Latest / The Smoke Break with Adrian The Car Guy / Toyota GM vs Jeep GM: Why Your Dealer's Online Price Isn't Real (with Adrian Burone)
Transcript
- 0:00Some people might view this
- 0:01video and say,
- 0:02these guys work for competing dealers.
- 0:05What are they doing hanging out?
- 0:06when they get there,
- 0:07there's a $2,000 package that
- 0:09they've got to buy in addition
- 0:10to the vehicle.
- 0:11I got ridiculed.
- 0:12Oh my, you have no idea.
- 0:14It's a car business.
- 0:14It's never enough.
- 0:15If you're happy with the number,
- 0:16you're in the wrong business.
- 0:17Were we on a live right
- 0:18now meditating?
- 0:19Yeah.
- 0:20But we were live?
- 0:26So, guys, this is my very
- 0:28good friend, Adrian Burone.
- 0:30So, we've been friends for a
- 0:32very, very long time.
- 0:33So, usually, from time to time,
- 0:34when things go good or things
- 0:35go bad, we come out here
- 0:36and we work out.
- 0:38So you gotta sometimes clear the
- 0:39mind a little bit.
- 0:40So nobody else better to work
- 0:41out than with this guy.
- 0:42These are the two spectrums.
- 0:44You got somebody from Toyota and
- 0:46somebody from Stellantis.
- 0:48So here's the plan.
- 0:49We're going to get a quick
- 0:49little jog in.
- 0:51And then we're going to stop
- 0:51and have a little sunrise meditation.
- 0:53so you know sometimes walk in
- 0:55and clean your head.
- 0:57you know, definitely works out.
- 0:58I mean, right now,
- 0:59I know the struggles that I'm
- 1:01facing, but I know a lot
- 1:02of upsides that are going on
- 1:03with my brand.
- 1:04What's going on with Toyota?
- 1:05How's everything going with you?
- 1:06You know, overall,
- 1:07Toyota is doing amazing.
- 1:08the lease programs are certainly
- 1:10a big plus for us.
- 1:11I would say maybe one out
- 1:12of every three cars we're
- 1:13selling at the moment is
- 1:14Tacomas, a majority being leases.
- 1:16We were blessed to have a
- 1:17best ever February,
- 1:19but it did not feel like
- 1:20that in the beginning.
- 1:22How are you guys starting off?
- 1:23Actually, we actually started
- 1:24off pretty well.
- 1:25I mean, surprisingly enough,
- 1:27I mean, we've had some good
- 1:28eight-car days.
- 1:29You know, Saturday was a little slow.
- 1:31How was it for you guys
- 1:32on Saturday?
- 1:33You know, it was definitely off
- 1:35in terms of volume, but.
- 1:37Fared fairly well,
- 1:38but you know,
- 1:39it's never enough, right?
- 1:40It's a car business.
- 1:40It's never enough.
- 1:41If you're happy with the number,
- 1:42you're in the wrong business.
- 1:45So, like in the Stellantis
- 1:47world, it's.
- 1:48I don't agree with this model, right?
- 1:50But, you know,
- 1:51everybody, every dealer prices
- 1:52their vehicles differently.
- 1:53So you always get somebody
- 1:54that's like, hey,
- 1:55you know, well,
- 1:56this other dealership's pricing
- 1:58it at this much online.
- 2:00And a lot of these dealerships
- 2:01are not very transparent when it
- 2:02comes to their pricing.
- 2:03You go in there,
- 2:04all of a sudden,
- 2:05things change.
- 2:05You know, there's even some
- 2:07disclosures, residency disclosures.
- 2:09You know,
- 2:10you must trade in to get
- 2:12this pricing, which doesn't ever
- 2:13make sense to me.
- 2:15The fact that.
- 2:16You need to
- 2:17trade in a vehicle to get
- 2:18a certain pricing on a vehicle.
- 2:20But there's a lot of restrictions.
- 2:22So, right now,
- 2:23I know that with Toyota,
- 2:24it's a lot different.
- 2:25They have a lot stricter rules
- 2:26when it comes to advertising.
- 2:27So, no dealers are undermining.
- 2:29How I've always wondered,
- 2:31how do you drive people in
- 2:32the door on a daily basis
- 2:35if you guys can undermine your
- 2:36pricing?
