PRESIDENT Ryan Winkelmann/BJ’s Autohaus 5005 Telephone Road Houston, TX 77087
PRESIDENT ELECT
Eddie Hale/Neighborhood Autos PO Box 1719 Decatur TX 76234
Mark Jones/MCMC Corporate 264 Exchange Burleson, TX 76028
Vicki Davis/A-OK Auto Sales 23980 FM 1314 Porter, TX 77365
Greg Phea/Austin Rising Fast 8024 IH 35 North Austin TX 78753
VICE PRESIDENT, WEST TEXAS (REGION 1)
Brad Kalivoda/Fiesta Motors 2599 74th Street Lubbock, TX 79423
VICE PRESIDENT, FORT WORTH (REGION 2)
Greg Reine/Auto Liquidators 39670 LBJ Freeway Dallas TX 75237
VICE PRESIDENT, DALLAS (REGION 3)
Chad Lancaster/Chacon Autos 11800 E. Northwest Hwy Dallas TX 75218
VICE PRESIDENT, HOUSTON (REGION 4)
Russell Moore/Top Notch Used Cars 900 East Davis Conroe, TX 77301
VICE PRESIDENT, CENTRAL TEXAS (REGION 5)
Robert Blankenship/Texas Auto Center 6809 Suite B S IH35 Austin, TX 78744
VICE PRESIDENT, SOUTH TEXAS (REGION 6)
Armando Villarreal/McAllen Auto Sales, LLC 4215 S. 23rd St McAllen, TX 78503
VICE PRESIDENT AT LARGE Lowell Rogers/11th Street Motors 1355 N 11th St, Beaumont, TX 77702
VICE PRESIDENT AT LARGE Cesar Stark/S&S Motors 7699 Alameda Ave. El Paso, TX 77915
TIADA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jeff Martin
9951 Anderson Mill Rd., Suite 101 Austin, TX 78750
Office Hours M-F 8:30am – 4:30pm 512.244.6060 • Fax 512.244.6218 jeff.martin@txiada.org
by Ryan Winkelmann, TIADA President
9 Legal Corner: Some Repossession Basics For Car Creditors
by Michael W. Dunagan
12 TIADA Membership Application
14 On The Cover: The FTC Safeguards Rule and Your Dealership by Stephen Pallas
21 Penetration Testing: What It Is and Why It Matters to Your Dealership by Robbie Hudson
25 Letter from the INDEPAC Committee
27 Car Dealership Marketing Ideas –Affordable & Effective by John Hozjan
32 2023 TIADA Recruitment Challenge
33 CECL: Beyond the New Accounting Standard by Robert Parnas
41 Save the Date: 2023 TIADA Conference & Expo
TIADA
by Jeff Martin
Notice to all members concerning services and products: TIADA was established in 1944 to develop professional standards of service and conduct for the independent auto industry. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the TIADA management, the Board of Directors or the member ship. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers or their indemnifications of TIADA does not constitute endorsement of the products or services featured.
Editor: Stephen Pallas Magazine Ad Sales: Patty Huber, 512-310-9795
“You don’t drift into good habits.”
Ioverheard a new member of a men’s group I attend week ly contribute this statement while talking about personal success and goal achievement. While recently creating a few positive personal habits of my own, that quote really resonated with me since seeing some rewards of those new habits materialize.
I’ve been reading many articles lately warning of the figu rative life vest all BHPH dealers will soon need, with all of the “free money” and federal assistance we’ve all become ac customed to, no longer available.
I often think of a cartoon I once saw where a young college graduate took over his grandpa’s lifelong and very successful gourmet hot dog business at the start of an economic down turn. The young man quickly convinced his grandpa that they needed to immediately adapt to the current economic climate by buying cheaper buns, fewer quality ingredients, and making pay cuts. Sure enough, within a year, the once flourishing business was out of business. The young man as sured his grandpa that his exit into retirement couldn’t have been timed more appropriately. “I guess you’re right, grand son,” said the old man. Wrong! That business was run straight into the ground by an inexperienced young man with no good plan to overcome economic obstacles.
Steering back to my opening quote. “You don’t drift into good habits.” Good habits are created. Growing up in this
by Ryan Winkelmann BJ’s Autohaus (Houston) TIADA PRESIDENT
business, I’ve seen many times (usually every 8-10 years or so) where the auto industry was greatly affected by an economic downturn for one reason or another. Some new dealers may argue, well, it wasn’t this bad back then, it wasn’t Covid, there were no shutdowns, it didn’t last this long. They’re right; it wasn’t this bad. It was much worse, I believe. What there “wasn’t” was a safety net of forgivable PPP loans, low-interest federal handouts for businesses approved for 10x the money they needed to operate, and an entire country of people with pockets filled with more money than they earned at the job they may have lost. At least that’s what it looked like in our industry.
So, what do we do now? What good habits must we cre ate? We don’t know how long this will last. We don’t know the long-term effects of any of what we’ve gone through. If grandpa had a crystal ball, would he have turned over his business to his inexperienced grandson once again, or would he have kept the training wheels on a bit longer and pushed his business over the hump like he had done many times before?
Rather than sharing a broad spectrum of speculations from charts, graphs, and outside-the-trenches viewpoints on what to expect from all of this, I’ll share a few per sonal ideas that I’m sure other dealers who have weathered storms in the past would agree with. Let’s save some of our gourmet hotdogs from being repossessed, and let’s save our businesses from some of the avoidable losses where possible.
...three common loss scenarios we all face as dealers... and a few ideas to improve our chance of making it through this tough economic era.
For the sake of limited space in this article, I’ll share three common loss scenarios we all face as dealers about repos sessions and a few ideas to improve our chance of making it through this tough economic era. Let’s address that figura tive life vest and start by building it before the potential re possession landslide we’ve been warned of happens.
I’m friends with a once very large dealer who would say you have to “keep ’em on the road” (fix the car) to keep growing your accounts. I agree, and I think that proper money management as it relates to keeping them on the road is also worth considering, since money is hard to come by at times. Transmissions, engines, and major repairs cost a lot of money, and we are not a charity, as my dad used to say. Assisting in customer maintenance cannot simply be a hand out over the fear of losing an account. Assuming they are out of warranty, have no active service contract, or have no life vest of their own, here’s one idea on managing mechanical issues to save the account without breaking their bank or yours.
We control and manage the repair, not simply provide it. When a customer is nearing repossession or returning their vehicle due to a maintenance issue, or they are not fi nancially able to cover this issue, there are plenty of factors
to consider. Most likely, the national brake specialist/con glomerate down the road just convinced them that their life was in jeopardy if they didn’t immediately act on the $1,200 brake job quoted. Most likely, with their empathy sounding something like, “The dealer you bought this from shouldn’t have sold this vehicle to you in this condition.”
