Track how many days each car has been on the lot and review the oldest weekly. Holding costs, such as financing, insurance, depreciation and space, add up daily. Set review points (for example at 30, 45 and 60 days) and decide at each: reprice, improve the listing, promote or wholesale.
Why age matters
A car sitting unsold costs money every day and loses value as the market moves. Older cars also tend to be the ones with something wrong with the price, the photos or the description.
A review routine
- List vehicles by days on lot, oldest first.
- For each past your review point, check price against comparable listings.
- Refresh photos and description.
- Promote it in a campaign or on Marketplace.
- If it still does not move, consider wholesaling to free the cash.
In Dealer Garage
The dashboard's inventory aging panel and fastest and slowest movers show where your lot is slow. See dashboard and reports.
A weekly aging list
| Days on lot | Action |
|---|---|
| 0 to 30 | Make sure photos and description are good |
| 30 to 45 | Check price against comparables |
| 45 to 60 | Reprice or promote |
| 60+ | Decide whether to wholesale |
Use your own thresholds; the point is to have them.
Questions people ask
What is a normal number of days?
It varies by market and vehicle type. Compare against your own history.
Try Dealer Garage
Dealer Garage is installable dealer management software for independent used-car dealers in the US and Canada: inventory, leads, deals, dealer paperwork, Facebook Marketplace posting and email campaigns, with records stored on the dealership's own computer..