How this independent car dealer is capitalizing on the strong used car market

Over the last year, COVID-19 has impacted the way we sell cars and operate our businesses. The independent auto industry is changing as well. On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome Scott Dooley, owner of the independent dealership CarBox, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to give us his perspective on the industry’s changes and how they have impacted business.

Dooley says, nowadays, it’s a great business. Grosses are way up and he says it’s nice to be an independent field because they don’t have to be on a big large scale as bigger franchises. If they sell 20 cars, they are pretty profitable. Dooley says, he may need two cars from auctions, because he’s able to get them way underpriced and better quality.

“I made a huge mistake with starting CarBox from the ground up,” says Dooley. He explains that they probably should have bought out another dealership because it limited a lot of options being brand new. There are a lot of risks with brand new businesses. CarBox opened at the beginning of November, last year, selling about 50 cars a month.

Big floor plan companies are difficult to get into, especially for brand new dealerships. NextGear and FC Financial signed CarBox, with an increase in lines of credit. Dooley says, make sure you get your finances in order if you’re opening a new business. He says, look around and find local credit unions.

Dooley ends the conversation by sharing his outlook on the balance of the year. He says things are going to be epically strong, especially for used cars and independents. It’s going to be the highest, craziest sales year he’s ever seen, says Dooley. He doesn’t see the chip shortage ending until early 2022. Hopefully, by 2022, they’ll be selling 70 to 80 cars and that’ll make Dooley really happy. Dooley says in five years, he sees CarBox owning a large dealership and selling upwards of 300 cars.

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