CA 04/17 by NIADA

INDEPENDENT AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA

APRIL /MAY 2017

WEST COAST

DEALER

S TAT E A F F I L I AT E

MAGAZINE

CALIFORNIA DMV DIRECTOR JEAN SHIOMOTO PAGE 8

DALLAS, TEXAS Permit No. 2079

PAID

PRSRT Standard U.S. Postage

V I S I T U S AT W W W. I A DAC .O R G

INSIDE

ASSOCIATION NEWS

BY GUS CAMACHO, CAMACHO AUTO SALES

06......... Without Proper Education You Have No Safety Net 08.....................................................................Jean Shiomoto 10.........................................................................Legal Minute 12........................................................................ Stan Sanders 14........................................................................Frank Gromak 16.................................Automotive Finance in the Crosshairs 20............................... Demystifying Kelley Blue Book Values

WHAT’S NEW

Tire Safety Week Dates Announced

The dates for National Tire Safety Week 2017 are May 28-June 3. An initiative of the Rubber Manufacturers Association, the event promotes tire safety among consumers. Auto dealers join the tire and auto industry to encourage drivers to “be tire smart.” For more information, or to request print materials, visit www.betiresmart.org.

ADVERTISER’S INDEX

ADESA .....................................................................................9 AutoZone ...............................................................................21 AVRS.........................................................................................5 Black Book................................................................................7 Lobel Financial..........................................................................3 Manheim ................................................................................11 Manheim Pennsylvania..........................................................13 NextGear Capital....................................................................12 NIADA CPO ............................................................................15 PassTime.................................................................................17 STARS GPS ............................................................. Back Cover VAuto.....................................................................................IFC

OFFICE

For information on how to become a member please contact larry@IADAC.ORG or (916) 601-4976

NIADA HEADQUARTERS NATIONAL INDEPENDENT AUTOMOBILE

DEALERS ASSOCIATION WWW.NIADA.COM • WWW.NIADA.TV 2521 BROWN BLVD. • ARLINGTON, TX 76006-5203 PHONE (817) 640-3838 The West Coast Dealer is published bimonthly by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association Services Corporation, 2521 Brown Blvd., Arlington, TX 76006-5203. Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, TX and at additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NIADA State Publications, 2521 Brown Blvd., Arlington, TX 76006-5203. The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The West Coast Dealer or NIADA. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as members of NIADA, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured. Copyright© 2017 by NIADA Services, Inc.

STATE MAGAZINE MGR./SALES

Troy Graff • troy@niada.com EDITORS

Jacinda Timmerman • jacinda@niada.com Andy Friedlander • andy@niada.com MAGAZINE LAYOUT

Christy Haynes • christy@niada.com PRINTING Nieman Printing

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Stay Informed and Adapt

By the time you read this, we will have had a chance to see how the new Trump Administration will impact our lives. He made some incredible campaign promises and so far he looks to be on track to fulfill them. But will those changes impact our businesses? If we could only predict the future our lives would be so much easier! No one has a crystal ball, but there are often signs that hint change is on the way. Such news isn’t hand-delivered to your door, but it’s out there if you take the time to look. Industry visionaries predict fewer people will own vehicles in the future as autonomous vehicles become commonplace. Ride-sharing is predicted to gain popularity also. How would you prepare for changes such as those? As front-end profits get squeezed, we must look to improve other areas to maintain profitability. There are new products and services that can help do that, but you must be accessible to learn of them. You also must be flexible and start realizing none of us know everything there is to know to run a successful auto dealership. If you are not willing to change, your business model could go the way of the dinosaurs.

ASSOCIATION NEWS

2017 NIADA & COX AUTOMOTIVE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD Nomination Deadline May 12

Nominations are now open for the 2017 NIADA & Cox Automotive Community Service Award, presented by Manheim. The deadline for submission is May 12.

Gus Camacho Camacho Auto Sales, Inc. Lancaster, CA 93534 661-945-2609 gus@camachoauto.com

SR. VICE PRESIDENT

Mehdi Chitgari Classic Chariots, Inc. Vista, CA 92083

VICE PRESIDENT

Guy Strohmeier Auto Center 87 Soda Bay Rd Lakeport, CA 95453

WEST COAST DEALER

NOMINATE YOUR DEALERSHIP TODAY AT

WWW.COXAUTOINC.COM/COMMUNITY-SERVICE-AWARD. Reward your favorite charity with $10,000. Nominate a deserving independent dealership that works to find innovative and meaningful ways to collaborate with community partners. The winning dealership will be recognized at the 2017 NIADA Convention and will receive $10,000 for their local charity of choice, courtesy of Manheim. Dealerships must be a current member of NIADA to qualify. Nominate your dealership today at www.coxautoinc.com/communityservice-award.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE PRESIDENT

We’ve come a long way from the days when newspaper advertising for our vehicles was a common practice. Once a luxury, websites now must also be mobile-ready to capitalize on search engine optimization. CRM, pay-per-lead, geo-fencing, social media, reputation management and much more are becoming household terms in today’s dealerships. So how does a dealer understand what is available and what will be a good fit? Anyone can sign up to receive IADAC e-newsletters. Go to www.iadac.org and click the green button “Sign up for our Newsletter.” Add your email address and name and you’re done. We disseminate information to the industry as necessary, and even non-members can take advantage of it. IADAC provides seminars during the year and a convention in October, plus our affiliated National Independent Automobile Dealers Association will be having its event in June in Las Vegas. Those are great opportunities to test-drive the products and services of vendors from across the nation. Dealers who embrace and welcome change are likely to succeed in this rapidly changing environment. Seek out information and use your business skills to apply the things you learn. Absorbing new information is like the old joke: “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: “One bite at a time!”