You’re usually informed of this imperative repair request from your collector. Do you offer a payment deferment to the customer while they make unnecessarily bloated repair payments to the shop? No. You control and manage the re pair by getting the customer to your shop or vendor and, if needed, partially front the limited actual cost of the repair compared to them paying retail and keeping ’em on the road. Not only can you usually recover your actual repair cost from your customer as a down payment on the bill when the car is ready, but it’s also a money maker and ser vice you can provide that will end with them thanking you if handled right.
In my experience, shutting the door on your customer when they are pleading for help with a maintenance issue never ends profitably. For BHPH dealers, whether we have a shop or not, we are in the repair business. Let’s use our contacts and relationships to assist our customers, espe cially through a crashing economy. They’re not asking or demanding help because they dislike the deal we’ve made,
Dealer Question: I’m new to the Buy-Here-Pay-Here business and I’ve gotten conflicting informa tion about handling repossessions. I have been told by some that I have to send a certain notice prior to repossession and others tell me I don’t. Also, I am confused about the so-called “10-day” reposses sion notice and the “20-day” notice and whether I should dispose of repossessed vehicles at a “public” or a “private” sale. Can you clear up those questions for me?
The questions you raise are a com mon source of confusion for se cured creditors, including BHPH dealers. But a good understanding of repossession procedures and the various types of notice letters is critical to avoiding repossessionrelated compliance issues. The Uniform Commercial Code or UCC (the Texas version is referred to as the Texas Business and Commerce Code or TBCC) is the main source of statutory authority regulating the repossession and disposition of col lateral. There are also statutory ref erences to repossession procedure in the Texas Finance Code.
The TBCC and the Finance Code do not require prior notice of repossession in Texas. Some states have prerepossession notice requirements with corresponding mandatory wait periods to give the debtor an opportunity to pay up before repos session can take place, but Texas does not. In the Texas Automobile
by Michael W. Dunagan
TIADA COUNSEL
Car creditors should familiarize themselves with and strictly follow the rules. Notice forms should be obtained only from trusted sources and care should be taken to ensure that the actual procedure used matches the type of disposition for which notice is given.
Repossession: A Lien Holder’s Legal Guide book, there is a pre-repos session form (referred to as a “cure letter”) that can be sent to offer the debtor an opportunity to bring the account current and to advise the debtor that late or partial payments will not be accepted going forward. This notice is not mandated by law and is offered as an option for the cautious creditor who wants to avoid any appearance of unfair ness in exercising the repossession remedy.
Most BHPH dealers use either Strict Foreclosure — Acceptance of Collateral In Satisfaction (we’ll refer to it simply as strict foreclosure) or private sale as these methods are more appropriate for the BHPH business model. We’ll discuss why public sale may not be appropriate
for most dealers later. Let’s put strict foreclosure aside for the moment to address the dealer’s first question.
“Public sale” is defined in an of ficial comment to the Uniform Commercial Code as a sale “at which the price is determined after the public has a meaningful op portunity for competitive bidding.” This implies that the sale is adver tised to bring in a large number of people bidding against each other and is open to the public. This type of sale might be more appropriate to the sale of large trucks or heavy equipment, or the liquidation of a large fleet of vehicles. It would be unusual for a BHPH dealer to want to bear the expense of placing advertisements or legal notices in
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a newspaper, and to hold a competi tive bid sale for one or two repos sessed units.
“Private sale,” on the other hand, is not defined by the UCC, but is generally considered to be anything that is not a public sale. The sale of a repossessed vehicle by the secured party (in this case a BHPH dealer) at the dealer’s lot in the normal course of the dealer’s business is considered a private sale. The sale could be at retail or wholesale, as long as the sale is “commercially reasonable.”
The sale could be for cash or could be financed. The sale of a vehicle at a wholesale auto auction is usu ally considered to be a private sale because the auction is only open to licensed dealers (as opposed to the public).
Thus, in choosing between a pub lic sale and a private sale it would appear that a private sale would probably be the better method for most BHPH dealers. But as we dis cussed earlier, there is another op tion that many BHPH dealers prefer, and that is strict foreclosure.
Prior to the mid-1980s, almost all vehicle repossessions were handled as private sales. In a private sale, the collateral is held for a period of time after notice of private sale is sent to the debtor (usually 10 days; thus the private sale notice is often referred to as the “10-day” letter), then the collateral is resold in a commercially reasonable manner, and the proceeds of sale are applied against the indebt edness. If the proceeds of resale fall short of the amount owed, there is a deficiency, and the creditor can pur sue collection of that deficiency.
If, on the other hand, the resale is at a price higher than the amount owed by the debtor, then there is a surplus (or the debtor’s equity in the vehicle), and the creditor must remit this amount to the debtor. Another way to describe this lat ter situation is that the debtor has a positive equity position in the collateral and is entitled by law to receive the surplus amount from
the creditor. The creditor in a pri vate sale does not automatically take ownership of the repossessed col lateral, but instead has a property right in the collateral that enables the creditor to sell the property and apply the proceeds to the indebted ness owed. The creditor’s interest in the collateral in a private sale is thus limited to the indebtedness owed.
The use of a private sale by a BHPH dealer to resell a repossessed vehicle can create some problems. For instance, if the vehicle is sold at retail with dealer financing, the dealer only receives the amount of the down payment (and value of any trade in) at the time of the transac tion. However, the entire sale price, including the amount financed, must be applied against the balance that the prior debtor owes. This could result in a surplus that would have to be paid to the prior debtor even though the amount financed on the resale won’t be received unless and until all future payments are made by the second debtor.
To avoid having to account to the prior debtor for a “paper” surplus, some car creditors have attempted to “book” the repossessed unit into inventory at the amount owed, then ignored the actual resale transaction. Courts have consistently held that the actual resale is what counts, not an accounting entry made by the creditor.
Strict foreclosure started catching up with private sale as the method of choice in the BHPH industry in the late ‘80s, and by the early ‘90s, had actually overtaken the private sale as the preferred method by BHPH deal ers. Currently, strict foreclosure is by far the predominate method.
In a strict foreclosure, a notice of intention to accept the repossessed collateral in satisfaction of the in debtedness is sent to the debtor. If no written objection is received in 20
days (thus, strict foreclosure notice is often referred to as the “20-day letter”), ownership of the collateral reverts back to the creditor. Because the collateral is taken in satisfaction of the indebtedness, there can be no deficiency (and correspondingly, there is no surplus) upon resale. The 20-day holding period is statutory and can’t be shortened by the credi tor. After the 20-day holding period expires, and absent a written objec tion by the debtor, ownership of the collateral reverts to the dealer who can dispose of it as he or she sees fit. No accounting has to be made to the debtor. Any balance remaining of the debtor’s account is forgiven and thus no deficiency can be reported to a credit bureau.
Car creditors can choose whichever method best meets their purposes, and can switch back and forth, if they want. However, care must be taken to follow the rules for whichever meth od is chosen and to use the appro priate notice letter. We recommend checking notice letters before they are mailed since the wrong key on the computer keyboard may have been punched producing the wrong form.
The following is a list of the main characteristics and differences be tween private sale and strict foreclo sure. (A much more detailed explana tion can be found in Texas Automobile Repossession: A Lien Holder’s Legal Guide, available from TIADA.)
