LotTalk Podcast powered by Lotpop

3 in 10 trade-ins are $7,107 underwater, the trade cycle just stretched to 7 years, and CPO is selling at a quarter of its demand. John Ellis of Agile Auto joins LotTalk to show used car managers where the wholesale deals really are and why profit is no longer decided by acquisition channel.Chris Keene, John Anderson, and Renaldo Leonard sit down with John Ellis, founder and CEO of Agile Auto, for a straight conversation on wholesale depreciation, certified pre-owned, and stocking your lot to what your market can actually afford.The numbers driving this episode:29.1% of financed trade-ins carry negative equity, averaging $7,107 (Edmunds, Q3 2026)Buyers rolling that debt forward finance $57,235 and pay $952 a month46% of in-market shoppers are high-potential CPO buyers, yet CPO is only 12% of retail used sales (Cox Automotive 2026 CPO Study)Lithia’s F&I per unit fell $85 in Q3. The big groups are coming back to the lanes.What you’ll learn:Where wholesale values are actually depreciating (and where they aren’t)Why CarMax hitting the lanes in late December is your deadlineWhy an auction car isn’t worth less than a trade, it just costs more to ownHow a store at 62% auction sourcing did 200 units in OctoberWhy a 98% consumer-direct Honda group stopped growingThe two rules for relaunching a CPO strategy without cannibalizing newHow to grow inventory 50 to 60 to 70 without backlogging service and detailWhy buying in November to hold for tax season costs you $3,600 a car⏱️ CHAPTERS00:00 Welcome to LotTalk02:23 29% of trade-ins are underwater. What that means for your store05:06 Your lead went to 14 other dealers. How do you separate?09:25 John Ellis of Agile Auto joins the show10:37 Is wholesale a dirty word? Where the depreciation really is14:23 AutoNation, Lithia, and the fight for cheap used inventory16:40 Trades on leads: 10% to 50% is a sourcing opportunity18:17 Why the middle band of inventory matters more than ever20:04 The trade cycle stretched from 5 years to 7. Here’s what it did21:50 “Profitability is no longer determined by channel”22:44 Owners, stop putting your used car manager in a box25:15 Yes payment, core inventory, and buying with data27:11 Renaldo: the GSM who finally bought into the numbers32:53 Auction cars have a higher cost of ownership. Change the expectation38:00 Case study: 38% trades, 62% auction, 200 units in October40:30 Case study: 98% consumer-direct and stuck. The fix was 10 cars a month42:48 Don’t buy now to sell in tax season (the $3,600 mistake)44:28 46% of shoppers want CPO. That’s a clarity problem, not a demand problem46:25 F.E.A.R., buying centers, and growing in increments52:24 The #1 thing Agile Auto sees when onboarding a dealer55:10 Two rules for relaunching your CPO strategy58:09 Brand loyalty comes from used cars now58:28 Wrap up and the round table we want to host next📝 READ THE BLOGWhy Is Your Auction Car Still Expected to Gross Like a Trade?https://www.lotpop.com/why-is-your-auction-car-expected-to-gross-like-a-trade📊 SEE LOTWALK IN ACTIONFind out which of your leads are sitting on your core inventory right now. Book a demo: https://www.lotpop.com/demo🎙️ ABOUT THE GUESTJohn Ellis is the founder and CEO of Agile Auto, an inventory optimization platform that gives dealers a daily buy plan by channel against their weighted sales forecast. He delivers the weekly economic update on David Long’s All Things Used Cars on Clubhouse, Fridays at 8am Central.🔔 SUBSCRIBELotTalk drops every week with the Lotpop coaching team. Subscribe and hit the bell so you don’t miss the next one.🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6uSp5Q94yY4oueqZKcI7Qq?si=853976e1fa00423d🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lottalk-podcast-powered-by-lotpop/id1776216010🌐 https://www.lotpop.com👥 THE HOSTSChris Keene, Coach at Lotpop: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oklahomakeeneJohn Anderson, Coach at Lotpop: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-anderson-09314641/Renaldo Leonard, Coach at Lotpop: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaldo-leonard/LotTalk is powered by Lotpop, the dealership performance system that pairs LotWalk’s inventory and lead analytics with 1-on-1 accountability coaching for franchise and independent dealers.Topics covered: used car acquisition strategy, wholesale depreciation 2026, auction buying for car dealers, certified pre-owned sales, CPO strategy, negative equity trade-ins, used car inventory management, dealer inventory sourcing, service drive acquisition, trade-in cycle, tax season inventory, used car manager training, independent dealer strategy, dealership profitability, cost of ownership auction cars, Edmunds negative equity report, Cox Automotive CPO study#LotTalk #UsedCars #CarDealership #CPO #CertifiedPreOwned #UsedCarManager #AutoAuction #DealershipLife #AutomotiveIndustry #CarSales #Lotpop #LotWalk #AgileAuto #UsedCarInventory #CarDealer

