How Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables Built a Top-Tier Dealership

Okay. Applaus. Applaus. Let's start with a little applause. There we go. Okay. Here we are.

This is the first one we're doing together in 2026.

You and me.

Yeah. Okay. I don't know what that came about.

I just haven't seen this vision.

Oh, okay. All right. No, today I'll be like this the whole day. I got to go to the chiropractor after this one.

So special, dude.

You should this honestly this right here of our lunch of our lunches right now.

Well, can I at least just Oh, here we go. Can I just introduce our our what we're doing here today? We're we're coming in, you know, live from I want to say live, but we are live. You guys will see it recorded, but we are live at the brand new MercedesBenz dealership of Coral Gables. And you guys are taking a look at this. What a spectacular, but I say spectacular showroom. Spectacular showroom. You know, I want to say it was this guy's idea, but it wasn't. No, I'm joking. Let's introduce our guests. We have with us Mike Rodriguez, also known as MRO. He is the VP of all Florida stores and GM of the Coral Gables. I don't know. Is there another title I'm missing there? And um

I'm not big in title, but Lord,

we watch the titles.

No, no, those are the other ones. And then also with us, we have a you know, best last name, Peter Warwar. I mean, that's

no relation to Amelia Warwire, unfortunately.

And and we have Peter, as everybody knows him around here in the Gables. He's our ambassador of of Coral Gables Mercedes. Welcome both to you to a day in Miami podcast.

Thank you.

Are you guys excited?

Absolutely.

Super excited.

We've been waiting for this for about two years.

By the way, we were we were, you know, we were waiting for two years, but today in the chat, you know, it was uh you guys may not show up here without either crocetas or some little, you know, empanadas, you know. So,

we have one cafe.

You didn't have to let they do. Gentlemen, welcome. What a spectacular spectacular place, Mike. this has been, you know, in let's start from the beginning. I mean, Mercedes already been in the Coral in Coral Gables, but this new location, give us a little bit between both of you, you know, um the time that of course we were over here in in in the other dealership. What happened with that dealership? How long did this take and and what was the process about this?

So, Mercedes-Benz Cor has been in uh in in this location across the street for almost 70 years. And uh about five years ago or a little more they acquired this building that used to be the police station and fire.

That's right. That's right. You're absolutely right.

And that's when the whole idea came of redoing the whole the whole building and moving our sales operation.

Did you guys keep the jail up there?

No, we kept it downstairs in the basement. So, we'll send it down there for a little bit. But it it after the the store was acquired, the the the the remodeling was in process already and it got completed in um in October of last year and we moved our sales operation in November over to this new uh brand new building. We maintained our service operation at the old uh across the street and we're going to be remodeling that building as well and improving the uh the customerf facing areas as well.

Okay.

What was the what was the purpose of the move though? Just have more space. Well, listen, it was it Mercedes-Benz does require dealerships to improve the sites and this is something that was going on for many years even before the new team acquired and uh it was it was agreed upon and you know the what you see here a lot of the of the things is what Mercedes requires you know they have a h a certain style they want you to rebuild these stores and we have to follow that that uh that policy and uh you know it makes sense also that sh only hold two cars I mean to do the business that we've been doing in that showroom. It was amazing to get it accomplished and we needed more more more space for sales for managers. So, it was time to get into a bigger showroom.

Yeah, I know. And walking around here, this place is beautiful.

No way. The club are nice. Super.

And you guys can't hear the music in the background. Black.

As per Mercedes-Benz, we are the largest Mercedes-Benz stores in the United States.

Wow.

As far as square footage when you have combine both stores together.

That's pretty crazy. I have a thought, but maybe in the future we could even rent the, you know, this lobby area for a great I mean, this lobby area is spectacular for like events. I mean, I'm I'm already thinking of a great party here. By the way,

listen, Peter, we're open.

I'm I'm, you know, celebrating something. Pety, talk to me. Talk to me.

For those people who don't know you, tell them a little about yourself.

Give us I am Peter Warwar, brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz of Carl Gables. 16 years. Um, I've been here. Um, we've been 69 years in the area. This is a 140 year old company, Mercedes-Benz. We just celebrated our 140th anniversary. Um, I I was originally in the automobile business for the last uh 20 years. And uh I do most of the leg work, community work, philanthropical stuff. I represent Mike Rodriguez and Mercedes-Benz of Car Gables and Dream Motors. So, I interact with the community on a regular basis. Talk to people like yourself, Manny, and um you know.

All right. So, where where did the last name War come from? That's

Oh, boy. Now, we're going to go into history here.

So, no, I like that. I mean, that's a beautiful last name.

So, how would that be in Spanish?

Get you maybe have a relation to to Tony and

so I was born in Jamaica um Jamaican heritage my father was

beautiful place man beautiful place

my father was from the Middle East my mother is Jamaican and I migrated here a few decades ago maybe 40 40 years ago so I've been here ever since that's the that's the origination of the name it wasn't made up it was real it's real

yeah you know

no no we we verified that we found another World War no relation. There has to be a relationship.

There usually is a relationship.

He's a little middle mid, you know, a little Middle Eastern himself, you know, Emilio, he looks pretty good. So, this is a good question for both of you and I want to know what what I mean out of all the Mercedes and we respect all the Mercedes around, but what sets this Mercedes dealership apart from others?

Well, beside having the Ambassador,

yes, it's very important.

Listen, Wait, wait, wait. Is that title nationwide or or city?

No, but not after this podcast. This will be your nationwide. All right. You know,

no. Now it's really official.

You're too much.

Put the stamp on that thing today.

