Trust Me, I'm a Used Car Salesman

Customer Appreciation Day

Frank Sarwark — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:36:00 +0000

On Saturday May 31st we will be having our Customer Appreciation Day. There will be food, drink, deserts, jump castle for kids, prizes and fun. We will be awarding scholarships to 2 deserving high school seniors who are graduating this spring. There will also be a prize for the person in attendance who purchased a car furthest back. Last year 3 customers came in who had purchased a car in 1943. That was our 2nd year in business and 65 years later we are still here.

This is our way of thanking our customers, past, present and future for their continued support. If you haven't been here in the past, this would be a perfect time to come in and look around. We are a no pressure car dealership, and on a day like this, there will be less emphasis on sales. It is more of an opportunity to let people know who we are and what we do. To look at our facility and inventory, and meet the staff.

I invite you to come in and visit with us on May 31st.

Fuel Economy Gas Savings

Frank Sarwark — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:56:00 +0000

There is a great article in the "Arizona Republic" about improving your gas mileage. The interesting thing is that Jim Stack is pictured with the Article. He was the guest on
"Frank Auto Advice" last Saturday, April 26th. We spoke of the hybrid, hydrogen and all electric cars. Anything but the standard gasoline powered car most of us drive every day.

Since the advent of the instant MPG readings in cars, I have tried to get the number as high as possible. I remember reading a book about driving many years ago. The chapter I remember spoke of driving a limousine. The aim was to drive as if your passenger had a full glass of champagne on the tray in the back compartment. You didn't want to spill a drop, this meant easy acceleration and braking. Just what this article recommends to get better mileage. I know that the a car driven by one person can achieve more or less MPG when driven by someone else, it has to do with a persons style of driving.

I read that Nissan is having a problem selling the Titan trucks and the Armadas. Ford, Chevy and Dodge have also reported that truck and SUV sales are down. Could this have to do with gas mileage?

I know that we are seeing people who want to trade the gas guzzlers for something that gets better MPG. They say that history repeats itself. I remember in the gas crunch days of the 70's that the car companies cut back on the large cars and ramped up on the smaller more fuel efficient cars. In the past 7 or 8 years I have noticed that even the small economy cars have grown in size and weight. The Sentra has grown from 2392 lbs in 1999 to 2513 in 2006. The Tacoma pu has grown from 2580 lbs in 1999 to 3180lbs in 2006. The public wants the luxury and size but can't pay for the fuel to run it.

I like the Europen system of car design and manufacture. There are no cafe standards to deal with, they manufacture the cars that people want to buy. In Europe people have been paying $4.00 per gallon or more for years. The pocketbook helps decide what someone will buy. They still have the gas guzzlers for those who want and can afford to drive them, but the government doesn't dictate what they have to build.

I know that the trend will now be toward downsizing the cars again, I wish they would get the cars that run on other than gasoline, then the problems would be over.

Stolen Car Found -Phoenix Police do wonders

Frank Sarwark — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Yesterday morning a gentlemen came into our dealership looking for a car. He wanted to look at one of the cars. He said he had good credit so he didn't want to fill out any paperwork. After the 2nd request he let us look at his drivers license. The salesman got up to get the keys to the car, and went with the customer to look at the car. The customer got into the car, the salesman handed him the keys. When he started the car, he put it into gear and drove off.

We called the Phoenix Police who had a car here within 3 minutes. Officer Monson did an excellent job finding out what happened and asking the right questions of us. After the person was gone with the car, we realized he had picked up the copy of his license and took it with him as he walked out of our office. I had given my cell phone number in case the car was recovered after hours. We gave our descriptions of the suspect, gave the officer the description of the car and the report was filed. This was about 10:30 in the morning. Around 4:00pm a call came to my phone from the Police department. They had located the car behind a small apartment complex less than a mile from our business and had three suspects in custody. We went to the scene, the officers there were very professional and pleasant. They had noticed a car in the parking lot with no license plate and had stopped to investigate. According to the suspects in custody, a person matching the description of the suspect had been there earlier, but had left. We didn't get our guy, but we got the car back undamaged and no worse for the wear.

This was the first auto theft like this we have had in over 20 years, so we talked about what happened, and how things could have been differently. Some changes have been made that will help in the future.

Thanks again Phoenix Police. I know that most stolen cars are recovered, but I don't remember one being recovered this quick.

