Remember the days when dealerships were taking 60–65% trade-ins?

For many stores, those days feel long gone.

Today, dealers are competing not only against the store across town, but also against companies like Carvana and CarMax that changed how consumers think about selling vehicles. Consumers now expect instant offers, fast appraisals, online convenience, and low-friction transactions.

At the same time, there are simply fewer late-model used vehicles available than there were several years ago due to pandemic-era production shortages and consumers keeping vehicles longer.

The result is fewer trades, tighter inventory, rising auction prices, and more pressure on used vehicle margins.

But here’s the important part:

Most dealers do not have an “idea” problem when it comes to used car acquisition. Most stores already know the service lane matters, previous customers matter, trades matter, Marketplace matters, and “We Buy Cars” messaging matters.

The challenge is usually consistency and process.

The dealerships winning the inventory battle today are typically the ones building repeatable acquisition systems instead of relying on occasional effort.

Here are some of the strategies dealers are using right now to consistently acquire more used vehicles:

1. Build a true “We Buy Cars” marketing strategy
2. Mine the service drive more consistently
3. Source vehicles on Facebook Marketplace and consumer platforms
4. Build previous customer buyback campaigns
5. Offer mobile appraisals and at-home acquisition

Ultimately reducing your dependency on auctions.

1. Build a Real “We Buy Cars” Marketing Strategy

Most dealerships say they buy cars. Far fewer market it aggressively and consistently enough for consumers to remember it.

That’s one of the biggest advantages companies like Carvana and CarMax created. Consumers constantly hear messaging like:

• “We’ll buy your car”
• “Sell us your vehicle”
• “Get an instant offer”

Dealers have to build that same awareness locally while making the process feel easy.

Increasingly, stores are treating vehicle acquisition like its own year-round marketing campaign instead of just an occasional sales event. That means consistently reinforcing “We Buy Cars” messaging across TV, radio, streaming, social media, SEM campaigns, CRM/email campaigns, website messaging, service lane signage, and even on-hold messaging.

Consider also utilizing sponsorships and influencers to reinforce messages like:

• “We Want Your Trade”
• “Upgrade Your Vehicle”
• or “Sell Us Your Vehicle Even If You Don’t Buy From Us”

Targeting has also become much more sophisticated. Many campaigns now focus specifically on owners of the exact vehicles the dealership wants to acquire using SEM, streaming, social targeting, equity mining, and lead generation campaigns.

For example:

• targeting owners of 2021–2023 Toyota Tacomas
• owners nearing lease maturity
• or households likely driving high-demand used models

SEM can be especially effective because it reaches consumers already searching:

• “Sell my car”
• “Trade in my truck”
• “Who will buy my car?”

The stores seeing the most success also make the process feel fast and simple through instant trade tools, quick appraisal scheduling, mobile appraisals, fast follow-up, and straightforward offers.

Some are even finding success with handwritten direct mail notes, personalized upgrade campaigns, and buyback emails sent from the GM and forwarded by salespeople.

Because in today’s market, the dealership consumers remember first and the dealership that makes the process easiest often acquires the vehicle.

2. Mine the Service Drive More Consistently

Most dealerships already understand the opportunity in the service lane. The challenge is building a process that remains consistent over time instead of depending heavily on one motivated employee or temporary push.

The stores sustaining results are usually turning service acquisition into a repeatable operational process.

Many now review upcoming service appointments in advance instead of trying to “work the lane” reactively. Using DMS, CRM, and equity mining tools, they identify:

• positive equity customers
• lease maturities
• high-demand used models
• and vehicles approaching expensive repairs

One store may have a salesperson trying to speak with service customers between showroom ups. Another may have a BDC employee reviewing tomorrow’s appointments every afternoon and identifying acquisition opportunities before customers even arrive.

The second process is usually easier to sustain long term.

As one industry playbook noted: “Success in the service lane is determined before the sun comes up.” (Proactive Training Solutions)

Another trend emerging is distributing portions of the process across BDC teams, acquisition coordinators, automated workflows, and equity mining systems instead of relying entirely on salespeople. This helps maintain consistency even during busy sales periods.

The most effective stores also keep the process consultative. Conversations are often centered around helping customers avoid upcoming repair costs, explaining positive equity opportunities, or presenting upgrade options with similar payments rather than creating a high-pressure sales environment.

And like any other department initiative, measurement matters. Many stores now track appraisal opportunities, offers presented, appointments, vehicles acquired, and conversion rates to better understand what is working over time.

3. Source Vehicles on Facebook Marketplace and Consumer Platforms

Most dealers already know Facebook Marketplace has become one of the largest places consumers sell vehicles locally.

The challenge is sustaining the process consistently over time.

Marketplace sourcing often becomes difficult when it depends entirely on one employee squeezing it in between other responsibilities. Some stores are now creating more structured daily processes around monitoring listings, standardizing seller outreach, building organized follow-up, and focusing only on high-demand vehicle targets.

Speed matters tremendously. Many sellers receive multiple messages shortly after posting a vehicle, and the first dealer to create a simple, trustworthy experience often wins the opportunity.

Many dealerships are also moving conversations quickly from Messenger to text or phone to simplify communication and improve follow-up consistency.

The opportunity here is access to local inventory before it ever reaches auction lanes.

4. Build Previous Customer Buyback Campaigns

Most dealerships already have thousands of customers in their CRM driving vehicles the store would gladly retail today.

Increasingly, dealers are building more structured buyback campaigns targeting previous customers, lease maturities, positive equity opportunities, and high-demand models.

These campaigns often include email, text messaging, upgrade messaging, and personalized outreach designed to reconnect with customers before they begin shopping elsewhere.

The advantage is simple: the relationship already exists.

That familiarity often improves trust, response rates, and acquisition efficiency while reducing marketing costs compared to sourcing inventory elsewhere.

The stores seeing the strongest long-term results are typically treating buyback campaigns as ongoing acquisition infrastructure instead of only using them during inventory shortages.

5. Offer Mobile Appraisals and At-Home Acquisition

One of the biggest things companies like Carvana changed wasn’t just pricing expectations.

They changed convenience expectations.

Consumers increasingly expect fast, simple, low-friction transactions, and some dealerships are responding with at-home appraisals, workplace appraisals, mobile acquisition vans, and remote paperwork processes.

Instead of asking the customer to come to the dealership first, the dealership goes to the customer.

For most stores, this does not need to begin as a massive operation. Some dealers are starting by offering appraisals within a limited radius, assigning one acquisition-focused employee certain days of the week, or focusing first on previous customers and service customers.

Many are also promoting the convenience factor directly in their marketing with messaging like:

• “We’ll Come To You”
• “Free At-Home Appraisals”
• or “Sell Your Car Without Visiting the Dealership”

This approach directly competes against the convenience factor that helped online buying platforms grow so quickly.

Where Many Stores Are Focusing

Most acquisition challenges today are not caused by a lack of ideas.

The opportunities are usually already there:

• the service drive
• previous customers
• trade opportunities
• online marketplaces
• and acquisition marketing

The bigger focus for many dealerships is creating processes that remain consistent, measurable, and easy for customers to engage with.

Five years ago, many dealerships could wait for used inventory to show up.

The dealerships winning today are going out and getting it.

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