April/May 2017

VICE PRESIDENT

SECRETARY

VICE PRESIDENT

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Brenna Stansberry Park Marina Motors Redding, CA 96002 Putu Blanco Paul Blanco's Good Car Company Sacramento, CA

TREASURER

Beto Beas Beas Auto Sales Stockton, CA

Brittany Hibdon Hibdon Auto Center Orland, CA Rocco DeLapa Vacaville Auto Sales Vacaville, CA

MAGAZINE CHAIRMAN

Mike Macaulay Car Systems carsystems40@yahoo.com

www.iadac.org

ASSOCIATION NEWS BY LARRY LASKOWSKI

MESSAGE FROM YOUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Regularly Address Compliance Updates The popular television series Shark Tank features successful businessmen and women evaluating entrepreneurs’ pitches for their companies or ideas. One of the “sharks,” Kevin O’Leary, often makes brash comments to the entrepreneurs, particularly when he feels an idea or business is without value. He’ll say, “I’d take that out behind the barn and shoot it!” I think that has relative application for auto dealers’ business policies if compliance updates are not regularly addressed. If your policy does not include periodic compliance updates, I recommend you take it out behind the barn and shoot it! The past decade has brought a greater need to understand and respond to compliance requirements. In particular, California poses more regulatory oversight than most other states. DMV inspections, BOE audits and Bureau of Auto Repair regulations impact the way California dealers do business, not to mention the ever-present threat from consumer attorneys. If you haven’t had a compliance review, start today by contacting a trusted attorney to

ASSOCIATION NEWS

review your policies. If you don’t have an attorney, you’ll find a list of expert attorneys who specialize in automotive law on the IADAC website at www.iadac.org under “Vendor Directory.” That review should cover all your normal documents in a sales transaction, examples of disclosures, calculation methods for tax and license/registration fees, privacy compliance (Red Flags Rules) and more. Dealers who take compliance seriously have significantly reduced liability as a result. Don’t allow yourself to become a victim of ignorance of the law. Create or update policies so every member of your staff is aware of the consequences of noncompliance. Often, dealers do not heed warnings about the negative consequences of noncompliance. Sadly, many of them contact me at a later date saying they should have considered precautionary warnings regarding compliance more seriously, as they are now dealing with expensive civil claims or DMV citations. Sometimes I hate being right. I’d really like to see dealers slow down periodically to be able to capture important new information. Few dealers take advantage of opportunities to learn and reduce their liability. Most are in a rush to return to their lots and consistently overlook offerings of valuable information. So I ask: How important can it be to run back to your lot when most legal cases cost you an average of $50,000?

DMV CONNECTION

Staying Informed Makes Business Sense

When it comes to conducting automotive business, staying well informed about industry standards and compliance mandates can save you a lot of time. Following proper procedures and completing the correct forms can save you time and, in turn, direct your efforts toward doing what you love most – running your dealership. Representatives of the California Department of Motor Vehicles want dealers to be prepared when arriving at an inspector’s office. Providing the wrong paperwork, outdated forms or incorrect fees can double your workload and generate a lot of frustration. But there’s no need to fret. The DMV offers an easy way to help keep you up to date with changes in state laws and policies. Simply visit the DMV website at www.dmv.ca.gov to sign up for informative memorandums and vehicle identification number notices. Follow these simple steps from the homepage: • Under Online Services, click on More Online Services. • Find Driver License/ID Card and choose Occupational Licensing Industry News (OLIN memos). • You can subscribe here and also view previous memos. • Provide your email address and select the “log in” button to submit your information. • Type N/A in the Business Name box. Select your topics of interest. The few minutes you spend signing up for these valuable alerts will help you stay informed, which makes business sense.

BY BILLY DOHRING, IADAC LOBBYIST

WITHOUT PROPER EDUCATION YOU HAVE NO SAFETY NET Education: It’s the Law!

In the early 1990s, I became aware of a very disturbing fact: between 97 and 98 percent of all claims against dealers’ bonds were filed against dealers in business less than three years. The reason was simple – they had the money and a location but no experience in laws governing auto dealer sales transactions. They did not know what it takes to sell a car and avoid mistakes that involve consumer complaints. Those mistakes might have been accidental, but they caused DMV investigations, which can be very costly, even resulting in temporary or permanent closure of your business. The used car industry has changed dramatically in the past decade. If you don’t keep up with the changes you are putting your livelihood in jeopardy. Education is knowledge and knowledge is power! Proper education will help your bottom

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line and help you avoid costly mistakes. Throughout the year, IADAC executive director Larry Laskowski offers education seminars at auctions across the state. All the DMV administrative regulations and new laws make you susceptible to violations you have no idea you’re committing. IADAC CONTINUING EDUCATION By law, all used car dealers must take a continuing education course to renew their license and continue selling vehicles. In addition to the seminars at various locations during the year, the IADAC Continuing Education Program is the most comprehensive course I’ve seen in more than 40 years. It has a plethora of information to help you keep the doors open. The cost is nominal and well worth the time on your computer or smartphone. Compliance is easy if you know the laws and updates affecting your business. Remember, knowledge is power – you will improve your bottom line and avoid costly fines or lawsuits as a result of violations. It’s extremely vital to consider having your sales staff and F&I personnel take the IADAC course. Again, it will make them more knowledgeable, help you make sales that result in more repeat customers and referrals rather than consumer complaints, and lead to enhanced profits.

In the last IADAC magazine, Mike Macaulay wrote a memoriam about Pat Matlach. Pat was a dealer for more than 62 years, a past IADAC and NIADA president and a devout believer in education. He made sure he did everything by the book. The major benefit of that business policy was his repeat customer base. He sold cars to the greatgrandchildren of his original customers. The benefit he gained as a result of his thirst for knowledge of the laws was a record of only one visit from the DMV – due to an error by a smog station. SPECIAL OFFER Please take advantage of IADAC’s periodic educational seminars and take your continuing education through IADAC’s online course. It’s equally important to have your employees complete it so they will possess the same knowledge of the laws regulating sales to reduce complaints, make more money and stay out of court. For the first three users who respond to this offer, I’ll provide the course for free! You’ll receive a certificate you can use for your next license renewal. Continuing education certificates are valid for two years, so even if you don’t need it right now you’ll have it when you do. Send your response to larry@iadac.org to get signed up for IADAC continuing education for free! www.iadac.org

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

MIKE MACAULAY, WEST COAST DEALER EDITOR/CHAIR

JEAN SHIOMOTO DMV Director

IADAC lobbyist Bill Dohring and I recently met with DMV director Jean Shiomoto for a casual meeting. Jean welcomed us at the director’s office on the top floor of DMV’s main office in Sacramento. We were immediately made to feel like old friends. Jean Shiomoto is well qualified for the director’s spot, as you will read below. Her main focus when starting as director was to keep the previous great management team in place and add more of the right people in the right places. She has done a wonderful job so far. I asked her about the long, painful issue of DMV computers not communicating systemwide. For the past 20 years or so, DMV has had a patchwork system. Director Shiomoto is in the process of modernizing the system. Driver’s license control and vehicle registration are the main users of computing power. DMV has just finished the back-end systems and everything is getting smoother. We spoke of the ongoing dealer license renewal problem. There is now a new head of occupational license, and we at IADAC will work closely with that office to solve the backlog. DMV welcomes our ideas to help them make the process simple and quick. Director Shiomoto wants every dealer to sign up for the VIN online information bulletins. There is much real-time information available for dealers to keep in compliance. A link for the VIN program is available at www.iadac.org and through DMV’s website, www.dmv.ca.gov. Jean has also implemented a new appointment system in field offices that is making a difference for walk-in business. We spoke of the recently passed SB 1046, which mandates an ignition interlock for persons convicted of drunk driving. It goes into effect in January 2019 and DMV has to come up with a plan to implement the law well before that deadline. DMV is so much more than license and registration services. Every legislative cycle dumps more responsibility on the DMV. But Director Shiomoto is up to the challenge. We spoke of many other topics, listed in the biography below. We look forward to much cooperation with the intelligent, professional and dedicated DMV director, Jean Shiomoto.