No, listen. There's a couple of things. This location is a bless in a very special location. Yeah.

It's been around here, like I said, almost 70 years. Uh the employees that we have employees been here for over 40 years, 30 years, 25. These employees have made their life I mean that accomplish your life dreams here working with us. But we're a store that we really specialize not being transactional but building relationships. Okay.

And I think that sets us apart from the rest of the the other Mercedes-Benz stores,

you know, with the fact of the relationships that you guys have.

Absolutely. We have Listen, we we have customers here that they bought here, the kids bought here, the grandkids were buying here. They're great legacy. So it it's a legacy store and and it's a destination store, you know, and and listen, being able to corable through the demographics in Corable is amazing as well.

Yeah. I was going to ask you about that. You've seen wonderful developments come up. Uh one of them is our good friends, uh Jose Antonio and them at the Corables Plaza. Uh you see FIFA put their headquarters in Coral Gables. We have events almost every month here now. Um, how have you seen the demographic change in the last 3 or 4 years where you have all these big, you know, sometimes these Fortune 500 companies coming in now and and you know this is their backyard. Have you noticed that directly on your guys end?

Absolutely. We've noticed a difference as a matter of fact I mean even Mercedes has us as we're the largest uh area of opportunity for Mercedes and with the most opportunity because of the growth in the area. So we've noticed a big difference in the last couple years. The clientele, you see clientele from all over all over the other states, different states, different countries are moving into the area too. Corables is I mean city beautiful the name is very appropriate.

Yeah.

Yeah. And what's has the average order value increased or

has what

has the average order value has the average purchase price increased?

It's all relatable.

You have some really cars back affecting. You got some really nice cars back here. Listen, the tariff have affect some somewhat, but MercedesBen is one of the company that really exports the most vehicles out of the United States to other country. They have a huge factor in Tuscaloosa and Alabama.

No way. You have a factor here in the US.

Absolutely. And they all the SUV all the SUVs are being built here and they get exported to other countries too.

But that goes to contrary belief that people usually say that hey, you know, you can't do production or factories here and be profitable for all that. They find a way. every,

you know, I want to touch on something you talked a little about with some of your employees that have been here and we talked about that because, you know, I love, you know, how everybody's here, you know, dressed to the nines, everybody's very well, you know, uh, groomed. What What What do you look when you say, "I want to build my team." What do what do you look for in building your team of of salespeople?

Listen, I I think that looking professional sets the tone for the whole environment for customers walking in. We're selling a luxury line. So I feel it's very appropriate to dress attire. Also when I hire at my level I hire upper management and what I look for is consistency, drive, loyalty, you know, uh that that's important in today's world is really important. The team that we have here I I came on board almost two years ago and and most of the management team is is in place and and I'm big in promoting from within and most of the managers we promote the last three year two years are all with the worked at the store. I think that's wonderful

and from like I promote

because it makes it, you know, even more better than the fact of one saying, "Let me bring some people from outside." I mean, I think that's that that that's a testament of what you guys do here, you know, bringing in the same people, you know, it gives everybody that that strive to even do better.

Absolutely. In a store like this, the turnover is very little. We're very blessed to have very very uh little turnover. So, when there's opportunity and promote from within, then you know, your staff sees this opportunity and then we're being fair and being, you know, consider them as well.

Yeah. How how many cars more or less are you guys selling monthly or like like what are your goals or what are you seeing in the 20 I feel like the the the the vehicle market kind of it does give us some indicators on how the economy is doing as well.

Listen at this level you know the customers we deal with and the the economy affects them but not as far as much as another in other segments of the of our clientele. Uh listen, in 2023 we were number fifth in the nationow in sales.

And uh last year we finished number two in the nation in retail sales.

And this month in January, we finished number two again. And our goal is to strive to become the number one store in the nation.

No, no, no. And after this podcast, we have to be number one. I mean, it has to be.

We average about 500 new and pre-owned cars. New used.

That's really big.

So on that point, Mike, and that's important because I want everybody out there, you know, everybody, you know, we're gonna get up. Trust me, we get all the these comments. Oh, you you know, Mercedes, it's only for, you know, people that could have is there.

Well, there's a Mayback right behind you.

I got I got that. You know, I mean, and this month we're going to make it happen because you know, you know, Jay's in line to buy the 101. So, you know, Jay's going to be Jay's looking at that one. He's been contemplating that since we did the video the other day.

Yeah. And we do like 30 years financing on that.

Well, maybe 40. Maybe 40. And you know, plus I have to negotiate new contract in Japan. But my question now is is that do we have Peter? Do we have some good affordability cars here?

Absolutely. Absolutely.

You know, like

we have SUVs from in the upper 30s going all the way up to 200,000. So we have for every category of person for for the student, for the parents, for the soccer mom, for the non-s soccer mom, we have every level of car w

which in turn people is not only just buying because of luxury. you're you're buying because I believe also for the safety and the endurance of a car.

I think it's a combination. I think that people buy because of technology, the performance, but also that star.

Yeah.

It it it means accomplishment. It means you know you get a certain stage in life or and it's an accomplish goal you had and the star makes a difference. And I my previous uh job I was running different brands and I thought that one of the brands was very competitive with Mercedes. And when I got here, Mercedes customers are totally different that any other brand that competes with Mercedes.

They they trust the brand and and they feel it's an accomplishment and they're they could justify

paying a little bit more

for the Mercedes.

Well, Eddie has a story.

I have a story. Yeah. Um I think I was like 19 or 20. I saved up money. My first car was a Copart car I got from an auction.

We fixed it up. It was a beat cruiser.

