From the October issue of UCD
By John Dismukes
This month, I’m excited to sit down with Dustin Kalthoff, owner of Saskatoon Auto Connection in Saskatchewan, Canada. Kalthoff has built his reputation on innovation and an unwavering commitment to customer service. He also made history as the first Certified Master Dealer from Canada, bringing a fresh international perspective to our independent dealer community.
Kalthoff isn’t just a standout in the dealership world — he’s also a competitive curler, representing his province in high-level events and bringing the same strategic focus and precision from the ice to the showroom floor.
In our conversation, we’ll dig into Kalthoff’s path as a dealer, how his curling experience shaped his leadership style, the Canadian market dynamics, and the lessons he’s learned that have relevance for all of us.
JD: You started Saskatoon Auto Connection in 2008 as a university student, and it seemed like your vision was to change the used car buying experience. What was that moment of clarity—or maybe frustration—that sparked the idea?
DK: I expected that I would really enjoy the process of buying a car. I was excited about it as a young person, but the experiences I had with dealers were not what I expected. It was high-pressure, uncomfortable and not consultative. I was pretty put off by that.
Then I worked at a dealership after gaining sales experience in the electronics industry, thinking selling cars might be a natural evolution for me. But the experience was again disappointing. I won’t name the dealer, but I quickly realized the car business wasn’t what I hoped it would be, and I thought it was behind me for good.
After a year of university, I wanted a part-time job. I had been very successful selling cars before, so I thought I could sell part-time, but no one would hire me for that. So, I started my own dealership—with just four cars—and built from there. My vision was simple: sell cars with honesty, integrity, and transparency. That became the foundation for Auto Connection.
JD: Being the first Canadian Certified Master Dealer, what differences, if any, stand out between the U.S. dealer network and the Canadian dealer network?
DK: This is a bit outside of CMD, but there are definitely differences in lending. In Canada, it’s very difficult to finance cars more than eight years old, so those typically become cash deals. In the U.S., there are many lenders with an appetite for older vehicles. That was a major difference I noticed.
JD: You attended our convention in Las Vegas, right? What advice would you give a Canadian dealer attending their first U.S. industry event, such as the NIADA convention, to maximize the experience?
DK: Talk to people—talk to as many American dealers as you can in person. You never know what will come out of those conversations. It might be an insight or strategy you hadn’t considered. I found tremendous value in those discussions.
JD: In terms of financing, warranty, and service add-ons, do you see big differences between Canada and the United States?
DK: There are significant differences in warranties and aftermarket products. In Canada, we have relatively few extended warranty companies, and most coverage ends around 120,000 miles. What struck me walking through the expo hall at the NIADA conference was how many warranty companies there were, with coverage extending up to 300,000 miles. That’s so different from what I’m used to. The concept of reinsurance was also eye-opening—it exists in Canada, but it’s not common.
JD: Honesty, transparent pricing, and service seem central to your business. How do you hire or train your team to consistently embody your culture and values?
DK: You can’t train honesty—you have to hire it. You need to trust the interview process and believe you’re sitting across from a good human who shares your values. If they don’t, it becomes clear within a few months. If someone doesn’t align with our values, they simply won’t fit.
JD: You opened the Auto Care Service Center in 2018—a major milestone for any dealer. Many are considering adding service. What gave you the confidence to expand into a full-service operation?
DK: Honestly, I never planned to start a service department—it wasn’t on my radar. But I wasn’t getting the results I wanted from outsourcing service, whether for reconditioning or customer needs. If a customer had an issue after a purchase, I was at the mercy of another shop’s schedule and pricing, and sometimes they’d run up the bill, creating a bad experience.
I noticed the same pattern with reconditioning—delays and overselling. It just made sense to bring it in-house. We had the space, so we hired one technician and started with no long-term vision, just reconditioning our own cars. But customers loved our approach and began asking if we could service their cars too. Why turn that away?
Eventually, we leased a separate location, grew to an eight-bay shop, and learned that running service is completely different from sales. The learning curve was steep, but external training helped us get it right. Today, it’s an essential part of our business.
JD: You juggle a couple of careers—auto industry entrepreneur and competitive curler. How do curling strategies overlap with dealership strategies, and what lessons from curling have shaped your leadership?
DK: I view business a lot like sport. The same traits that make you world-class in one area help you succeed in another.
In curling, I practice nearly every day we have ice, always seeking small improvements. If I can get 1 percent better each week, that’s a 52 percent improvement by year’s end.
Curling taught me to be self-critical. You have to enjoy finding your mistakes, because identifying weaknesses is the only way to improve. I bring that same mindset to business—constantly evaluating, learning, and improving. Whether in sport or business, that’s the path to success.
From curling to car sales, Dustin Kalthoff’s journey shows how precision, integrity, and continuous improvement can build both champions and customers for life.
