How Capitol Auto Group turned 400+ employees into used car inventory scouts

As opposed to auctions, the group’s in-house used car team focuses on private party acquisitions. (4 min. read)

Author

Marcus Amick
June 12, 2025

Alex Casebeer

Alex Casebeer, dealer/general manager of Capitol Auto Group is anticipating a great summer, with a major focus on building on the dealer group’s used car operations.

First things first: “January and February were a little slow. March and April were absolutely fantastic—and May was kind of right in the middle. So…we finished ok,” Casebeer told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D’Arc and Uli De’Martino.

He says the company’s fixed ops department is holding the ship together—with the sales team taking on every car deal it can in the interim.

Capitol’s biggest volume brand? Yep, Toyota—to the tune of 220 new units a month and 150 used vehicles.  

“We don't have that many to start the month. We sell through…the pipeline really well…it's just a great brand. It's absolutely on fire,” he said.

The Capitol dealership group sells 120 to 150 new Subaru vehicles a month and 80 to 100 used—with a much smaller volume number for Chevy and Cadillac. 

“We just got Nissan not even a year ago…we sold 35 last month,” said. Casebeer.

The Nissan acquisition was purchased in a fire sale (not figuratively, but literally).  

“I knew the dealer. We’d been talking and he wanted way too much money to begin with…and then we came to an agreement and the building went bye-bye in a fire. All we got was like 54 cars, no used cars,” he explained.

Looking Ahead: One of Capitol’s major focal points is improving its used car sales operations.

“I'm the first to admit it, we're really good at new cars with manufacturers. We're great. We just haven't been that strong in used,” he added.

To address the issue, Casebeer and his brother (his business partner) have come up with an entirely different approach to boosting Capitol’s used vehicle inventory—including a four-person team devoted to buying used cars.

Thinking differently: As opposed to auctions, the group’s in-house used car team focuses on private party purchases—searching and tracking down vehicles on platforms like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. The most innovative part of the strategy?  How the entire Capitol team (which includes 400 employees across all the stores) is engaged in the process.

“We spiff, our whole staff—from 600 bucks…if they give us a lead that ends in the purchase of a car. So literally I would tell people at meetings you just see a “for sale” sign on a car, take a picture of it, send it to the buying team, and if they buy it, you're getting 600 bucks,” he said. 

The economics of the strategy—which essentially functions as a centralized buying center—is a lot less expensive than an auction fee and the transportation costs often associated with securing a used vehicle, said Casebeer.

He didn’t provide an exact dollar value saved in their approach to buying used vehicles—which pulls in 100 to 120 cars a month. However, he did indicate that the cars acquired through a private party are bringing more gross because they'll sell quicker.

Another area in need of improvement at Salem? Social media—though the dealer group is making some strides in the space. 

“We've got some great salespeople and a gals that wors for us around campus, that just creates content,” said Casebeer. “We throw it on there and people love it…We're not great at it—but we're in, we're involved. And just always looking to get better.” 

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