So, rebuilt title. Rebuilt Title B Cruiser, right? And I Carlo of Med. I had the TVs, the subwoofers, the whole high school uh you know, vibe that everybody was doing at that time. And it was time to change and I had saved up some money. And, you know, I never I don't think I I think I had like an express credit card and I was bouncing around from dealerships down US1 solo. I was like, you know what? I'm just going to go into this. And I went to Infiniti. I went to BMW. I think I went to Jaguar. And all them were like, "Nope, nope, nope." And I'm like, "Okay." I end up MercedesBenz Cutler Bay. And I speak to the sales guy there. I I forgot. And I'm walking around walking around. And it was a used it was nice long E 350. Back then they were like made out of steel. Like they were, you know, really good. Now it's a little bit more lightweight. You could tell when you open the doors. And I sat down with this guy and he gave me the approval and I was like, he runs my credit under one condition. I was like, okay, you got to put $9,000 down.

Damn, I bet you have saved up.

Yeah. Like $16,000 saved up at that time.

And I was like, you know what? To your point, you know what? This is what I want. This is what I'm going to do. This is like I'm working like a dog, etc. And I want this car. And I went I put my $9,000.

Justified.

And it was justified, right? And I love that car, man. That car was a nice car. It took me a long way.

By the way, Mercedes was a color base. My sister store it, too.

There you go. So, you know, without you even knowing at that time, you were investing in the future investing in the future of Mercedes.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And honestly,

from as a user before even, you know, coming on, you know, meeting Mike and Peter and and all these times, I've been I've had a Mercedes for like 15 years. Right now, I have a the convertible twodoor. Um, and it's the turning radius, you know, it's the technology. It's the way people see it. They look at you. And I keep my car clean. I wash it two, three times a week, the inside with the, you know, the red leather. And, um, there's there's, you know, when I was single, when you pick up a check in a Mercedes, it's just different, you know? They just know, you know, like you're doing something right, you know,

for the for the other women out there, we're picking up a lady, not just a chick. Yeah. Okay. Just for, you know.

Yeah. So, you know, I'm a big I'm a big fan of the brand and and I'm a loyal customer of the brand and you know, I hope to, you know, continue being that.

Well, I think it's time for you to change the car by the way.

Um, but anyway, I think, you know, Peter can give you a give you a deal. Mike, let me ask you a question. You know, even though, you know, people may not understand this, the guy is 80. He looks great. You know what I'm saying?

How long have you been in this business, brother? my brother. I'm not 80, but you know, it feels like I'm 80. How long I've been in the business? This is I like to, you know, I like to bother him because, you know, Mike is your your, you know, your example of the well, you know, groomed men. You know what I'm saying? All of them here. I I always praise you know me about the clover situation. I I I praise that. I think it's it's it's important. But how long have you been in the business? Okay.

You do a great job in grooming yourself.

Thank Thank you. I take after you.

Yeah. No, you're a little older than me.

Listen, I I started the business. I was working in downtown Miami uh selling shoes.

Okay. And uh the the uh I got let go because it was seasoned. It was very seasonal.

What year? Sorry, what year was this?

It was 1983.

Okay.

Okay. I'm 59 by the way. I want to be sparing about it so everybody knows.

And uh my my one of my best friends in high school, his dad was the general manager of Gus Mashado and managing partner. So I told him, "Listen, I need shout out."

Yeah. Shout out to Gus and also to Joe Sanchez that gave me the opportunity, senior. And uh I told him, "I need a job. You know, I helped my mom. I need to get a job." And he got me a job. And I started there watching vehicles, a supporter.

And is uh it it was amazing. I I got to tell you, I fell in love with the business like two or three months into it. Besides the fact that guys dress good all the time. Yeah. They had money in their pocket. They drove a company car. Back then they would give me a demo, a company car drive. I said, "Man, this is perfect for me. Yeah, I always knew I was going to do something in sales, you know, and uh and nothing I they gave me the opportunity. I went from watching cars, I became a service advisor, service advisor, and then I went to sales from sales then into management. And for the past 25 years, I've been a general manager, a managing partner, and then my, you know, and it's been a great career. I love it. You know, my it's funny, my daughter, Michaela, I'm going to give her a shout out. Ma Rodriguez, Northwestern, you know, financial planner.

She has a great name. That's my aunt's name, Mika. She asked me the other day, we were talking. She's very much like me. And she was asking me, "Dad, is there something you don't like about your job?" And it took me like half an hour. I really had to go deep and think about it. And I told her, "Mika, I love what I do. I There's nothing negative that I that I that I don't like."

Right. Apart when I have to deal with that digital marketing.

Oh, that head guy. Oh, yeah. That's a guy. Listen, Mike, I wanted to ask though because I have put a video of you up on on on the Instagram and I had two people tell me, "Hey, ask him about his Gus Machado story." Like I know you went over it lightly now, but um is there something deeper to that, you know?

No. Listen, the fact is that Joe Sanchez senior, he was like a a father figure to me.

Gotcha. And and when I asked him is he when I asked him that I wanted to go from uh from being a porter to sales, he told me, "No, no, no. Keep going to school. I'm going to send you to a general motor school to get trained to be a service advisor."

Okay?

And I got to tell you to this day, I remember that it was like a a three-week course. It was great. And at the end of the course, they asked you, "Where do you see yourself in the future now in bowling business?" And I told him, I want to be exactly like the gentleman that got me into this business, be a general manager and a partner of the store because that's my goal. And and I was very fortunate and blessed to accomplish that. Uh so

does that still exist that those schools?

