May 8, 2013

3 things to know before you call a dealership

You found the used car or truck you want on Mojo Motors. Now what? What most people don’t know is that a car may appear as being available online, but that an online inventory can take 24 hours to update. The vehicle that looks like it’s available today, may have actually been sold yesterday. Spare yourself the heartbreak and wasted time by calling the dealership.

I’ve heard some horror stories of people driving hours to a dealership for the car of their dreams only to find out it isn’t available. I don’t want you to make the same mistake because it leaves shoppers angry and bitter while buying a used car or truck. All of this can be avoided by knowing these three things before calling a dealer. [keep reading]

Apr 29, 2013

The Monday Grind

Fashion designer Ralph Lauren made history when he bought the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic at auction for over $30m. Story here.

- NASCAR pit crew members arrested after Nationwide fight

- Dealerships and party stores look to the government for helium

- People who don’t pay their bills buy these cars most

Mar 26, 2013

You’re stocking the wrong inventory

Take a quick look around your dealership. Look long and hard at both your lot and your showroom. Do this and you will quickly see where much of your investment lies…in your pre-owned inventory. If you are willing to invest a significant amount of time and money into your pre-owned vehicles, then the best thing you could do for your dealership is research what kind of cars you are stocking, what the market says about these cars and where you are getting them.

First, what kind of inventory are you stocking? Having looked at the data using tools like AAX and vAuto, I have come to a conclusion. Dealerships will very quickly find themselves in a bind when their pre-owned departments are stocked too heavily with late model vehicles. It’s important to have a healthy balance. I have seen far too many stores with late model vehicles making up 50% or more of their inventories this increases turn rate and the amount you are spending in marketing.

So what does the market say? The table below shows us a breakdown of VDPs (VDPs showing in 10,000 units) in relation to each calendar year. [keep reading]

Feb 25, 2013

Best times of the year to buy a used car

As the Business Intelligence Manager at Mojo Motors, I spend a lot of my day looking through data attempting to find valuable pieces of buried information. The primary feature of Mojo Motors is alerting car shoppers when dealers drop prices on their used cars and trucks. Dealerships only want vehicles to stay on their lot for about 60 to 90 days. If they can’t sell the vehicle in that time, they send it to auction instead. Before this, however, they will continually drop prices.

Mojo Motors alerts members by email every time a price drops on a vehicle. Rather than browsing the web all day, shoppers can track the prices of vehicles they’re interested in and receive an email when a car drops into their price range. The real question at this point is how often do vehicles drop in price and what are the best months for finding great deals on used vehicles? Here is where I can help.

This graph shows the average number of price drops per vehicle on Mojo Motors in 2012. Dealers drop the price of a car an average of 1.32 times per month, but some months it happens more, and others less. Between July and October dealers drop the price of their cars most frequently, whereas January through March dealers drop their prices least frequently. This pattern matches the sales pattern of used cars. [keep reading]

Dec 6, 2012

Useful Resource for Used Car Shoppers (Real Car Tips)

Story by Gregg Fidan on Real Car Tips.

As my long-time readers know, I’m always seeking out resources that help car shoppers save money. This week, I want to alert you to a new web site for used car shoppers that I found to be very unique, useful, and best of all – has the potential to save you lots of money. [keep reading]

Apr 17, 2012

We hate long wait times, email forms and stock photos

You know what we hate? Filling out contact forms to get help using a website or selecting fifteen different options when trying to get tech support on the telephone. Sometimes you just want to talk to someone. Like right now. This isn’t to say email can’t be quick and efficient, but when it comes to buying a car, the face-to-face human element is often required.

MojoMotors.com might be a website, but real people work at the auto startup. We have a personality and want to make personal connections. It’s why our phone number isn’t hidden somewhere on our website, but displayed on the bottom of every page. You can’t miss it. Plus, we really like answering questions about what kind of used car or truck you should buy.

keep reading…