Private Sale:
Holding period is at least 10 days.
Debtor has the right to redeem ve hicle at any time before disposition is completed (the redemption right doesn’t end at the expiration of the holding period, but rather when the vehicle is sold).
Disposition must be “commer cially reasonable.”
Disposition can be retail sale, wholesale sale, or sale at wholesale auto auction. Disposition can be for cash or dealer-financed, but credit for entire sales price must be given on a dealer-finance transaction.
Creditor must apply proceeds of disposition to balance owed and calculate surplus or deficiency. If surplus occurs, payment of surplus amount must be made to repos sessed debtor along with a postdisposition accounting that is sent to the debtor.
Creditor can sue for any deficiency and/or report deficiency to credit bureau, if post-disposition ac counting is given.
sale, use the private sale proce dure and make a commerciallyreasonable resale. Post-disposition accounting rules apply.
Strict foreclosure can’t be used if more than 60 per cent of origi nal cash price has been paid in (“60-per-cent rule”). If the 60-percent rule applies, the creditor must send a private sale notice and use the private sale method to dispose of the collateral.
Strict Foreclosure (also known as “Acceptance of Collateral in Satisfaction”):
Balance owed is extinguished. Deficiency no longer exists and can’t be reported to credit report ing agency.
Holding period is 20 days from date that notice of intent to accept collateral in satisfaction is sent.
A debtor has the right to redeem the collateral upon payment of balance during 20-day holding period.
No accounting to debtor of dispo sition is required.
Ownership of the collateral re verts to the creditor if 20 days ex pire without written objection to the strict foreclosure from debtor or guarantor.
If written objection is received in the 20-day holding period, the creditor must send notice of private
This brief discussion of the differences between public sale, private sale and strict foreclosure isn’t intended to cover all the tech nical legal requirements for postrepossession procedure. Car credi tors should familiarize themselves with and strictly follow the rules. Notice forms should be obtained only from trusted sources and care should be taken to ensure that the actual procedure used matches the type of disposition for which notice is given.
Michael W. Dunagan is an attorney in Dallas, Texas who has represented the Texas Independent Automobile Dealers Association for over 45 years. He has written a number of books and hundreds of articles for trade journals and law reviews. His clientele includes dealers, banks, finance companies, auto auctions and credit unions.
The creditor in a private sale does not automatically take ownership of the repossessed collateral, but instead has a property right in the collateral that enables the creditor to sell the property and apply the proceeds to the indebtedness owed.
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Tom Carter, Senior Attorney for the Federal Trade Commission, gave a keynote presentation at the 2022 TIADA Conference and Expo. The Federal Trade Commission recently issued a final rule to amend the Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information, with components of the rule going into effect on January 10, 2022, and December 9,
2022. This rule requires dealers to put in place specific policies and procedures to protect their cus tomers’ financial information. The changes adopted to the Safeguards Rule include more specific criteria for what safeguards dealers must implement as part of their informa tion security program, such as lim iting who can access consumer data and using encryption to secure the
data. Mr. Carter also discussed the Used Car Rule, which requires car dealers to display a window sticker, known as a Buyers Guide, on the used cars they offer for sale.
Mr. Carter began by presenting an overview of the FTC, its mission and purpose, and the scope of its authority. The framework for the Safeguards Rule was the Gramm Leach Bliley ACT (GLBA), enacted
in 1999 to regulate the privacy and data security practices of financial institutions, including dealerships.
“The Safeguards Rule was re cently amended, and some of those amendments will go into effect in December of this year,” Mr. Carter said. “But this rule has been around for a long time, and I hope that you are aware of it and have been complying with it—pro tecting your consumers’ financial information. The safeguards are going to require certain commonsense things to protect the infor mation that you obtain from your consumers. It covers non-banking financial institutions, such as mo tor vehicle dealers.”
Mr. Carter enumerated the kinds of personal information that dealers will typically col lect—names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers—and stressed that all financial institu tions are subject to the regulations covered by the Safeguards Rule. It is important to note that almost all independent dealers, whether BHPH or retail, are covered by this rule.
“When you start lending and extending credit, and servicing loans, that’s when you get [in cluded],” he said. “I would suspect everyone that’s in the car business is either going to be financing it yourself or selling the financing or relying on others to finance.”
According to the Safeguards Rule, all dealers who are covered must “implement and maintain a comprehensive information secu rity program.” The plan must be in writing and contain protections for administrative, technical, and physical safeguards.
There is a new provision in the Safeguards Rule that requires
institutions to appoint a quali fied individual to coordinate their security program. The qualified individual is now responsible for reporting annually to the organi zation’s board of directors or busi ness owners.
“Previously it could have been a group of people,” Mr. Carter said. “But we decided when we pro mulgated the most recent amend ments, that we really wanted one person that the Federal Trade Commission could go to, or any body could go to, and get infor mation about what’s happening, what safeguards are in place, if there’s been a breach, and how it’s being handled.”
Mr. Carter also brought up the Rule’s training requirements, that all employees must have aware ness of the necessary security measures in place, and that any body with access to the consum ers’ private information has spe cialized training.
“We talk about training all your employees to have security aware ness,” Mr. Carter said. “But cer tainly specialized training for any body that has access to this kind of consumer information that needs to be protected. Talk about your information systems and how you’re going to deal with and prevent and respond to attacks.”
The amended Safeguards Rule now requires dealerships to de velop a written response plan, the objectives of which are: to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer information;
to protect against anticipated threats or hazards to the secu rity or integrity of that infor mation; and to protect against unauthor ized access to that information that could result in substantial
harm or inconvenience to any customer.
In addition to creating the writ ten response plan, dealers are re sponsible to monitor it on a regu lar basis.
“You should be logging, keeping track of who has access and when they’ve accessed data,” Mr. Carter said. He also underscored the re sponsibilities of dealers to monitor their service providers as well as their own businesses. “If you bring in someone as a service provider and give them access to the informa tion that needs to be protected, then they need to protect it as well. And you need to have it in your contract that they have to protect it.”
The FTC has made an exemption for smaller dealerships, those that maintain the information of fewer than 5000 consumers. That number can be a bit misleading, and Mr. Carter cautioned the audience to be careful about how they assess the amount of personal information they keep on file.
“I think if you stop and think about it, you might get to that 5000 number a little quicker than you realize,” he said. Relatively small operations may still be covered.” In other words, it is essential for deal ers to understand how to calculate the number of consumers whose information they keep on file be cause even smaller dealerships can fall under the new requirements of the Safeguards Rule.
TIADA has developed a course that fulfills the Safeguards Rule’s training requirement for the qualified individual and all other employees. The course helps dealers understand how to stay compliant with this federal law. Information about the course can be found on page 17 and at txiada.org/safeguards-rule
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In 16 CFR 314.2 (m), the FTC defines penetration testing (otherwise known as a pen test) as:
“a test methodology in which assessors attempt to cir cumvent or defeat the security features of an information system by attempting penetration of databases or controls from outside or inside your information systems.”