Fuel Economy

Frank Sarwark — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:28:00 +0000

I have driven several models of the hybrid car. The Honda Insight, and several different years of Prius. They are quite expensive to buy and maintain, but you do save considerably at the pump. A friend of mine purchased a Prius a year or so ago. He did the studies of cost versus gas savings. He said he would have to keep it a long time for the savings to equal the additional cost of the hybrid over a standard vehicle. I purchased a 70,000 mile Prius. I noticed some warning lights that were on and that it didn't operate quite right. Even though I employ 5 mechanics and have access to lots of repair information about many vehicles, we had to sent this to Toyota for repair. The problem was a bad computer. The computer in this car was listed at close to $4,000. The computer in the average car is several hundred. I wonder what other expensive things lie waiting to break in this car.

Gasoline prices are at an all time high. Gasoline is taking a bigger bite out of your wallet. The most logical solution for this problem is to drive less. Combining errands and going out once rather than 3 or 4 times. There is also the old rule I learned in drivers ed many years ago. If you accelerate as if you had an egg between the pedal and your foot, you accelerate more slowly and smoothly thus getting better mileage. When I am driving a car that is equipped with the instant MPG feature, I try to get it to read as high as possible. This corresponds with teh slower and smoother acceleration.

Buying a Lemon Revisited!

Frank Sarwark — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:48:00 +0000

I spoke with my friend who purchased the damaged car yesterday. Things came out reasonably well. A lawyer had been retained and the seller will be giving the sale price plus attorney fees back. The title and registration fees, the extra key, the new floor mats, the little goodies you get for a new car to personalize it, these expenses aren't included in the settlement. You could ask for those extras, but if the seller gets upset he may change his mind and not go through with the deal.

Consider the expense tuition in the school of life. This unlucky buyer has now repurchased her former car and is driving it again. At this point there are no plans to purchase another car in the near future.

Frank Auto Advice

Frank Sarwark — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:37:00 +0000

The new talk show has a name. A name that describes what I will be giving. Nuggets of information that you can use when you are thinking of buying or fixing a car. Bits of information that could save you some money. Part of the first show will be devoted to some of the ways dealerships will try to get a few extra dollars from you. Some of the things they sell that you can get in other places for less.
Tune in on Saturday afternoon between 2:00 and 3:00pm on KPHX 1480 AM Progressive Talk Radio. I am sure you will enjoy the show.

Four Square- tool of the new car salesman

Frank Sarwark — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:45:00 +0000

The four square is a piece of paper that is broken in four parts. They are labeled payment, down payment, price and trade. By filling these blanks in, you are giving the salesman information about what you think you can afford. Never in this equation are the words number of payments or interest rate mentioned. The following was taken from "Confessions of a Car Salesman"

The next step in my training involved the use of the "4-square work sheet." Michael told me the 4-square was my friend, it was the salesman's tool for getting "maximum gross profit." As the name implies, the sheet is divided into four sections. When you have a prospect "in the box" (in the sales cubicle) you pull out a 4-square and go to work.

The information about the customer is written along the top together with the make, model and serial number of the car they want to buy. Then the salesman writes the sticker price of the car in large numbers in the upper right square on the worksheet. Michael stressed that the price of the car should be written in large clear numbers to give it a feeling of authority. He added that we should always write "+ fees" next to the price of the car (This includes license fees and sales tax.).

Another description of the four square can be found at The Consumerist

They never mention the term they are asking you to sign up for, the longer the term, the more money you will pay. The best way to approach the dealership is to be able to say I am approved for $15,000 or some amount, this is the car I want, can you sell it for that price? This involves going to your bank or credit union beforehand and getting approved for the loan. Most credit unions can also sell you a warranty, that will be just as good, but cost less than the one the dealer will try to sell you.

It's Showtime, Radio Talk Show Coming Soon!

Frank Sarwark — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:59:00 +0000

We have been negotiating for several weeks and it's final. We will be hosting a talk show on KPHX radio 1480 on your AM dial. 2:00-3:00 pm on Saturdays. The first show is scheduled for April 5th. It will be fun and informative. I will be giving information on how to buy a car, what your car is worth, what to expect when you go into a dealership. Some information about bills that are in the Arizona House and Senate.

This is not going to be a repair oriented show. There are several of them and they do a good job. A car or truck is one of the biggest investments anyone makes outside of a home. The more information you have, the better decision you can make on what you are buying. I know that there are people being taken every day when they buy a car, if I can prevent that happening to one or two of them, my mission will be accomplished.