- 2:37Everybody's pricing, nobody can
- 2:38price below invoice.
- 2:39That's a great question.
- 2:40So, Toyota has MAP,
- 2:41it's the minimum allowable
- 2:43advertised price.
- 2:45And if you happen to advertise
- 2:47below invoice, Then you can
- 2:49basically lose some of the
- 2:50dealer money that you get.
- 2:52So, really, the way to get
- 2:54people in the door,
- 2:55obviously, right now,
- 2:56the lease payments are a big plus.
- 2:59I'll be the first to tell
- 2:59you that the lower the payment,
- 3:01typically the higher the down
- 3:02payment, which everybody knows.
- 3:04the way we're getting people in
- 3:05the door is a lot of
- 3:07our businesses repeat business.
- 3:09That's the thing about Toyota,
- 3:11it's the number one loyalty brand.
- 3:12Yeah, that's true.
- 3:13So, we know a lot of
- 3:15our customers are sometimes in
- 3:17service and they just choose to
- 3:19bypass the oil change and get
- 3:21another vehicle.
- 3:22But I will tell you,
- 3:22some of our customers.
- 3:24They're willing to wait for that
- 3:26exact vehicle to come in.
- 3:28And so, if we don't have
- 3:29the same trim,
- 3:30color, equipment that they're
- 3:32looking for, then we have one
- 3:34coming in a week or we'll
- 3:36get another one for them.
- 3:37Oh, nice.
- 3:38Well, that's that definitely helps.
- 3:40I mean, it helps that the
- 3:41Toyota's customer is very loyal
- 3:42to the Toyota brand.
- 3:44So that's always good.
- 3:45I agree.
- 3:46And, you know,
- 3:46I think it's disappointing that
- 3:47a lot of these other brands.
- 3:49Have allowed their dealers to
- 3:51create that race to the bottom,
- 3:53where it's all about who can
- 3:54advertise the biggest loser deal.
- 3:56I mean, yes,
- 3:57it does benefit the consumer,
- 3:59but I think it hurts the
- 3:59brand, it hurts the resale
- 4:01value, and I don't think it's ideal.
- 4:03And I think Toyota is,
- 4:05as far as I know,
- 4:07the only company that's really
- 4:08figured that out.
- 4:09And I'm shocked that more
- 4:10companies haven't followed suit.
- 4:11these discounts that some of the
- 4:13dealers are pricing with other
- 4:14manufacturers, they're not even.
- 4:16They're not even real,
- 4:17quote unquote, right?
- 4:18They're not too transparent.
- 4:20And then customers get disappointed.
- 4:21We have a lot of people
- 4:22that say, look,
- 4:23I'm going to leave town.
- 4:25They're offering me a $500
- 4:27better deal, and I'm willing to
- 4:29drive to San Antonio for $500.
- 4:31But then they get there,
- 4:32and what tends to happen is
- 4:35that now there's a whole package
- 4:36associated with buying the
- 4:37vehicle, like you said.
- 4:39And so we don't do the
- 4:40nitrogen and the tint and a
- 4:42lot of the stuff that other
- 4:42dealers do.
- 4:43And I'm not bad-mouthing it,
- 4:44but you know,
- 4:45our vehicle just comes as is.
- 4:47And so, when they get there,
- 4:49there's a $2,000 package that
- 4:50they've got to buy in addition
- 4:52to the vehicle.
- 4:52So, yes, their sale price might
- 4:54be less than ours,
- 4:55but now they're buying a package.
- 4:58That's not something that we do.
- 5:00but you know,
- 5:01again, to each their own.
- 5:03So I'm not picking on any
- 5:04other dealers, you know.
- 5:06Okay, if you don't want to
- 5:07go far, we can just go
- 5:08right up here,
- 5:09do a little under the treetop
- 5:11meditation.
- 5:11And then what you're going to
- 5:12want to do is avoid ant
- 5:13piles because that could
- 5:14definitely impede your ability
- 5:16to meditate.
- 5:17Now, if you can take meditating
- 5:18to another level,
- 5:19and you can do it in
- 5:19an ant pile.
- 5:21That's impressive.
- 5:22That's impressive.
- 5:23You're not afraid of getting
- 5:23dirty, are you?
- 5:24No.
