When I was a kid, there seemed to be one of these joints on every street corner: “Welcome To Honest Al’s-Where The Customer Is King”! You probably remember them…just a parking lot filled with old cars, and a samll office (sometimes a trailor). These places were always garishly decorated, with banners, propellers, reflectors, etc. Signs included: “NO MONEY DOWN”, “UP TO 100 YEARS TO PAY”, etc., etc.
And the salemesn were always loudmouths in cheap suits.
So what drove these crooks out of busoiness?Is marketing used cars now a high-entry cost business? Or are people smarter now-is it too hard to fleece the suckers?
I imagine that the wrecks peddledby these shysters are just about at then end of their service lives…you ever been burned by one of these guys.
I’ve been thinking about this…how does"Honest Ralph" sound? :eek:
I suspect that laws regarding used cars have changed
I still see some of them around, though they aren’t as common as they used to be.
It might have something to do with the consolidation in the retail car market. Many single location dealerships have gone out of business or have been acquired by multiple location dealerships.
They’re still around, although perhaps in smaller numbers. You may not notice them as much because you live in a better neighborhood than you did. More likely, it’s because you don’t speak spanish.
–Cliffy
I bought my first car at one of these places - a 1976 Honda Civic Station wagon that I called the Electric Banana due to its bright yellow color. I think it had a $1400 price tag on it and I walked away with it for $1200. The odometer said 94k+. It lasted about 18 months. I had to feed it oil every month, and one month I forgot and the bearings siezed. I got a junkyard to pay me $50 for it.
Oh, they’re still around. Its just that they’ve all moved to Rochester and North Tonawanda 
Around where I live, if you go up Route 12 from about Hicks all the way to Deer Park, there are oh, probably 30 places just like that.
They didn’t disappear. There’s a pantload of them around here. One just a block from my house, in fact. His strings of electric lights give the place kind of a 1940’s feel when you drive past at night.
There was one of these guys in Akron when my dad wanted to get rid of my old car about 10 or 12 years ago. Let’s call him Bob Davis.
My dad: Well, I sold the car to Bob Davis for $425 and a ride home.
My mom: Did you tell him the radiator needs to be replaced?
Dad: No.
Mom: Did you tell him the emergency brake sometimes sets itself?
Dad: No.
Mom: Did you tell him the other brake lines are shot and need to be replaced?
Dad: No.
Mom: Did you tell him the transmission hiccoughs when you hit the gas?
Dad: No.
Mam: Did you tell him the air conditioning doesn’t work?
Dad: No.
Mom: Did you tell him the driver’s door doesn’t open from the inside?
Dad: No.
Mom: Did you tell him the engine needs to be remounted?
Dad: No.
Mom: Did you tell him the radio cuts in and out randomly and sometimes tunes to stations like 8J?
Dad: No.
Mom: Don’t you think you should have told him some of that stuff?
Dad: Guys like me don’t get the best of guys like Bob Davis.
–Cliffy
If I had my digital camera I would walk down the street and take a picture of one of those car lots. The office is in a trailer and there are never more than six cars in the lot. Oh and I don’t think any of those cars were made after 1992.
There’s certainly at least one around here. Cash for you car in 10 minutes. There’s also a mannequin in a bikini parked on the hood of one of the cars in the lot, so you know it’s a class act.
You definately still see them - my favorite sign around April is “Your W-2 Is Your Down Payment!!!” They’re a vanishing breed, though, it’s true - although what I’ve been seeing is a consolidation of sketchy car lots into bigger sketchy car lots. I tell people they can tell how ghetto their new place is by how far it is from a Ware House of Cars. (Now they also have a Ware We Customize!) They’ve got three or four locations, but are definately a small one-man used car lot at heart.
There’s tons of them in Pinellas Park, FL., wedged between the pawn shops.
Here’s another great rule of thumb: does the lot offer weekly financing?
They are still here in my big city (Houston) but tend to congregate in certain areas and don’t run TV ads anymore.
My favorite was (hokey cowboy in a big hat) “Hi, I’m Cal Worthington and this is my dog ‘Spot’” (and he would have an elephant or some other outrageous animal at his side).
He surley died as he was looking kinda old many years ago.
Whoa- he has a website with clips- but no offices in my town. Weird.
I believe, a one man car-lot is a considered an “independant dealer” and most now place ads in the classifieds. Here, in Va Beach, as opposed to DC, the person placing the ad has to specify if they are a private party or a dealer. And, sure enough, I see a lot of cheap bargain cars from dealers.
There also happen to be a few of those type car lots down here as well.
Might also have to deal with the dramatic change in interest rates and the consequential devaluing of used cars. It’s almost cheaper to get a new car versus a used car considering how low of an interest rate you can get.
eb
According to LARadio.com, Cal is still alive, living in Northern California and looking after his numerous car dealerships.
All bets are off when it comes to Spot, though.
I’ll have to drive by a few and take notes sometime.
No Credit? No Problem.
We do it ALL here.
$100 Down. Drive away.
Go see Cal, Go see Cal, Go see Cal!
Gawd, I miss those adds… Belleflower Boulevard, Long Beach. And now he even has one in my hometown. I haven’t thought of Cal Worthington in 20 years.
Although here in Maine, we’ve got Jolly John! Both of these men heroically successful, having survived scandal, fiscal hardship, enforcement efforts, and sundry disasters.
I wouldn’t buy a car from either of them, though.
Lots of small used car lots here in Maine. Got my last four vehicles from the same one. Known him 10 years, good fellow. Has never lied that I’m aware of. But you have to ask the right questions.
Thought you were referring to Hal. Cuz “Hal’s your pal!”