I will also be having guests from time to time. They will be sharing their knowledge with you also. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Remember KPHX 1480 AM 2:00-3:00 Saturday afternoons in Phoenix.

Progressive autox prize

Frank Sarwark — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:28:00 +0000

I was reading about a $10 million prize to design a car that gets 100 MPG. This sounds pretty spectacular. When you realize that the Model T Ford averaged 25 MPG almost 100 years ago, what does that say about our current technology. I know that there are other ways to power cars. You can power any internal combustion engine with hydrogen. The byproduct is water vapor. The exhaust is actually cleaner than whey the air entered the combustion chamber. The only problem with this is the storage container for the hydrogen gas. This is very costly to design and build. The other problem is that there aren't very many places to buy a tank of hydrogen.

There are impressive developments in fuel cell vehicles, this takes the hydrogen, converts it to electricity, which in turn powers the vehicle. Mercedes Benz has some test vehicles that are already in use. These are really nice, but wouldn't it be nice to retrofit the millions of cars that are on the road, rather than having to build all new?

I really think it wil be a good idea to get these cars on the road and lessen the dependence on oil.

Buying a used lemon!

Frank Sarwark — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 11:58:00 +0000

I was speaking with a friend yesterday evening. He related something that makes me very angry. A mutual acquaintance had been looking for a particular make and model car. This car was something that this person had wanted for several years. She found one that was for sale by an individual. Looked at it, drove it, took it to the mechanic the seller used who gave the car a clean bill of health. She went to the bank, got a loan for nearly $20,000 and bought the car. A few days later, she took the car to the dealership for that make of car to have the oil changed etc. The service writer called her to come in and talk to them about the car she had just purchased.

The person who sold her the car had taken it into this dealership several months before and it had been severely damaged. She was told that they didn't really consider the car safe to drive, and that they wouldn't work on it for her. She was given an estimate that ran close to $10,000 to restore athe car to a roadworthy condition.

This is after being told by another mechanic that the car was fine. This is after taking possession and paying for the car. She now has a very expensive lemon on her hands. She is deciding what she can do , if anything, to get her money back. I do not know all the facts of this case, but it is ugly.

In Arizona, there is very little protection for the consumer in this situation. This buyer and seller will most likely end up in the courts. When buying from a car from an individual or dealership Either take a trusted mechanic with you, or take the car to the mechanic. This is one reason why you might want to consider using a licensed automobile dealer when purchasing a car. At least you have protection under the law if you are sold a defective product.

phone messages

Frank Sarwark — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 11:28:00 +0000

I find that telephones are a very necessary part of modern life. They allow us to stay in contact with friends, relatives and business contacts. The complexity of the phone system tends to bother me at times. When you call a contact on one phone system, you get a message "we will play music until we locate the user you are calling. Another system uses a message " you can press a button to leave a message or just wait for the tone" Even though these messages are useful, they tend to get aggravating. I have been using phone systems since you had to put your finger in a disk with letters and numbers on it in order to make a phone call. I think I have pretty good knowledge of how a these systems work.

I have noticed a trend that I do not quite understand. I make a phone call to talk to someone. The phone answers, and I have to listen to someones favorite music. What this music is and how long it goes on varies from person to person. I am not sure where this trend started or why. Is it that they want you to know what their favorite song is? Does this song represent a message that they want you to hear? I am not really sure.

When I make a phone call, I want to contact the person I am calling, convey a message, get a response and then go on about my business. In 99 our of 100 cases, I am not really interested in listening to music. I consider myself to be a well rounded person who appreciates music, but some types of music, I would just rather not listen to. To force someone to listen to something they don't particularly want to hear, as a requirement to speak with you, could be considered rude or selfish. If you want to talk to me, you need to hear part of my favorite song and waste your air time in order to do it.

A message if you aren't available to take a call is good. A message between the phone connecting and you answering is not so good.

trade ins

Frank Sarwark — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:13:00 +0000

Every person who buys a car knows that at some point he will want to get rid of it. He will get tired of driving the same old set of wheels. Many times as a customer is in visiting and making a payment I get the question. When can I trade this car in? Something we always have thought about. My response is when it is about half way paid for.

I decided that I should get a little more specific. I am working on a "Trade In Guarantee", This would let you know at the time of sale, when you could trade it in and get another. No if's, and's or but's. It will be a formula that says exactly when you would be eligible to get another car. We will be rolling this out on the first of April. I can't wait to get it out to you.

