Country Hill Motors

Rare 2003 Honda Civic Si

Kansas City Site Staff — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:38:04 +0000

This is a 2003 Honda Civic Si

Get All The Info @ CountryHill.com

Testimonial

Kansas City Site Staff — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:25:28 +0000

I live in Connecticut and was just listening to the Car Advocates Show on
KCMO, via the Internet.

My first reaction is “Oh my God!”.

I am 52 years old and this is the FIRST time I have ever heard “car people”
speak the truth!

It is about time that someone in the car biz tells customers that they don’t
need to be perpetually in debt to drive a car.

I just finished teaching a personal finance course, and one of the big
points that I try to drive home is just that. I believe in, and teach, a
lot of Dave Ramsey’s financial principles.

I can’t wait to hear you guys again next week. You need to create a podcast
of your show, so others around the country and even the world, can hear your
straight talk on this subject. Why can’t we have common sense guys like you
in congress, instead of the bozos that we always seem to end up with?

Have you guys thought of expanding or franchising your business to other
parts of the country? How about CT? Believe me when I say we need it up
here.

Keep up the great work.

John
Meriden, CT

Have SUV’s Died

Kansas City Site Staff — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:03:56 +0000

Have SUV’s died? Kicked the bucket? Thrown in the towel? Is America turning its head in disgust shunning the stepchild formally known as “sports utility vehicle”? And who started this panic of “since gas goes up, land yachts’ go down”…well for all you driving that Bodonka-Tonka to work right now, have no fear, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it comes in the form of snow! (dashing through the snow) as you’ll get to know me, I’m big on the future, bettering tomorrow, but let’s look at the past for a minute, eight years ago, in year of panic of y2k, U.S Gas prices averaged $1.52, 2003, $2.02 2006 $2.87, today, $3.10…what does this tell us? Gas has gone up consistently roughly 23% a year, yes there’s been ups and downs, but it’s inevitable in this global economy. Fact is, for us – four season states, SUV’s will fluctuate in value, just like convertibles in the summer. Personally, I’ve learned to cope with paying the additional dollars at the pump, yes it’s not the greenest thing to do, but when winter rolls around, i feel better in knowing that I can get my family and I home in a foot of snow.

Now…all wheel drive sedans have become popular with rising energy costs, most have a four cylinder engines which gets in the range of 22-25 miles to the gallon, and for the most part, sticks to the road. Here’s the butt! Most SUV’s will range 18-20 unless you’re driving a tank. And you get the additional safety. Now for those of you driving those 300 passenger, 2 mile per gallon Johnson County step-ford wife vehicles, with mud flaps reading save the environment, I might consider down-sizing, I’m just saying.

So sit back in that SUV, and let Uncle Danny sooth that aching ear from all the negative talk about your four-wheel drive apparatus. The only way we’ll keep industry strong, is to believe in the process of the machine we call “free market!” Want to learn more? Listen to “The Auto Advocates” Live on KCMO Talk Radio 710 Saturdays @ 1:30PM CST !

Your Voice of Reason

-Danny Z

Knowing What Your Buying

Kansas City Site Staff — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:36:52 +0000

Topic of today’s show is, “knowing what you’re buying”…and of course as in always, we’re talking used cars. Being a manager of a family owned car dealership; one thing I seldom hear is “where did this car come from?” Instead, I offer up this tantalizing fact, because I believe whole heartedly in educating, not selling. If you walk into a dealership expecting to fall in love with your sales person, have 9 children, and live happily ever after, plug your ears ….now!, for those of us there for a good deal, expect your sales person to be professional, I very much doubt they spend the day solving national security issues, or curing cancer,…although important issues, not typical of a used car salesman. The image burned into our mind of a used car sales person is cheesy and often times put in the same category of Al Bundy selling ladies footwear. I feel that sales people should be eager to learn about the industry, and how it affects you the consumer, that’s how I train in my organization, if someone doesn’t like it, then I simply shake hands, and ask them to go work for the other guys.

So there are three types of used cars… #1 new cars trade ins, which simply means someone traded their car in for a new one, #2 certified auction cars, and #3 open-auction vehicles. Here’s where it gets shady…vehicles, in our experience that come from non-certified auctions require 50% more reconditioning than ones purchased as new car trade-ins, or certified auction cars. Simply put, ask where the used car came from, like diamonds, you pay for quality, if the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Want to learn more? Listen to “The Auto Advocates” Live on KCMO Talk Radio 710 Saturdays @ 1:30PM CST !

