LET US SAVE YOU $1000 ON YOUR NEXT CAR!!!
What you get from us:
- Get an average savings of $1000 per car
- Know the car you're buying hasn't been in a major collision
- Know the car you're buying is not a "salt exposed" vehicle
- Have the option of an independent inspection prior to payment of any funds
- A sense of security knowing you get the best deal. We tell the truth!
- Independent advice on the best car to meet your needs with no influence from any manufacturer
- Highly competitive Vehicle Protection Plan (VPP) and financing options
How do we do it?
With Auto Sourcing, 100% of the units we sell are pre-sold, so we have virtually no carrying costs. In this portion of our business we don't have advertising expenses.
What makes us different?
We do not take money from you up front. This is our assurance to you that we will not pay too much for your car. There are other dealers that provide a similar service, but require a 10% upfront fee or require you to go to the auction with them (which is a Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission violation). The only reason they do this is because they intend to buy your car very quickly and will pay higher than wholesale value. They will need your deposit to offset their overpayment if you don't purchase the car they buy for you. Since we started Auto Sourcing, we have had three customers choose to have us buy them a different car and we have made a wholesale profit on all of them after paying all auction fees!
What qualifies us to do this?
The most important factor enabling us to provide this service is our experience and knowledge of the auction business and the pitfalls that inexperienced buyers might fall into.
We have bought and sold more than 15,000 vehicles through dealer only auctions, resulting in a thorough knowledge of the auction market. Todd has been a dealer in this market since 1996. We understand the ins and outs of the purchase, transporting, and the arbitration processes with the auctions. We know many of the auction personnel and most of the buyers and sellers. We have heard it is important to know your friends but much more important to know your competition!
Todd and his team are experienced, knowledgeable, and go to work for you.
Prices and Process
- We have a graduated fee structure for the services we provide as follows:
- We only Auto Source vehicles that are 10 years or newer and less than 100k miles
- $8001.00 - $11000.00 = 13% of total auction price
- $11001.00 -$20000.00 = 10% of total auction price
- $20001.00 - $30000.00 = 7% of total auction price
- $30001.00 - $40000.00 = 6% of total auction price
- $40001.00 - and up = 5% of total auction price
- If the vehicle is purchased out of town, there will be transportation costs. We will discuss this prior to us purchasing your vehicle.
- In order to protect your investment, we offer multiple Vehicle Protection Plans (VPP) options.
- We have competitive financing available to simplify the buying process, if needed.
Pricing Example:
| $25000 | auction price |
| $800 | auction fee |
| $1750 | TCT.com fee @7% |
| $1700 | reconditioning |
| $700 | freight average |
| $29950 | total before taxes and tags |
How do we get started? It is a 12 step process.
(Yes a 12 step car buying program!!)
- Let’s talk about your needs and budget to determine what vehicles will work best. It has worked best to go to www.carmax.com and search for used cars knowing you can expect to buy the same year, make, & model for about $1000 less through us. Call our Sales Department at 615-218-4101 when you have found some options.
- Having established the best vehicle for you we will research and share with you auction market reports to determine year and mileage ranges that fit your budget. (You will now be armed with more information about your vehicle value than most car dealers!)
- We will agree upon a wholesale target price and upper limit to pay at the auction.
- Should you require financing, we will help you arrange a pre-approval.
- We will put our verbal agreements in writing on an Auto Sourcing Commitment form. Some items include price, miles, color, equipment, condition, reconditioning expectations and comfort level, and previous paint repair tolerance.
- We will seek and buy your vehicle at the auction.
- We will arrange to transport the vehicle to our Hendersonville location.
- We will present the vehicle for you to ensure it meets the criteria we agreed upon and you are satisfied.
- We will recondition your new vehicle.
- We will complete the financial, registration, and title documents.
- You will enjoy your savings and most importantly your new vehicle. Also, you will be secure in the knowledge you got a great deal!
- Stay in touch and say hello when you return to Todd’s Car Team Service Department for your future maintenance/repair needs and confidently refer our Auto Sourcing services to your friends and family!
FAQs
What is, and why do you use MMR or Manheim Market Report?
Manheim owns 77 auctions throughout the country. They have an internet site on which they download daily their auction transactions, most weeks they report in excess of 70,000 transactions. They report the year, make, model, style, color, miles, condition and most importantly the price. They have the most accurate and up to date system to value a used car available. The best “book” is the black book it has a four to six week delay in identifying market trends and no transactional information. With MMR we can tell you today what a car sold for yesterday! Another reason we use this tool is most guides such as NADA are not market reports, they are lender’s guides.
Why do you use auto auctions; I have heard only bad cars go to auction?
The cars at auction are owned by motivated sellers. The auction sellers vary from fleet companies (company cars and rentals), banks (lease turn-ins & repos), & dealers (trade-ins & aged inventory). We have the experience and knowledge to prevent buying a problem car. You are paying us for our ability to buy only a top quality car for the right money. You are really paying us for not buying the bad ones! A great price on a bad car is a bad deal.
What criteria do you use to buy vehicles?
Our business model is primarily based on referrals so we are very conservative as to what we buy. As a rule we do not buy cars with any previous collision repair. Upon your pre-approval we will buy a unit with no more than two body panels painted. It is very unlikely that a vehicle could be in a major accident with just two body panels painted. We will make sure any paint work is factory quality. We have invested in Elcometer paint gauges ($600) which help us to ensure we don’t miss previous paint repair. We adhere to this policy because vehicles that have been involved in major collisions tend to have more problems in time. We avoid Northern vehicles due to the potential and likely problems issues salt in their environment creates.
Why is it better to buy on a flat percentage instead of a pre-determined price?
Using a percentage added pricing basis; if we buy a unit for $1000.00 less than we had expected you will get the benefit of the windfall. We make our percentage buying units at or below wholesale for our clients. We don’t have the expenses that a typical retailer does; therefore we don’t need the retail profit margins for my business model to succeed.
What is the risk of buying on a flat percentage?
There is a chance of there being a dealer at the auction with an end consumer pre-sold on a unit we have selected. They may have a price or payment their customer has agreed to pay which may be full retail or higher. Due to the fact the auction arena is a bidding environment we will share auction transaction summaries with you to predetermine the wholesale value of the unit we select. We will pay wholesale or less.
How do I know what you paid for the vehicle?
We will show you the auction purchase slips. They disclose the sale price and all auction fees.
Will you take a trade-in?
We will gladly trade for your old car.
Why is the percentage higher on the lower priced units?
The price being lower generates less revenue though they require far more effort to buy. They take more inspection time both pre-sale and post-sale. Units that are in the lower price range and still worthy of buying are in short supply, and have a high demand from “buy here pay here” dealers. They plan on financing these units themselves so they have interest revenue in addition to sale profit. It is hard to compete with someone bidding knowing they will make 100% interest in addition to the profit from the sale.
How can I be protected from mechanical failures?
Cars break!! We offer Vehicle Protection Plans (VPP) at wholesale prices for your protection.
What should I expect to have to do to make my car road ready?
We will inspect and service your car within our Todd’s Car Team Service Department. Some services you might expect are: tune up, transmission service, brake job, windshield repair, new tires, paintless dent repair, and a professional detail. We adjust the price to pay at auction based upon the reconditioning needs. The reconditioning cost will vary based upon the age and mileage of the vehicle. We typically budget $1500.