Field Trip

Frank Sarwark — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:50:00 +0000

Several weeks ago my wife led a field trip to Los Angeles with 50 high school students. Since there are several male students in the group, I went along as a chaperon. She teaches sewing, clothing design and marketing. We toured FIDM, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, to show what they taught, see the campus etc. We also went to Woodbury University, a small private school that specializes in teaching fashion design, architecture and business. This is a way to let students know what is out there, and that there are many schools to choose from. Fidm also has a large fashion show that is held in an aircraft hangar. It is a huge production and very enlightening if you have never been to one before. Several thousand spectators, a number of clothing designers and lots of models. booming sound system and lots of lights. I am always impressed at the designs that they come up with. What you see on the runway is what people will be wearing next year.

We went to Hollywood Boulevard and did the tourist thing. Took a tour of Grauman's, now Mann's Chinese theatre. The students had never seen anything quite like it. I was also impressed. We also visited Rodeo drive, to see the high dollar shops. It is amazing what they have to offer, if you have to ask a price, you shouldn't be there. We also stopped at the beach for a few minutes. Some of these students had never been there before.

My point is the students. I think about when I was that age, and there isn't a whole lot of difference. We didn't have all the electronic toys that we have now. I remember the car stereo going from 4 to 8 track and then cassette. I still have a few 8 track cartridges and player just in case. Getting back on point. There are still the students that are very obedient, outgoing and helpful. There are still the ones who are impolite and want their way and can't cooperate. and every type in between.

This is the third time I have made this trip, and it renews my faith in humanity. Even though things change, they still stay the same. I was looking at a 20 year old newspaper last week. I noticed when reading the articles, that if you changed the names of the people involved, you would be reading current events.

You do read about the teens and young people getting in trouble, but for the most part they are good people and we do have hope for the future.

Our Customer Base

Frank Sarwark — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:51:00 +0000

I was speaking with a current customer last week. She is a young lady in her mid twenties. She mentioned her grandfather. I got to thinking about him and realized that I have known him for over 30 years. Between him, his children and grandchildren they have purchased at least 20 cars over the last 30 or so years.

This isn't the only family we have this type of relationship with. This doesn't happen by chance. It happens one person at a time, one car at a time. The word of mouth from one friend to another is the most valuable advertising you can get. Today a customer I have been dealing with for years, brought his sister in, who was looking or a car. Because of our relationship, the sister was in and out with her new car in record time.

We still believe in that old fashioned one on one. We sit down with the customer, talk about what he is looking for, what we have to offer and how we can come to an agreement. That plus th fact that you are dealing with the same team from down payment until the final payment when you collect your free and clear title.

Private Party Pitfalls

Frank Sarwark — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:35:00 +0000

A car is one of the largest purchases that a person ever makes. Some people like buying a car from a private party. If you ask why, you will be told they can get a better deal and save a few dollars. One of my customers traded in a truck that he had purchased on a street corner from an individual. This was an older truck, it didn’t look pretty, but it ran well and did that job that it was intended to do. We found out when we tried to sell it that the ID plate in the dash had been replaced. The number plate from a wrecked vehicle had been installed over the real plate. The id number was different from the one that was on the frame of the truck. He had unknowingly purchased a stolen truck. He then realized why his insurance company called his 2 wheel drive truck a 4 wheel drive.

This is just one of the problems you could face when buying a car from an individual. The car could have mechanical problems, could have been wrecked and rebuilt. There could be a lien on the car that wasn’t listed on the title. The title could have been forged. The best advice I can give when buying a car from a private party is to make sure the party you are buying it from is the party listed on the front of the title. If this is not the case, chances are you are most likely dealing with a “curbstoner”. This is a person who buys and sells cars to make a few extra dollars on the side. These people do not want to put the title of the car they are selling in their own names because they are only allowed by law to sell 3 cars per year. In this case there is the possibility that the car had been sold more than once between the person whose name is on the title, and you the potential buyer. Legally, if someone got a ticket driving the car and didn’t pay the fine, it could come back to bite you when you tried to register the car. If you do have a problem you are stuck with it.

The advantage from buying from a dealer is that the dealer is licensed and bonded. If there is a mechanical problem you have an implied warranty. If there is a title problem, he must correct it. You have legal recourse.