In laymen’s terms, penetration testing is a simulated cyber-attack against your computer systems to check for exploitable vulnerabilities. Think of it like a bank hiring someone to try and gain access to their vault. Whether the test succeeds or fails, the financial institu tion will gain valuable information on what they can do to strengthen their security. This is the goal of the pen etration test for you, alert you of security issues before hackers can take advantage of them.
The last couple of years have thrown a lot at dealers. A pandemic, staffing issues, and inventory issues are among them. At the end of last year, the FTC gave us another gift when it revised the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) Safeguards Rule, which was originally enacted in 2002. The most significant changes more granularly define existing elements of the required information security programs and the addition of re quirements that we, as financial institutions, have. One of these requirements is annual penetration testing.
More specifically, the FTC rule requires that financial institutions (including dealerships) must “regularly monitor and test the effectiveness of [their] safe guards.” This means either “continuous monitoring of your system” or “annual penetration testing.”
The goal of a pen test is to examine the effectiveness
of your dealership’s cybersecurity policies, but you may have several questions about why you need one or how they work. Penetration testing can be among the most effective defenses against weaknesses in your system.
Isn’t that just a vulnerability scan and assessment like I do for Payment Card
Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)?
No. Vulnerability scans assess computers, systems, and networks for security weaknesses, also known as vulnerabilities. These scans are often automated and give you a glimpse at what might possibly be exploited. Some limitations of vulnerability scans are false posi tives and the fact that they do not confirm if a vulner ability is exploitable. While vulnerability scans are informative (and required now as well), they are still a passive approach to information security and not an actual test. Vulnerability scans are automatic, effective, and relatively affordable, but they do not have nearly the scope of a pen test.
What does a penetration test do that’s different?
The primary difference between the two is the depth to which the test goes. Vulnerability scans are generally
automated tests where a piece of software scans your systems for known exploits and generates a report. Penetration testing uses a mix of automated tools and manual techniques, including an actual security expert trying to take advantage of those potential exploits. It is a more detailed and hands-on method for protecting your dealership against potential threats. Because pen tests are performed by cybersecurity experts, they can provide a better view of what vulnerabilities actually exist in your system, how they might be exploited, and offer guidance for remediation.
It can be a little different depending on who is per forming the test but can generally be broken down into five phases.
In this phase, the tester gathers as much informa tion about the target systems as they can, including in formation about the network topology, domain names, operating systems and applications, user accounts, and other relevant information. The goal of this step is to give the tester enough information that they can plan an effective attack strategy.
Once the tester has gathered enough information in the reconnaissance phase, they will move on to scan ning. In this phase, the tester will use various tools to identify vulnerabilities, open ports, and other areas of weakness within a network’s infrastructure and systems. Because open ports are potential entry points for attack ers, penetration testers will also identify as many open/ listening ports as possible for the next phase of the test.
Once that information has been collected, pen etration testers leverage various tools and manual pro cesses to exploit any weaknesses or vulnerabilities. In any area that they do gain access, testers attempt to imitate the scope of the potential damage that could be generated from a ma licious attack.
This phase really helps identify the potential impact of a vulnerability exploit by leveraging access privileges to achieve a state of constant pres ence within your environment. The tester wants to see if they can stay undetected, access as many sys tems as possible, and exfiltrate as much data as possible. This is the phase where a tester will try to demonstrate just how bad a breach may be for you.
This is where your tester will provide you with a final report. Some of the information that should be included is: The seriousness of the risks caused by the vulnerabilities discovered
The tools and methods used to successfully penetrate a system
Highlighted areas where security had been implemented correctly
List of the vulnerabilities that were exploited and remediation recommendations.
The short answer is yes. But you probably shouldn’t. You may choose to do it yourself if you have a skilled IT staff with a cybersecurity background. FTC guidelines do not require that you hire or consult a third party. But I would recommend it. Having a third party perform your penetration testing helps ensure that you have
certified, experienced, and specialized staff who are trained to think like hackers performing these tests. It would help if you also considered the costs for ongoing training, education, and tools that would be required should you choose to perform these tests with internal staff.
There is no shortage of companies that offer penetra tion testing services. You will want to make sure you properly vet any company before hiring them to conduct your pen test. Because testing methods and techniques can vary slightly, your vendor should be able to provide a straightforward explanation of the steps they take and the tools they use to complete the test. If a potential vendor cannot explain its process in a way that is clear to you, it may be best to use another company. Their reporting af ter conducting the test should include a summary of their findings, an overview of your dealership’s vulnerabilities, and an action plan for remediation.
You will also want to ensure that anyone conducting your pen test holds certifications that demonstrate their expertise. These certifications include the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification, the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certifi cation, the GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN) certifica tion, and the GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester (GWAPT) certification.
Finally, you will want to ask any prospective vendor how they will protect your deal ership’s data during and after they conduct the pen test and how they will avoid hanging up your system. You will want to work with a vendor who can efficiently address your operation al concerns to prevent any disruptions to your business. It is imperative that they can answer how they ensure the security of data, both internally and externally.
I’m sure many of us would have preferred that the FTC had saved its effort and kept this “gift” to them selves. However, one of the most important reasons to get pen testing done should be to gain peace of mind, knowing that our applications, systems, and infrastruc ture have been tested for vulnerabilities. Performing these tasks and working with a specialist that is thor ough and diligent can help to protect us and our cus tomers’ data, contributing to both compliance and business continuity.
Alderson, Sam Allen, Scott Barragan, Cesar Beck, Robert Blankenship, Robert and Erika Brown, Mark Carlson, Mike Chaney, Greg Chapman, Kyle Cochran, Kip Cockerell, Clint Cooke, Earl Davis, Brad Davis, Vicki Dobbins, Allen Donnelly, Chris* Downey, Mike Edenfield, Robert* Endsley, Jennifer Fox, Andy Goodman, Jason* Gowins, David Gregory, Jason Gregory, Tommy* Greig, Steven J. Hagler, Keith* Hale, Eddie
Hanson, April* Hobson, James Hudson, Richard Hudson, Robert Ingram, Blake Ireland, Alden Johnson, James Jones, Mark* Kaya, Selcuk Keate, Kyle Labaj, Kanton Lancaster, Chad Lathrop, Phillip Levine, Stephen Maroney, Rick Martin, Jeff Martinez, Mario Middaugh, Tom Moore, Russell* Munoz, Jose Murphy, Bill Paredez, Sonny Peterson, Shaun Phea, Greg Reine, Greg Rhodes, Brent
Rogers, Lowell Rose, Jay Ruckel, Matt Sabillon, Christina Sabillon, Juan M. Sabra, Ramzi Scott, Paul Siddiqui, Irfan Silva, David Simmons, Tyler* Simonsen, Nelsen Smith, Jerry and DeDe Smith, Jesse Smith, Russell and Linda Stark, Cesar Stazzone, Rich Stoll, Kevin Sumrall, Cal Trevino, Miguel (Mike) Turan, Jon Valdez, Sergio Villarreal, Armando Wilson, Erik Winkelmann, Ryan* Zak, Gregory* Zak, Michael
The INDEPAC Committee is looking forward to the 2023 legislative session in Texas. Thanks to your generous donations, we have already raised over $80,000 this year. Your support makes a tremendous difference in our ability to promote and protect the independent automobile industry in Texas.
