As many dealers continue debating how long margin pressure will last, Kevin Strosnider is focused on something simpler: control.
Driving the news: At Strosnider Chevrolet, a single-point store in Hopewell, Va., Strosnider said the biggest challenge is operating in a market where affordability caps how much customers can realistically spend.
“I’ve got friends where their average used car price is 40 grand,” he shared on an episode of Daily Dealer Live. “The average used car price in my market is probably around 19 to 20.”
That gap forced a decision several years ago.
And rather than stretching inventory upward or waiting for conditions to change, Strosnider went all-in on used vehicles, echoing a strategy dealers seem to be increasingly leaning into.
How that shows up day to day is in acquisition math.
What they’re saying: “We’ll go to auction and we’ll pay 90% to market,” Strosnider said. “Once you pay the fees and the transportation, you own it for 93 or 94%.”
That math is what Strosnider says is pushing the store to rebuild acquisition through trade-ins and street purchases, with a long-term goal of sourcing roughly 80% of inventory outside the auction lanes.
“Why not pay 90% for somebody off the street and skip all that?” he said.
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Between the lines: He says the trade-off time. Because street buying doesn’t scale overnight, and he’s aware that even with this effort, most offers won’t convert.
“It’s going to be 7 to 10% of the vehicles that you’re putting bids on that you’re actually going to get,” he said. “You just have to be willing to push through it.”
To make that sustainable: The dealership assigned a dedicated employee to focus exclusively on off-the-street purchases, monitoring platforms like Facebook Marketplace, and making offers consistently.
The goal, Strosnider said, is to get one buyer consistently sourcing volume, then scale the team as results justify it.
Much like dealer JR Toothman described on a previous episode of Daily Dealer Live, the appeal of the model is its flexibility.
At its best, it reduces reliance on auction fees and transportation costs. And at its worst, it still gives the store pricing visibility and control it wouldn’t otherwise have.
“Business is challenging,” he said. “But it’s also fun. I enjoy the challenge.”
Bottom line: If Toothman’s story showed how used cars can anchor a dealership, Strosnider’s shows how they can give operators back control, even when margins are thin and pricing power is limited.
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