Car dealers set up shop in Frisco

FRISCO — Local car dealers aren't thrilled by the competition, but an out-of-town consortium that set up a temporary used car lot in Frisco this week said it has sold an average of six or seven used cars per day during its Summit stay.

The temporary lot is at the site of the old Country Kitchen, at the Frisco end of Dillon Dam Road.

“We're saving some of these car dealers,” said salesman Wayne D'Amico. “You know what the economy is like right now.”

D'Amico said the idea is to help dealers move cars that have been sitting in their lots for more than six months. In some cases, the dealers may take a loss on the cars, but at least they're moving inventory.

“It absolutely hurts my business,” said Summit Ford general manager Brian Ramsey. “I've tried to stop it before, but if they've dotted all their i's and crossed their t's, there's not a whole lot I can do,” he said. “It's frustrating.”

John Collins, a sales manager at Vista Auto Group, said he wasn't aware of the temporary sale in Frisco.

One issue is the traditional blue helium balloon that signifies a car sale. The Frisco balloon is floating several hundred feet high, clearly visible from all over town. Problem is, local sign codes prohibit similar displays by permanent dealers.

Frisco community development director Mark Gage said the organizers met all the requirements and obtained the needed permits from the town. The balloon is temporarily authorized under an off-site sales license, Gage said, adding that it's a permitted use on that commercially zoned parcel.

If the out-of-town dealers really have been selling six or seven cars per day, it could add up to a few thousand dollars in sales tax revenue for the town when it's all said and done, plus the revenue from the permit fees.

Additionally, the sale is staffed by about 17 salespeople, who all stayed in a local hotel.

“We've been eating out on Main Street every day. We really like that moose place,” D'Amico said, referring to the Moose Jaw.

“We've gone to some places where it's really bad,” D'Amico said, referring to the potential for bad blood. A similar sale in Steamboat Springs spurred controversy in that town, he added. He said at least one Summit auto dealer stopped by Frisco sale site to comment on the balloon.

“But they have the right to do the same thing we do. They can bundle inventory and hold a special sale just like this,” D'Amico said.

Local dealers said there are advantages to buying from an established local business, including follow-up customer service.

Grand Junction inventory

The used car liquidation event is put together by a group called Bass Marketing, which does similar sales all over the country. The sale in Frisco, running through Saturday, includes inventory from several Grand Junction-area dealers. The sale was promoted with a direct-mail campaign and through a local radio station.

About 50,000 glossy flyers were sent out in the mail, touting a chance to win a low-mileage 2006 Roush Mustang. The tricked-out car, with 620 horses under the hood, features a Kenne Bell Stage 3 supercharger and a Hurst short shifter.

The flyer caught the attention of Avon resident Oliver Ortiz, who made the drive over Vail Pass just for the sale.

Ortiz said that, when he found a set of matching numbers on his flyer, it was enough to motivate him to visit the sale, hoping to win a prize.

“We're not really thinking of buying a new car, but we weren't really thinking about it when we got this one,” he said, shutting the door on his Pontiac minivan.

The traveling used-car liquidation business is a big deal these days, given the state of the American auto industry and the anemic rate of car sales during the past eight months. The trend is even getting the full Hollywood treatment this summer in a movie starring Ving Rhames and James Brolin. The trailer for the movie is online at www.livehardsellhard.com/.