I was a car buyer for my local Honda dealer for years. I always hated bidding against CarMax at Manheim auctions. They would go high on everything. High volume = can work on a skinnier profit margin.
I like the 80's Cadillac Coupe de Ville that came on a Suburban 4x4 frame from the factory. I saw one as a kid in the Laughlin Auto Museum. Also saw Big Red the 1969 Camero there.
Bumper to Bumper is like playing with mercury. It's high science, it's an art form. When it comes to Rob, he knows all about Bumper to Bumper. Watch his Land Rover story on VinWiki and you'll realize. Never go full Bumper to Bumper with Rabbit. 🇺🇸👍🐇
I can listen to these stories all day. My wife and I bought our 2018 Chevy Sonic from CarMax it's been the best car and the staff was professional and did what it took to make us happy. We had a Jeep that we wasn't happy with. CarMax bought the jeep back put the payment we made towards our down payment.
On the vinwiki video earlier I was so early I couldn't make a reference to Kimmie's implants or your ability to sell on eBay. I digress. I'm glad I got two videos today!
Rabbit talks about the buyers in the plane. My wife worked fir Circuit City HR and always talks about that small plane crashing and I believe 3 people died.
I worked in the buyers office at carmax for a year and all of these things ring true and made me laugh Edit. Now that this is highlighted and liked by you Rob I'll add a bit more to the story. I worked at CarMax 7101, the first Carmax. There are 7 buyers at my store 5 of them have been there over 20 years and 3 since Carmax started. Greenville amongst the rest of the southeast is somewhere cars we buy go. Considering the number of buyers that Carmax had back then there is a non-zero chance that one of my guys bought those cars or knew the buyer that did. That just cracks me up and I'll need to share it with them next time I talk with them.
This high roof conversion is called Centaurus, made by LCM company. 208 made, and I am.a proud owner of one. Somebody importrd it to Europe, coue years ago, and I bought it last year, but guess what. Behind a panel in the trunk there was some Carmax paperwork :) No pills fortunatelly ;)
They were not rare at the time but they became rare over time. Not many people "got it" and there just was not that many ordered. I like them, it almost reminds me of the Explorers from Jurassic Park.
It is amazing the mistakes that some of those buying at auctions make. There's often a very good reason that it is below wholesale. Thanks for another great story!! Your Vinwiki story about working at CarMax out of a lot of great Vinwiki content was the best!!
Had the Toyota dealership call and offer a new Trd pro 4Runner for my 2017 trd pro 4Runner, no money down, payment the same or less. I told him how excited I was to win the free new 4Runner. Salesman said it wasn’t free. Hated to tell him I mine was paid for. lol. Be sure and have fun with’m when they call you.
I agree 100 percent people don't understand how HARD it is to buy a stright used car ! You have to WORK at getting a clean used car . I remember when you could "cherry Pick " but those days are over and then some ! I remeber what my Dad told me and that was 20 some years ago no matter what business your in as time goes on it will be harder and harder to make a good profit . I hope the present Turmoil won't affect the car business
Thanks rabbit I scored a 96 c/k 1500 extended short bed 5.7 in really good shape and at a really cheap price going to clean er up and wait for the perfect moment to sell her
My first car was a 99 Ford Explorer xlt. 4 doors awd automatic and the SOHC (exploder) engine with a cloth gray interior and a black exterior. Still runs great. Had it 4 years. 133700 miles.
In the early 90s I worked at a dealership about 45 minutes from Manheim. They bought Pontiac Grand am and Chevy Corsica by the truckload except they were too cheap to truck them in. We would all ride up in a van and drive them back with a dealer plate on the last car. No tag, no inspection, no insurance (that we knew of), no bill of sale, and a general manager that would probably have left us in jail if we got caught so the dealer didn’t get in trouble. They pretty much ran the dealership into the ground at this point.
We had a local Nissan dealer receive a overstock shipment of base model Versa Note’s, the lot was filled with a crap ton of hatchback Versa Note’s for a good year.
Buyer talk is a whole different language. " It's got all the bells and whistles" - Didn't look at it before buying "Good budget car" - Stick shift no power steering. "A real cream puff" - beige grandma car "This thing will go forever" 250k miles on the odometer.
