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Who can you trust when buying a car?
This is a very complex question. Certainly, the easy answer, the one that speaks to our monkey brain, is to seek the counsel of your parents. After all, if they kept you alive for the last 18 years, they have some credibility of knowing what's right, and therefore you trust them implicitly.
Another answer would be to trust technology. Examples of trust in technology are visiting websites like Kelly Blue Book, Edmunds, and Truecar, where they've amassed copious amounts of data points to provide you with trusted guidance.
Other examples of trust in technology are to use apps. Seventy episodes ago, we discussed an app called AutoGravity which allows you to shop for cars, apply for credit, and know your payment all from your phone so that there are no surprises when you arrive at the dealership.
There is a common thread to these trusted sources. They remain agnostic about your purchase.
It is ironic, to some degree, that trust is embedded in sources who don't care about your business versus those who do care about your business. This is the conundrum of automotive dealers where agnostic sources of car buying are trusted more than the dealer.
And let's be honest. Both customers and dealers play this game of poker, trying to only disclose tidbits of information so that one player can eventually go all in.
Tune in to hear about this crazy game of poker between customers and dealers.
Rinaldi Halim is currently serving as Dealer Principal of Los Angeles Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and Managing Partner of Downey Nissan and Nissan of Tustin. Prior to these roles, Mr. Halim served as Executive Manager of Nissan of Duarte and a number of leadership positions with Mossy Automotive Group, San Diego. Mr. Halim is frequently sought by top leadership at Nissan North America and FCA for his insights and operating processes which have afforded him and his dealerships consistent achievement in sales volume and other measures. He holds recognition as Downey Nissan California’s number one Nissan dealer and LACDJR FCA’s fastest growing dealership in CA. Mr. Halim has won five consecutive Nissan Top 50 Global Awards of excellence.
Mr. Halim resides in Irvine, CA, with his wife and daughter.
Chuck Schofield is vice president of Sales and Dealer Development at AutoGravity. He and his team handle nationwide, dealer-facing engagement, recruitment and customer service. Chuck spent 27 years at Daimler Financial Services and 12 years with Daimler Truck Financial. He has also served as director of Business Vehicle Finance at Chrysler Financial and western region manager for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. In those roles, he was responsible for managing U.S. finance products and services sales and cultivating and maintaining relationships with Mercedes-Benz, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Freightliner and Western Star dealership personnel.
Chuck has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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