Why Do Dealers Turn Down $29,000 on a 12-Day-Old Car and Then Wholesale It at 90?

Every dealer says fresh inventory makes the most money. So why does the middle bucket fill up every fall? On this episode of LotTalk, Chris Keene, John Anderson, and Renaldo Leonard dig into CarMax’s latest quarter (gross per unit down $111, retail units up 13.8%, dealer purchases up 53.7%) and what it says about trading margin for volume. John explains why a “loose” 60-day aging policy isn’t a policy, Chris makes the case that used car pay plans are built to create aged inventory, and Renaldo breaks down why taking $29,000 on a 12-day-old car listed at $30,000 is often the smartest deal on the board. Plus: the customer-merchandising-price order for working aged units, the 45-day hard stop, Q4 age bucket benchmarks (61+ under 10%, 31 to 60 under 20%), and why raising lease penetration today solves your acquisition problem in 2029. Powered by Lotpop and LotWalk.