Department of General Services and the Franchise Tax Board. I came to work at the DMV in 1988 in the financial systems section, which supported the accounting system and other systems at DMV. I applied for the role because it was an opportunity to change jobs and do something different, interesting and tangible. I’ve worked in accounting, budgets and program at DMV. I was appointed as the chief deputy director in 2012, was the acting director in 2012 and 2013, and appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. as the director in 2013. Twenty-nine years later, here I am still at the DMV and I’ve never looked back! Throughout your career with the DMV, what is your proudest accomplishment? In 2015, we implemented Assembly Bill 60, the Safe and Responsible Driver Act, which was to issue licenses for undocumented immigrants. We spent 2014 preparing. We hired 1,000 employees, opened four temporary driver’s licensing processing centers and had more than 200 outreach events. AB 60 took effect on Jan. 2, 2015, and in the first year, we licensed more than 830,000 undocumented immigrants and saw more than 995,000 applicants. It was our top priority and a major effort on our part to do it successfully – all hands on deck. I’m extremely proud of that. There are a lot of eyes on the California DMV as a leader. What’s the biggest issue you’re facing right now? Autonomous vehicles, self-driving cars is a big one. Since September 2014, DMV has issued 22 testing permits for manufacturers to test autonomous vehicles with a driver on California roadways. We are on track to begin the formal rulemaking process for regulations for

driverless testing of autonomous vehicles as well as the deployment of driverless vehicles. We will hold a public hearing on the regulations and expect to hear from manufacturers, developers and consumer advocates. The emergence of autonomous vehicles will impact consumers and the auto industry in the years to come. California has more residents on the road than any other jurisdiction. What is the key to serving as director of the DMV? For me, it’s time management, prioritizing and balancing resources. I have to balance resources to be able to provide quality customer service, continue to automate processes and modernize our IT system, then to implement several state and federal mandates. I also know how to balance my time between work, the community and home. For instance, while I was taking on the role of chief deputy director and director of the DMV, I served as the vice president (2013) and president (2014) of the Board of the Asian Community Center Senior Services, a nonprofit organization serving seniors, for two years. I also have a great executive management team that supports me and I know they can handle things if I’m not available. I wouldn’t take on a role if I didn’t have a good, solid team behind me. What do you enjoy doing in your free time? My husband and I like to take our three dogs for a walk in the evenings. I also like to try new restaurants and bake. Hometown: Courtland, Calif. Education: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from California State University, Sacramento.

Q&A

Work history: I began working for the state in 1980 with the Department of Developmental Services, then went on to work at the California

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www.iadac.org

ASSOCIATION NEWS

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

2016 LEGISLATION

SEMINAR AT NORTH BAY AUTO AUCTION

California Legislative Update

Jan. 19, 2017

Dealers at North Bay Auto Auction were treated to a luncheon seminar to catch up on new legislative items and review dealer policies that routinely create problems for them. Attorney Mark Mitchell with the Gizzi and Reep Law Firm provided valuable insight by sharing the methodology of consumer attorneys he sees when representing dealers. Mr. Mitchell said dealers really need to be aware of certain rights they have when faced with a consumer demand letter or complaint. Most important, dealer action within a 30-day period provides a safe harbor within the Consumer Legal Remedies Act. Dealers should not ignore demand letters or complaints – consultation with a trusted attorney should be done immediately. Also important to note is that every attempt to resolve consumer complaints should be made before they escalate. Past president Terry Degmetich summed up the legislation passed in 2016 that impacts our industry. Notable were the Temp Tag bill, safety recalls, greater GPS requirements and product warranties. You can check out those bills

Mark Mitchell of Gizzi and Reep Law Firm in Benicia, Calif.

in greater detail at www.iadac.org by clicking the “Legislation” tab. Some important takeaways from the seminar: • Have your policies reviewed by a trusted attorney. Minute errors on your paperwork can be a basis for a complaint. • Check your insurance before you decide to repossess a vehicle on your own. You probably do not have coverage for that activity. • If you typically perform spot deliveries or use recourse lenders, know all the proper methods for reacquiring and reselling your asset. Also learn how to provide notifications to the customer, DMV and law enforcement. Without the support of our great sponsors this event would not have been possible. Special thanks to: • AUL Corp. • Budget Plus Insurance • Dealertrack • Lobel Financial • NextGear Capital

You’ll find below a list of the major bills passed in 2016 impacting the California auto industry. For full details you can access them in their entirety at www.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. AB 287: Safety Recalls (passed) Sponsored by the California New Car Dealers, this bill is the first safety recall bill in the nation. Language that would have impacted independent dealers was amended out. IADAC recommends dealers VIN check all vehicles through the safercar.gov (NHTSA) database, identify any safety recalls that might be present and have them repaired. If the repair cannot be performed and the recall does not create an unsafe condition, disclose to the customer the presence of a recall and explain how they can have it repaired at no cost by a franchise dealer. AB 265: GPS (passed) Those using GPS devices with starter-interrupt features must understand the new requirements to comply with this bill. AB 265 restates existing law to remind dealers customers must acknowledge in writing the presence of

tracking technology. If starter-interrupt features are being used, dealers must provide a warning before activating the starter-interrupt system. The warning must be sent out five days prior to activation for weekly payment contracts and 10 days prior to activation for all others. Then a final warning must be provided no less than 48 hours before activation. AB 516: Temp Tags (passed) This bill will require dealers to affix a temporary plate to any vehicle without a permanent plate at the time of sale. The temporary plate will be printed at the dealer’s office and display a unique number. The report of sale will be done online, ensuring a realtime update to vehicle owner information. As the mechanism is not fully developed, the bill will take effect Jan. 1, 2019. FTC Buyer’s Guides Effective Jan. 27, 2017, the FTC has revised the Buyer’s Guide. Dealers have until Jan. 27, 2018 to exhaust their current supply. Changes have been made to simplify language and provide greater understanding for the consumer.