Absolutely. Absolutely. There's schools, you know, we have our general sales manager, Gabriel Camps, sending him to a he's going to school to get prepared. I believe listen I I've been very fortunate that I have mentors throughout my career and you know they've been there for me and guidance and advice and I've tried to do the same as I've moved up I try to bring people up with me and I give the opportunity to me it's very fulfilling to have people that have worked to me become general manager own stores and and and that's my goal I mean I I would like to say that not not my legacy but down the road people said listen I appreciate Mike took the time to spend time with me put me through training schooling and I'm able to have a career out of this.

Yeah. And and not only that, but but you know, not only about the Gus Machalo, but you know, throughout his life, you know, he also bumped into a lot of characters in Miami. You know what I'm saying? A lot of characters.

No, one of the one of them is my uncle. So, at the end of the day,

which a shout out one of those older stories,

shout out to my uncle, my great uncleiki. So, shout out to him. You know what I'm saying? Me and Mike are talking about the car industry when and this and that. I go, "No, man. my uncle's been there. He goes, "Oh, wait. Who was your who's your uncle?" And I tell him, he goes, "Oh my god, that's a character." So, I mean, again, those are a lot of a lot of characters that you bumped into and throughout your whole year. Absolutely. You know, the car business is is I I find it to be so fascinating. It

you know, and at the end of the day, people got to understand that I I'm a strong advocate of people with, you know, like people that go to tradesman schools and all this other stuff. if if if that's your passion and that's what you want to do. I mean, I know we're all pushed in the sense, oh, go get your degree, go get your four-year degrees, but life has changed. And, you know, I always go through this whole situation. And if not, I I I always implore for you guys, please go check podcast 14, which is Manny's view about, you know, uh, the FSU degree in the world, which is not the FSU school, but the Flagger Street University diploma. You got to have that street smart. Yeah.

And then sometimes

that's more than anything

and that's one and then at the end of the day you can see and not for anything because I'm not trying to you know knock on anybody's career but you have

people in this industry making much more money than some people I had to go to you know x amount of years in school. It's very important for you to choose wisely what you want to do. And I always say choose what you're really passionate in. And if you're good in sales, you can you can really knock it out and make a lot of money. Especially how you just said all these guys going to the school and getting trained on this, you know, which I I didn't know really existed. I don't know how many people you out there knew existed, but I didn't know that existed. All this this school to go and find out about, you know,

the cars and the whole thing.

Well, listen, you're here. You're absolutely right. I think that when you're passionate about something, it's no longer work. you know, my you know,

I had a year and a half of college and then, you know, I and I but I had the Lil Havana

University. I went to Little Havana University. You know,

that's a masters, my brother.

I grew up in Little Havana. I'm very proud to say I grew up in Little Havana.

That's a masters.

But my as my kids were getting ready to go to college, I did, you know, I was fortunate enough to do the prepaid 529 plans all set up. And the only thing I told my go what you decide to study. I want you to find something that you're passionate about 100% and you're gonna money is gonna come along with it. It doesn't matter what it is, just be passionate about it. True. And that's a great advice. And in today's world, you know,

you got professionals that do very well, but you got in sales, the sky's is the limit.

The sky's is the limit.

The sky's is the limit when you're in sales. That's what I like about it. Mike, I was going to ask you u before we jump over to Peter. Um going back when was in what part of your career did you know like all right like I got something here you know like this is something I could really like you know live a really good life with.

Listen I was I was working at uh I was working as a service advisor at Abraham Chevrolet.

Sure.

Yep.

A place with uh that was there for a long long time is now a nomination store. And there was a change in management and I got let go because I was part of the team that they wanted to let go. Even though I was top producer back then I didn't understand why but things happen for a reason.

We call that yeah right new broom come in brush out the old and you know what it's understanding as I grew up in management. That's part of of when you transition into a new place

and then I I I just got engaged by the way. I just got engaged to get married. And I said, "Oh, I got to get I got to get going." You know, and a friend of mine's offering me to get the same job at a Honda store as a service advisor. I said, "Listen, man. Am I going to sales with Honda? You could I could sell. I could make money." But then I went to Lexus of Kendo with my father-in-law who's always been a Cadillac guy back in 1991 to buy a Lexus. And I fell in love with the product because it was something that nobody was doing. The car itself, the service they were doing, the experience they were providing. So it took me, long story short, it took me about four months to get a job there, right?

Oh, because you were recruiting around or you just

No, I I tried I I went to uh a famous suit place called Marinos.

Yeah.

And bought myself

Let's not Let's not give the fitness.

Did he have a back door or something in there?

Manny knows more about that. That's what I'm going to say.

I also heard Abrai had a back door. No, but that's it's two different animals.

But I bought me a went to get an interview and they told me, "Listen, just call back every week. you know, we were, you know, we're very, you know, selective who we hire. So I said, so I kept calling every week for about 3 months. I go lunch with a friend of mine who happens to be best friend with the general service manager and he I told him what's going on. He picks up the phone. Typical queue and oh, I knew a guy by the name of Bert and they his nickname in school is Golia as a baseball player. Oh yeah, go you know I recommend Mike. My kid this kid's okay. I finally get hired. To me that was the university because that was a place that was so busy that they would just hire you. No training, no nothing. You got there,

you got done with that on the job training.

Sounds like something familiar to us.

It was on the job training and and it was amazing because the store was so busy that you know you were generating sales. It was like selling like selling candies. I'll be up front with you.

Wow. And that's when I started making money and I said, you know what, I I could do this and I could, you know, make a career out of this. And the rest is I was there for seven years. I started as a salesman. I became a new car manager, pre-own manager. I got an opportunity to work as a general sales manager.

