{"id":5842,"date":"2025-05-07T12:11:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T17:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/?p=5842"},"modified":"2025-05-07T12:11:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T17:11:27","slug":"hot-topic-buy-what-you-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niada.com\/dashboard\/hot-topic-buy-what-you-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot topic: Buy what you know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the May issue of UCD<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn\u2019t take long for Blaize Brimer to recognize where the value of his dealership lies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in business for over 40 years and for us, our most valuable asset we have is our name and reputation,\u201d Brimer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting that reputation with customers drives every decision at the dealership and primarily their approach to building inventory at Pokey Brimer Auto Sales in Oxford, Alabama. Even in tight times, Brimer and his father, Pokey, stick to their strict guidelines in acquiring inventory. The Brimers focus on American-made four-cylinder sedans for the most part, with just a handful of Toyotas and Hondas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe mostly stick with American-made cars, typically four-cylinder vehicles, no German, no BMWs or Mercedes. Nothing too crazy,\u201d Brimer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re easier to fix. The access to parts is easier and the parts are cheaper. It keeps our costs down. Costs are going up on everything and to combat that we stick with a car that is a pretty good car that doesn\u2019t require a lot of work, and it\u2019s easy to access parts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specializing in a few makes allows the Brimers to store excess inventory of common parts for their selections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary reason for limiting the inventory selection is to make sure they are equipped the right personnel and knowledge to work on the vehicles on their lot. In a time where it\u2019s hard to recruit and keep mechanics and technicians, the limited makes allows them specialize and work efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easier on our mechanics. Once they\u2019ve worked on that car or the same kind five times, they\u2019ve got that car down,\u201d Brimer said. \u201cIf it needs an engine, a transmission or a water pump, after they’ve done it once or twice, they become pretty familiar with it. They can beat that book time on that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brimer employs six technicians and handle their own warranty claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By limiting their inventory selections, the Brimers believe they are able to provide a better-maintained vehicle for customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuying 10 of the same model, we know what\u2019s going to fail on that vehicle and we try to fix it before the sale,\u201d Brimer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has limited the number of vehicles brought back by customers. That also helps with collections, which as dealers know, a customer with a broken-down car doesn\u2019t pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not calling in with this service issue and that frustration is taken away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategy does require some extra effort on the vehicle acquisition end. Brimer said they don\u2019t just go to the local auction and settle for what\u2019s available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe go anywhere and everywhere,\u201d Brimer said. \u201cWe go to the auctions, get trade-ins, and then we do buy cars on the street from time to time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brimer said most of their customers know their selection and they have several repeat customers from the past four decades. He doesn\u2019t worry about the lack of varied selection turning customers off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s more important for us to sell a reliable car than it is to sell a bunch of models,\u201d Brimer said. \u201cIf you narrow it down to just the ones that we know how to work on, we can make that car much more reliable than if we’re buying stuff we’re not familiar with, you know, taking care of our name and our reputation is the most important thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, when a customer has a problem, the fact that we can service that car and get ’em back out fast, that’s what’s really important. That’s what keeps people coming back to us.\u201d

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