LEGAL NEWS

BY JAMES S. SIFERS

LEGAL MINUTE Pitfalls in Non-English Deals

In California, it is not unusual for dealerships to have customers who speak little or no English. According to the 2010 Census, 42.98 percent of California residents age 5 and older spoke a language other than English as their primary language at home. In 1976, the California Legislature enacted Cal. Civ. Code § 1632 in light of “the state’s sizeable and growing Spanish-speaking population.” (Cal. Civ. Code § 1632(a)(1).) Section 1632 requires dealers who primarily negotiate a deal in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese or Korean to provide a translation of the contract or agreement in the language the deal was negotiated in prior to signing the English version. While a number of companies provide translations in each of the required languages for common documents used by dealers, many other documents generated by dealers and/or their software are only in English. Those additional documents often contain very important terms, such as negative vehicle history, which must be properly

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disclosed to customers prior to purchase. If a dealer is found to violate Section 1632, a court or arbitrator can order the contract unwound. Section 1632 claims are usually accompanied by an Automobile Sales Finance Act claim (Cal. Civ. Code § 2981, et seq.) and/or a Consumers Legal Remedies Act claim (Cal. Civ. Code § 1750, et seq.), which can provide additional remedies to the customer, including the imposition of an injunction, punitive damages and an award of attorneys’ fees. We all know that in every deal a dealership should use a Translated Contract Acknowledgement, even if it is just to check the box that the transaction was conducted solely in English. The form should state, where applicable, that fully filled-in translated copies of all documents signed by the customer were provided to the customer prior to the signing of the English-language versions of the documents. However, many dealers still obtain signatures on disclosures that are only in English. That begs the question: If the deal is primarily negotiated in a language other than English, how can an English-only disclosure be effective?

The answer is that disclosure probably is not effective. If your dealership does not carry a translation for every document signed by the customer for each language in which your dealership negotiates, you are setting your dealership up for a claim of improper and/or nondisclosure. Many attorneys, myself included, advise our clients to utilize documents that contain both English and Spanish (or whatever other language the dealership also negotiates in) versions of the common disclosures made to customers prior to purchase. This not only will cut down on the number of translated documents the dealership will have to utilize, but will also severely cut down on dealership staff making mistakes in utilizing the incorrect documents to make the necessary disclosures. If there is only one form that can be utilized, and that form contains both English and Spanish, the dealership will have set itself up to defend any claims of improper disclosure and/or nondisclosure of negative vehicle history on a claim that a disclosure was in the wrong language.

James S. Sifers, Esq., is an attorney at the law firm Madison Harbor.

www.iadac.org

ASSOCIATION NEWS

IN MEMORIAM: STAN SANDERS A Life of Cars and Rodeos

Stanley J. “Stan” Sanders was known throughout the Fresno area for excelling in two very different arenas: business and rodeo. He took over his father’s car dealership while still a teenager, expanding it in the 1960s and ‘70s while pioneering the idea of an auto brokerage. During that period of rapid professional growth, he also spent decades capturing roping titles at West Coast rodeos. Those who knew and loved him best said his love of family and his uncompromising morals were undercurrents to everything he did. “He always did the right thing,” daughter Stacy Peters said. “And he had two sides. He was a smart, shrewd, hard-working businessman, but he could also be so sweet and generous – a real study in contrasts.” Stan Sanders passed on Dec. 23. He was 73. Peters and Mr. Sanders’ three other children – sons Michael and Jason and daughter Fahmie Geron – recently gathered to discuss their dad’s legacy. They remembered being dragged by motor home to rodeos and coloring in Stan’s office while he closed million-dollar deals. Those early years taught them lessons about being independent, working hard and being successful. Mr. Sanders began his career at 14 by detailing cars for his father, J.H. Sanders, at his Ford dealership. By 16, he was driving cars to Clovis High School and selling them on the spot to his classmates. By 19, he had taken over the dealership. Over the next few decades, he expanded to locations in downtown Fresno and Clovis, including a Chrysler dealership and a Honda motorcycle shop. His wife, Jackie, worked at the dealership. Geron, who ran the family business from 1990 to 2000, said her father essentially created the first auto brokerage in town by opening a leasing office that could handle deals for all three U.S. automakers. Her father also dabbled in real estate – all the while explaining in meticulous detail to his four children the “what” and “why” of each business transaction. The showroom even had notches on the wall indicating the growing heights of all four. “He told me you need to learn to take care of yourself – how to make money on your own,” Peters said. “And if you find a man and get married, that’s great, but you have to be independent. It was the greatest gift anyone has ever given me.” To that end, Mr. Sanders made the heirs of his auto empire buy their own cars. “He wouldn’t even finance me,” eldest son Michael said with a laugh.

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“I used to iron his shirts for a quarter apiece,” Peters added. “I mean, we didn’t want for anything. He babied us, but we just had to work for things.” “He gave you the means to earn what you wanted,” Michael said. Mr. Sanders’ rodeo life began while he was in grade school. He was involved in Future Farmers of America, the Fresno County Junior Horse Owners Association and the Sunnyside Junior Riding Club. From his teen years until the day he died, he was a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He also helped found the American Team Roping Association. His roping career highlights included winning the team roping event at his hometown Clovis Rodeo and a PRCA year-end circuit championship that same year, as well as winning his division in 2013 and 2014. Mr. Sanders’ youngest child, Jason, followed in his father’s footsteps. He competed alongside him in rodeos and now owns the dealership. Jason Sanders remembers his father wearing three hats – boss, father and best friend – well. His father showed no favoritism on the job. He never yelled while playing any of the three roles. And despite his busy life, Mr. Sanders always made time for his children. “I played sports – badly – in grade school,” Jason said. “And he never stood me up. He never once missed a game. He’d come watch, and then he’d go right back to work.” Stan Sanders is survived by his wife of 43 years, Jackie (Hudson) Sanders; brother Steve Sanders and his wife Cheri; children Michael Sanders and wife Marci, Fahmie Geron and husband Dror, Stacy Peters and husband Patrick, and Jason Sanders and wife Nicole. He also leaves grandchildren Logan and Brody Sanders, Jonah and Jaden Geron, James and Levi Peters, and Jace Sanders as well as his nephews, Skylar and Shawn Sanders.

www.iadac.org

SPECIAL FEATURE

BY MIKE MACAULAY, WEST COAST DEALER EDITOR/CHAIR

CARTOON CONTEST Cartoon Art by Debra A. Himel

The contest winner for the February/March 2017 issue is my lovely wife, Joan Macaulay! Her winning caption is, “We have so much in common… Want to go for a test drive?” Please submit caption suggestions for this month’s cartoon soon after receiving the issue. We get close to the deadline for next issue when the current issue is mailed. Please send suggestions to my email: carsystems40@ yahoo.com.