INDEPAC is the Independent Automobile Dealer Political Action Committee for TIADA. We are the only voice for independent automobile dealers at the Capitol. Over the years, INDEPAC has helped TIADA's efforts to address the following issues:
• Increasing the safe harbor documentary fee from $50 to $150.
• Creating deferred sales tax for dealer financing.
• Eliminating the VTR-136.
• Abolishing named-driver-only insurance policies.
Our industry is facing some serious challenges and we need your help in combating these challenges. While we are actively working to resolve them, we need your help to make our efforts as successful as possible. If you are able, we are asking you to make a donation of $20 to help us achieve our mission.
Thank you in advance for your contribution. Your donation will go directly toward our activities in supporting your industry at the Capitol. Please visit the INDEPAC Donation Page or fill out the envelope included in this magazine to make your donation today!
Sincerely,
The INDEPAC Committee
April Hanson, Chair
Coast to Coast Motors
Erika Blankenship
Texas Auto Center
Vicki Davis
A-OK Auto Sales
Tommy Gregory Abilene Used Car Sales
Eddie Hale
Neighborhood Autos
James Hobson
H-Town Motors
Sonny Paredez
Greg Reine
Auto Liquidators
Armando Villarreal McAllen Auto Sales
Christie Wienecke
Performance Pre-Owned Sales
For any independent automobile dealership, an automotive mar keting strategy is a necessity. If a dealership can promote itself effectively, it will have a consistent number of sales and hopefully higher-than-average sales volume. Employing these automotive marketing strategies correctly can help to ensure your dealership’s longev ity. Make sure your car dealership mar keting ideas are innovative and robust.
The marketing ideas listed below will help you hone your dealership’s online and offline visibility. Think of this as a cheat sheet for dealership marketing.
To boost the ROI of your automobile advertisements, target individuals tailored to specific preferences, or those that have visited your website.
Every company has a particular target audience de pending on its product sectors. The more you know about your target demographic, the stronger your mar keting approach will be. You should be aware of their statistics, including their ages, profession, preferences, geographical locations, psychosocial factors, etc. Also, to help you approach them more efficiently, split your audience into prospective and new customers.
Buyer personas are detailed descriptions of fictional individuals who represent your prospective clients. In detail, you must illustrate their characteristics, ob jectives, personality attributes, buying practices, and touchpoints. Creating characters like these might help you write more realistic, personalized promotional ma terial to attract your target demographic.
Besides, customer analysis is required to establish influential target markets. This can be accomplished by researching existing customers, contacting candi dates, and speaking with teammates, particularly sales representatives. This will assist you in identifying any gaps and developing a strategy to make your consumer persona reliable. Create efficient social media marketing
tactics based on customer profiles to propel your com pany’s growth.
Whether your auto dealership is big or small, search engine marketing is critical. Search Engine
Optimization (SEO), refers to the ways you improve the quantity and quality of your website traffic. Best SEO practices will boost your website presence. It increases your prospects of ranking on the first pages of Google, Bing, and other search engines.
Your website must be both visually appealing and us er-friendly. Consumers expect to be able to locate your website promptly and readily via a search engine like Google. To achieve this, you should strive for the high est potential SEO ranking. SEO is an abbreviation for search engine optimization, and Google and Yahoo use a crawling algorithm to locate the most relevant pages based on a customer’s search query.
You can improve your SEO rating by incorporating a blog on your website with keyword-encrypted posts. You should also integrate various media (graphics, photo graphs, videos, headers, and titles), all of which should be protected with metadata. Furthermore, ensure that your website contains both internal and external links.
Among the most crucial compo nents of any means of promotion is to analyze your campaigns regular ly to see how they can be enhanced.
Using online surveys to gather rele vant client feedback is easy to learn what your customers seek.
Make your questionnaire survey as brief and straightforward as possible so that your clients can readily answer them. Surveys can be sent to consumers after they visit the dealership to measure their satisfaction with the service.
An online survey tool can make survey dissemination and data col lection more straightforward and convenient. A delighted consumer will return, and a dissatisfied cus tomer will ultimately find a more appropriate option for your com pany and depart.
Moreover, the advantages of customer feedback are substan tial. It assists you in determining whether your customers are happy with the experience and identify ing areas for improvement. You
can always keep your focus on the pulse by regularly soliciting feedback. When a disappointed consumer voices his displeasure, you can respond quickly and find a solution to the problem. This is an excellent time to win back a customer and even raise his level of commitment.
In many circumstances, an un happy customer who experienced a problem with your service that was promptly resolved exhibits greater loyalty to your brand than a customer who has never been unhappy with your service.
A video tour around is a low-cost technique to promote your vehicles. All you require is a camera or video recorder and a salesman who is familiar with the car’s details and is at ease in the camera’s presence. While the seller creates a shot to earn clients, inter ested customers watch the video to see the car.
Rotate your sales associates do ing the tour around to offer them an equal chance to increase their revenue and discover who has the
most critical metrics for converting a spectator into a buyer.
Post the video to your dealer ship’s website, social media plat forms, and YouTube. Post tutorials such as winter driving abilities or replacing your oil to reach a wider audience.
You may have observed that vid eos appear more frequently than other types of material in Google’s search engine. You may reap the benefits of this by generating vid eos from high-quality material on your website and uploading them to YouTube. This will result in links to your site, which implies your company will be seen more frequently on Google searches.
By implementing YouTube ad vertising, you also strengthen your company’s internet author ity. The higher your page ranks on the Google search results page, the more trustworthy you are on Google.
At a quick look, email marketing for car dealer ships may appear less contempo rary or efficient than most of the other car marketing campaigns discussed in this guide but don’t understate its user base. It’s not difficult to build and maintain an email marketing list. You can establish your website to gather email addresses from people in terested, or you may be able to use data from individuals who visited your dealership in the prior years.
When you have a well-targeted email list, your statement is more likely to reach those willing to ac cept it and may follow up with you.
Sending newsletters has been one of the simplest methods to reach out to prospective consumers. It is now simpler than ever to en sure that they are directly targeted to individuals who will profit the most from them by using search
data acquired from your website. Perhaps a buyer looked for SUVs on your website. In such a scenario, you should consider avoiding send ing them an email with your excel lent deals on sports cars, as it is rare to pique their interest.
Add a personal touch by address ing the consumer by name, and you’re almost there. None of this matters unless you have a mecha nism to collect their data in the first place.
Add a newsletter subscription option to your website and mo tivate customers to leave their information when contacting one of the cars on your site via live discussion.
Email marketing is the most effective automotive marketing strategy for car dealerships. On the other hand, poorly written emails will be disregarded or may even drive customers away from your company. Hence it is critical to
study more than you can about this type of marketing before attempting to implement it.