- 5:25Okay, just come sit by me.
- 5:28Like I said,
- 5:28avoid the ant piles That could
- 5:29be an ant pile right there.
- 5:30All right, you're going to have
- 5:31to teach me how to do this.
- 5:34Well that feels a lot better
- 5:36to relax.
- 5:37Yeah.
- 5:38The skunk smell really doesn't help.
- 5:41This is actually pretty good.
- 5:43If you do it for a
- 5:44really long time,
- 5:44it's amazing.
- 5:45In fact, honestly,
- 5:46I've never done that outside.
- 5:47Really?
- 5:48It's the only way to do it.
- 5:49What time is your meeting with Freddy?
- 5:51Freddy Media, it's going to be
- 5:52at 8.
- 5:538.
- 5:53No, 8 a.m.
- 5:54today?
- 5:56Yeah, what time is it?
- 5:57Are you serious?
- 5:58No.
- 5:58What time is it?
- 5:597:45 already?
- 6:00F***.
- 6:00No, that's fine.
- 6:01I'll reschedule it.
- 6:03Were we on a live right
- 6:04now meditating?
- 6:05Yeah.
- 6:06But we were live?
- 6:08Oh, are you serious?
- 6:10Yeah, they're live streaming.
- 6:13But well, I mean,
- 6:14here's the thing: I'm very big
- 6:17on like, I know it sounds
- 6:19very, very shallow,
- 6:20but I love awards.
- 6:21And I think your awards and
- 6:23the dealership's awards speak
- 6:25for themselves.
- 6:25I mean, It's very hard to
- 6:27get president's award.
- 6:28And I know you've gotten
- 6:28president's award already,
- 6:29like what, a couple of years
- 6:30in a row?
- 6:31Five years in a row,
- 6:32we're the only dealer in the
- 6:33valley to get it the last
- 6:34two years.
- 6:34So for 24 and 25,
- 6:36we're the only dealer in the
- 6:37valley to get it.
- 6:39And we've got some great dealers
- 6:40down here.
- 6:40Again, I'm not,
- 6:41you know, we work very well
- 6:43with some of them.
- 6:43And, you know,
- 6:45like I said,
- 6:45just like you and I,
- 6:46we're friends.
- 6:47In fact, you know,
- 6:49some people might view this
- 6:50video and say,
- 6:52these guys work for competing dealers.
- 6:54What are they doing hanging out?
- 6:55And obviously, we've worked together.
- 6:57We've been friends.
- 6:58Our kids are friends.
- 7:00And
- 7:01we've always spent time
- 7:02together, but I kind of equate
- 7:04it to, let's say,
- 7:04a UFC fighter.
- 7:06Sometimes before the fight,
- 7:07you see that they have an altercation.
- 7:10Sometimes after the fight,
- 7:11they continue to have an altercation.
- 7:12And then there are some fighters
- 7:14that, after they beat each other
- 7:15to a bloody pulp,
- 7:16they hug it out and they
- 7:17congratulate each other because
- 7:18they appreciate what they do and
- 7:20that they're in the same industry.
- 7:22So I think in some cases,
- 7:23like ours, we can still be
- 7:25friends and work for competing
- 7:26dealers.
- 7:28And in some cases,
- 7:28there are people that the
- 7:29rivalry is just
- 7:31too strong.
- 7:32But because in this,
- 7:33it's like in this industry,
- 7:34you know, we got to learn
- 7:35from each other,
- 7:36even though we're in different
- 7:37brands, it's all the same car
- 7:39business, right?
- 7:40Absolutely.
- 7:41Absolutely.
- 7:41And I agree with you.
- 7:42I think that's why you and
- 7:43I are always having
- 7:44conversations because we can
- 7:46bounce ideas off one another.
- 7:48You know, we can help each
- 7:49other get stronger and then we
- 7:50can share things, right?
- 7:51And at the end of the
- 7:52day, we're looking to support
- 7:53each other as friends No,
- 7:55usually, like I said,
- 7:56we, you know,
- 7:56in the car business,
- 7:57dealership world, it's a very,
- 7:59very, you know, enclosed
- 8:02employee base, right?
- 8:04So it's not if you're going
- 8:05to work with that individual
- 8:06again, it's just when.
- 8:07Exactly.
- 8:08So.