ASSOCIATION NEWS

IN MEMORIAM: FRANK GROMAK, 1958-2017 Owner of GT Cars

You say Michigan, we say Frank, cars and hockey. Frank Gromak grew up in Holly, Mich., where he sold homegrown produce like green beans, corn and pumpkins. He remembered a customer asking what kind of apples he had. He answered, “Well, ma’am, we have only the best kind: red and delicious.” He would also tell customers his family only grew sweet corn, not just corn. Frank clearly had a knack for sales at a young age. Frank also helped his dad with his tractor and farm equipment business. He learned early how to take apart equipment, diagnose a problem and fix it. The family had a large pond on their property. When it froze, it became Frank’s playground. That is where Frank started to play hockey. He played goalie for Holly High and was lucky enough to have met Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, in 1967. That remained a highlight in his life. Frank graduated from Ferris State in 1980. Frank met his best friend and future business partner Ron Timms there. Once they graduated, Frank and Ron left for Texas. They did many jobs with dealers and fixed cars for anyone who needed it. With the poor economy in 1986, Frank and

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Ron moved to California, where they began fixing cars in Frank’s garage in Huntington Beach. Frank also worked at a Honda dealership during that time. In 1997, Frank and Ron created GT Motors and opened their used car business in Costa Mesa. Frank met his future wife Carole in 1989. They married in 1995 and lived in Huntington Beach. Sept. 11, 2001, brought difficult times for small dealers. Frank and Ron spent many weeks working on bettering their business and working more closely with customers. He also talked with many IADAC members about the challenges the car business would face, helping build a strong community of amazing business owners working together. Frank was an active member in the community and with IADAC, serving as president in 2002-2003. In 2003, GT Motors became GT Cars in Newport Beach. Former IADAC president Mike Macaulay said Frank, who had been on the IADAC executive committee during his term, was a “doer,” working diligently with dealers to elevate the strength of the IADAC community. “I served on the executive committee the entire time Frank was involved, including his time as president,” IADAC past president Rod Davis said. “He was a great leader and a real champion for our industry. We were in lots of meetings together and traveled around the state promoting IADAC. He was a good and honorable man in every way.” Frank will be missed by those he touched. His memory will be with us forever.

www.iadac.org

April/May 2017

WEST COAST DEALER

MARKET WATCH BY ZACH KLEMPF

AUTOMOTIVE FINANCE IN THE CROSSHAIRS Extreme Millennial Makeover

Important Note Zach Klempf, Millennial CEO of San Francisco-based CRM company Selly Automotive, will be our special guest at Manheim California on April 5. A special presentation directly after the auction will feature Zach discussing “Understanding and Selling to Millennials.” Do not miss this great opportunity. Do you know anybody who would look back on their first car purchase and say, “Ah, I miss the good old days of buying and financing a car?” I didn’t think so. Even Baby Boomers and Gen Xers recall their first car financing deal with groans more normally associated with root canals. Millennials in particular, with their onesecond click-to-load screen tolerance, have zero patience for that kind of old-school process pain. Having already blown up the traditional car buying experience with their smartphone digital addiction, Millennials are now targeting their next extreme makeover squarely on the dealership F&I shop. Let’s face it, automotive F&I has not exactly been considered a hotbed of innovation. For a lot of rooftops it’s still paper driven, painfully slow and pretty much a black hole. F&I managers don’t always share the reasons a customer was turned down or dig deep to find a way to make it work for every situation. It was just a matter of time before streamlining automotive financing by digitizing the process became the accepted way to capture Millennial mindshare. SHAKING UP THE F&I STATUS QUO Millennials have been at the forefront of disruption in the automotive industry and are a major cause for the push toward an e-commerce model. They are used to ordering anything they want online from their smartphones and having it delivered almost immediately via Amazon Prime and similar services. In an era in which smartphones are not only their primary information and entertainment sources but also increasingly their digital wallets, they want their car financing/leasing options to be equally online and effortless. Enter JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its new Chase Auto Direct offer, in partnership with online car buying platform TrueCar. The service combines auto financing with digital car buying. Pre-approved borrowers who applied via the Chase app are referred to one of Chase’s 14,000-plus affiliated dealerships, which have the car of interest in stock and the financing paperwork already

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waiting for them when they hit the lot. No hassle, no waiting. Just visit the showroom, then sign and drive. It’s a Millennial’s financing dream – as long as the app delivers on its promise of being digitally seamless and smooth. The service is available in 30 states currently and is expected to expand into all 50 during 2017. TrueCar has demonstrated strong leadership in this area by continuing to forge groundbreaking partnerships that improve the online car buyer’s total customer experience. In addition to its partnership with Chase Auto Direct, TrueCar also works closely with USAA, not only letting its members choose to finance a vehicle but also offering the option to secure insurance for the car as part of the same, integrated online car buying journey. Across the pond, BMW Group Financial Services U.K. is trying to jumpstart creative approaches to auto financing solutions with its Innovations Lab – a financial technology business incubator. The company invited five FIN TECH startups to help digitize the car F&I process and deepen its customers’ relationships with automotive manufacturers, dealerships and financing providers. The Innovation Lab runs for 10 weeks, starting in early October and ending with solution demonstrations in early December. In a recent AutoFinance News article, Innovation Lab general manager of product and channel development Jonny Combe said, “We know if you take that brilliance, that expertise in the startup community, and match it with our global scale, reach and our expertise, too, we can create something really new and radical for the consumer. “We don’t yet know what those solutions look like, but we know, having seen what’s out there in the startup community in the tech space, that there could be something that transforms or revolutionizes how our customers consume our goods and services.” The FIN TECH startups selected to participate in the revolutionary lab include: •D ivido, which offers a new approach to installment car financing via smartphones launched from within a BMW Centre or at home. •D rover, an online automotive rental marketplace connecting owners and drivers of licensed cars for use on ridesharing platforms. •U KVehicle.com, a big data play to connect buyers with every car available on the market that meets their requirements for hassle-free, worry-free car buying. •W arwick Analytics, which provides predictive analytics with the capability to make BMW Group Financial Services more efficient via automation of its data analytics. •W risk, a new take on insurance that focuses on people instead of their “things” to offer insurance that is both more flexible and smarter while lowering costs and increasing ease of use.

