When Jim Koons sold his dealer group for $1.2 billion, the son-in-law who started out washing his cars was already building what comes next, and it starts in the one room most dealers ignore. Alex Perdikis walks through how his AI texted service customers about selling or trading their car and drew a 60% response rate at his Ford store, with cars bought the same day, and argues that the customers you've already sold are the best source of used car inventory you will ever find. Alex Perdikis is the Owner/CEO of Koons Motors Inc, which runs Ford, Lincoln and Mazda stores in the Washington, DC area, and the founder of inRide, an AI company closing in on 100 dealerships after about six months on the market. A former University of Richmond football player raised by hardworking immigrant parents, he spent his college summers washing cars, writing service and working in parts and the body shop for Jim Koons, then joined full time and quickly became a top salesperson as the first in-law in the family business. He speaks candidly about the Koons basics that still run his stores, why he believes the all-in pricing rule was one of the best things to ever happen to car dealers, and why he doesn't see dealership profits falling over the next year.
He explains:
◼ Why his service lounge sees 10 to 20 times more people than his showroom, and how he turned that traffic into used car inventory
◼ How a nationwide trade-in auction pulled 3,000 to 4,000 leads a month on very little ad spend, and grew into an AI company
◼ Why the follow-up software most dealers use can't put a real cash offer on a customer's car, and the patent he filed to change that
◼ How he spots AI shoppers in his inbox every morning, and why his answer is to embrace them
◼ Why every Ford buyer at his stores gets the same pickup, delivery and mobile service as a Lincoln buyer
◼ Why Jim Koons told everyone, every single day, to "get that first deal on the board"
Topics:
00:55 Wouldn't Be Here Without His Mentor.
02:05 Washed Cars For His Future Father-In-Law.
04:10 Watched Suits And Rolexes At The Dealership.
05:30 Everyone Leads From The Front.
07:50 Get That First Deal On The Board.
09:10 Car Business Is America's Best-Kept Secret.
10:35 Closing Three Out Of Ten Is Great.
14:15 Built Software As A Hedge Against The Industry.
16:10 Heard Horror Stories About Third-Party Buyers.
18:10 Service Drive Has Ten Times The Traffic.
19:05 60% Response Rate From Service Customers.
21:00 Best Inventory Is Customers You Already Sold.
40:50 FTC Pricing Rule Leveled The Playing Field.
This episode is brought to you by:
1. @Wikimotive – Wikimotive delivers organic and paid search solutions to hundreds of dealerships from rural rooftops to multiple top-5 national dealers. Their focus is simple: get your store in front of people already searching for a car or service, and measure success by the leads and appointments that follow — not vanity metrics. Visit @ https://wikimotive.com/CDG/ for more info.
2. @Zurich.Insurance – Turn everyday service visits into opportunities to build customer loyalty and long-term dealership value with Zurich Lifetime Repair.
Give customers greater confidence in choosing your dealership, knowing covered parts and labor are warrantied for as long as they own their vehicle. Stand out, drive return visits, and increase retention—without disrupting existing processes. Learn more @ https://carguymedia.com/4erXb6K
3. CDG Circles – Your peer network without the travel. Connect with verified dealers, join topic and OEM-specific groups, and get real-world strategies, vendor intel, and answers from operators across thousands of dealership rooftops—all inside the CDG Platform. Learn more @ https://cdgcircles.com/
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