- 8:08Why burn your bridges?
- 8:10And at the end of the
- 8:10day, if we unite,
- 8:11we can be a lot stronger
- 8:13because I've gotten a lot of
- 8:14ideas from you,
- 8:16you know, to implement in my
- 8:17dealership.
- 8:20Now, I've learned that some of
- 8:22the stuff that you can get
- 8:23away with with Toyota,
- 8:25I can't get away with Stellantis.
- 8:26For give you an example,
- 8:27I don't know if you know
- 8:28this one.
- 8:29The $90-something dollar
- 8:30payments you have on Tacomas.
- 8:32Okay, I did the same thing
- 8:33on Gladiators.
- 8:35I got ridiculed.
- 8:36Oh my, you have no idea.
- 8:38For, oh, why would you put
- 8:40$13,000 down on a lease and
- 8:43this and this and that?
- 8:44When a Toyota customer would be
- 8:45like, oh, that's not bad.
- 8:47And I had to explain the
- 8:48fact that if you put $13,000
- 8:50down on a purchase,
- 8:51you'd still be at $600,
- 8:52$700 a month.
- 8:53Correct.
- 8:53You know, you put $13,000,
- 8:54if you have the money,
- 8:55obviously, if you have the money
- 8:56and you put the money down,
- 8:58you can have a real nice
- 8:59$90-something dollar payment.
- 9:01On a vehicle for the next
- 9:03three years, but the domestic
- 9:05market wasn't ready for that.
- 9:07Right.
- 9:07No, and I see that.
- 9:09I mean, I will tell you
- 9:09our residuals might be a little
- 9:10better, so it might not be
- 9:11quite $13,000.
- 9:13But the way it works with
- 9:15the lease is you're really just
- 9:17paying the difference of the
- 9:18payment up front when you put
- 9:19the money down.
- 9:20So if you take that money
- 9:21out of the deal and you
- 9:22divide it by the term,
- 9:24the payment goes up by the
- 9:25exact amount.
- 9:26So it's really you're just advancing.
- 9:29The difference of the payment, right?
- 9:31So, in a sense,
- 9:32it really doesn't change it a
- 9:33whole lot.
- 9:33Yeah, it doesn't.
- 9:34But that's good to know that
- 9:36as far as like you know,
- 9:36Toyota goes, you guys are not
- 9:38racing your way to the bottom
- 9:40and you know,
- 9:41outbidding everyone.
- 9:43So, that's always good.
- 9:44How is that working for you
- 9:44in your market?
- 9:45And don't get me wrong,
- 9:46once a customer is in the door.
- 9:48Yeah, sure.
- 9:48I mean, they'll sometimes put
- 9:50dealers against one another.
- 9:52And, you know,
- 9:52we're competing for price,
- 9:54we're competing for payment,
- 9:55just like anybody else.
- 9:57It's just not done so
- 9:58aggressively online.
- 10:00Right.
- 10:00And I think that,
- 10:02one, it just kind of helps
- 10:03the brand hold value.
- 10:04It helps the vehicles hold value.
- 10:05And that's why,
- 10:06you know, you're going to see
- 10:07if you go to Edmunds.com,
- 10:10five out of the 10,
- 10:11six out of the 10 top
- 10:12resale-value vehicles are going
- 10:13to be Toyotas.
- 10:15So they've done a good...
- 10:16aside from the fact that they
- 10:17are really reliable vehicles.
- 10:20And that does help the resale value.
- 10:22You know, they also make sure
- 10:23to maintain the value from the
- 10:25point of the sale as well.
- 10:27Yeah.
- 10:29And again, I'm not,
- 10:31I love my brand very much,
- 10:32but at one point,
- 10:33Wranglers were up there, right?
- 10:36With the Tacomas.
- 10:37Absolutely.
- 10:37And unfortunately, with some of
- 10:38the decisions that were made
- 10:39recently, you know,
- 10:40they've completely tanked,
- 10:42especially the 4xe's,
- 10:44the hybrid ones.
- 10:45Now, as you know,
- 10:46Toyota stuck with hybrid,
- 10:49which the majority of the lines
- 10:50have already gone to hybrid or
- 10:51are going to hybrid.
- 10:53And that's been a huge plus
- 10:54for us.
