Home » Front Page » Currently Reading:

Who You Calling A “Clunker”?

August 17, 2009 Front Page 1 Comment

Angelo Frodella, at his used car lot, says the market for used cars is a tough one right now. Photo courtesy A&J Bros. Auto.

Angelo Frodella, at his used car lot, says the market for used cars is a tough one right now. Photo courtesy A&J Bros. Auto.

Full disclosure time.

I’m a huge Jeremy Piven fan. I’m pretty much convinced that Entourage is one of the funniest shows on TV right now. When I heard he was coming out with a new movie, The Goods, I got really excited. Piven plays a sleazy used car dealer named Don Ready who uses unorthodox methods to sell off all the junk cars he can.

Seems like a timely topic.

In the era of the Cash For Clunker program, used cars are getting a lot of guff. In this federal initiative, older cars are turned into metal pancakes for a government incentive of around $4,500 towards the purchase of a brand new, fuel efficient one.

But the question needs to be asked.

Is the “mom and pop” car lot going the way of the Oldsmobile?

We hit up a small used car dealer to find out how they felt.

Angelo Frodella owns A & J Brothers Auto Sales, a small used car dealership in Daytona Beach, Florida. For the most part, the cars he sells are below $4,000 and he’s feeling hit hard by the program. “It’s tough. Small used car dealers are pretty slow after the program came out,” he said, “a lot of the cars we’d end up selling are prematurely ending up in the junkyard. Big business is doing well, but the mom and pop dealerships are dropping like flies.”

Check out more of our interview after the jump!

Other dealers are apparently hurting too. In Daytona Beach, the mecca of auto racing, used car lots are closing up shop left and right. “Everyone around here is pretty slow right now,” Frodella said, “we’re not even getting much new inventory, because a lot of people are taking advantage of the Clunkers program.” In the program, the cars traded in have their engines completely disabled and are towed to the junkyard, where they are sold off for parts.

According to Frodella, used car sales were pretty hot before the program started. His customers wanted to reduce their debt and cut their spending, so they would turn to an older model car rather than purchasing a brand new one outright. However, these days, his customers can purchase a brand new car outright for almost the same price as one of the cars on his lot.

He remains optimistic, though. “Ultimately, when new car dealers are doing well, we do well too. Eventually, we’ll be feeling the positive effects of the program. It’s gonna be hard to wait this out though. I feel like they forgot about us in Washington. There are tons of small dealers on the brink of collapse and this might be the thing that pushes them over the edge.”

It’s no secret that the car business is hurting right now. We’re hoping things pick up, not just for Mr. Frodella, but for small business owners everywhere. It forces us to ask that big question, though: is Main Street being left out of the conversation? Is it up to us to make sure that all of our bases are covered and that someone is standing up for the ‘little guy’?

Posted by:

Currently there is "1 comment" on this Article:

  1. ssaamm says:

    this is pretty interesting, just a reminder that any one conversation has a limited scope and any action we take has unintended consequences.

    I don’t think Obama meant to shut anyone out, but I’d say (re)using old cards is a good practice…where exactly do those clunkers end up?

    maybe we need a used car dealership scrap metal trade-in rebate

Comment on this Article:







Related Articles:

Mike Huckabee Thinks Mitt Romney Has No #Swag

April 26, 2012

Yesterday, Biko went on Mike Huckabee’s radio show to talk about the youth vote. During the discussion, the former Arkansas governor compared Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney to Ward Cleaver, the iconic father figure from the ’50s television show “Leave it to Beaver.” Of course, you are probably too young into your Tumblr page to [...]

Perception vs. Reality in the Case of Trayvon Martin

March 27, 2012

By now you may have heard the story of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. He was allegedly killed by a self-appointed neighborhood watchman named George Zimmerman, who claims to have shot and killed Trayvon out of self defense. He was not arrested, although recent audio tapes revealed that Zimmerman was asked to not follow him, and that [...]

Syracuse University Students Demand Justice For Trayvon Martin

March 27, 2012

“Tell me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” Those words were chanted repeatedly Monday evening as Syracuse University students stood in solidarity on the steps of Hendricks Chapel demanding for justice for Trayvon Martin. These students gathered in freezing, cold weather ( 30 degrees with winds blowing at 11 mph) to [...]

[WATCH] “I Am Trayvon” Photoshoot in Milwaukee

March 25, 2012

The unfortunate death of Trayvon Martin has sparked conversation everywhere. Just recently, President Obama held a press conference where he made a statement about how Trayvon could’ve been his kid. Now, an international hooded sweatshirt campaign has been created and has gone viral. Everyone from your pastor to LeBron James and his teammates are wearing [...]

[WATCH] DMX on the Breakfast Club

February 23, 2012

X is truly one of the game’s realest artists. He’s experienced numerous trials, tribulations, and triumphs. In this interview, you get to see a major artist that temporarily checked out and checked back in, weigh in on the current state of hip-hop. In my opinion, this is the almost exact interview I’d expect from 2Pac [...]

Recent Comments:

  • spatton2050: Props to Jay-Z for speaking up....
  • Tonendazone: Becca is one of the realist artists that I know. She does not play around when it comes to music . That "by any mea...
  • Tonya Randolph: I LOVE IT!!!! So Proud!!! ~_~ Great Job!! I wanna see your name in Lights in Hollywood Soon! Cousin keep Doing Grea...