A large percentage of private party transactions turn out to be good, but if it turns out to be bad, it could be your worst nightmare.

I would like to hear your story, good or bad, about buying a car from an individual.

Education

Frank Sarwark — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 23:14:00 +0000

My wife is a high school teacher and has been teaching for quite a while. Until you know and live with a teacher you do not realize the amount of work they do. They are required to have a lesson plan for each class every day. The plan is detailed to the degree it teaches various standards that are in the curriculum. A math lesson could also include language. A history lesson could include math. She is given one "prep hour" this is a class period for her to grade papers, do lesson plans etc. She rarely gets the days work done in that period because of other things like working for the student club that she moderates. The students different than in my day. The school wants to give every child an education and they give the student the benefit of the doubt if they are absent or late. the only problem is that you cannot force a child to learn. You can present the knowledge, but if the child doesn't absorb it, what can you do.

The students know that as long as they attend one class per day, they are counted as being at school. When a student has 5 or 6 classes per day, but only attends one, is that child really getting an education?

A student has to miss 10 class periods in a row in order to be dropped from the class. If they miss 8 and then attend three in a row, the clock is reset. That student will get an incomplete, but won't be penalized.

The students know the rules and some take full advantage. I am not saying all the students are there for social life and not for an education, but some of them definitely are. The classes are like any life situation. There are a small percentage of really good ones, a middle class that are around average and then the other small percentage that are there because they have to, not because they want to learn.

When the teacher has to spend time disciplining these students who don't want to be there, they are taking time that could be used to help and educate the people who really want to be there.

It is no wonder that a newly graduated teacher only lasts 5 or 6 years before burning out.

Automobile Debt Increases

Frank Sarwark — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:20:00 +0000

I read an article in the Arizona Republic this morning taken from the LA Times that spoke of automobile debt. Debt that in most cases exceeds the vehicles worth. "todays average car owner owes $4,221 more than the car is worth at the time it is sold-up from $3,529 in 2002" . 45% of the car loans made today are longer than 6 years. Most cars are traded in between 24 and 36 months. This means that in order to get another car, the buyer needs to come up with cash to cover the negative equity, or the negative equity needs to be added to the new loan.

There was a time many years ago when you needed 33% down to buy a car and the balance had to be paid off in 2 years. It sounds terrible, but this was the era when a new car cost $3,000. The other side of the equation was that around $1.00 per hour was an average wage.

As inflation has kicked the price of a base car to over $10,000 you can see what has happened. You can probably buy the $10,000 car with $500 plus tax and title, the salesman has also sold you an extended warranty and credit life. You now owe about $14,000 on this car. The sad part is that the car depreciates faster than you can reduce the balance.

This doesn't sound too bad, but if you want something besides a Chevy Aveo, Hyundai Accent or Kia Rio be prepared to spend $15,000 up.

This state of the auto loan industry is very near the state of the housing mortgage industry. When you have no concept of having any equity in something its very easy to walk away. We see consumers who are looking for another car and buried in their present car. We ask what they will do with the present car, and the response is we are giving it back to the bank. Most lending institutions are realizing this and tightening up their standards on term, credit rating etc, but this is like putting a bandaid on a 3" gash in your arm. It will help, but not a lot.

My advice is the same as always. Get the car you want, put as much down as possible and pay it off as quickly as possible. that way when you do want to trade, your car will be worth more than is owed.

HB 2494 sale contingent on financing approval

Frank Sarwark — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:43:00 +0000

I am not one who thinks more regulation is a good thing, but in this case, it could be a good idea. HB 2494 deals with automobile sales. I am not going to quote the full bill. but will paraphrase it. The bill says that when a customer signs the contracts to purchase a car, he will also sign a paper that says the car dealer must find a financial institution who will buy this contract at the terms stated in the contract. If the contract can be sold on those terms, the buyer is obligated to keep the car. If the contract cannot be sold on the original terms, the deal will be canceled. The dealer must return the customers down payment and trade in if there was one. the buyer must return the car. I would like to see language in the bill to say that the car must be returned undamaged in its original condition, or the buyer would have to pay for repairs.

The process of " spot delivery" has been around in the car business for years. The buyer looks at and likes a car. He wants to buy it and so the dealer writes a deal and the customer drives away. The deal is usually written with low down payment and payments for a very long term. Then the car dealer shops the contract to many financial institutions starting at the best and going down to the sub prime if need be in order to get the deal approved. Some times in order to get the deal approved, the down payment,term and payment amount and interest rate will be changed. The customer may see a payment go from $300 to $400 , down payment change from $1,000 to $3,000. Any variation so the lender will buy the deal.

