Bay Area used car dealerships struggle despite upturn in prices, inventory
VALLEJO -- Many small used car dealerships have struggled to stay in business while they wait for the market to stabilize, including one East Bay family that is feeling the impact.
Former used car dealership owner Tony Nino tells KPIX he can pick and sell cars with the best of them, but a grim market has driven him, and many other dealers like him, out of business.
"I know a lot of stores personally – and I know some friends – that ended up shutting down their stores and completely walked away. I'm actually one of them." explained Nino.
For 30 years, the immigrant from Jordan built an expanding empire of dealerships in the East Bay, selling more than 100 cars a month.
But when the pandemic induced a shortage of chips and available cars, the ride for many dealership owners abruptly turned rough.
"It was hard to let go and having loyal employees working for you. But I had to pull the trigger faster than I wanted to because of the losses we were taking," Nino said.
His brother Ken runs and owns Divinci Motors, a small dealership in Vallejo. He has held on in the hopes that demand will stabilize this year as industry insiders claim, improving inventory and easing prices.
"I think the business is back. But we're still way far from what happened before COVID," said Ken Nino.
Pre-COVID, his lot was packed bumper-to-bumper with cars and trucks.
Ken was selling more than ten cars a week. Now his lot has only a handful of cars. He says buying cars at auctions is still a challenge.
"June zero, July zero, August zero. But at least we're still here," he said.
These days, Ken is even waxing and detailing cars on his own. The brothers employed more than 30 people at the peak of their businesses. It's just family now with Ken sometimes getting a hand from his son, Leo.
One customer drove all the way from Fresno to finalize a sale with the Ninos. But it hardly resembles what it once looked like.
As Tony Nino closes the books on what used to be a thriving business, there's no looking back, no matter how much he wants back in..
"Seeing how much all the dealers are struggling, even the franchise stores or if we're talking independent stores too, are having a really difficult time trying to stay above water and break even," Tony said. "I don't see myself going back to it at all,".
It's a turn and transition for Tony that a lot of dealers are making whether they want to or not.