Cracking the Code on Car Buying: Inside Bob Ruth Ford’s 500-Vehicle Acquisition Strategy

In the season finale of Lot Talk, hosts Chris Keene, Renaldo Leonard, and John Anderson sit down with Rob Dell, Vice President of Bob Ruth Ford in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. Rob’s dealership may be in a town of only 2,600 people, but it moves more iron than most urban stores—recently acquiring over 500 used vehicles in a single month and retailing over 400.

So, how do they do it? In this blog, we’ll break down Rob’s insights and the Lot Pop team’s key takeaways on increasing both gross and volume in used car sales through smarter acquisition, lead management, team alignment, and consistent execution.

1. Acquisition is the Engine—Fuel it with Data

“You can’t get a lead if you don’t acquire a car.”

That was Rob’s simple, powerful reminder. Bob Ruth Ford buys over 200 cars per month from the public, but the dealership’s true strength lies in how granularly they track acquisition across all channels—public, trades, and auction. In a recent month, they acquired 524 vehicles.

What’s the secret?

• Know Your Data. Rob emphasized measuring performance across all acquisition sources. “If you don’t know the data, you don’t know where you’re going.”
• Track Two-Week Sale Rates. This KPI lets them know how fast inventory is turning and whether their acquisition volume supports their sales velocity.
• Buy Everything. Even if it’s not a retail fit, Rob’s team will purchase vehicles to wholesale. That gives them margin flexibility on more valuable trades and builds relationships with sellers.

Pro Tip: The inventory pipeline isn’t just about having enough cars—it’s about having the right mix and knowing when to liquidate aged units. Bob Ruth Ford has just two vehicles over 45 days old on the lot. That’s strategic discipline in action.

2. Dominate Lead Management with Cadence and Customization

A stunning statistic shared during the episode: the average used car shopper submits leads to 12–15 dealers. That’s fierce competition. According to Renaldo, the biggest breakdown happens when stores don’t follow up consistently or don’t add value during communication.

Bob Ruth Ford’s process:

• Respond Immediately. Hot leads are routed to a salesperson who engages same-day.
• Daily Follow-Up for Two Weeks. “It’s very intense for the first 14 days,” Rob explained. After that, the cadence may slow to every few days before entering long-term nurture.
• Switch Lead Recycling. If a car with multiple leads sells, reps immediately work to redirect other interested shoppers to similar inventory—maximizing ROI from every lead.
  

But it’s not just about frequency—it’s about quality.

“Be the trusted advisor, not just the car guy.”

—Renaldo Leonard

Bob Ruth Ford coaches reps to meet the customer where they are. Instead of pushing appointment times, their goal is to first understand the buyer’s why, preferences, and decision-making criteria. That information becomes the basis for a value-driven drip strategy—email, phone, and text touchpoints designed to add value, not pressure.

3. Train, Track, and Talk: Build a Culture of Consistency

Many dealers fail to scale gross and volume because of one critical breakdown: internal misalignment. Not so at Bob Ruth Ford. Their entire store is in sync—from ownership to porters.

Here’s how they keep the whole team on mission:

• Defined Vision: Their mission is to “change the world’s perception of the car dealership experience—one customer at a time.”
• All-In Communication: They use group texts and communication platforms like Pronto to sync between acquisition, BDC, sales managers, and service. Even their owner, Rob Ruth, chimes in regularly from Florida.
• Metrics-Driven Accountability: Activity and performance are monitored across the board. If someone falls short, it’s addressed with data, not emotion.

“It’s not about feelings. It’s about facts.”

—Rob Dell

That level of communication allows them to identify trends daily, react quickly to sales surges, and maintain inventory discipline—even during big weekends.

4. Adapt, Don’t Extinct—Why Constant Evolution is the Norm

Rob’s analogy was perfect:

“Dinosaurs didn’t evolve—and they became extinct.”

The used car landscape shifts rapidly. Success today doesn’t guarantee success tomorrow. That’s why Bob Ruth Ford always looks for the next edge—whether it’s adopting AI for chat support or training staff on how to identify unretailable vehicles and wholesale them profitably.

AI, Rob noted, should never replace human value—but it can boost efficiency when layered on top of a strong human-led process.

5. Final Takeaways from Rob Dell

If there were two nuggets Rob would leave with any used car dealer trying to grow gross and volume, they’d be:

1. Be the person in their phone. Become the trusted advisor, the expert they rely on—just like someone would for a contractor or pool guy.
2. Have a vision, and get everyone aligned to it. Your success will always be capped if your team doesn’t know what the goal is or how they fit into it.

Conclusion: What You Can Do Today

Here’s how to apply Bob Ruth Ford’s playbook to your dealership:

• Audit your two-week sale rate and adjust acquisition accordingly.
• Create a daily lead follow-up cadence for 14 days with personalized messaging.
• Align your whole team to one mission with tools that foster real-time communication.
• Use data, not guesswork, to identify underperforming processes and retrain where needed.
• Accept that you’re never “there”—top performers are always qualifying for their position.

If a store in a town of 2,600 people can retail 400+ used cars a month, you can too. But it takes strategy, discipline, and relentless follow-up.