The reason the dealer wants the customer driving the car, is that the neighbors will see it, he will get used to driving the new car, the family will want to keep it etc. In other words, the customer is out of the buying mode. If the customer went to the dealer, filled out an application and was told to come back in 2 days, when the loan was approved, and take delivery of the car. How many would come back? How many would go somewhere else to buy a car?

Right now if you take delivery of a car, and the deal cannot be approved, you are under no obligation to change the terms and keep the car, but most people don't know this. The dealer must give your trade and down payment back. If you have been driving the car for four or five weeks, they can hit you up for mileage driven. It is illegal for the dealer to sell the car you traded in before your loan is funded by a finance company.

This is just good common sense, but there are people who fall in love with the car, and will give more down payment or change other terms even though they may not be able to afford those payments.

Another New Job

Frank Sarwark — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:14:00 +0000

I have been a member of and involved with the Arizona Independent Automobile Dealers Association for many years. The organization was founded in Arizona in 1963. Our dealership was one of the first members. This is an organization that helps promote the use car industry. There are over 1000 used car dealer licensees in the Phoenix area. These individuals make a large contribution to the economy of our City and State.

The members stand by a Code of Ethics and promise fair dealings with the public. I have sat on the Board of Directors of this group in the past. I am again serving, this time as the Chairman of the Legislative Committee. This position involves learning what bills are being proposed to the House and Senate and what their effect will be on our industry. If a new law will be good for the public and our industry, we will support it. If we see a bill that has a good intention, but has an unintended bad effect somewhere in the economy, we will try to point this out to the lawmakers, so they can repair the problem before the bill gets passed.

I have been involved with this work in the past and find it interesting. The quote I have always heard is that the two things you don't want to watch being made are laws and sausages. I was a licensed real estate agent many years ago. I remember when the real estate contract of sale was one very long sheet of paper. Today it is seven or eight pages. Every time someone gets taken advantage of and goes to court with someone to settle a grievance a new clause is put in the contract to protect others from being taken advantage of in the same way.

I look forward to the legislative session that is getting underway and will be reporting on some of the bills and how they will effect the public and your rights and duties as they involve automobiles.

More on car prices

Frank Sarwark — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:03:00 +0000

Car prices can be regional. In some areas of the country 4 wheel drive cars are more popular than others, so they command a higher price than in areas where you really don't need the 4X4 to get around in the winter. Convertibles are more popular in the Southern parts of the country, because people don't particularly want a convertible where it snows. Older cars are cheaper in the rust belt areas because of snow, salt and rust problems. A car can be rusted out in 3 or 4 years, where in the sun belt the same car could be in great condition 25 years form now.

I know of some people who have made a good living buying unpopular cars in one area of the country and moving them to an area where they were popular and selling them at a profit.
Since the introduction of the internet the price differences between different areas have tended to level out. I can find out what a given car is selling for in various parts of the country in just a few clicks of a computer mouse. So I am going to try to buy in line with the lowest selling prices I see in order to make a profit.

The real story on car prices

Frank Sarwark — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:55:00 +0000

I have been buying and selling cars for over 30 years. The pricing of cars still amazes me. Most of the used cars on new and used car dealerships are either taken in trade or purchased. Most of the ones that are purchased come from auctions. I am sure most people know what an auction is. the high bidder gets the item on the block. As the car comes into the auction arena there is a line of 5 to 6 cars waiting to be sold. You will get to walk around the car look at the exterior and interior, listen for funny noises. Look at the instrument panel to see the mileage and if any warning lights are on. Check under the hood for oil leaks, smoke, etc. In other words you have just a few minutes to judge the car and its value. If the car is nice there will be many bidders on the car. When I end up buying a car, I know that I have paid more than anyone else in order to have the car on my lot for resale. The value of two 03 Chevy Impalas with 60,000 miles can be $1500 or more different depending on condition and mileage.

We use the Kelly Blue Book as a guide to what the car is worth. This gives a wholesale and retail value, adds for different equipment additions and deductions depending on mileage. This is an online service that is subscription based. There are other books and guides. Kelly also offers guides designed for the retail buyer. NADA is one of the more popular ones. Each region of the country has one that is more popular than the others. Then there are sites like Edmunds .com that also give values. I wonder where these places get the values they use. One of my customers e-mailed me a quote on a truck I have available for sale. The dealer retail figure listed there is less than the wholesale value in the Kelley book. I know each of these guides get there numbers from different places.

