Dealership Operations
Used Cars
Every day a unit sits is a decision not yet made.
Operating Philosophy
A used-car department is a velocity business first and a merchandising business second. Acquisition discipline — buying the right unit, at the right cost, for a market you can prove — decides most of the outcome before the vehicle ever hits the lot. From there, the job is to compress every day out of the cycle: recon speed, pricing-to-market from day one, and frontline readiness that doesn't wait on a Friday detail crew. Aging inventory isn't a report you review — it's a decision you're behind on.
What I Measure
- Days in stock / aging by bucket
- Recon days (acquisition to frontline)
- Gross Profit per Day (GPD)
- Gross Return on Investment (GROI)
- Pricing-to-market position by unit
- Retail vs. wholesale exit rate
- Inventory mix vs. market demand
- Floorplan / holding expense by age bucket
How I Manage It
- Daily aging review — every unit over target age has a named owner and a next action
- Acquisition discipline tied to a proven retail lane, not a hunch
- Recon tracked as a pipeline with SLAs at each stage, not a queue
- Weekly pricing-to-market pass on the full inventory, not just aged units
- Wholesale-exit decisions made on a schedule, not as a last resort
Where Dealerships Lose
- Buying inventory the market hasn't asked for, then discounting it into relevance
- Recon treated as first-come-first-served instead of managed as a pipeline
- Pricing reviewed only after a vehicle is already aged
- No single owner accountable for a unit from acquisition to sale
- Wholesale used as damage control instead of a planned exit lane
My Systems & Frameworks
21-Day Used-Car Turn
A disciplined operating philosophy designed to accelerate inventory from acquisition through retail sale and funded contract.
Move a used vehicle from acquisition through recon, merchandising, retail sale, and cleared funding as quickly as operationally possible — with 21 days as the aggressive target rather than a passive average. Aging inventory is a decision that's already late, not a report to review later.
Adopt a Car
A sales-team inventory ownership and accountability concept.
Assign individual salespeople or managers ownership of specific inventory units — creating direct responsibility for knowing, merchandising, presenting, and helping move those vehicles, rather than leaving aging stock as no one's problem.
Tools & Dashboards
Resources Coming Soon
Dashboards, spreadsheets, and scorecards will appear here as they're published.
Related Experience
Used Car Director — Priority Group, February 2009 – May 2015
Ready to raise the floor here?
Executive operations review, department-specific training, or a full operating assessment.