Ultimately, dealers must examine what high-performing promotion appears at their dealership to im prove their service drive marketing. Furthermore, everyone in the deal ership, from the general manager to the maintenance consultants, must comprehend their position in the process to assist your service pro motional campaigns.
Every successful procedure that you put in place must be assessed against objectives. Of course, no two dealerships are alike, and the objectives of some may differ from those of others. Set specific, verifi able, attainable, reasonable, and time-bound objectives for your ser vice center marketing initiatives.
To achieve these objectives, deal ers must first analyze their current process. Start by inquiring how many ROs you receive each month and how many calls and emails your support team receives. Focusing on crucial metrics other than your
Josh Pezzuto Senior Vice Senior Viceoverall sales is essential for gaug ing your performance and adjusting your future progress.
If you offer a product or service in a specific geographic location, you should ensure your company in formation is prominently displayed for potential clients. As a result, a Google My Business (GMB) profile might be one of the most effective ways to connect to potential leads when they can transition. Take this into consideration:
Assume you need new running shoes and don’t have a choice but to wait for an internet order to be delivered. You go to Google and type in ‘sneaker stores near me’ or ‘sportswear stores.’ Since Google knows you’re searching for an actual store in your neighborhood, they’ll present you with a customized set of Google Maps listings. This makes it simple to select a store with excellent reviews, convenient hours, and a short journey from your front step.
By improving your GMB listing, you can guarantee that your com pany appears when potential clients
search for the items or services you provide in your area. If a user browses straight into Google or via Google Maps, your company will rank towards the top of the search engines.
An automotive digital marketing strategy provides dealerships with the resources to sell their services and vehicles more intelligently and efficiently. The system may also assist dealerships in engaging
customers, answering inquiries, and guiding them through the sales cycle online.
If you are in the car business and want to target car buyers, these channels can assist your car dealer ship marketing idea in reaching potential buyers where they begin their car-buying journey: online. They can supply all of the informa tion clients require when they re quire it, resulting in a pleasant user experience even before they enter a dealership.
by Robert N. Parnas, CPA Principal, ClitonLarsonAllen, Wealth Advisors, LLC
Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL) is the current expected loss model, with an upcom ing new standard date of January 1, 2023. The impact on the BHPH and LHPH operators’ financial statements and loan covenant computations is certainly a subject of much discussion. The development of the standard was attributed to the 2008-2009 financial crisis and the Financial Accounting Standards Board task of revisiting the current standard. The new standard will have a significant impact on many operators’ financial statements, particularly in its initial implementation and ongoing reporting.
The CECL model is designed to capture all future life time expected credit losses of the existing installment
of an allowance account. The resulting allowance for BHPH installment contract receivable balance and lease losses is designed to provide a net receivable balance to represent the estimated amount of principal to be expected to be collected over the remaining lifetime on that specific portfolio.
In other words, the CECL model requires an estimate of the credit losses expected over the life of the contract. The estimate of expected credit losses should consider historical information, current information, and reason able and supportable forecasts of future events and cir cumstances. The standard does not prescribe a specific method to estimate credit losses, so the application will
require significant historic data analysis and projection.
The BHPH and LHPH operator has so much to consider, which includes but is not limited to, the historic and projected timing and extent of future cash flows on the existing portfolio, his toric and projected loan loss and static pool analysis, an nual contract value (ACV) of repos and other recoveries, historic and projected severi ty of loan losses in upcoming periods, rate, extent and loan modification occurrence and policies current and past and the portfolio collection and impact of the timing of charge-offs, loan-to-value related issues, underwriting/credit worthiness of custom ers, business and customer economic influences, existing staff, collectors, vehicle and warranty strategies, among other considerations.
Also, historic data and projections can be devel oped on a location basis, based upon initial customer
underwriting and credit risk assessment vs. results, the specific individual that underwrites the loan with many possible variations. The process requires upfront work and ongoing assessment.
The BHPH and LHPH operator should first develop a strategy now for implementation and determine the internal staff that should be involved with the process
TIADA designed and implemented some important on-demand courses to give dealers quality educational programs they can access throughout the year. These programs are essential for dealers to stay compliant. They offer flexibility, so you can complete them according to your schedule. These courses are designed for any dealers with questions related to various regulations that affect their businesses.
In this two-part video course TIADA counsel Michael Dunagan answers repossession related questions for both the dealer starting out and those dealers who want a refresher. Dunagan goes through the basics of self-help repossession, repossession when a client has filed bankruptcy, and using the courts to regain collateral through sequestration. The course also covers all the repossession letters and includes a downloadable deck of slides to follow along with the course.
Want to avoid having your title transfer paperwork rejected at the tax office? This online course is designed to walk you through the title transfer process and is best suited for people new to transferring titles or those who want to brush up on the basics. This course has been reviewed for accuracy by the Tax Assessor-Collectors Association of Texas.
and reaching out to industry professionals at the begin ning of the process. Getting the right people involved can be a significant time and cost saver as one can imagine. Do not try to shortcut the process and pro crastinate. Obtaining historic data, just from differing computer systems that many operators have had over recent years might be time consuming. The implemen tation should also involve discussion with your current lender and whether current and/or future loan docu ments needs to be modified for the new accounting standard.
Other than for GAAP compliance, is the process of determining and maintaining CECL a waste of time?
In the BHPH and LHPH industry, our key business concept is our collections of the installment contracts receivable. Let us change our perspective on how we view our portfolio. Let us view the portfolio like we are purchasing a large portfolio from someone else and there is a lot of money at stake. The purchaser would perform due diligence and determine how manage ment collected in the past, what the timing and extent of collections are anticipated to be, and the cost of collections to determine if the rate of return on invest ment is sufficient based upon risk.
Properly implementing CECL requires the operator
to go through data analysis to the extent that most op erators should do anyway, to see how their investment is changing and to determine if their business model is evolving in the right direction. So going through the CECL analysis properly is not a waste of time and money, but a valuable exercise, to determine the most important element of the business with the informa tion viewed as a management tool, vital to the ongoing success of the operation.
To further the importance of industry data analyt ics, in the BHPH and LHPH industry, the level of sophistication and competition has greatly increased over the past decade. This involves not only that com puter DMS system have continued to advance, but “Big Data” players and analysis is becoming more of a common place, inclusive of underwriting systems and portfolio performance, pay portals, more educational opportunities, 20 Groups, etc. that raise for bar for all of us. Therefore, the operators that are more data driv en, and looking at the proper data, may have a better vision of the long-term prospects of their business and have an edge and going through CECL is an important part of the game.
Please visit CLAconnect.com for more insights, ser vices, events, and information.
