Alex Andreus

Retired COO of Murgado automotive group. GM Coach/Mentor

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Every new car on your lot costs about $9.50 a day just sitting there.

$49,700 at ~7% floorplan ÷ 365. At 82 days: $780. At 111: over $1,000. Straight out of the gross.

Do your salespeople know what a car costs per day: yes or no?

[Charles Gallaer, Esq. | Dealership Attorney @DealershipAttny]

NJ's fair warranty reimbursement fight is over the trifecta: parts, warranty labor and time guides. This has been a back and forth between dealers and OEMs over retail-rate warranty pay for many years. What the law actually requires, and how dealers can make the case: https://t.co/EfvGvUXwlC

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Stop taking every car the factory sends you.

CDJR stores: 149+ days' supply. Toyota: 35. Same market, same rates.

The car is "sold" to the factory the day it ships. It's not sold for you until a customer drives it home.

Who decides your order: you, or the factory rep?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

One public dealer group paid $38.5 million in floorplan interest in a single quarter.

The best-run groups watch that line every quarter. Most stores see it once a month, after the money's gone.

Floorplan weekly, or only on the monthly statement?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

New cars over $80K now sit 111 days (Cox, September).

At ~7% floorplan, that $80K truck costs about $15 a day. The average car: $9.50.

Your priciest units are your slowest, and they're quietly eating your gross.

Checked yours this month, or never?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

New cars now sit 82 days (Cox, September). Up from 75 in one month.

Every one is on your floorplan line, accruing interest whether anybody drives it or not. And winter is coming.

Inventory isn't free just because the factory shipped it.

Under 75 days, or over?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

If you can run a dealership, you can run any business. The GMs who win build structure and start with high impact, low effort. Every week.

After doing this exercise, what item are you going to focus on first? Comment below.

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Every idea goes in 1 of 4 boxes: impact (high/low) x effort (high/low). Low impact, high effort? Kill it. High impact, low effort? That's your week.

After doing this exercise, what item are you going to focus on first? Comment below.

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Retail rates are killing deals. Floorplan rates are eating gross. Don't chase every idea. List them all, then sort by impact and effort.

After doing this exercise, what item are you going to focus on first? Comment below.

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

A $400 brake job in 2018 is about $660 today. Paychecks didn't keep up.

Fix the conversation with 3 P's: proof, priority, plan.

Cox: customers who got photos or video spent about $230 more.

Which P does your service drive skip? #FixedOps

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

A $2,400 estimate scares customers right off your service drive.

Split it: what has to get done now, what can wait till next visit. Their choice.

Then book the declined work before they leave.

Does your team book declined work as a future appointment, yes or no? #FixedOps

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Stop discounting your way to customer retention.

Every coupon trains customers to wait for the next one. (Remember those Bed Bath & Beyond mailers?)

Quick lubes will always win on price. Win on proof.

Coupons or trust: which one brings your customers back? #FixedOps

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Stop leading with the price.

"This repair is going to be $1,400" gets you "I'll think about it."

Show the video. Explain what happens if they wait. Then the number.

Cox: 49% of customers say photos or video make them likelier to approve.

Price first, or proof first?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Dealers now get only 29% of service visits, down from 33% (Cox Automotive). Each lost customer = more than $12,000 in lifetime service and parts. Lose 10 a month and that's $1.4M a year walking to the independent. Do you know how many you lost this year, yes or no?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Repair costs are up 65% since 2018, per Cox Automotive. 5.8% in the last year alone. Faster than insurance.

Your customer's paycheck didn't do that. So he blames your service advisor.

Seeing more price pushback this year, or about the same? #FixedOps

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

15 of one model on a 100-car lot = 15% of your inventory on one bet.

Gas prices spike, trucks drop. An OEM cuts prices, every used one loses value.

15 cars × $1,500 = $22,500 you didn't plan to lose.

Is your lot overweight in one body style, yes or no?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Stop protecting a $3,000 loss.

On the books at $25,000. Really worth $22,000. Your ego won't take the hit, so the car sits and the gap gets wider.

Sell it. Get the capital back out. Reinvest it in a car that turns.

Do you cut your losers at 45 days, or wait and hope?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Your advisor holds a losing stock for 90 days, you fire him.

Your used car manager holds a losing car for 90 days, and nobody says a word.

Cost basis. Holding cost. Expected return.

Would your used manager survive as a fund manager, yes or no?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

$4,000 in 40 days beats $3,500 in 65.

Two $20K used cars, 20 days each, $2K apiece vs. one $45K car that sits 65 days for $3,500.

Velocity is your rate of return.

Gross per unit or turn rate: which one is your used manager paid on?

[Alex Andreus @aandreus]

Add 15% in recon to a used car and there goes your profit.

You make your money on the buy. What you pay + what you recon = the 2 numbers that decide the deal. MMR alone won't save you.

Do you make your money on the buy, or the sell?