So, how did the opportunity to work at Mercedes come about? So, you're there working, you're crushing it, and what did you get a phone call? Were you recruited?

Yeah. And you actually listen, I I have been with the Bremen organization for 23 years. the last six years I spent running the Miami campus, all the eight brands. Uh I'm very thankful with Norman Braymond. He gave me the opportunity. I was a partner with him at that store. It was time to go ahead and you know and do something else. I stayed out for three or four months. I was solid I was approached by the group that bought South Motorers now.

Correct. Called Morgan Group. You know they wanted me to run several stores. I went in I was into the job maybe two months and I get a call from somebody we mutually know which they call him the godfather court gave us money.

Yes. Okay.

There's always a manny involved. Yeah. There's always a manny involved.

And and Manny knew me from from many years ago that he was I work for

and he told me, "Hey, listen. They make they call me looking for somebody for a big store. Are you interested? You know, are you still retired home?" Because he thought I was still home. I took some time off. I said, "No, actually, you know, you know, I went with this group." Long story short, I thought about it. I'm one one of those who don't like to be changing. I've been very consistent. I saw stay in one place and I believe that makes a difference. And I talked to my wife and you know, I said, "You know what, man? I'll sit down and talk to to I think you should listen to it."

Yeah.

So, I did. I I I I we had uh two conversation, one meeting, and we put it together. I I spoke to Randy Power, the CEO of the company, and it was uh it was straightforward what they were looking for, how fast they wanted to do this. Then I met uh I met uh what back then was the president of the company, Greg Barnes. We talked about it, and then we we got together right at the plaza cuz the owners from the company uh Jo Resty and and uh Randy Pabo, they they have a couple appointments that rent at the plaza. So we had to meet at a place that nobody would know because any place we go, people

That's my area. Now, you know, that's my area. That's your backyard.

That's the last question on that. Uh

is Nick S involved in any way, shape or form? Because I've seen online and

dream motor group is Joe Agress is the chairman of the board and then Nick S is one of one of the owners as well

of the group.

Of the group. Yeah. We have a total of six Mercedes stores, one Ferrari, one Infiniti, uh and now they just acquire a Toyota and a Lexus store.

So they're growing. They're aggressive right now.

Yeah. And the footprint is all southeastern. And uh

that's a good group. That's a good group.

I'll tell you is is one thing I that I noticed driving when I met with them is that very important for them how to treat the customer, how you treat your employees and family values. And I've never been able to to have that all that together in one place.

Wow.

So, uh it's a great company. They they have we're still going to be growing more in Florida soon. I can't get into it, but we're growing in Florida.

Yeah.

So, uh they they want to grow. Nick Sabin is an amazing person. He's visit the store a couple of times,

make, you know, shakes hand with everybody.

We'd love to know he's here, you know. I mean,

so we can take a little little videos here.

I'll let you know. He'll call us a couple hours. Hey, I'm on my way.

Oh, yeah. Well, you let us know.

Well, um, you know, uh, Peter, thank you for joining and uh, and participating. Um but no frey give us a little bit of background

on I want to see what what is you know because you know you know

I want to know

Moya just continue all the the conversation but with with with deep this is deep

but you know but give us a little bit of what is that role of ambassadorship here in the Mercedes-Benz because I know that

go for it go for go for it go for

I know that everybody wants to find out you know what is the ambassadorship you know apart from everybody

and how did you get appointed And everybody coming in asking you for favors.

Just to let you know.

No.

Please explain.

Can you explain to our viewers?

That's another program. That one falls under the Marino program.

Pety, talk to us.

So my role essentially is to represent the company.

Yeah. Just speaking full-time. Um inside and outside the dealership. Um I get involved in again the philanthropical um sponsorships. We sponsor many different events that are directly related to Carl Gables because we do business here. We think we should spend our money here and invest our money with the culture that's here. We're cultured store. Um you asked that question earlier. Uh, so I get involved in in in different I get engaged with different events in different things, meeting, you know, discerning buyers, uh, high-end people from out of town. So, I do all of that stuff. Um, I I started out doing it casually because no one else wanted to do that job and I guess it worked out.

Okay, you're the perfect fifth. No, listen. I I I I want to I want to know you see Mike walk through the doors. You've been in here for how long already?

16 15 years when you walk through a door.

You walked through the doors. What was your first impression of him? Did you research him? Did you already know

cuz you guys you're like a two like kind of feels like me and Manny, man. Two peas in a pod.

So I I did research him. Um our first meeting he I was wearing a pair of glasses. Jacqu Marie Mar whatever it was at the time.

You even know the glasses? Really? He really researched.

I'm giving you the break.

Ask what he's wearing. Ask him what he's wearing today. He stepped up a notch.

So he walked around and doing the right thing, he shook everybody's hand. So he walked up to me. I got up. I said, "I am Peter War." He goes, "I know you who you are." I go, I

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Last name like that. I don't know if you're going to war.

And then as he's walking away, he did this. He was actually wearing the similar brand. He did this good taste and he walked away. Don't know what that meant, but we got along great. Um I had

those are godfather signs, you know, people just go like this, you know, you're good. You're done.

I've been in the industry for for 37 years. I started out as a car salesman for Mazda for the Warren Henry Group. I got promoted to a finance manager, then a finance director for three stores, and then he opened an Infinity store and I managed that for him for a while. Then I I went abroad to do some stuff. I came back and he asked me to manage his Land Rover store. I managed his Land Rover store. He was building a store down south and I said, "Listen, I'd like to get that store uh because I lived there." He gave me that store. I worked with him for four years at that store. When I retired from there in 2001, it was the number one store in the country. First store ever to start up and become the number one store. We won what's called the marquee of excellence trophy and we had an amazing team and um then I was called here if I wanted to come and join the the sales team here.

