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Car Dealer Inventory

cuttin edge

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
2,692
Location
NB Canada
Occupation
Finish grader operator
How can you pave a 60' long driveway 12' wide with 2.5" of asphalt and 3" of gravel base for $1800 and make any money?
It's a strange system. I could make it ready in.....say an hour, and they could pave it in 30 min. 10 or 12 ton of gravel, around the same amount of asphalt. My end , the prep would be about $500. Compact grader, working for less than an hour, the roller for about 5min. Same truck that dumps the gravel moves the roller and grader in one move. 3 guys, laborer (whitehat) truck driver and myself. The gravel we use is a bi product of making asphalt agg. Their cost for 16 metric tonnes is $90.00. If I wanted to buy the same load, it would cost me $350.00. The pavers, If I have made it ready right, back the spreader in, take a dump from the truck, worm some out for a pad, set the spreader down and go. a bit of hand work at the road for aprons and a joint. Put the roller on it while they move the spreader to the next one. Paving crew has 3 men on the spreader, a raker man, and the roller man. One of the guys on the spreader drives the service/ float truck, and a driver for whatever truck brought the asphalt. A driveway like this, as long as they are not too far apart, you could do 8 or 9 a day. Even if you only made $200.00 bucks a driveway, there is $1800.00 a day. Now say the driveway was 60 by 24. Same amount of asphalt, but the price takes a $400.00 jump because the spreader has to go back in and make another strip. These little driveways are great advertising, because the look good. I have had driveways that can take 2 or 3 days to prep, and I have had to use the big Volvo grader. A couple of years ago, after the end of lobster season, half a million in driveways in an area where the fishermen live. A couple of them were over 300 ton. Something quick and easy, is a fairly reasonable price, but there are enough people around keeping up with the Joneses to make up for it, Makes it easier to because the only material we have to buy is the asphalt liquid. We make everything else our self. As long as they keep paying me, I'm happy.
 

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,436
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
Local Concrete work is a Taste higher here, checked with the guys that poured our foundations and entry slab, to concrete just from our house to the shop leaving the rest as Rock would be over $20k. Right at 40 yards at a six inch pour. Just concrete no reinforcing materials here from local supplier is over $7000 and that with a drainage pipe under it from a high spot water holding area. Already have rock base well established and layout lines determined where would be 30' wide to the shop. Rechecked drive length from house slab to highway, which is 16' wide in several spots, 950+ feet.
 

cuttin edge

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
2,692
Location
NB Canada
Occupation
Finish grader operator
Been out sweeping parking lots. That's a service I think that does not make money. $450.00 for an L45 volvo with an open broom for 3 hours, then the bobcat will have to go some time with the pickup broom the clean up the ends where I swept the sand, and clean up the corners and narrow spots. So dusty, don't have water on the loader broom. Went in at 4am before any of the surrounding houses came out to see the dust. Got my call Friday. Spring weight restrictions are lifting early this year, so after a long winter of sitting on my hands, and plowing a bit of snow, I can finally get back to work on the 10th. Great for you guys, as I won't be commenting on every second thread, and taking it off topic for a while.
 

skata

Senior Member
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
1,541
Location
midwest
You're not charging enough.
And how do you make your own Asphalt? You have a heated drum and mixer?

It's a strange system. I could make it ready in.....say an hour, and they could pave it in 30 min. 10 or 12 ton of gravel, around the same amount of asphalt. My end , the prep would be about $500. Compact grader, working for less than an hour, the roller for about 5min. Same truck that dumps the gravel moves the roller and grader in one move. 3 guys, laborer (whitehat) truck driver and myself. The gravel we use is a bi product of making asphalt agg. Their cost for 16 metric tonnes is $90.00. If I wanted to buy the same load, it would cost me $350.00. The pavers, If I have made it ready right, back the spreader in, take a dump from the truck, worm some out for a pad, set the spreader down and go. a bit of hand work at the road for aprons and a joint. Put the roller on it while they move the spreader to the next one. Paving crew has 3 men on the spreader, a raker man, and the roller man. One of the guys on the spreader drives the service/ float truck, and a driver for whatever truck brought the asphalt. A driveway like this, as long as they are not too far apart, you could do 8 or 9 a day. Even if you only made $200.00 bucks a driveway, there is $1800.00 a day. Now say the driveway was 60 by 24. Same amount of asphalt, but the price takes a $400.00 jump because the spreader has to go back in and make another strip. These little driveways are great advertising, because the look good. I have had driveways that can take 2 or 3 days to prep, and I have had to use the big Volvo grader. A couple of years ago, after the end of lobster season, half a million in driveways in an area where the fishermen live. A couple of them were over 300 ton. Something quick and easy, is a fairly reasonable price, but there are enough people around keeping up with the Joneses to make up for it, Makes it easier to because the only material we have to buy is the asphalt liquid. We make everything else our self. As long as they keep paying me, I'm happy.
 