Your Voice of Reason

-Danny Z

Sweet Spot Buying

Kansas City Site Staff — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:59:39 +0000

Diamond in the rough…does it exist, we’re talking about cars here, there’s no secret here, we all seek that perfect deal whether we like to admit it or not. Even the most lax of consumers doesn’t want to over pay for a car, it’s a big investment. Solution: buy smart and buy used! Buying new cars in today’s market has become risky business due to a combination of 0% financing, $10,000 dollar rebates, and too good to be true offers on “new cars”, causing market values to plummet. Answer! Buy used! Pre-owned cars have taken the driver’s seat, with 50 – 80% off original msrp’s. You can still look cool in a late model car, and feel cooler when you have money in the bank; I’m all about smart economical, hence country hill motors and our $3-12 thousand dollar price range.

So let’s talk about buying a used car…there’s a term I like to use called “sweet-spot” buying, technically, for you brainiacs out there, it’s buying a car where the market value vs. the book value favor the customer…now let’s break that down for us laymen, in the words of my Jewish grandmother…”picture this”, imagine buying a car, and financing the whole thing, say you borrowed a round number like 10 grand, and your monthly payment is $250 greenbacks, what’s happened to a lot of people, is when they go to trade that car-in in two years “which might I add is an average length of ownership”, they owe more than the cars is worth, this naughty dirty phrase is called “negative equity” (scary sounds)…so now, grandma…”picture this” same scenario, except we go trade in the car, and the dealer gives us more than it’s worth…freedom!!!, …how do you do this? Understand that a car is a depreciating asset, and invest in vehicles that have a great track record in holding value, a great example is a Honda accord, simply look at what it sold for new, then look at an average of what used models are going for as they age, and you can do this by simply getting on auto trader’s website. I’m all about knowledge, and how about this for help…email me at CountryHillMotors@gmail.com, and ill email you back my top ten, simply tell me what style of vehicle you want…again, CountryHillMotors@gmail.com Want to learn more? Listen to “The Auto Advocates” Live on KCMO Talk Radio 710 Saturdays @ 1:30PM CST !

Your Voice of Reason

-Danny Z

Country Hill Motors History

Kansas City Site Staff — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:47:45 +0000

In the summer of 1984, Josh Buterin, at the age of 26, started a small car lot on the corner of Johnson Drive & I-35. He rented a three hundred square-foot office in the old Merriam Gas building, which he shared with two other businesses. Josh, with the little money saved from buying and selling cars out of the paper, purchased vehicles out of the Autotrader magazine and the Kansas City Star. He then reconditioned them on his own and made sure the few cars he had in inventory were in prime shape. Trying to invent different marketing methods, Josh wanted a bigger presence in Kansas City with his 9-12 car inventory. He began having friends shoot photos of him waiving in front of his vehicles. Being that Autotrader magazine was the prime place to sell cars, with Josh waving in the photos, he was sure to stand out. In 1986 John Zaslavsky, a local small business owner who ran a shoe repair shop two blocks down the road came shopping for a car not knowing what he would find. Josh and John’s friendship began that day. Realizing each others’ passion for cars, John began assisting Josh with buying and selling cars. Eventually with the growth of their business, the two formalized their partnership and John sold his formal shoe repair business. Very quickly, John and Josh learned that the tool necessary for becoming successful in the car business was a steady and reliable source for purchasing vehicles. The days of combing the classifieds had to go in order to grow. With the introduction of cell phones in the mid 80’s, John had the idea of purchasing ten cell phones and passing them out to local new car managers at new car dealerships. He told them, “When you’re trading for a car, page me, and I’ll bid it for you, then come buy it.” This new method appealed to the new car stores because previously, the only choice was to take their trades to the auction and risk loosing money on a weekly basis.

Johns phone began ringing so much that less than a month later, he purchased a second phone to carry on him at all times. Now with an ever-growing and steady source for purchasing vehicles, Josh and John’s business steadily grew from a 9-12 car inventory to over two hundred, forcing them to expand. In the mid 90’s, John’s brother and son began working as sales people, bringing new energy and ideas accelerating the companies growth. Today the two run the day to day operation of the company with John continuing to buy cars as he did in the 80’s but on a larger scale, and Josh continuing to inspect and work with vehicles to insure a quality product. With the relocation of the founding store, still in Merriam, now on 67th & I-35 and the opening of Country Hill Motors of Olathe, John and Josh have learned, “Achieving success in this business is knowing how to buy quality vehicles, and at what price. Therefore, if you buy it right, selling is never a problem. Passing the savings on to our customers, with our three to twelve thousand dollar price range, is simply what we do.”