In a recent episode of The Bark Report, host Mark Baruth sat down with AutoHub General Manager Dan Gaughan to talk about a problem nearly every dealer knows too well: where does the next car come from? Gaughan’s answer is refreshingly simple — stop leaning so hard on auctions and start paying attention to the customers already standing in your service drive. “It’s like being a Tylenol rep walking into a room full of people with headaches,” Gaughan said of the conversation dealers have once they see the data. Vehicle sourcing isn’t a mystery to solve; it’s an opportunity most dealerships are already sitting on and simply not seeing.

Here’s how it actually works: when a repair order opens, AutoHub reaches out to that customer directly — something as simple as, “Your 2024 Toyota Tundra’s in for service. It’s a vehicle we’d be interested in purchasing. Would you be interested in selling or trading your truck today?” If they say yes, the customer gets an automatic valuation range on the spot, and the dealership’s team is notified to follow up by text, phone, or in person. As Gaughan put it, the goal isn’t chasing equity reports or guessing who might be open to a deal — “we have basically put the sonar where the fish are.” Out of every service drive, six to ten people a day have already said, in their own words, that they’re ready to sell or trade. The only question is whether the dealership hears them.

For Gaughan, a 30-year industry veteran who’s worked the OEM, retail, and vendor sides of the business, the bigger lesson is that sourcing cars is rarely a technology problem alone — it’s a consistency problem. “We not only acquire the car, but we acquire the car right,” he said, pointing to the razor-thin margins dealers are working with today.

Want the full conversation, including Gaughan’s take on fixed ops, leadership, and why brand loyalty isn’t what it used to be?

Watch Episode 4 of The Bark Report here.

"It's like being a Tylenol rep walking into a room full of people with headaches," Gaughan said of the conversation dealers have once they see the data. Vehicle sourcing isn't a mystery to solve; it's an opportunity most dealerships are already sitting on and simply not seeing.

— Dan Gaughan, General Manager, AutoHub