All of the new automotive financial services enabled by the latest FIN TECH developments hope to capitalize on an increasing number of Millennial auto financing requests. According to a recent Lending Tree study, they accounted for about 34 percent of the total U.S. requests from May 2015 through May 2016. The same study found Millennials favored new cars over used cars 53.6 percent to 46.4 percent. While the study did not delve into the reasons driving their preference for new cars, it’s interesting to speculate how much simplifying the Millennial used car financing experience via leading edge smartphone FIN TECH solutions might help narrow the gap. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Does all this FIN TECH automotive activity mean traditional dealership F&I shops are a thing of the past? In the short term, not likely. Even Chase Auto Finance head of retail lending Bruce Jackson said, “Customer financing at their dealerships will continue to be popular, and that won’t change anytime soon. But we want to be ready for where customers might be down the road.” What we will likely see is faster adoption of FIN TECH automotive solutions and less “old-school” dealership F&I practices. Many dealerships are aware of the disruption going on and will refresh their business models, processes and tools to make the needed adjustments to stay competitive. The segment most at risk are small used car dealerships that run on very low margins and don’t have the resources to compete online with franchise car dealers and some of the new automotive e-commerce players, and the scale of their FIN TECH partnerships. The pace of change in the automotive space is accelerating, with no signs of slowing down. With e-commerce players like Amazon entering the automotive arena and even recently partnering with Hyundai to offer 2017 Elantra test drives, born-online companies are continuing to disrupt the automotive buying process’ status quo. General Motors CEO Mary Barra said, “I’m on record as saying I think there’s going to be more change in the next five to 10 years than there’s been in the last 50 – and we’re going to talk a lot about what’s disrupting the industry, how we’re disrupting ourselves.” Buckle your F&I seatbelts and hang on as the rapid pace of automotive FIN TECH innovations continues to break speed barriers and force major overhauls to improve the car buying customer experience.

Zach Klempf is CEO of Selly Automotive, a mobile first CRM/ILM dealership software company. He can be reached at Zach@a1softwaregroup.com.

www.iadac.org

ACCELERATE

BY GWC WARRANTY

TIPS FOR A SUBPRIME SLAM DUNK Ensure Your Subprime Business Doesn’t Fluctuate

As the pendulum swings with subprime lending, it becomes increasingly difficult for dealers to give their subprime customers the best deal possible. But regardless of which way the subprime breezes are blowing, there are certain steps used car dealers can take to ensure their own subprime business doesn’t fluctuate with the annual ebbs and flows of the subprime market. The Right Inventory It starts with selection of inventory and moves on to the inventory you present to each individual customer. Head to auction with the subprime customer in mind. Do some research with your lenders beforehand to see which vehicles they’ve had subprime success with and target a few of those each time you’re acquiring inventory. Once they’re on your lot, present them to customers who pre-screen with subprime credit. Once you engage with the customer, try something along these lines: “Thanks for reaching out, Mr. Smith. I have three great vehicles here that match what you’re looking for and they’re vehicles I know we can get financed for you.”

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The Right Lenders Part of being able to select, present and finance the right vehicle for a subprime customer is having strong lender partnerships. Seek out lenders who know the subprime space well and operate in it frequently. Many can be local providers, so finding lenders who know your area well will help, too. Lenders that meet these criteria will be more consistent with their decisions and help you get more subprime deals approved on a regular basis. The Right Protection A common struggle on a subprime deal can be adding a vehicle service contract on the back end with a limited subprime advance. This is an obstacle you can certainly overcome – especially if you’ve worked on the first two points we’ve discussed. It’s a simpler solution than you might think, too. Just ask. And you might have to ask more than once, but good subprime lenders will understand the value of a service contract on a vehicle. Remind them of that if you need to. A service contract will keep a car on the road, protect a customer’s monthly budget and, in turn, lower the likelihood of a default. As you look at ways to breathe some life into your subprime business, remember three keys to successful subprime sales: the right inventory, the right lenders and the right protection.

April/May 2017

WEST COAST DEALER

INDUSTRY NEWS

SEMINAR AT MANHEIM SAN FRANCISCO BAY “Understanding and Selling to Millennials”

NextGear Capital and Manheim sponsored a Feb. 8 seminar titled “Understanding and Selling to Millennials.” Special guest Zach Klempf provided a phenomenal presentation and received kudos from all those in attendance. Zach is the 26-year-old CEO of CRM provider Selly Automotive. How does a dealer know if he’s missing a market? First, an understanding of that market is necessary. If you’re not in the age group of Millennials, you probably don’t have a clue what that generation is thinking. Because the digital and online appearance of your dealership is critically important to Millennials, you might not get a second look if, for example, your website isn’t mobile-ready. And that’s just the beginning. What check boxes do you have to hit to score a Millennial buyer? Attend Manheim California on April 5 to find out. Zach will be doing a repeat performance at Manheim California on April 5, right after the sale. If you’re a dealer who needs to get a leg up on your competition, you won’t want to miss this special event. There is no cost to attend.

ASSOCIATION NEWS

BY MIKE MACAULAY, WEST COAST DEALER EDITOR/CHAIR

EDITORIAL COMMENT

Update on Mentorship Program

In a recent issue I brought up the possibility of starting a mentor program for new and struggling dealers, and there has been positive feedback. A good idea has to have practical application. How do we make it work? I was thinking of introducing this program to new dealers as early as the mandatory New Dealer Education Class. Prospective dealers have to pass that class before obtaining a license. We could have volunteers attend the classes and present information on the program. We could also produce a pamphlet outlining our service to hand out to all prospects. We would have no charge for the service, and might get DMV to make it part of the packet for a prospective dealer. IADAC is a nonprofit association for the benefit of independent dealers. DMV would

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April/May 2017

probably help with our effort if asked. We have a great relationship with DMV director Jean Shiomoto. The fact is, the better educated the dealer, the fewer problems they might get into. We do not want to forget the dealers already in business. All dealers can benefit from our proposed program. We could mail out a pamphlet to recently licensed dealers. A mentor program, in my humble opinion, would help get the kind of IADAC members that see our real value. We get many new members who just join for the auction card program and have to have their arm twisted to renew the following year. A strong association will help keep dealers strong. UPDATE ON DEALER LICENSE RENEWALS DMV director Jean Shiomoto has agreed to help us help dealers with the renewal process. We plan to meet at DMV in the near future to streamline the antiquated procedure. I will keep you posted on all new information.

www.iadac.org

ASSOCIATION NEWS

BY MIKE MACAULAY, WEST COAST DEALER EDITOR/CHAIR

SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE

PRESIDENTIAL GET-TOGETHER

July 31, 2017

Reminiscing

Former IADAC presidents Bob Henry, John Hiatt and Mike Macaulay met recently for an executive lunch. Bob and John are from Santa Rosa. I now live in Santa Rosa but was president when I lived in the Roseville area. We decided to meet and talk about old times, since no one else listens to us anymore. We have been friends for many, many years. John Hiatt was IADAC president in 1959 and became the first NIADA president from California in 1973. Bob Henry was a twoterm IADAC president, in 1998-2000. I was president in 2000-2001. It was great to listen to Bob and John trade jabs back and forth. They had a friendly rivalry over the years. Every year after the IADAC Convention, John would race home and be first to sell the next year’s raffle tickets to Bob’s sales force. Bob would get back home and find his “pre-sold” tickets already gone. Bob Henry is retired from the auto business but keeps busy selling antiques. He recently lost his wife of 60 years, Beverly.

