In the world of new car dealerships, especially when you’re part of a multi-store group there’s a habit that sounds good on paper but quietly eats away at your bottom line. It’s called “passing the car around.”

You know the drill: a used car hits 60 days, and rather than take a wholesale loss or aggressively retail it, one store “sells” it to a sister store down the street. On paper, the problem is solved. In reality, it’s just been relocated.

 It’s a “shell game” that you cannot win.

And it’s bad business idea.

The Illusion of Recovery: Passing a 60-day-old unit to a sister store may look like movement, but it’s often just shuffling the loss rather than solving the problem.

Wholesale to one of your other dealerships isn’t a Win: Taking a write-down to move a car internally is still a loss.

That car had retail potential.

Why haven’t you already retailed it?

Was it price or something else like lousy recon?

A retail exit strategy is always a better choice. Even if you have to discount, selling to a retail customer nearly always beats wholesale-to-sister-store economics.

We are in the retail business. I know you know the benefits of retailing a unit even if you retail it at a loss.

1. You capture a new customer for your store

2. There might be a trade

3. You made some service gross

4. You made some F&I Income

5. A salesperson got excited because they sold a car

Kicking the Can Down the Road: All too often, the second store ends up with an even older unit that’s now less desirable and harder to retail.

You’re Not Solving the Problem — You’re Delaying It

When you pass a car to another store, you’re not getting rid of a problem, you’re simply kicking the can down the road.

What often happens next?

• The second store sits on the unit.
• It hits 60 plus days.
• Now it’s even harder to move.
• Eventually, it gets wholesaled out at a bigger loss.
• In the end you’re ROI totally sucks.

What you thought was a clever workaround becomes a ticking time bomb in someone else’s inventory.

The Bottom Line

Passing cars between stores might make the inventory report look better short-term, but it’s a false win. The damage to gross, discipline, and long-term performance is real. Trust me on this; your people hate the idea and you should be smart than putting such a bad policy in place.

Stop playing the shell game. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs