4 minute read
O f fi c e r s ’ M e s s a g e
officers’ message
TIADA Has Your Back with the Support of INDEPAC
by Ryan
Winkelmann
BJ’s Autohaus (Houston) TIADA SECRETARY
In a perfect world, I’d get three extra sets of keys with each car I purchased for resell. I’d pay $1,000 below wholesale book, finance it in-house on a two-year term and collect every payment as scheduled on the contract. My customers would enthusiastically greet me and my staff every time we crossed paths, and they would give me an unsolicited A+ review online as a way to say Thank You for all we do!
Well, that’s a not so common occurrence in our industry. As dealers, we have a choice each and every day as to how we approach our path in business ownership, customer and employee relations. Each day comes with its own set of challenges and tests our perseverance in a multitude of imperfect world scenarios. I’ve recently pretended to take myself out of the driver seat of my business as the owner of my company and started referring to my company as my imaginary new boss. I’m simply not allowed to make a decision that could negatively affect my boss/business in any way, because I could become unemployed as a result of not adhering to the absolute best interest of my company’s expectations of me. This has created some fictional oversight I’ve needed from time to time when making tough decisions that come with heavier risk.
This same level of discretion happens daily at TIADA, who is shielding your business from horrible legislation each and every year. As I’ve written in previous articles, a very small percentage of our membership has joined our efforts to defeat legislation that would have cost your dealership thousands of dollars each year. Most recently, legislators introduced the “Crusher Bill” that would have allowed auto dismantlers to accept vehicles without a title that are 12 years old or older, and haven’t been subject to a lien in the last 4 years. Essentially, as long as the vehicle wasn’t sold in the last 4 years, and it’s 12 years old or older then they could pay our customer the scrap metal value and crush it without having a title in hand. Even if you sold a vehicle 4 years ago, that doesn’t mean that the person driving the vehicle has paid off the vehicle. There are times that we are looking for, or at least have a secured interest in a vehicle we financed, way past 3–4 years after we sold it or recorded the actual lien.
Two years ago, I asked a legislator what he thought a 12-year-old Ford F250 with average mileage was worth. His answer, “I don’t know, about $1,500?” He looked like he had just lost a bet forfeiting his kid’s college tuition when I told him it was actually $16,000 retail.
The average age of a vehicle on the streets today is 11.5 years old, which is actually increasing as vehicles become more expensive. The average age on the street is getting older, not newer. Experian shows that liens just 2 years ago were around 3–4 years old, and currently we are seeing more liens that are 4–5 years old. After many discussions with fellow dealers, I’m thinking this is a direct result of us needing to extend the length of the notes due to the ever-increasing cost of vehicles. It shouldn’t actually take a car dealer long to to understand how devastating a bill like this could be to us. I know there are many dealers reading this that sell 8-yearold vehicles and older for 4–5 year contracts. Each and every one of those deals would be subject to the “Crusher Bill” on the fourth year of their contract. So, in other words, on the vehicle’s 12th year, and assuming you recorded a lien on the vehicle just 4 years prior, a customer could take your vehicle to a crusher without the need of having the title and you’re never going to see it again. I’ve lost a few vehicles to scrap yards illegally in the past several years. It doesn’t make me feel any better to think I could lose them legally just because some law makers have decided 12-yearold vehicles have no value.
I’m asking that you consider helping us with our continued efforts through our political action committee, INDEPAC. Your generous donations gain us a seat at the table to inform our friends in the Texas House and Senate what really happens in the trenches of our industry. Our communications aid them in making more informed decisions when considering legislation that could be harmful to us.
I’m looking forward to seeing and meeting many of our members at the TIADA Conference and Expo where we can discuss the most up to date efforts of the INDEPAC committee personally. I hope you will consider a contribution to INDEPAC and join us on the front line of protecting our industry for years to come.