Stop losing leads because your follow-up quits after three days. Learn how to align your sales process with real buyer habits.Most dealers give up on a prospect far too early, ignoring the fact that the modern car buyer spends nearly 47 days in market. We analyze the Cox Automotive data to show why your current CRM funnel is leaking revenue and how to fix your speed to lead. If you are still managing by accident, this session provides the operational roadmap to capture more shows from your existing inventory.John, Chris, and Renaldo break down why auction buying is only a losing game if your cost-to-market is misaligned. By auditing these specific bottlenecks, you can stop chasing volume and start focusing on the habits that actually move the needle. Whether you are a dealer principal or a sales manager, these insights will help you tighten your internal processes before the next tax season rush.Subscribe for weekly dealership operations insights and let us know in the comments if you have successfully re-engaged a cold lead lately.

Chris is north of the border this week, so John Anderson and Renaldo Leonard go off-format on the one thing feeding both sides of your lot: trade-in acquisition. John opens with a dealer partner who used to sell 125 used a month, now sells 80, and has a missed trade report three pages long. The fix isn’t more people. It’s three habits.In this episode: the trade capture gap (10 to 15% of leads show a trade, 40 to 50% of deals have one), how to ask for the trade without asking for the trade, Renaldo’s 100% look-to-book rule, the $6,000 desk touch that lost a deal in Dallas, John’s zero-gross appraisal floor built on 88 to 90% price-to-market, Edmunds’ negative equity numbers (29.1% underwater, $7,107 average), Cox’s sub-$15,000 supply data, and how to turn porters, service writers, and your sales team’s moms into a paid acquisition network.Plus: why “what you got?” is the cheapest fix for a dead sales desk.Powered by Lotpop. Book a demo at lotpop.com/demo.

Effective lead follow-up isn't about volume; it's about standing out when your customer is shopping 15 dealers at once.Most customers send their information to a dozen dealers simultaneously, making your standard dealership CRM responses invisible noise. This week, Chris Keene and John Anderson host CRM trainer Courtney Paschal to dismantle why your current outreach is failing. We move past the scripts to show you the specific video content that converts and the exact text strategies that force a response from silent prospects.We also examine a side-by-side case study of two stores in the same market with vastly different sales outcomes. By analyzing their inventory management and how they handle aged units, you will see exactly how to stop managing by accident. Whether you need to fix your appointment confirmation process or refine your sales process, this session provides the operational roadmap to actually get customers to the desk.Subscribe for weekly dealership operations insights and let us know in the comments if you have successfully re-engaged a cold lead lately.

Every dealer says fresh inventory makes the most money. So why does the middle bucket fill up every fall? On this episode of LotTalk, Chris Keene, John Anderson, and Renaldo Leonard dig into CarMax’s latest quarter (gross per unit down $111, retail units up 13.8%, dealer purchases up 53.7%) and what it says about trading margin for volume. John explains why a “loose” 60-day aging policy isn’t a policy, Chris makes the case that used car pay plans are built to create aged inventory, and Renaldo breaks down why taking $29,000 on a 12-day-old car listed at $30,000 is often the smartest deal on the board. Plus: the customer-merchandising-price order for working aged units, the 45-day hard stop, Q4 age bucket benchmarks (61+ under 10%, 31 to 60 under 20%), and why raising lease penetration today solves your acquisition problem in 2029. Powered by Lotpop and LotWalk.

