CrossCheck Blog

There are about 18,250 new car dealerships in the United States. They range from the largest multi-store publicly traded companies to small stores serving rural communities across the country. New car dealers employ over two million people, and they are also a very big part of the national fabric as well as the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). In 2018, these dealers sold 11,786,069 new trucks and SUVs, an increase of fully 8 percent in this segment over 2017. They also sold 5,488,181 new passenger cars, a decline of 13 percent from the previous year. The average price of a new vehicle is $36,000. If you multiply 17 million by 36,000, you will see the extent to which new car dealers contribute to the American economy. My calculator doesn’t go that high.

At CrossCheck, our primary business is helping merchants make a sale when a consumer is standing in front of them. Since the completion of a sale often hangs by a thread, this sense of urgency is the inspiration behind our Plus Sales service — the place where the proverbial “buck stops” in the realm of check guarantee. Let me explain. If you have ever worked in retail, you know that you generally have only one shot at making the sale. If the consumer says, “I’ll be back later,” well, as we say around here, “The be-back bus doesn’t stop here anymore.”

As an ISO/MSP, you are accustomed to people asking for advice about all the things happening in the retail payments space, including questions such as, “What is the most common form of payment?” And you are probably accustomed to hearing things like: No one writes checks anymore. Cash is going away. Everybody is using mobile payments now. Soon we will have real-time payments for everybody.

American consumers have an intimate relationship with their credit cards. Most don’t really understand the numbers that drive this business for the banks that issue the cards, or who pays the “freight” to keep it going, especially at car dealerships. This article will provide an overview of who pays what to whom, and how much they pay. You will be surprised.

“Eighty percent of companies see a change in how their customers want to access and pay for goods and services, and 50 percent of these same companies are changing their pricing models as a result.” – The Economist Life used to be simple, or maybe just simpler. People bought new cars every few years because car loans typically carried three-year terms. They traded in their old cars at dealerships. The manufacturers (they used to be called the “Big Three”) introduced new models every September, and crowds of people would go to the local dealer on the day they were unveiled. It was an exciting period, but cars purchased three years earlier suddenly looks dated, and people thought about trading them in on new models. This used to be called “planned obsolescence,” although that is a loaded term and somewhat misleading.

Studies show that the average car repair bill has gone up by about 30 percent over the last three years while auto insurance has risen almost eight percent just last year. Why did this happen and will there be enough left over in consumer coffers for them to buy new cars? Auto dealers can help, but the how and why may surprise some readers. Well, the increase in auto insurance has to do with “safety technology.” In a low speed collision, typically in a parking lot, the parts of the car most prone to damage are the front and rear bumpers, which of course are not really bumpers anymore.

It was Thursday, September 19, a warm day in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of Bunco. My boss is Captain Di Donna. My partner is Travis; he’s a good cop. My name is Joe Sunday. We got a call about a scam at the Buy Here, Pay Here used car dealer in Universal City. We checked it out. The suspect was in the back lot, selling a used car to an elderly couple. The female victim approached us and said, “It was terrible, officer; just terrible.” Please, ma’am, just the facts. “I’ll give you the facts,” she said. “I drove by this lot on the way home. There were balloons and free cake and cookies. The sign said, ‘FREE FINANCING.’ I decided to check out a car that fit my budget.

Buying a car is the second most expensive purchase most people ever make, second only to buying a home. Buying a home is emotional, but not as emotional as buying a car. It seems like it should be the reverse. In this short column, we will explore why this is the case. Studies show again and again that the car buying experience takes about four hours. Buying a car is the only purchase where two different consumers coming into the same dealership and buying the identical car will pay two different prices.

CrossCheck’s very own Brandes Elitch, director of Partner Acquisitions, has written a book, Lancia Loraymo and the Loewy Logic of Industrial Design. The work focuses on mid-1900s designer Raymond Loewy’s career and car designs, particularly the Lancia Loraymo.

There’s a lot of interest in collecting old cars and classic cars these days. How does a collector know the difference between one that is just old and one that qualifies as a classic, and more importantly, how do they get them repaired?