They call you to recruit you. Yes.

Is that normal in the industry where people are poaching each other all the time?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean normally you know normally when you recruit cuz somebody refers you somebody and you look up look up look look up that person and if it's what you're looking for then

right I mean why not? So, you know, listen, besides the fact that he's an amazing salesperson and he's one of those that I I I I copy him on I used relation that we built relationship. He him being the ambassador in tables a lot because we solicit for so many events.

Yes, you do.

And so many gallas and so many this and so many that having somebody who's been in this market for a long time that has the relationship he has. Listen, I used to think that I used to walk anywhere and know everyone. He knows everyone everybody this place, you know, so that's been really helpful. So I when I came on board, he had mentioned that he was doing that for a while and we went ahead and reactivated it and you know Oh,

amazing.

You know, he he gets involved in all that and and it's really helpful. The fact that the the knowledge that he has, the institutional knowledge, not just about this place, but about the whole market, it really helps.

Peter, for for people out there, because obviously we're in the industry, we're in the same market. If someone would want the support of MercedesBenz in some type of capacity at some type of type of event or sponsorship or anything, is there something that you guys like focus on? Like do you like working in things with children or do you like working demographic bases? Is there like events that you guys look for for people out there that may want to to do something with you guys?

Absolutely. Um we focus on charity based

um things, you know. Um right now we're talking to Nicholas Children's Hospital. Again, great causes. We're looking into um Christy House.

Oh, that's a good one.

Another great cause. So, we're we're not just trying to advertise or sponsor randomly. We we're trying to get involved in in things that apply directly to the community that we can help, not just for the purpose of selling automobiles. Um again, we're a culturriven store. When you walk in, it's not about the price. You know, Price doesn't sell cars, believe it or not, because we're the number one store in the Southeast United States, second in the country. Um, we focus on relationships. We sell the relationships because it's for long-term value. We get the first, second, third, fourth generation. You have University of Miami here, so you have that generational. We believe in institutionalized service. So, we focus on that. So, we're a serious store and we try to get people that's careerdriven. Most dealerships you go to, and this is just a fact of life, the attrition is horrible. You buy the the vehicle, 6 months later they're not there or people average 10, 15, 20, 25 years. So, you know, that's what we we like.

And I think listen, we also when I came on board, I sat down with Pete and we got a list of everything that we're involved with and it was a it's a huge list. I think I shared I saw that my name with you Eddie and I said listen I don't want to be involved with so many you know events and sponsorship I want to narrow it down where you know charities that make an impact it's not the quantity it's the quality quality I mean you know we partner with you on as well thank you very much and we try to narrow it down to three or four maybe that you know that we become long-term partners and that we could see that makes a difference and it really helps you know the society out there. You know,

remember when we were at uh Ro steakhouse? Shout out to them. They had we had a nice little

Man, you you gave us an idea at the end uh that you wanted the the stuff of a store that we were thinking of doing.

You know,

I I have too many ideas.

Uh you know, we were So, the the objective was the giving back the giving back to do. Yeah. Forward. We were going to go and pay people's groceries, etc.

I I

like Where does that energy from you come from? Because not a lot of people are like that. Listen, I I I come from a very humble beginning and I've been very fortunate. I've been very blessed. Been married for 34 years. I have three great kids. Uh so I I I think that it's important that when you're successful to give back. I uh you know, over the holidays, it's difficult. You know, last year I lost my sister, my mom a couple years ago. And you know, when you go out there, you see how many needed people are. You know, in today's environment, $100 doesn't buy you much. So I I my wife and I got together and we thought about it and then then we went and we spent some time at uh at Walmart color Bay and and it was amazing. I'll tell you people at the beginning were kind of receptive say they wasn't sure. So I I partnered with the metrop police department color Bay and I had them come with you so I could be so they could feel they knew it was legit what I was doing.

And and we spent like three hours and and I'm not going to tell you the amount or nothing like that. that's not needed. But we made a difference in a lot of pe families during those holidays and and and it was the best feeling. It's I've been wanting to do it for many years and

for one reason the other I haven't done it and I got to tell you it's such a fulfilling

how how you feel after you do something

and you have people hugging and crying and thanking you and and the stories you heard.

There were stories there about I remember it's a nurse that she worked at three different hospitals with her son. They had just come from Cuba. the whole family in Cuba. Everything that she was buying that place was to send to Cuba.

Wow.

So, that that was very special, very touching to me. So, you know, I you know, I I I'm big in in giving back. I'm I believe that uh when you're blessed, you have to give back. I believe it multiplies back.

Well, I just want to say that, you know, we're blessed to have you guys here in in in Coral Gables. We're blessed to have you guys here, you know, attending to all the this this whole area. And you guys have really done a huge difference with this store in in in Cal Gables. I mean, this is this is this is some this is spectacular. We invite everybody come out, take a look, come and and and see everything. We're going to come back with our general manager.

Hard question. Hard question.

Well, when I'm doing this, you don't have any more questions.

No, no. We didn't talk about this.

Okay.

You guys talk about money. Everybody's making good money. what what are the hours that you guys are really putting in like you know what does it take to be a successful sales rep here in Mercedes-Benz dramatic that's fine go ahead

you know I got I got to tell you I when I when I took over the store was one of the most difficult most challenging stores I took over because the employees been here such a long time they were set on their ways and when I told everybody my first meeting that I thought it was a country club I thought I was going to get killed because the operational traditional hours that we have for sales is not your typical hours in in the industry. Sales reopen from 9 to 7 Monday to Fridays, Saturdays to 5:00, and we're closed on Sunday. We choose to close on Sundays,

you know, uh, and that's not common at all in our industry. So, when I when I said when I compared it to a country club, I meant it in a positive way, but it wasn't taken off.