Stop losing $2,380 per unit to operational blind spots. Learn how to fix your dealership management process and reclaim lost profit.Chris Keen, John Anderson, and Renaldo Leonard host this Lot Talk session to diagnose why so many stores remain stagnant despite market activity. We move past common excuses to examine the specific data points that separate high-performing operators from the rest. By auditing your front-end performance, you can stop leaking revenue and start making intentional decisions that move the needle.We also discuss the importance of real-time information processing so your team can adapt before the competition reacts. This is about building the habits that turn mediocre months into consistent wins. If you are ready to stop managing by accident, this breakdown provides the roadmap to better dealership operations.Subscribe for weekly dealership operations insights and let us know in the comments what specific metrics you want the team to break down in the next session.

If you are leaving sales on the table, you are likely missing the mark on dealership leadership. Learn the fix from a 52-year vet.Ed French, founder of Auto Profit LLC, joins the panel to explain why most managers fail to get their team to execute: they skip setting clear expectations. He breaks down the four components of a clear expectation and explains why your franchise agreement is not a business model. If you are tired of chasing local competitors, this discussion offers a roadmap to shifting your focus toward a larger BHAG.We also look at why financial statements track your wins but ignore your losses, and how to implement windshield time to actually coach your people. Whether you are a dealer principal or a service director, this session provides the framework to stop managing by accident and start building high-performance teams through intentional sales management.Subscribe for weekly dealership coaching insights and let us know in the comments how you set expectations with your team.

Where do you find inventory when everything at auction is selling $3,000 over MMR? According to Frank Knox, you're just watching the wrong window. Frank spent 17 years buying cars for CarMax, ran acquisition at Off Lease Only, and now leads AutoAcquire AI and Unique Auto Sourcing. He joins Chris Keene and Renaldo Leonard to break down why there are no bad acquisition channels, only bad discipline.In this episode: why a $25,000 car is worth $25,000 no matter where you buy it (and what it's worth to you is a different question), how to know when you're the best end user on a vehicle, why scarcity beats market day supply, the Suburban rental-fleet play that made his dealer money twice, the CARS framework (Clarity, Accountability, Results, Standards), and the 30% appraisal-to-purchase benchmark every used car manager should hit.Book a LotWalk demo at lotpop.com/estimate.

Are you running a retail dealership from a wholesale vantage point? Chris Keene and John Anderson break down why anchoring appraisals and pricing to MMR and auction data turns good operators into wait-and-see dealers, and what it cost one new client about $3,000 per trade on F-250s he sold in 11 and 16 days. They unpack the Carvana vs. CarMax numbers (38% growth vs. a 1% drop in the same market), what Van Horn's 2.42 to 1 used-to-new ratio has to do with a 98.86% review response rate, and the "money, machine, or me" test every manager should run before touching a price. Then Chris shares his screen: a top-performing 389-unit dealer with a Kona at 86 VDPs and zero leads, a market that moved 5% in four days, and roughly 100 units that went the wrong direction inside a week. Plus the Q4 game plan: sell what you stock, 65% out of the first 30 days, and under 10% aged by November.

New car searches are down nearly 50%, the market average days to turn just jumped from 51 to 53, and 300,000 off-lease EVs are flooding into the used market. On this episode of LotTalk, Lotpop coaches Chris Keene and John Anderson break down why the 30-day car and the 100-day car are now two different businesses inside your dealership, and why each one needs its own game plan. They cover the affordability shift pushing buyers from new to used, the CPO opportunity most stores are ignoring, why market day supply stops mattering the moment you own the car, and a real CRM story about a $79,000 lead that told the store everything and got ignored. Plus: the 65% first-30-days benchmark, contact gap coaching, and how to turn stalled leads into acquisition opportunities. Want a free walkthrough of your inventory tool or CRM? Visit lotpop.com/estimate.