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ENSENADA, Mexico - Expect the unexpected, says Adam Pettis, who deals with credit-challenged customers at Bill Heard Chevrolet outside Tampa, FL.
The dealership is in Plant City, "the Strawberry Capital of the World." Pettis has seen ragged but rich strawberry farmers in overalls plunk down $35,000 for a new Silverado pickup.
Conversely middle-aged people, who look affluent enough, can carry a lot of credit baggage, he says. Same with Florida senior citizens. They can come in with their own complete set of loan impediments.
"You can't survive in the car business if you pre-judge people," says Pettis, 27.
Six years ago he was living in his native upstate New York, the son of a dairy farmer. One life-altering day, an elderly driver unexpectedly turned in front of his dad riding a motorcycle.
The accident left the elder Pettis with major nerve damage. A doctor prescribed a warmer climate. That's how the family ended up moving south. Son Adam went to help out. He got a job at an Acura dealership, then in the finance & insurance office of Bill Heard Chevy where about 40% of customers are sub-prime.
Pettis is good at arranging special financing, so good he won an unusual incentive trip from Centrix Financial, a sub-prime firm in Centennial, CO.
Since January of 2003, Centrix has rewarded its top dealership clients with trips to Baja, Mexico. There, they drive high-powered off-road race cars with buffed suspensions during a three-day adventure patterned after the legendary Baja 1000, a rip-roaring, speedy event of different classes, from trail bikes to tricked-up pickup trucks that can approach 200 mph.
Centrix's Baja Adventure cuts through terrain that's wild, varied and striking. It's fully engaging, a bit risky and lots of fun.
In the first five months of the off-beat incentive program, participating dealers funded $69 million in loans through Centrix, compared to $37 million beforehand. Dealers financed 4,388 contracts with Centrix during the contest, nearly a 100% increase.
"We thought dealership people were interested in more than just golfing," says Centrix CEO Robert E. Sutton. "It seems we were right."
He's big on Baja. He's a winning Baja driver. "Team Centrix" in 2002 began racing cars in the Baja 1000, then launched the fast-and-furious program that brings dealership...