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IADAC past presidents (left to right) Bob Henry, John Hiatt (also an NIADA past president) and Mike Macaulay, IADAC magazine chairman. John Hiatt still runs his business, Hiatt Auto Sales, but the day-to-day operations are managed by sales manager Rudy and grandson Will. John recently lost his wife of 65 years, Dorine. I was president directly after Bob. In the early 90s, John recruited me to the IADAC magazine committee. We all have memories and many stories to tell of the wonderful times spent together. Lunch was great. We argued over who would pay the check. John won – or lost, depending on how you look at it.

IADAC dealer members who have children graduating high school with plans to seek higher education should be mindful of the July 31, 2017, deadline for scholarship application submissions. IADAC past president Vic Snyder and his wife Ethyl provided a significant donation to establish the scholarship fund in the 1970s. The Snyders believed in education and wanted each future generation of dealers’ children to have help achieving their goals. Children of IADAC dealer members with at least two full years as a member are eligible. Rules and application documents can be found at www.iadac.org. Be certain to double-check the requirements to avoid denial due to late filing. It is recommended you follow up with an email to trustee Don Head at don.head@att.net to confirm receipt of your application.

April/May 2017

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PRODUCTS AND SERVICES BY ROB LANGE

DEMYSTIFYING KELLEY BLUE BOOK VALUES Introducing New Series

For more than 90 years, Kelley Blue Book has been a trusted resource in providing market-reflective automobile values, helping bring buyers and sellers together through the use of comparable data. Those vehicle values are important to dealers – especially independent dealers, who might not have the luxury of large corporate budgets and must exercise pennywise scrutiny over their operations to be nimble and competitive and maintain profitability. You must make quick, informed and confident decisions while acquiring, marketing and turning your inventory, either through retail or wholesale outlets. Kelley Blue Book prides itself on being the most comprehensive, timely and localized source of the data you need to make those decisions. During those 90-plus years in the automotive industry, there have been continual and focused strides and investment to enhance Kelley Blue Book’s valuation process. Two notable adjustments are the move from single-point to range-based values, and moving valuation updates to weekly rather than monthly. Most will remember Kelley Blue Book providing a single-point trade-in value based on vehicle attributes and a consumer’s vehicle condition rating. After much research and testing, we began providing trade-in and retail pricing in a range-based format, because no two vehicles are exactly alike and to allow for flexibility between dealers and consumers to reach a fair agreement. We also changed some of the terminology for Kelley Blue Book values to better reflect the use of a specific value. The biggest change was the introduction of “auction value,” which is Kelley Blue Book’s guidance on what a specifically equipped vehicle should expect to sell for at auction in a specified market. Eight years after that change was made, there remains confusion among some dealers and industry partners about the use of “auction value” and “lending value.” Those kinds of questions initiated the idea a series of writings to provide additional insight about Kelley Blue Book would be beneficial to dealers and their teams. Also, we thought it helpful to paint the picture of Kelley Blue Book’s business today. The addition of more and varied data sources since the company became part of Cox Automotive and the availability of tremendous amounts of wholesale through retail transaction data and technological advancements allow us to significantly refine and provide an even more relevant snapshot of your local markets. We have moved toward providing values within 101 distinct regions and are able to

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track a vehicle through various transactions to provide a value for each touchpoint in the lifecycle of the vehicle. If there is a transaction, whether it’s taking in a vehicle on trade, buying at auction, retailing a car or financing through a lender, Kelley Blue Book provides guidance specific to your market. There are additional valuation enhancements to share that allow dealers to keep their finger on the true pulse of what any vehicle is doing in their area and help them feel confident they are making the most efficient buying, selling and lending decisions. How does having a better understanding of Kelley Blue Book values benefit you and your team? In addition to helping you make informed acquisition decisions, many of you would agree the majority of the retail car shoppers you engage with use the Internet as their main tool to prepare for a purchase. While online, many shoppers spend considerable time on third-party sites, with Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader the most used sites by both new and used car shoppers. Seventy-three percent of car shoppers rely on guidance from Kelley Blue Book and/or Autotrader, which also prominently displays Kelley Blue Book retail and trade-in guidance in its inventory listings. So the more familiar you and your sales team are with the information car shoppers use to set their trade-in and purchase expectations, the more your team will be able to consult, guide and engage them in meaningful, relevant conversations. When two parties come together with the same realistic, market-based information that is fair to both parties, deals are made quicker and easier in a buying experience that satisfies your customers’ expectations. That results in repeat and referral business, the lifeblood of longstanding profitable dealerships. That’s not to say all consumers have realistic buying expectations around price or trade values. Some just don’t understand what they read, misconfigure vehicle options, incorrectly condition their vehicle for trade-in value purposes or visit multiple sites offering conflicting information, which causes more confusion. They fall victim to “information overload,” pushing them to postpone the purchase until they get their legs back underneath them. Some consumers even choose not to believe the information presented to them. In any event, your understanding and sharing of independent, trusted third-party information from Kelley Blue Book – a respected, well-known, long established resource – can go a long way toward helping raise consumer comfort levels. Throughout this series, we will present a candid, behind-the-scenes look at all of the various aspects of Kelley Blue Book values. We will clarify any questions you might have to ensure you are referencing the correct

value for the transaction you are considering, and share how to use Kelley Blue Book wholesale values and retail values to connect with your customers by setting realistic expectations. You will find there is more to Kelley Blue Book values than you might previously have thought. Our goal is to raise the comfort level of your team and instill confidence that when you reference Kelley Blue Book values, you are gaining the guidance of the most comprehensive information available to help you buy and sell cars. This is a dynamic business, and with nearly 3,000 new vehicle choices and countless additional option combinations in the market, you all have had an instance in which the Kelley Blue Book value differed from what you believed the market to be on a specific model. We often speak with dealers who question a value on a particular car at a specific point in time, and you have every right to, because if we are providing guidance that affects your livelihood, you have every right to understand how we determine guidance on a value. Even with more than 250 auction, retail and other data sources incorporated into deriving Kelley Blue Book values, the sophisticated and time-tested algorithms that help standardize, normalize, cleanse and dissect the transaction data, and the expertise of the numerous statisticians and analysts who live their working lives gaining more and more insight into their specific assigned market segments and use that expertise to efficiently reflect the market, there will always be someone who has a question or concern about a specific year, make, model, equipment, color, mileage, condition and location of that particular value. However, the data-driven foundation of our values helps Kelley Blue Book validate, substantiate and stand behind the values published. Are there instances when we take a closer look and make adjustments based on your feedback and inherent knowledge of your market area? Absolutely. It is our responsibility to ensure we consider all information possible to provide the best reflection of the market for a specific vehicle. We are constantly implementing new and improved methods and tools to even further refine our valuation process with the ongoing goal of providing you and consumers the best possible information available today. Below is an outline of what we intend to cover over the next several months. We will build on the series each month, and by the end you will have a thorough understanding about referencing Kelley Blue Book values to help better connect with your customers. We hope you look for it each month, take the time to read it and engage when there are questions, because we truly want you to understand our purpose is to provide you the best-in-class values to help run your business. I look forward to providing all of that

