[Roach]

As a used car dealer I have many thoughts about the market. Pardon my rambling ahead:

- I can't say that we are enjoying this either. While used car values have increased in the past 2 years, so have the costs of purchasing them. We have been trying to maintain a minimal inventory and cycle the vehicles quickly to avoid being exposed when the market does eventually correct itself. Having to buy vehicles over their new MSRP at times is a difficult pill to swallow. But I also have to rely on market data to see what vehicles are in demand and average days they take to sell. As someone inferred earlier, everyone doesn't have the luxury of putting a deposit down and waiting 2-6 months for their new vehicle to arrive. A lot of vehicles are still needs based due to job situations, write-offs, new to BC etc. I feel bad for these people. Inventory levels are low and even some of the slimiest retailers with terrible practices are thriving.

- I can't believe some of the stuff some new car dealers are pulling lately. This example is with some Toyota stores I have heard of: They will take a deposit for a Tacoma/RAV4 Hybrid/4Runner or other hot vehicle. Come the time for your vehicle to arrive, some dealers will not sell you the vehicle if you are a cash buyer. If you are a cash buyer, you best have a trade. And when they appraise that trade, they absolutely lowball the shit out of these people because they know they can. Also, they won't appraise your trade at the time you put the deposit down. Yes, your vehicle may get driven more. But the main reason they do it is because when your shiny new object arrives, they think they have you by the balls and can offer you pennies on the dollar. You don't like the trade value? Ok, no deal we will sell your high demand factory order to someone else. It's such short term thinking on how they treat their clients.

- Another reason for the local vehicle inflation: Some online players that have entered the market. They are paying absurd money at auctions and re-selling these vehicles to clients with challenging credit. So that credit challenged client is already buying a vehicle over market price. On top of that, they will send your credit app to so many banks that it knocks your credit score down so badly. And this is unbeknownst to the client. So they end up coming to us and we check their credit history and notice that there are sometimes 7-10 inquiries on their credit recently. All this under the veil of being forward-thinking business models.

I am looking forward to inventory levels coming back to normal. With few exceptions, vehicles are depreciating assets. Inflation in the used vehicle market is something that is not sustainable both for consumers and retailers alike.

Anyways, I've rambled too much.

Kev