Scrap Car Spotlight 1.1
Scrap Car Spotlight 1.1
Cleveland Scrap Car is back with our 2nd edition of Scrap Car Spotlights news. SCS is a forum that relates to auto recycling, damaged car removal and where to junk a car. Our next industry professional is Mr. Troy Webber, owner of Chesterfield Auto, which has Virginia-based operation sites in Richmond, Midlothian and in Fort Lee. Chesterfield offers a quote for a junk car both through their website and over the phone. Mr. Webber provided the following information:
- What are some of the primary functions you handle in managing Chesterfield?
I have 3 stores, so I do not manage day-to-day functions; I rely on my GM’s to manage those operations. My directors and I evaluate reports on the business & deal with the long term, high level type of issues like policy & procedural changes, insurance, licenses, retirement plans, health insurance plans etc… - What types of vehicles (for salvage) are your most sought after? (ie… any types of vehicles that you cannot buy enough of?) We ask our customers what kind of car they are looking for when they come in just so we know the answer. The results are; Accords, Camry’s, Ford and GM pickups, Grand Cherokee’s and Taurus’s. We can’t get enough Wranglers and will buy every Wrangler I can get my hands on!
- What are some of the changes in the auto recycling industry recently that you have noticed? I have seen a noticeable trend away from the full service business model to the self-service model. A lot of the old well established and well run full service/late model yards are either switching over to entirely self-service or trying to run a hybrid self/full service type of business.
- Can you elaborate on what kinds marketing efforts, campaigns or technology that you have had success with and/or certain marketing ventures that did not meet expectations? Any retail driven business depends on people knowing about you. If the people don’t know you exist, they will not shop at your store. We have had success with our TV & Radio advertising campaigns. We are also devoting a huge portion of our marketing budget to digital ad campaigns on the internet. This is a new avenue for us and it seems to be the trend of the future. TV and radio ads are a great way to get your name out there but it can be very expensive and you rarely have any quantitative results to show for it. With internet ads, you know exactly how many calls, clicks & visits you got from each ad, what each call, click or search cost you & you can really customize based on objective results. In my experience bill boards are a waste of money.
- Are there any key differences or niches that your company specializes in that are unique among the local auto recycling market? We don’t have any niches or specialties per se, but we are unique in the fact that we do offer a free 30-day cash back warranty on all our components.
- Are there any advantages or disadvantages unique to those in the industry within that state of Virginia that differ from other states? In the past few years VA began to allow licensed demolishers to buy vehicles with no ownership documents & without any prior owner notification procedures under certain circumstances. We can run the VIN through the DMV database, and it will indicate whether or not we can buy the car. Up until then, the process with no documentation took months, and was costly, so cars were being disposed of illegally.
We encourage those interested in more information on Chesterfield Auto to visit their website at https://chesterfieldauto.com/.
Cleveland Scrap Cars is a site to scrap a car in Mentor, Twinsburg or Old Brooklyn. Wondering where to junk a car for cash? We include free damaged car removal and offer a fast quote for a junk car. To scrap a car in Mentor, Eastlake or Garfield Heights the requirements are that you have the title and an ID. Where to junk a car should be a simple process once you obtain a quote for a junk car. Regardless of whether the vehicle is wrecked or needs damaged car removal to scrap a car in Mentor, Solon or Strongsville, we will pick it up.