Pre-pandemic, we'd buy around 15 cars per week to sell on our lot - now we're purchasing about three. We also take trade-ins, though the supply-chain effects of the pandemic have impacted our business, too. Our primary method of acquiring inventory is going through retail auctions, which are only available to licensed dealers We wouldn't feel good about running our business that way. It's a "bleed" model - you're bleeding the customer for everything they've got. Other buy here, pay here dealerships require 50 or 60% down and sell older cars with hundreds of thousands of miles on them.
#Westland survival double health free#
We also provide a free warranty for customers and start with down payments as low as $500 - many in-house dealerships in the area don't.
With the buy here, pay here model, our clientele tends to be lower income or people with poor credit scores that can't get a loan anywhere else. We're trying to become the best buy here, pay here dealership in our area. One of the reasons we've been successful is because we're able to differentiate ourselves - we never try to compete with bigger dealerships or those that work with lenders We have about 15 employees (up from seven in 2015), with four currently in sales roles. From there, we make sure the sales team is taking calls with customers, greeting them in store, and leading them through the steps to buy a car. We disperse any leads and finalize the paperwork for any deals we have pending.īecause we do all of the underwriting in house, we have to evaluate each customer based on income and other contributing factors. For the past five years, I've been the acting sales managerĮach morning begins with a meeting that includes our sales team and lasts anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the day. Using this model means a higher return on investment, but a somewhat riskier business due to the type of clientele. Our company is different from traditional car dealerships in that we're a "buy here, pay here" dealership, which means we don't finance our cars through lenders but in house. My father started Westland Auto Sales in 2007, which he owned and worked at until my brother and I bought him out in 2015. I was born in El Salvador, but in 2000 my family immigrated to the United States in search of the American Dream We took over the business in 2015 and have grown the portfolio by over $1 million this year alone to a total of $5 million (it was $500,000 in 2015). It has been edited for length and clarity.Īlongside my brother Eric, I own Westland Auto Sales. This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Mark Beneke, a 30-year-old car dealer from Fresno, California, about his business. Here's his story, as told to freelancer Kim Dahlgren. He brings in upwards of $500,000 a month. He bought his father out of the business in 2015 and runs a "buy here, pay here" model. Mark Beneke is the co-owner and acting sales manager at Westland Auto Sales in Fresno, California. Mark Beneke bought Westland Auto Sales from his father in 2015.
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