- 10:54A lot of people just aren't
- 10:56ready with the infrastructure,
- 10:57particularly down here in South Texas.
- 11:00And a lot of these vehicles
- 11:01can't make it to Austin without
- 11:03stopping for a charge.
- 11:04And so, for some people,
- 11:05that's been a turn off.
- 11:06So, Toyota's just done well.
- 11:08I mean, our Camries are doing
- 11:0950 miles a gallon.
- 11:10I don't think...
- 11:11Toyota has always kept their
- 11:12technology very simple,
- 11:13but recently I got to see,
- 11:15like I said,
- 11:15a Grand Highlander and I got
- 11:17to see a bunch of like
- 11:18the Prius.
- 11:19Oh my God.
- 11:19Oh, yeah.
- 11:20They've really stepped up their
- 11:21game with technology now,
- 11:23which I've never hadn't seen in
- 11:24Toyota in a while.
- 11:25How's that working out?
- 11:26Are you guys running into any
- 11:27issues or anything like that?
- 11:29You know, we really haven't had
- 11:30any issues with technology,
- 11:32but I will tell you that
- 11:33Toyota does a lot of testing
- 11:34on product before they release it.
- 11:36When there's a new vehicle out.
- 11:38And let's say we're supposed to
- 11:39get it in January.
- 11:40Sometimes we don't see it until
- 11:42March because of the amount of
- 11:43product testing they do,
- 11:44and they try and avoid it.
- 11:45They, as everybody knows,
- 11:47they did have an issue with
- 11:48the Tundra when it changed body
- 11:50styles.
- 11:50And there were some issues with
- 11:51the engines, and a lot of
- 11:52it had to do with the
- 11:53fact that during COVID,
- 11:54the engineers weren't at the
- 11:56same place working together.
- 11:58And so, what happened is you
- 11:59had a bunch of people in
- 12:00remote locations working on the
- 12:02same build, and you know,
- 12:04there were some kinks there.
- 12:05But in general,
- 12:06no, but again,
- 12:08you are correct.
- 12:08Toyota is a little slower when
- 12:10it comes to moving into the
- 12:11technology, which is a good thing.
- 12:14Which is a good thing because
- 12:15typically a lot of the issues
- 12:16you're going to have with some
- 12:17of these vehicles are related to
- 12:19technology.
- 12:20And so, and it's all run
- 12:21by the technology now.
- 12:23So, once that goes out,
- 12:24it gives you problems,
- 12:26and you know,
- 12:27you have a vehicle that's inoperable.
- 12:29Yeah, that's 100% correct.
- 12:31So, yeah, sometimes you can
- 12:33really sell yourself out by
- 12:36going too fast and not really
- 12:38slowing down and figuring things
- 12:40out with the technology.
- 12:41And it's a double-edged sword
- 12:42because I will tell you that
- 12:43some younger people are big on
- 12:46technology.
- 12:47And sometimes, you know, they
- 12:49gravitate towards vehicles that
- 12:51have that additional technology.
- 12:53It works for us and it
- 12:54can work against us.
- 12:56But, you know,
- 12:56in terms of reliability and
- 12:57resale, it definitely works in
- 12:59our favor.
- 13:01So, yeah, from time to time,
- 13:02we usually do this,
- 13:04you know.
- 13:06But we decided to film it
- 13:09this time around because we
- 13:10always have great conversations
- 13:11whenever we kind of like get
- 13:13together and stuff.
- 13:14But what are your thoughts about
- 13:15the whole social media thing?
- 13:16I know I kind of like.
- 13:17That's what I wanted to get
- 13:18some more input from you on.
- 13:19So I've got a few salespeople
- 13:21that have bought in,
- 13:22and then I've got a lot
- 13:23of salespeople that really just
- 13:26don't know whether they don't
- 13:27want to intermingle their
- 13:28personal accounts.
- 13:29With their work at the
- 13:30dealership, or for whatever
- 13:32reason, they're more reluctant
- 13:34to really use social media to sell.
- 13:36So, what do you do,
- 13:37or how do you motivate people
- 13:39to get onto social media?
- 13:41So, right now,
- 13:42in a dealership where
- 13:44we don't have a lot of
- 13:45driving traffic, it's either you
- 13:47adapt or you don't sell any cars.
- 13:51I pretty much tell the guys
- 13:52you guys need to start posting.