All I know from experience is that a car is worth what a buyer is willing to and a seller is willing to accept without force. I also know that you cannot sell from an empty shelf. In order to have nice cars you have to be willing to pay the cost to get them.

Repairs

Frank Sarwark — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:54:00 +0000

I long for the good old days when you didn't have to be a computer technician to fix a car. The engineers combine two or three parts that were very inexpensive into into one electrical component, that fails more often and is more expensive to replace. Repairing a car is very time intensive. You are given a list, check this part, then depending on the result, check this or that part next. Testing and checking. After doing this they say replace this part, If that doesn't fix the problem, then you move to the next one in line.

Many times an electrical problem can be caused by loose or corroded connections. If current doesn't go to the right place at the right time something isn't going to work right. More than once we have cleaned and tightened connections and avoided buying an expensive part.

I still remember a customer coming in and complaining about his air conditioning. He had gone to a shop who told him he had to spend $800 to replace the a/c compressor. I looked under the hood and determined that the a/c compressor was turning. I also noticed that the fan on the radiator wasn't turning. This fan moves air over the condenser coil located in front of the radiator. This removes the heat from the freon so cool air can blow into the car. I looked at the fan motor. I reached down and touched the wires. The plug wasn't in properly. I pushed the plug in, the fan started blowing, cool air came into the car. 5 minutes repaired a problem that someone wanted to charge him $800 for.

Sometimes repairs can be expensive, but we try to get the job done as economically as possible.

Happy Holidays

Frank Sarwark — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 01:18:00 +0000

I believe in Christmas, but I believe that everyone should celebrate as they see fit. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwaanza, Festivus and any other celebration I have left out. I do want to be politically correct also So I wish everyone a

"Merry Christmahannukwanzamas!"

This is a wonderful time of year. Everybody is in a festive mood. Getting the gifts and sending greetings to the families and friends. This is a time when we want to be a little more caring about our friends and neighbors. I had a conversation with one of my customers last week. He had purchased a car a couple of years ago with a balance of about $10,000 with payments around $400 per month. The balance is now around 4000. His job and income have changed drastically for the worse. He was struggling to keep the payments up. We had a talk and decided that he could easily afford $250 per month. We redid the loan and lowered the payments. He thanked me profusely. I think the $150 difference could make the difference as to whether they have food on the table or not.

It just seemed to be a right thing to do.

Scholarship

Frank Sarwark — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:38:00 +0000

We have been in business for over 65 years. I wanted to give something back to the community. I thought a college scholarship would be a good way to go. My wife and two of my three sisters are teachers. I support education, the more you learn, the better your chances of getting a good job are. We are offering 2 - $500 scholarships to seniors graduating from high school and going on to college. One will be awarded to a male, the other to a female. They have to be solid students, with reasonable grades. The main qualification will be that one of their relatives purchased a car from us. Over the years we have sold thousands of cars. I know there are still customers around Phoenix who purchased cars over 50 years ago. this would be a father or mother, aunt, uncle, or even grandparent. I have contacted Phoenix Union and Tempe high school districts. I will be reaching some of the other school districts in the metro area in the next few days.

If you think you qualify, e-mail me at frank@consolidatedauto.com for an application.

choices

Frank Sarwark — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:17:00 +0000

In the Phoenix metro area there are over 1,000 licensed used car dealerships. There are several hundred more new car dealerships. There are also many many private party cars for sale also. the number of choices can make your head spin. Where you buy the car can be more important than what car you buy. If you buy from a private party, you will get a lower price than buying from a dealer, but you won't have anywhere to turn if something goes wrong with the car. Some dealers will sell you a car and don't care what happens after you buy it. In most cases the bank or credit union is doing the financing. The bank doesn't really care if the car is running or not. They just want their payments. The dealership doesn't really care, because the car you bought was paid for by the bank.

Wouldn't you like to buy a car from a business that really cared if the car was getting you from point "a" to point "b" in a reliable manner. At Consolidated we do understand that a car is necessary in Phoenix to get to work, school, shopping , doctors etc. If you are one of our customers and something happens we will work with you to get the problem taken care of in a timely manner.