cuttin edge

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
2,692
Location
NB Canada
Occupation
Finish grader operator
You're not charging enough.
And how do you make your own Asphalt? You have a heated drum and mixer?
We are a paving company. We do our own crushing, paving, grading, trucking water and sewer. We are no where near the largest road building contractor in the province, but they employ 100 or so people from May till November. Most of the trucks and equipment are fairly new. I think the oldest loader is an 08. The excavators are the same. New cone crusher last spring, new L180H Volvo loader the fall before that, and a new 980M the spring before that. They must be doing something right, they pay well, time and a half after 50hrs, paid meals after 12hrs. paid holidays, vacation pay, bonuses at Christmas. They provide me with a company truck if I'm not working with my regular crew. They pay for all my safety training, and gear. The only thing old is the actual asphalt plant. They keep it up to par, but she is an old 2 ton batch from back in the 50s. I think the mixer man can get around 1400 tonne a day out of her on a highway job if he has trucks steady enough to keep her mixin steady. These guys have been on the go since the 40s. Another guy not far away had a 1/4 ton batch. The 2 companies always worked together. We stayed away from patching jobs, and things that their plant could handle. The old fella died, and his son sold out to a housing contractor. He gets a summer under his belt, goes out and buys a 20 ton batch plant, and pretty much spreads the word that he is putting us out of business. A lot of driveways like the $1800.00 one, we can't compete at all. He doesn't even do gravel, just rough it up with a skidsteer, and pave it. For years, our company owners have had a handshake agreement with another company, a couple hours away. They are bigger, a couple portable plants, they service the crab fishermen, and they have lots of money to spare. There were 2 lines at either end of a large community. We don't cross the line at their end of the community, and they don't cross the line at our end. There is a blending within the community. Buddy with the new plant decides to head down into their territory. In fact, he paves a driveway next door to the owner of the company we have the agreement. After a stint of this. the owner of the company with the agreement, calls my boss, and says we're comin up. You know why, nothing against you. Just to keep the peace, he tells my boss to consider the blending community to be ours, for now, and to go ahead and go a bit farther if we want. It was an all out paving war that summer. People were getting that $1800.00 driveway done for $900.00. Things are kind of back to normal now, both companies have moved back to their corners, and buddy with the 25 tons shoddy work is starting to show. Keep in mind to that the price goes up significantly if the terms of the $1800.00 driveway. More complicated prep work, walkways. A 15 foot walk way that has to be paved by hand is about $300.00 Stamped asphalt is double. Coloring is expensive. I think they're doing ok.
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,250
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
A lot of driveways like the $1800.00 one, we can't compete at all.

That's why I asked the question up thread -

How can you pave a 60' long driveway 12' wide with 2.5" of asphalt and 3" of gravel base for $1800 and make any money?

I'm not a paver but I know I would paving driveways all over the area and loosing money on each one. Of course regional costs are all different but damn that's cheap.
 

AllDodge

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Messages
2,290
Location
Kentucky
Still not getting notifications
Picked up the truck Friday
Didn't realize this thing sits about 3 inches higher then my 08 3/4 truck. Its at least 2 foot longer and a 2 to 3 inches wider. Rides nice with the 20's
2021.jpg
 

BigWrench55

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
Messages
1,176
Location
Somewhere
Well I finally found a car for my wife. After looking it over really well and running a scan tool. It's a good low mileage car. I did however find one problem. A sensor is broken off and dangling. The zip ties didn't hold together. I told the salesman you fix that and you got a deal. He agreed and took it into their shop. That was at 9:00am. I left to go to the bank and have a five figure cashier's check made out to the dealership. I decided that I would wait to see the quality of the repairs before I hand over a check. I have made 4 calls to find out if the car would be ready today or another day. The shop doesn't know anything about the car and I am not getting calls back from the salesman. At this point I don't feel that they earned their money and I am considering just walking away from the deal. All paperwork is done all that is needed is to fix the car and pay for the car. What would you guys do in this situation?
 

skata

Senior Member
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
1,541
Location
midwest
Well I finally found a car for my wife. After looking it over really well and running a scan tool. It's a good low mileage car. I did however find one problem. A sensor is broken off and dangling. The zip ties didn't hold together. I told the salesman you fix that and you got a deal. He agreed and took it into their shop. That was at 9:00am. I left to go to the bank and have a five figure cashier's check made out to the dealership. I decided that I would wait to see the quality of the repairs before I hand over a check. I have made 4 calls to find out if the car would be ready today or another day. The shop doesn't know anything about the car and I am not getting calls back from the salesman. At this point I don't feel that they earned their money and I am considering just walking away from the deal. All paperwork is done all that is needed is to fix the car and pay for the car. What would you guys do in this situation?
It depends. Did they find something else wrong with the car? Are they upset you're complaining? Maybe they have another buyer interested?
 