JW Marriott Hill Country Resort San Antonio, TX
www.allianceautoauction.com
6657 US Highway 80 West, Abilene, TX 79605 325.698.4391, Fax 325.691.0263
GM: Brandon Denison
Friday, 10:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.cmauctions.com
2258 S. Treadaway, Abilene, TX 79602
325.677.3555, Fax 325.677.2209
GM: Gregory Chittum
Thursday, 10:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.iaai.com
7700 US 277, Hawley, TX 79601 325.675.0699, Fax 325.675.5073
GM: Shawn Lemke Thursday, 9:30 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
Amarillo
www.iaai.com
11150 S. FM 1541, Amarillo, TX 79118 806.622.1322, Fax 806.622.2678
GM: Shawn Norris Monday, 9:30 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
2108 Ferguson Ln., Austin, TX 78754
512.873.4000, Fax 512.873.4022
GM: Michele Arguijo
Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.allianceautoauction.com
1550 CR 107, Hutto, TX 78634 737.300.6300
GM: Brad Wilson Wednesday, 9:45 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.americasautoauction.com
16611 S. IH-35, Buda, TX 78610 512.268.6600, Fax 512.295.6666
GM: Jamie McCollum
Tuesday, 1:30 p.m. / Thursday, 2:00 p.m.
$AVE : $200
www.iaai.com
2191 Highway 21 West, Dale, TX 78616 512.385.3126, Fax 512.385.1141
GM: Geoffrey Rabb Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
www.metroautoauction.com 8605 Cullen Ln., Austin, TX 78748 512.282.7900, Fax 512.282.8165
GM: Brent Rhodes 3rd Saturday, monthly $AVE : $200
www.corpuschristiautoauction.com 2149 IH-69 Access Road, Corpus Christi, TX 78380 361.767.4100, Fax 361.767.9840
GM: Hunter Dunn Friday, 10:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.iaai.com
4701 Agnes Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78405 361.881.9555, Fax 361.887.8880
GM: Patricia Kohlstrand Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
www.adesa.com 3501 Lancaster-Hutchins Rd., Hutchins, TX 75141 972.225.6000, Fax 972.284.4799
GM: Allan Wilwayco Thursday, 9:30 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.allianceautoauction.com
9426 Lakefield Blvd., Dallas, TX 75220 214.646.3136, Fax 469.828.8225
GM: Robert Kersh Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.
$AVE : $200
www.americasautoauction.com 219 N. Loop 12, Irving, TX 75061 972.445.1044, Fax 972.591.2742
GM: Ruben Figueroa Tuesday, 1:00 p.m. / Thursday, 1:00 p.m.
$AVE : $200
www.iaai.com
204 Mars Rd., Wilmer, TX 75172 972.525.6401, Fax 972.525.6403
GM: Bob Bannister
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
www.iaai.com
4226 East Main St., Grand Prairie, TX 75050 972.522.5000, Fax 972.522.5090
GM: Julissa Reyes Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
www.iaai.com 3748 McPherson Dr., Justin, TX 76247 940.648.5541, Fax 940.648.5543
GM: Jack Panczyk
Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
www.manheim.com 5333 W. Kiest Blvd., Dallas, TX 75236 214.330.1800, Fax 214.339.6347
GM: Rich Curtis Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : $100
www.manheim.com
12101 Trinity Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76040 817.399.4000, Fax 817.399.4251
GM: Nicole Graham-Ponce Thursday, 9:30 a.m.
$AVE : $100
www.metroaa.com 1836 Midway Road, Lewisville, TX 75056 972.492.0900, Fax 972.492.0944
GM: Scott Stalder
Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.epiaa.com
7930 Artcraft Rd., El Paso, TX 79932 915.587.6700, Fax 915.587.6700
GM: Luke Pidgeon Wednesday, 10:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.iaai.com
14651 Gateway Blvd. W, El Paso, TX 79927 915.852.2489, Fax 915.852.2235
GM: Jorge Resendez Friday, 10:30 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
www.manheim.com
485 Coates Drive, El Paso, TX 79932
915.833.9333, Fax 915.581.9645
GM: JD Guerrero
Thursday, 10:00 a.m.
$AVE : $100
900 N. Hutto Road, Donna, TX 78537 956.464.8393, Fax 956.464.8510
GM: Ydalia Sandoval
Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
www.bigvalleyaa.com
4315 N. Hutto Road, Donna, TX 78537 956.461.9000, Fax 956.461.9005
GM: Lisa Franz
Thursday, 9:30 a.m.
$AVE : $200
4526 N. Sam Houston, Houston, TX 77086 281.580.1800, Fax 281.580.8030
GM: Brian Wetzel
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.americasautoauction.com
1826 Almeda Genoa Rd., Houston, TX 77047 281.819.3600, Fax 281.819.3601
GM: Ben Nash
Thursday, 2:00 p.m.
$AVE : $200
1440 FM 3083, Conroe, TX 77301 936.441.2882, Fax 936.788.2842
GM: Buddy Cheney
Tuesday, 1:00 p.m.
$AVE : $200
608 W. Mitchell Road, Houston, TX 77037 822.905.2622, Fax 281.506.3866
GM: Juan Gallo
Friday, 9:30 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.houstonautoauction.com
2000 Cavalcade, Houston, TX 77009 713.644.5566, Fax 713.644.0889
President/GM: Tim Bowers
Wednesday, 11:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
www.iaai.com
2535 West. Mt. Houston, Houston, TX 77038 281.847.4700, Fax 281.847.4799
GM: Alvin Banks
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
16602 East Hardy Rd., Houston-North, TX 77032 281.443.1300, Fax 281.443.4433
GM: Aracelia Palacios
Thursday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
2839 E. FM 1462, Rosharon, TX 77583 281.369.1010, Fax 833.595.8398
GM: Adriana Serrano
Friday, 9:30 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
14450 West Road, Houston, TX 77041 281.924.5833, Fax 281.890.7953
GM: Brian Walker
Tuesday, 9:00 a.m. / Thursday 6:30 p.m.
$AVE : $100
8215 Kopman Road, Houston, TX 77061 713.649.8233, Fax 713.640.6330
GM: Darren Slack
Thursday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : $100
6000 East Loop 281, Longview, TX 75602 903.212.2955, Fax 903.212.2556
GM: Chris Barille
Friday, 10:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
5577 Highway 80 East, Longview, TX 75605 903.553.9248, Fax 903.553.0210
GM: Edgar Chavez
Thursday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
5311 N. CR 2000, Lubbock, TX 79415 806.747.5458, Fax 806.747.5472
GM: Chris Foster
Tuesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
2706 E. Slaton Road., Lubbock, TX 79404 806.745.6606
GM: Dale Martin Wednesday, 9:30 a.m
$AVE : $75/Quarterly Lufkin
www.lufkindealers.com
2109 N. John Reddit Dr., Lufkin, TX 75904 936.632.4299, Fax 936.632.4218
GM: Wayne Cook
Thursday, 6:00 p.m.