Well, because at the end of the day, if you're still here at 9:00 because they're still thinking they're going to buy the one of one, you're going to be here at 9:00.

Oh, absolutely. We don't turn back any customer at 7:00 and they're and they're not and they're there. We're going to take care of that customers and listen sometimes they the staff is here to a little bit later, but we we don't turn nobody down.

The and then do the we got do top three for each go. All right. Go.

All right. Um you got to give us this is a hard one. Okay.

Start with Magden.

Start Mike. All right.

No. Start with you, Peter.

No, I'll start with Peter. Start with Peter. Go Peter. You we hang out a little more. humble places. Peter,

go ahead.

You got to give us your top three restaurants. It could be in Coral Gable, County, etc. You got to give us your top three and why.

Number three. Number three. Jeez.

You're really going to think about this, huh? Zuka. Okay.

Zuka. Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. That's a good one. What What do you like about Zuka?

I like the atmosphere, service, the the food. They do great pasta. It's a nice nice environment. Um, and it's in our city.

Yeah, they're going to open Zukali now. Shout out to to to our people there to to Paola and everybody there. Also, customer here, but yes, they're going to be opening up now Sukali at the plaza. And they also have Herford Grill,

not paid for. This was just free advertising for them. Herford Grill, which is the one where the Ocean Bank building Yeah. is

number two.

I'd be remissed if I didn't say this one. The Bashure Group. They're dear friends. Uh I was there from the beginning. They're super people. I love them both. Antonio and um Jose. Um I'll put them in my number two because you can do lunch, you can do breakfast. Best pancakes in town.

Yeah. They got a Michelin star. No. Or

Yes.

Yeah. And number one, War's number one restaurant.

No Choice. Daniels.

Oh,

straight up.

Best service, best food, best steaks. uh we do a lot of collaboration with them also but absolutely if you're talking about the best of the best in my opinion humbly that's where I land.

Yeah we they have that rare tour that's coming out again now too we hung out there that night that was amazing night

we're going to be involved in that sponsoring some of that valley

yeah that's right you guys have a sponsorship at the ballet area

okay now Mr. Mike, your turn. Number three, brother.

Self active father.

I know. Well, but you know,

I tell you,

listen, I think number three for me for a nice Cuban humble food.

There you go.

No. White uh white rice, black beans, broketas,

chicken?

No, I I was born I was born in Miami, but I tell everybody I'm Cuban.

Okay. Okay.

Inside of me, I'm Cuban.

Uh I'm going to say number three, Ila Canaras.

Okay. Very nice. Very nice, man. I go as far as I buy frozen croetas.

Yes.

I bring them home and then I I I don't fry them. I put them in the air fryer.

You're not supposed to put them in the air fryer, though.

Oh, they taste delicious.

They say that they pop.

No, no,

no. They tast good. You're supposed Let them Let them Let them first unfreeze.

It took me a little bit, you know, 50 minutes at 350.

Co. I haven't been able to figure that out cuz mine have been popping.

Come by. Buy them. Come by my house. Right.

You know,

number two.

Number two for me. Uh pores. Awesome.

My friend Ivan does a great job there. I mean, the service is top top.

That little that little corner is awesome, too. They have a uh the China China girl next door closed down, I think. No, that Chinatown. I wonder what they're going to do there.

It was a little news. Yeah, they closed down.

Yeah.

Which one was that guy? What happened?

That Chinese There's a little Chinese

Chinese.

Oh, okay.

Or Shaw.

Yeah.

On the other side of Shaw.

Yeah. Do you But I wonder what they're going to do there. That's a perfect spot for a restaurant. That is

number one for Mike restaurant.

I gotta agree with uh with Peter, my boy here in Danny's Tom Tom does a great job. Even when it was a Fiola and now when it's Danny, it's amazing. The food, the service, the ambiencece, they they do a fantastic

They do. They really do. I mean, we're a big fan of theirs and they're a big fan of the show. Uh I was trying to get them to go to Burgericious. I think it was a little too tight of a timeline. We were talking to Tom yesterday. Um but yeah, they deserve their kudos. They've ranked number one and top, you know, nationally, top 15 in the world.

It's not uh and I think Miami was missing that type of steakhouse. I believe so.

I don't think we had that. We've had every other type of great food. Um and and I feel like I think there's going to be other I don't want to say copycats, but other people that are going to try to make more steakous to that type of, you know, approach. All right, guys. We're going to take a quick break then and we're going to come back. All right, we're back. All right, this time we got a new panel. Gabriel Comps, Jose Ortega, and I continue with my man Mike. Mike, would you like to introduce them or they introduce themselves?

Absolutely. We have Mr. Gabriel Camp, our general sales manager. Been with the company over 14 years.

Actually, today is my 13th year. Today, my 13th year. Congratulations, bro.

Today, thank you.

See what Mike organized for you.

Yeah. Yeah. Right. For my my anniversary year. Get to be live on a podcast.

Yeah. There you go.

And then we have Mr. Jose Ortega who's our fix operate uh operation director for Mercedes Visit Corable.

That's the guy I need to talk to bait too.

I have an issue with my seat belt. That's like you know

I'm the guy. I'm the guy.

That's the right person to talk to.

All right. So Jose, introduce yourself a little bit. Tell about a little bit about yourself and uh how you ended up in Mercedes-Benz.