- 13:53It's kind of like a requirement
- 13:54when I interview them.
- 13:55It's like, well,
- 13:56how do you feel about posting
- 13:57on social media?
- 13:58Okay, well, you have your
- 13:59personal account.
- 14:00You're going to open up.
- 14:01If you're going to work here,
- 14:02you're going to open up a
- 14:03separate account, and that's
- 14:04where you're going to be posting
- 14:05all the stuff.
- 14:06we're gonna have to teach this
- 14:07new generation on how the social
- 14:09media actually works: hashtags,
- 14:10what kind of hashtags do you use?
- 14:11Like, like little things like
- 14:12this: like when you open up
- 14:14a video and they're like,
- 14:16Everyone does this,
- 14:18hey guys, how's it going?
- 14:19Right, okay, you lost the
- 14:21customer, you lost the viewer, okay.
- 14:23You lost the viewer completely.
- 14:24Now, let's just say we're
- 14:25talking about this car here, right?
- 14:28Hey guys, I have this car,
- 14:29they already scrolled up,
- 14:30Let's just say crazy,
- 14:32crazy vehicle right now.
- 14:34Like, you know,
- 14:34something that'll catch them.
- 14:35You got two seconds.
- 14:36If now they're scrolling up.
- 14:37So, like, it's like,
- 14:38you will not believe what I
- 14:39just found.
- 14:40You know, like things that are
- 14:41a little bit captivating there.
- 14:42Or one thing that I noticed
- 14:44when I started filming,
- 14:45and I didn't know until I
- 14:46started putting captions,
- 14:47I say "um" a lot.
- 14:49It's funny when you watch
- 14:50yourself on camera.
- 14:51It's ridiculous.
- 14:52It's like we're talking and then
- 14:53we're like,
- 14:54because the captions were all
- 14:55the ums.
- 14:56I'm like, God.
- 14:57So, yeah.
- 14:58So that's funny.
- 14:59Well, and the reason I'm asking
- 15:01full transparency is I've never
- 15:03had any social media accounts.
- 15:05So I've always been very private
- 15:06about my personal life.
- 15:08I've never posted anything,
- 15:09I've never had a social media account.
- 15:11although I will say that you
- 15:12know if you want to see
- 15:13what I ate for dinner last
- 15:15night, just look at my wife's
- 15:16social media account.
- 15:17She posted it.
- 15:18So it really defeats the purpose
- 15:19of me trying to have any
- 15:21form of privacy.
- 15:22So a lot of people right
- 15:23now, these young cats,
- 15:24we think that we that we
- 15:26think that they know social
- 15:27media because they post online,
- 15:28but they post
- 15:30for their personal stuff.
- 15:32They don't know how to market.
- 15:33Correct.
- 15:34Like when we went to NADA,
- 15:35one of the main reps of
- 15:36TikTok was there and like
- 15:38there's specific hashtags that
- 15:39are used for the car business.
- 15:41And I didn't even know that.
- 15:42I didn't know that.
- 15:43They have this thing called CarTok.
- 15:45Car and then T-O-K.
- 15:47So all of it.
- 15:48I love it.
- 15:48So all of the hashtags,
- 15:50it's getting put into that
- 15:51window and categorizing it for
- 15:53people and dealerships.
- 15:54Very cool.
- 15:55Yeah, so like little things like that.
- 15:56Very cool.
- 15:57By the way,
- 15:57you haven't said "um" once.
- 16:02All right, so the pull-ups are here.
- 16:03The pull-ups are here.
- 16:04You want me to go first?
- 16:05Yeah, you do it first.
- 16:06Okay, so what I would do,
- 16:07I would get a tight shot.
- 16:09I'm too short.
- 16:11Get a tight shot of him
- 16:12up here while he's in the
- 16:13pull-up so you can't see me.
- 16:15On three.
- 16:18Three.
- 16:18Oh, yeah.
- 16:19Burone, this is easy.
- 16:20I don't know why you can't
- 16:22put more.
- 16:23Yeah, I can definitely not do
- 16:24one by myself.
- 16:26Oh, my God.
- 16:28There you go.
- 16:28Man, how old are you?
- 16:3048.
- 16:31What?
- 16:33You look better than me,
- 16:34and I'm 30.