$AVE : $200
www.iaai.com
701 W. 81st Street, Odessa, TX 79764 432.550.7277, Fax 432.366.8725 Thursday, 11:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
$AVE : $250
www.e-dealerdirect.com chris@edealerdirect.com
$AVE : Up to $500/month
ADESA SAN ANTONIO www.adesa.com 200 S. Callaghan Rd., San Antonio, TX 78227 210.434.4999, Fax 210.431.0645
GM: Clifton Sprenger Thursday, 10:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
IAA SAN ANTONIO* www.iaai.com 11275 S. Zarzamora, San Antonio, TX 78224 210.628.6770, Fax 210.628.6778
GM: Paula Booker Monday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : up to $200 Sell Fee
MANHEIM SAN ANTONIO** www.manheim.com 2042 Ackerman Road San Antonio, TX 78219 210.661.4200, Fax 210.662.3113
GM: Mike Browning Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.
$AVE : $100
www.sanantonioautoauction.com 13510 Toepperwein Rd. San Antonio, TX 78233 210.298.5477
GM: Brandon Walston
Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. / Thursday, 1:30 p.m.
$AVE : $200
www.greatertyleraa.com 11654 Hwy 64W, Tyler, TX 75704 903.597.2800, Fax 903.597.3848
GM: Wayne Cook
Tuesday, 5:00 p.m.
$AVE : $200
www.allianceautoauction.com
15735 I-35 Frontage Road Elm Mott, TX 76640 254.829.0123, Fax 254.829.1298
GM: Christina Thomas Friday, 10:00 a.m.
$AVE : $200
The TIADA Website:
www.txiada.org
Members can log in with their username/password and access our Dealer Member Directory, Legislative Action Center, Compliance Consultation Service and much more. Register for all upcoming TIADA events online through the Calendar of Events, access our online membership application, find contact information for all our Local Chapters, and access many additional resources through our Knowledge Base.
License Renewal Certificate
TexasDealerEducation.com
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
888.368.4689 www.txdmv.gov
Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner
800.538.1579 occc.texas.gov
NIADA 800.682.3837 www.niada.com
American Recovery Association 972.755.4755 www.repo.org or contact TIADA state office
FORMS Burrell Printing 800.252.9154 www.burrellprinting.com
G.R. Moore
The Car Shack (dates announced at www.txiada.org)
Cesar Stark
S & S Motors Meeting – 3rd Friday (Monthly)
Jerry Smith
H J Smith Automobiles (dates announced at www.txiada.org)
April Hanson
Coast to Coast Motors Meeting – 2nd Tuesday (Monthly)
Jose Engler
Irving Motors Corp (dates announced at www.txiada.org)
Shari Smith 2214 N Earl Rudder Freeway, Bryan, TX 77808
Mark Toler ..............2201 Gollihar Road, Corpus Christi, TX 78415
Adaptive Driving Access – Houston
Mike Murphy 6836 N Sam Houston Pkwy W, Houston, TX 77064
Adaptive Driving Access – McAllen
Manuel Mercado 120 North 20th Street, McAllen, TX 78501
Auto Finance Center
Ryan Eskandari .............. 9640 Telephone Rd, Houston, TX 77075
Black Dog Traders, Inc.
Ashley McKinney 8000 Sovereign Row, Ste A, Dallas, TX 75247
Cain/ Brinkmeyer LLC dba Jarrell Auto Sales
David Cain
........................ 12342 N IH 35, Jarrell, TX 76537
Eli Lovie Auto Wholesalers
Steve Brownlee P.O. Box 870503, Mesquite, TX 75187
EZ Used Cars Inc.
Zaida Garza 1711 N. Frontage Rd, Brownsville, TX 78521
Forest Auto Finance
Aysha Omar .................... 425 S Jupiter Rd, Garland, TX 75042
Frontera Autoplex
Saul Lopez 1605 S Frontage Rd, Brownsville, TX 78521
iNet Financial Services
Michael Jones .. 1103 Cypress Creek Rd, Ste 103, Cedar Park, TX 78613
Manuel Garcia
.................. 186 CR 3694, Springtown, TX 76082
McDonald’s Luxury Automotive LLC
Dalonika McDonald ... 448 Farm to Market 665, Pflugerville, TX 78660
Residori Motors LLC
Tyler Residori 431 N Lacy Drive, Waco, TX 76705
United Access – Arlington
Miguel Hoyer 2430 E Randol Mill Rd, Arlington, TX 76011
United Access – Austin
Mary Zatopek 15301 Interstate 35, Ste A, Pflugerville, TX 78660
United Access – Dallas (East)
Jared Woolverton 2704 Lawing Ln 300, Rowlett, TX 75088
United Access – Dallas (North)
James Feid 2109 Luna Rd, Ste 200, Carrollton, TX 75006
United Access – El Paso
Ron Barajas 8736 Gateway East Blvd, Suite B, El Paso, TX 79907
Econolend Tucson LLC
Leopoldo Seldner 3848 E 5th St, Tucson, AZ 85717
The Title Girl, Inc.
Julie Davenport ....... 16775 Addison, Suite # 400, Addison, TX 75001
VIVA Finance Inc.
Garrett Utt ........ 100 Peachtree St NW, Suite 320, Atlanta, GA 30303
by Jeff Martin
In 2014, TIADA scraped together a few pennies, took out a loan, and purchased our current office. About four months later, on February 12, we moved into 9951 Anderson Mill Road, Suite 101 in Austin, Texas.
At $442,000, this was a significant purchase for an as sociation with hopes and dreams of growing its influence in the state, but very little budget to back up those aspi rations. I remember talking to the dealers on the search committee about not wanting to saddle future genera tions of TIADA members with this large debt in fear it would not allow the association to focus on, or fund, more important issues.
I am happy to report that the office space has served the needs of our staff and our members very well over the years. We have had legislators, policymakers, and other guests visit us from time to time. The building has a professional feel that presents an excellent image for our industry, and we still have room to grow when and if the need arises. But I am more excited to report that the board voted to pay off the remaining balance for the building in July. As a member of TIADA, you now own a little piece of property in Austin — Congratulations!
This decision didn’t come without much discussion and consultation with our budget and finance committee. Over the last three years, this committee, along with the board of directors, has focused on growing the reserves
of the association with the ultimate goal of putting 1 mil lion dollars in our reserve account. Once that was accom plished, their attention was directed at eliminating debt. The TIADA Office Building was the only liability left on the balance sheet, so the board directed the staff to eliminate that liability before the end of the fiscal year (August 31).
This action will allow the association to seek out nondues revenue more aggressively, explore more services and benefits for our members, invest in better technol ogy to serve you, and take some risks we would not have taken in the past due to our financial position. It will also ensure that TIADA will be around to serve the needs of future generations of dealers.
The leadership and guidance of so many dealers who have served on TIADA Committees and the Board of Directors is the reason we are in this position. The groundwork laid many years ago and the strategic plans developed and followed since that time have put the members of this association in a very advantageous posi tion. A real debt of gratitude is owed to every member who has ever volunteered for this association.
We can still do so much more, but only with your in volvement. If you are ever in Austin, please know that the TIADA door is always open. I encourage you to come by, see your office, and discuss how you can get more in volved in helping us grow your association.
We can still do so much more, but only with your involvement. If you are ever in Austin, please know that the TIADA door is always open.