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information, answering your questions, engaging with your feedback and establishing new dealer and industry relationships through the course of this series. Stay tuned for our next installment, covering “The Kelley Blue Book Values Progression.” Month 1 – Introduction and Overview • Introduction to the article series and why it will be valuable to dealers. • How it benefits you to have a deeper understanding (Kelley Blue Book’s relevance to transactions and consumer reliance on Kelley Blue Book values). • Kelley Blue Book today (bringing dealers up to speed on the upgrades in data and technology since introduction of weekly values). Month 2 – Values Progression and Definitions: A Value for Every Touchpoint in a Vehicle’s Lifecycle • What values are available from Kelley Blue Book. • Clarify the meaning of each value and when to reference it. • How Kelley Blue Book values relate to each other. Month 3 – Values Methodology: How Values are Derived • What factors into valuations/various data sources/timeliness of values to reflect the market.

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• The use of a combination of art, science and expert review, allowing us to validate and substantiate and stand behind our values. • Transition to range-based pricing. • Continued enhancements. Month 4 – Kelley Blue Book Values in the Deal: Bringing Buyers and Sellers Together • Depth of consumer reliance. • Setting realistic expectations to remove friction from the transaction. • Kelley Blue Book values in the transaction (price advisor, Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer and Lead Driver). Month 5 – Putting Kelley Blue Book Values to Work for You • Integrating Kelley Blue Book values into your dealership.

• Available dealer tools (inventory listings, price advisor details, window stickers, etc.). Month 6 – Cox Automotive Family Values • The reach and benefit of multiple data sources available through Cox Automotive. • How and when to leverage various Cox Automotive values – for example, Manheim Market Report, Kelley Blue Book and vAuto.

Rob Lange is the industry insights and education director for Kelley Blue Book. He can be reached at Rob.Lange@kbb.com.

April/May 2017

WEST COAST DEALER

2017

It’s my pleasure to personally invite you to the used vehicle industry’s biggest event of the year, one that will feature our most extensive education agenda yet, as well as networking, recognition of our industry’s best and a sold-out Expo Hall filled with the latest cutting-edge products and services, all geared toward making your business the best it can be. To get where you’re going, it’s vital to know where you’re headed and what lies between you and that goal. It helps immensely to have a map to guide you through the winds and currents along the route so you can chart an accurate course. That makes our theme for the 2017 NIADA Convention and Expo - “Chart Your Course” - very timely for today’s dealers. Like those sailors of old, independent used vehicle dealers need maps (metaphorically speaking) to guide them as well as knowledge of the conditions they’ll have to deal with and the obstacles they’ll encounter in order to arrive at their ultimate destination – success. Our job at NIADA is to provide the maps and knowledge – through the unmatched dealer training of the NIADA Convention and Expo – to help you chart a course and steer your dealership toward that destination. At this year’s conference you’ll find tools and ideas you can use to push your voyage forward in our four educational areas of focus: Retail Operations, Buy Here-Pay Here, Certified Pre-Owned and Operational Standards. And of course, we will continue our time-honored traditions.

INDUSTRY EXCLUSIVE Presenting for the first time ever, 2017 Buy HerePay Here Industry Benchmarks, provided from NABD and NIADA industry data.

So set sail for Vegas and I look forward to personally seeing you in June. At your service, Chuck Bonanno

Steve Jordan NIADA | CEO

94%

95%

of the attendees surveyed said the information presented was “Very Useful”

of the attendees surveyed said the convention achieved their objectives.

WEST COAST DEALER

Ken Shilson

April/May 2017

CLICK OR CALL!

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ROOMS FOR ONLY $150 PER NIGHT!

OVERVIEW OF CONVENTION EDUCATIONAL AREAS OF FOCUS: RETAIL: NIADA director of dealer development and industry icon Joe Lescota is featured in multiple tracks that cover all aspects of retail operations, including sales, marketing, financing, inventory management, CPO and much more.

OPERATIONAL STANDARDS: NIADA senior vice

BUY HERE-PAY HERE: NIADA national director

CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED: Learn why CPO is the hottest

of 20 Groups Chuck Bonanno and the BHPH world’s best and brightest guide you through best practices in underwriting, collections and more, as well as the latest payment assurance technology.

president of legal and government affairs Shaun Petersen is among the legal and industry experts who will get you up to date on the ever-changing regulatory and legislative issues that affect your business, and offer strategies to stay on the good side of regulators.

item in the used vehicle industry and how you can get your share of the record-setting certified market from 2016 NIADA CPO Dealer of the Year Todd Hoagey and other top CPO dealers.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: CAPTAIN RICHARD PHILLIPS Keynote speaker sponsored by:

The inspiration for the hit movie Captain Phillips and author of A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea, Captain Richard Phillips was at the center of a dangerous drama in 2009 when his merchant vessel, the MV Maersk Alabama, was seized by Somali pirates in the first hijacking of a U.S. ship in more than 200 years. Having risked his own life to protect his crew, Phillips was taken by the pirates as a hostage and held in a small lifeboat. After a five-day ordeal, he was rescued by members of the famed Navy Seal Team 6. He’ll offer his perspective on the power of leadership, teamwork, training, belief in self and an unyielding, never-give-up attitude.

Book rooms at The Mirage for only $150 per night including resort fee, in-room Internet and fitness center access!

REGISTER TO ATTEND BY APRIL 15 FOR A SPECIAL DISCOUNTED RATE OF $449 PER PERSON. A TOTAL SAVINGS OF $200! *USE PROMO CODE: StateDealer

99%

of those surveyed said they are “Very Likely” to attend the NIADA Convention in the future.

www.niadaconvention.com

www.iadac.org

*DEALER ATTENDEES ONLY

95%

said they would recommend this event to a friend or colleague.

800-682-3837

April/May 2017

WEST COAST DEALER