Inventory Data Quality Problem Nobody Wants to Admit
67% of dealerships believe their inventory data feeds are "good" or "excellent." That number should terrify you. Why? Because most of those dealerships are fly...
The Holdback and Pack Myth That's Killing Your Margins
The Holdback and Pack Myth That's Killing Your Margins Back in 1916, General Motors introduced the dealer holdback system as a way to protect franchisees from ...
Stale Inventory Price Drops: Why Your 60-Day Rule Is Actually Costing You Money
Back in 1987, when used-car lots operated on gut feel and dealer markup sheets, a car that sat for 60 days was dead weight. You dropped the price. You dropped i...
Why Your Lot Lighting Budget Is Probably a Waste (and What to Do Instead)
Nearly 60% of dealership managers say lot lighting is their third-highest reconditioning expense, right after paint and mechanical work. But here's the thing: m...
The Contrarian Case Against Over-Certifying Your Used Car Inventory
Imagine it's mid-July on the lot, and you've got a 2019 Toyota Camry with 87,000 miles sitting in your reconditioning queue. Clean title, no accidents, single o...
Stop Running Ground Stock Audits (And Do This Instead)
You're standing on the lot on a Tuesday morning, clipboard in hand, walking behind your inventory manager while they point at a three-week-old 2022 Subaru Outba...
The Pre-Sold New Inventory Myth: Why Top Dealers Stopped Doing It
Seventy-eight percent of dealerships claim their new-vehicle pre-sale process is "optimized." Yet the average new car sits on the lot for 62 days before hitting...
The Trade Network Trap: Why Most Dealers Use It Wrong
Back in 1987, when most dealers were still managing inventory on index cards and Rolodex files, the National Automobile Dealers Association started seriously th...
Lease-End Protection Products: Why You're Probably Overselling Them
According to recent dealer surveys, roughly 73% of new-car buyers in the Northeast walk off the lot without purchasing a single lease-end protection product. Th...