BigWrench55

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
Messages
1,176
Location
Somewhere
As far as being upset that I found a problem with the car. If he was pissed about it then he should have said no to the repair and I would've left. I am about to throw down a lot of money. It may be pocket change to some, but for me it's a lot. And it stings a little to part ways with it. A simple phone call with a update isn't asking to much. When you don't call me I find it disrespectful. I don't care if I am spending one dollar or a million. I expect the million dollar service. If they found something else wrong with the car I would be surprised. It's a pretty solid little car. But again a simple phone call would suffice. I am not a picky person that is complaining about every little thing. Respect and gratitude is all that I expect. If there's another buyer then he can have it. Because if I don't hear from them an hour after they open. I will walk away. I hate car shopping and want this to be over, but I am not about to give you a lot of money. So that you can disrespect me.
 

mowingman

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Messages
1,228
Location
SE Ohio
Occupation
Retired
I would call and talk to the sales manager. I bet he get things straightened out. If not, then walk.
Jeff
 

cuttin edge

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
2,692
Location
NB Canada
Occupation
Finish grader operator
As far as being upset that I found a problem with the car. If he was pissed about it then he should have said no to the repair and I would've left. I am about to throw down a lot of money. It may be pocket change to some, but for me it's a lot. And it stings a little to part ways with it. A simple phone call with a update isn't asking to much. When you don't call me I find it disrespectful. I don't care if I am spending one dollar or a million. I expect the million dollar service. If they found something else wrong with the car I would be surprised. It's a pretty solid little car. But again a simple phone call would suffice. I am not a picky person that is complaining about every little thing. Respect and gratitude is all that I expect. If there's another buyer then he can have it. Because if I don't hear from them an hour after they open. I will walk away. I hate car shopping and want this to be over, but I am not about to give you a lot of money. So that you can disrespect me.
The older I get, the more I hate being around people. It might be just a misunderstanding, or maybe the sales guy's feelings were hurt because he has to take the time to fix the car to sell it. People trying to stab you in the back in order to get ahead, people with no respect for the law (traffic laws ). Customers that think they know how to do your job because their buddy is a landscaper. People that ask a question, and then go on their phone while you explain, and then say sorry can you repeat that. Idiots that stand outside a store disrupting everyone's day because they think the store is public property, and they have every right to enter without a mask. Can I go to your house, and take a **** on your floor, because by your logic I should be able to, I don't like wearing this thing either, but if there is a chance that it might keep my 10 year old Daughter, and my 83 year old mother from getting sick, it's a small price to pay. Peoples attitudes in general. Good thing guns are not legal in Canada, or I would have been in jail years ago. If you are sure of the car, press the issue. If they don't want your business, the walk.
 

Tinkerer

Senior Member
Joined
May 21, 2009
Messages
9,342
Location
The shore of the illinois river USA
Kudos for you cuttin edge !!
You and I think alike.
I had a truck dealer give me his final price, A month later he called me wanted to lower it.
I told him he should have lowered it sooner, because I bought the same kind of truck $1100.00 cheaper 2 days after I last saw him.
 

BigWrench55

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
Messages
1,176
Location
Somewhere
Update...
The dealer wasn't very enthusiastic about selling the car. Must of had such a good month last month. That they don't need any sales this month. I never did get a call back. I don't really understand why put me through the whole process of document signing and not following through with a phone call. The sell was done I have the cashier's check in the console. All they had to do was call me and tell me when I can expect to get the car. I'm not going to waste another minute thinking about this. Probably the best thing to happen to me this year.
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
I just got back from a meeting with a customer. He traded in a 2 year old truck with 80,000 miles on it, dealer gave him $7,000 less than what he paid for it two years ago as a trade in value.

He ordered the new truck, because the dealer didn't have what he wanted. Was supposed to arrive this month (two months after ordering), but was just notified he won't receive his new truck for another 8 months. He was driving some kind of SUV/ crossover, because I think he already gave them his old truck to sell. I think if he knew it was going to be 8 months he might have held onto his old truck.
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
I don't know what he was ordering, I think it was going to be a service truck or van.

Another of my customers is in commercial HVAC, and told me they wanted to hire two new guys, but couldn't get the van's he wanted to put the employee's in. I think he wanted to buy 2 new ford transits and they were 6 months at least from being available. I think they were looking for used ones now.
 

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,436
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
Not much inventory new or even used around here unless go to the flighty, seedy little lots
Used trucks mid line class six up are a joke price wise
 
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