Welcome to another edition of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast Recap newsletter—the key lessons from top operators, founders, and execs shaping the future of auto retail.
Today’s guest is Jared Priestner, CEO of Go Auto.
Jared breaks down why Go Auto is expanding aggressively into the U.S., how concentration risk in Western Canada shaped that move, and what it takes to scale culture across borders.
Western Canada dealers are moving south instead of east due to cultural alignment.
Operating over 70 rooftops across Canada, Jared recently expanded into the U.S. with seven stores in Washington and California, prioritizing westward expansion over moving into Eastern Canada.
“We just made the strategic decision that it made a lot more sense to go South and stay in the same time zones, et cetera, and just where we had more natural extension than to go further East in Canada, which the distance is about the same either way.”
The company's leadership team and operational philosophy align more naturally with Western markets, making U.S. expansion the logical next step rather than crossing into Eastern Canada's different business culture.
Used car performance separates great acquisitions from average ones.
Jared specifically targets high-performing new car dealerships that are underperforming in used cars, seeing this as the biggest opportunity for operational lift post-acquisition.
“Typically, the biggest opportunity for us is always used, where we find a dealer that’s doing two or three to one new cars to used cars… we can go through our system and through our process, we can add to the inventory and get the throughput, and used cars doubled or tripled over time.”
By focusing on stores with strong new car operations but weak used car sales, the group can deploy proven processes to unlock significant profitability without having to fix the entire operation.
Speed and certainty win deals in a competitive acquisition market.
The family-owned structure allows Jared to move faster than competitors who need board approvals or outside capital, creating a major competitive advantage when buying dealerships.
“A guy could phone me in an hour and I could say, ‘Send me your statements.’ And I can literally let them know, like, ‘Hey man, I’ll be on a plane… I’ll be on a plane and at your place tomorrow.’”
With hundreds of millions in available bank financing and minimal due diligence requirements, deals close quickly without retrading agreed-upon prices—a reputation that has led to repeat transactions with the same sellers.
Customer connection beats efficiency in sales, not in service.
While embracing AI and automation for service operations, Jared believes sales requires a human touch that technology can't yet replicate effectively.
“I think sales and service are two very different things because one is more like a very predictable experience where I’m kind of checking it off a list, almost like a grocery list, is service. Sales are a very emotional process where I’m making a very big purchase decision.”
Service customers want to return to baseline quickly and predictably, while car buyers are making an emotional, lifestyle-upgrading decision that benefits from personalized human interaction and rapport building.
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Lead response needs personalization, not just speed.
The focus is on training salespeople to find genuine connection points with customers rather than just hitting fast response time metrics.
“You live in Riverside, California? Do I know someone who grew up in Riverside, California? No? Okay, is there a famous athlete that grew up, or a musician or something, that at least in the first email I could say, ‘Hey, great to meet you, Yossi—you’re from Riverside.’”
While many dealers optimize for response speed and volume, the real competitive advantage comes from treating each lead like a person and finding authentic ways to build rapport before talking about the vehicle.
Transparent communication eliminates employee anxiety and builds loyalty.
Jared prioritizes clarity over perfection when it comes to compensation and expectations, believing that predictability creates a more stable and productive workforce.
“Clarity beats anxiety for employees. I think a huge percentage of the salespeople and variable managers in the car business are in a state of anxiety because it’s not even that they’re changing their pay plan every two months—it’s like they don’t know if the guy’s gonna pencil their deal.”
Being upfront about pay structures, performance expectations, and any necessary changes reduces the constant stress that drives turnover at many dealerships and builds a culture where employees feel secure and valued.
Integration strategy must adapt to each acquisition's unique situation.
Rather than implementing a cookie-cutter playbook, the approach to each acquisition varies based on whether a store has strong existing leadership or needs a complete operational overhaul.
“We bought at that same exact situation… just a totally different story. Just no stability, been through three or four GMs in the last couple years… you gotta let the people know that, ‘Hey, how we’re doing right now is not good enough, and that we’ve got to make changes in order to be competitive.’”
When acquiring stores with excellent general managers and stable teams, Jared takes a hands-off approach, while struggling locations receive immediate transparency about performance gaps and the changes needed to compete.
The seller's market for quality dealerships has finally arrived in 2025.
After years of anticipation, more high-quality, well-run stores are coming to market than ever before as demographic shifts finally drive owner exits.
“I’ve never had so many really well-run… excellent stores come to market or come across our desk as I have in 2025, and I think the culmination of AI entering the business, the old… facilities combined with dealers finally, like, the guy who was 65 is now 70, and his buddy just, you know, had a heart attack or whatever.”
The convergence of aging ownership, expensive facility requirements, and AI disruption is creating unprecedented acquisition opportunities for groups with capital and operational expertise ready to deploy.
Growth without outside capital requires discipline and bank relationships.
Scaling to 70 rooftops and 6,000 employees has been accomplished using only retained earnings and senior bank debt, avoiding private equity and public markets entirely.
“We have no outside money whatsoever, and it has been completely retained earnings, and senior bank debt is the only mechanism we use to grow. So we really have to do it the old-fashioned way. Like, if we don’t put up the numbers, the bank’s not going to send money—kind of thing.”
This capital structure gives complete decision-making freedom while forcing operational discipline, since the only way to fund future acquisitions is by generating consistent profits from existing stores.
Impact on people drives long-term vision more than financial exits.
The north star is employing 10,000 people in good jobs with strong benefits and career opportunities, inspired by Milton Hershey's legacy of building an entire community around employment.
“By the end of my career, if I can employ 10,000 people and give them good jobs with good benefits and great career opportunities, that was, like, the North Star for me. So I’ve been chasing that ever since.”
With 6,000 employees currently, the focus remains on growth through acquisition and operational excellence, with no interest in going public or selling to private equity—the mission is about people, not exits.