Like usual you deliver an entertaining story that also has a nugget of good advice. I guess a four year degree does not let you know that a car that is lived in the northeast is a big rust hazard. A college education can be very beneficial, but there are some instances that real world experience is much better(Love the bumper to bumper reference). #RabbitForWorldPresident
I worked at Manheim in Vegas for a year. When we drove the cars to and from the auction we beat the piss out of them. Had to make sure they worked for the buyers...
I have to agree with you on buying "Odd Ball" cars. I've been buying/fixing/selling cars since days of the Auto trader. Right now I have an 01 Mercury Mountaineer. First off it's a Mercury- no longer made- it's a 5.0 V8, 2 WD,that I've lowered down,put bullet Mustang rims with fat tires and I "Murdered it out"! Flat black Everything,tinted windows,emblems etc plus it ha every option you could order all the way down to a DVD player. I just sold an 01 GT Mustang and I had people fighting over it. When in reality the Mountaineer is a way better car. But NOBODY answers my add and I'm asking half the money. Go figure!!
Funny to hear about guys down south buying cars from up north. Here in upstate NY, if someone has a car from the south that is rust-free, doesn't matter what it is or how many miles are on it, they can pretty much name their price and they'll get what they're asking. Mileage doesn't matter when there's no floor and the frame is rusted in half lol
I grew up working in a car dealer going from trainee mechanic to lead technician to service manager to site manager. We had salesmen that could not lie straight in bed, some of the things they would come out with would make you cringe. Definitely a cut throat environment where if they smelt blood in the water they would pile in and the best bit was if the customer would ask your opinion "is this car any good" it would only be the odd occasion where I would say no its not the one for you (you could see lemon written all over it) they would still buy it
When I was hired at a Chevy store to work for the used car department I was told I didn't work for the sales department. I was told salesmen were garbage and don't do what they say. I found that to be true.
Do you mean the 96 XLT splash with everything except an automatic transmission and the stepside bed? My dad scooped up one of those that had about 1500 miles on it from the show room after it sat for two years, after it became two years old the price was right but I can definitely imagine not wanting to spend F250 money on a Ranger! Then again that little truck smoked many a Mustang! Thanks for the videos, cheers!
I'd actually love to own one of these "High Top" Explorers today. They're pretty rare, and who knows. Maybe they might increase in value someday! I'm gonna be on the hunt for one.
Makes me wonder if the guy going back and forth with you about the bumper to bumper warranty had heard the stories when they moved into that building..
A similar thing happened to me when I worked at a Chevy store. The used car buyer that had just been hired had a deal with his dad, who was also in the business, to get rid of his old inventory. He loaded my up with a bunch of brown 1987 Celebritys. The cars were only 1 year old but they were brown and ex rental cars so they didn't have many options. I dressed them up differently with wheel covers and pin stripes and put them on the lot away from each other and each one sold pretty quickly. I probably would have done something similar with the Explorers. Maybe different wheels or some paint work to them stand out from each other.
Manhiem gives CR reports on their cars. So there is a full report done on the car before it goes to auction. And you can pay for post auction inspection. Not to mention you can “arbitrate” a car if you find a damage missed on the CR that’s over 500$. This includes frame damage. Manhiem will pay you back for the car and pay you back your shipping.
Been a car guy all my life, went on to get a PhD in Microbiology, working on vaccines for flu, CoV1&2, etc for 20 years. Not one damn class I took during any of my education taught me how to buy a decent used car. A 4 year degree to be a "professional buyer". LOL!!!!
I’m from North Dakota and it kinda ticks me off when people from the south say 40 or 50 is cold like nah. -20 is cold I have shorts on in 50 degree weather
I went to carmax 1 time in dothan al. It was serve it yourself.. i had 5k cash . I saw 3 different cars i might purchase but i wanted to look it over and test drive after i find out the price, year, engine, and mileage. They wont even wait on you. You wait in line and you ask rep for help ..the rep just points to a computer and says " there you go"...the cars are in jail in a fence locked up so you cant even get near them..it was lame..i left no one would wait on me .
