El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-10-19
AUTO IS
PROBLEM FOR
DEALER
Some Dealers Try to Get Out
Of the Difficulty by Seal
ing the Price.
BUT THE PLAN Is
NOT A SUCCESS

The used car problem, something
which is always with US. apparently,
is being stirred up again in New York
One Of the trade publications is offer
ing a prize for the best practical an
swer dealing with the problem, and
another has given an extended cOnsid-
Grafton to the methods Of a number Of
agents in dealing with the puzzle.
The great trouble with taking cars IN
trade is that they have 70 De so1d again
N order 70 get away win II 1nere IS
no fixed price for used cars. Because
there is no fixed price ana because
some concerns are so eager for business
that they Will make offers often beyond
any reasonable chance OF realizing, the
secondhand situation has come 10 be a
problem
Instead of being eager to keep an old
car in the customers hands anG let MIN
run it for two or three seasons ana be
all the better advertiser Tor the ma
chine because he can point to his old
car and say that it is still running wei.
great many dealers are intensely
eager to keep their clients turning IN
the old ears at the end OF year or So
not realizing the second hand situation
certainly has come to be q problem.
Although il sounds well enough to
say that they have been able TO sell Mr.
Blank his fourth or 1ITh car OF such
and thus would have kept his business
would be more to the advantage OF
the dealer to have made that much
new business than to have burdened
himself with the problem OF dlsposlng
of two cars every year instead or one
That is to say he has to take the used
car, Turkish it up and dispose OF L.
whereas II he had left it II the hands
of the old customer ne would nave nau
only to dispose Of the brand new one,
and thus would have kept his business
from becoming intensive and oVercul-
tvated within too narrow circle
Used Cars Demanded
OF course, it is a nice thing to have
fer
been overhauled or rebuilt or renewed
or whatever the phrase IS which can
be sold TO customers who are eager 70
be able 70 own the particular 9TSnu a.
q slightly less cost than would be the
case If they tried to get new ma
chine OF this type
In their eageruess to make sales
some dealers have piled themselves up
with so many. secondhand cars that
they are in real danger OF crash
The trouble comes from the IalIure OF
dealers to agree among themselves on a
really good plan A couple OF years
ago it was suggested that the right
way to handle II would De Tor Ine
dealers to reach an agreement on WnaI
prices they would give for certain mod
els IN trade and never to exceed Jhat
Thus it would be Impossible Ior a man
shoDpinE around Automobile row to
get any the better OF things The idea
was to prevent the dealer from offer
ing anything in excess OF the liked
mice On any car offered in trade, eX-
cent one of those sold by himself. He
was to be at liberty to offer anything
he chose on Z, used car OF the partlcu-
lar type for which ne was agent
Dealers Break word
However the dealers did not seem 70
make any very general use OF II, ana
the main trouble with the whole sys-
4er, VS. as it is with other association
agreements, that 1T was not lived Up 70
by all the members. If it had been It
should have simplified matters conslo-
IF q man had certain model Of a
certain car and went to three or -FOUR
places In succession and N each place
was 70 be at liberty to offer anything
same as the one that he had Just been
offered. it would be possible TO Keep
the whole thing in control But Where
one man, In order 70 make SAFE
breaks out of the ranks and offers a
little bit better figure than some one
else, the whole system goes TO smash
and the second hand problem becomes
a price cutting problem as Wen mas
much as not every one IS aDIe 70 40
as much business IS his neighbors, and
It is inevitable that some cars must 80
poorly whereas others go well, the sec
ondhaud problem is something that
cannot very well be choked
There are bound always to BE some
folks who viii take cars in trade, and
in fact they must in great many
cases unless they wish to lose sales.
Many Cars Are Idle.
But there are thousands OF dOliars
worth Of second hand cars lying around
in the various agencies ana -1rancneS
which are a great deal more OF a Dur
Ger, on the dealers than almost any
thing else they have tackled Some
dealers have a system OF discovering
over the telephone what a car is worth,
according to the secondhand market,
and Offering Just that to the customer.
They insist, however, that he shall sell
his car before they start business with
the new machine at all Otners Uake
The car IN and agree to attempt TO sen
it and to apply whatever they can get
on the purchase price Of the new ma
chine.
one concern has made a rule not to
GLOW more than $1,000 for a used car
If q car is worth more than that and It
Is offered to them, they insist that II
must be sold and the money in the
hands of the agency before any allow
ance is made, which allowance is just (
what the car brought Another con
Germ tries TO keep its cars in the hands
Of its users as long as possible but Z
when a man decides he wants new
machine and he comes in with an old
one he is offered just what it is worth
and no more. This is because the mar
gin Of profit in the new car IS not
large enough TO make lavish offers
possible