I've done it all, but I've got a retail and wholesale dealer's license and a little facility in Hudson, WI just across the river on I94 about 15 minutes from 3M world headquarters. We find cars for customers all over the country. Most of our business is via internet. I don't need to inventory many cars, and I'm technically open to the public two hours a week, otherwise by appointment ;)

As always, thank you Speeder for the kind words.

And btw, I'm just happy to help by providing info, opinions, and insight that leads Pelicans to get a good deal on the right car. Don't feel any pressure from me or anyone else if I don't help directly. But if I can, I will. It's how I make a living. However, the scope of clients that appreciate the service I provide is a small percentage of car buyers. Luckily for me, it's a piece of a mighty big pie!

Very cool. Not to hijack Steve's thread, but do you have a website? Put your current inventory on CL or something like that?

I'm currently on the look out for something for my soon to be 16 year old. Not going to be spending too much $$'s though.

I used to have an inventory website but found that the cars would sell faster than I could update the site. Craigslist also works very well for us. I still own the site, but have dragged my feet in revamping it.

As I mentioned, we purposely don't inventory too many cars. For example, I'd buy a Mercedes 4Matic Black/Black with Sport package and 25K miles. Then someone from AZ would want a light color, or someone hated the Sport's blue tint, or someone would rather have higher miles to save some money. I could easily find those cars, but here I had $30K sitting idle and might feel compelled to 'push' my car on their needs. Not the way I'd like to do it.

So the only cars we inventory are either the needles in the haystack where I can't replicate it, just have to buy them when they come around. OR, cheap cars where I can have a few without the financial impact of time/opportunity cost. We actually do keep a few nice $2500-4000 'college cars' because it's impossible to find good ones when we get that call. It may not be glamorous, but it fills a need and doesn't impact my overhead or costs. Otherwise we do most things to order.

A few years back I ran some of the very large new car dealers that you know in the Twin Cities and surrounding states. I'm now very happy to be small and nimble, and have low overhead and the flexibility to please clients without having to pass on those associated costs. I'm having fun now.

Share your criteria for your son's car and I'll give you my two cents. If we have something, I'll let you know. You'll find that it's harder to buy a decent cheap car than find a nice Porsche :D

I'd still like some insight on a 2010 GMC Acadia if it's not too much trouble.

What kind of insight are you looking for? I know them very, very well. Happy to help.

Depending on how business is this 1/4 looking to replace her 01" Tahoe. She is dead set on 8 seats so it's either a big SUV and the mileage that comes along with it or something more reasonable like the Traverse. She likes the styling of the GMC offering better. The Denali is sweet but that's new for this year so that may be out.

Think she is looking at the SLT? Leather, AWD.

She's a substitute teacher right now and will likely go full time this or next year and is adamant about paying for it herself.

So starting to explore frequency of availability and price points.

We typically buy vehicles off lease. I prefer a year old low miles vehicle vs new. Had a guy in NY who was in your line that I used to go to so I get how it works.

Thanks,
Scott

Kaisen, not that I'm looking, but can you sell a car to a Canuck?

Yes, but there's obviously a lot more involved. Currency fluctuations can really make it attractive at times. I can even buy a Canadian car from a Canadian auction via Simulcast and ship it directly so it never leaves the country. But if it's better to import one we can do that too.

We are still trying to iron that out.

If I could find an AWD BMW or MB that had a "few" miles on it but wasn't beat that would be great. As much as I love my A4, I don't want the up-keep of another. I also like the Impreza, but she thinks they're butt ugly.

Another idea I've been 'suggesting' if for her to drive the A4, and I get an SLK (last gen not current gen), Miata, or something along those lines.

She can drive a 5 speed, but part of me thinks it would be better not to have the additional distraction for a while.

Thanks everyone, especially Kaisen. You provided me with the info that I needed to get a good deal. We got the '09 cert preowned for a bunch less than they were asking.

Glad it all worked out!
Now you've got an Explorer to drive
Congrats on all, and good luck with the new job!!