Eddie Jose.

Oh, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Jose,

how did I end up in Mercedes-Benz?

You were telling me a little early off camera. You know, I was telling you a little bit early off camera that as I was listening to Mr. Rodriguez, Mike, and everybody talking, we all have that very similar kind of type of story, you know. Um, how do I end up here directly? You know, I owe it to this gentleman right here who we were talking about earlier about what 13 years 13 years ago. You know,

you've known each other for 13 years.

Oh, wow.

13 years. You know, that's amazing. We were still working for the same group at that time and he gave me my first shot of opportunity to run a service department and we ran a Honda store at that point and ever since then we built a really good relationship and I was in Orlando for about a year and he called me you know and without any doubt I said I'll be right there.

You started with Mike or you started you had a career already before that in the in the dealership industry. So, back to the point that we were we were making earlier. I started in shipping receiving for the Braymond Group, you know. Um, I was working in shipping receiving for Braymond West Palm Beach. And

how old were you?

I was 19 years old.

Damn. 19. Yeah.

19 years old.

Adraar.

Adraar. And I was basically a male boy handing out the mail and everything.

19. I started working at 12. It's a big deal.

Oh, yeah. I started at 14. You

Well, I was talking I was talking about when I was legally started working legally. paid under the table at 14.

Yeah.

So, you know, I was I was working with that group and a a manager at that time made a mistake. I was working for the parts department and he sent me for a training as we spoke about, you know, he spoke about earlier for the service department and I just fell in love with the service, you know, end of the business and and the rest is history. You know, I became a service adviser after that after working with parts and I went and worked for Mr. Rodriguez when he was running the Braymond Honda store in Greenacres as a service manager and quite frankly he took a big gamble on me because I had no experience uh as a manager, you know, just really just from a service advisor standpoint and

um he saw something in me, gave me that one shot that I was looking for and the rest is history.

I got to tell you challenge when he when I gave that opportunity remember the airbag situation we had with the airbags recall recall

the recall that all the airbags had to be replaced. How long?

It was chaotic

and he came on board

2013

right when that started which was I mean it was extremely challenging for me but he pulled through I got to tell you brother is is there a difference between um managing that department in like not for nothing like in a Honda store and in a Mercedes store like what's the difference between going to a luxury line handling a service or collision department?

Well you know the fixed operation side of business is always you know it's going to be that that ongoing business after the sale. Um, coming from the luxury end from BMW, entering Honda, I what I wanted to accomplish at that time was provide that same type of fivestar service that you do in a luxury brand to a Honda customer because at the end of the day, you know, it's still a person that is investing in their vehicle.

Yeah,

100%.

So, I think that's what really separated us at Green Acres, you know, with everybody else. We were providing a five-star service for customers that needed to receive that service even though they were Honda owners, you know, which ultimately you don't want to separate the type of luxury end. So, we provide a luxury experience uh to that brand and I think that's what separated

you have an idea every service is such an important department for sales. The sales sells the first vehicle but from there on if you provide good service the customer will keep buying from the same from the same uh dealership. It's very important that they do a great job and and and the customer satisfaction because that customer will stay within the brand if this if the experience is good.

Yeah. And I I heard a rumor, I don't know if this is true, but it's happened, right? Or it happens that when you go get your car serviced, they want to give you the newest model vehicle so that you fall in love with it and come and buy that model. Is that a true rumor or not? How is that? How does that work out?

I know. Listen, there's unfortunately a lot of rumors in the industry when it comes to that. We don't purposely give somebody we do have it what is called an allocation of loaner cars that are normally your newer vehicles. So it just happens to be newer vehicles that you get you know uh we do have the customers that want you know maybe try a brand or a model because they had a different model and they're thinking about maybe going in and we try to you know keep everybody happy.

So if I come and serve my vehicle and I say you know what I've been wanting to get the Mayback you guys will let me borrow the Mayback.

We have no Mayback not that much. Well, but if you if you call Gabriel, he might lend you

knowing the right people.

Yeah.

Damn, that's amazing. That's And um the other thing was I heard I don't know if it's true, but that the loaner like that that rotation of loaner vehicles usually creates opportunities for buyers that can maybe buy a car at a more affordable rate or or how does that work out?

That's where I come in.

Okay. So, let's say people come in, there's a loaner vehicle, you know, you're you're able to get somebody at a better rate cuz the car has been technically used for a bit.

What we do is we usually drive them up to five between 5 and 6,000 miles. At that point, they come back to the sales department and we put them up for sales at a lower lower uh price. It's a lower price for because they've had some miles and they've been driven. They're great deals. So, you know,

that's what I'm saying. Those things probably fly off the shelf.

Great deals. And there are they're new cars. They've never been titled, you know, they've been titled to a dealer but not to a to a customer. And how many of those do you guys usually get or how like how's the rotation of that? Like, hey, come at this time and we have our blowout sales here.

We usually have in stock over 50 to 60 of them in stock. There's definitely inventory. Yeah,

we we have they're not rentals. They're loaners.

Loaners, sorry.

We have in our fleet 237 loaners. We're the largest in the whole I would say in the whole state of Florida with the amount of loaners that we have. So, we try to rotate maybe about 40 or 50 a month. So, we want to make sure we maintain that rotation with low miles. So when they want to keep like like Gabriel say 40 50 maybe sometimes 60 in the

So Gabe if there's people out there that they want to get a Mercedes you know I'm sure are those are those cars really advertised a lot

we have Mercedes for everyone put it that way for everyone we have

and one thing I'm going to add though big I think it's very important not only when when we rotate them they go back to the service department they get reinspected so that way whatever it needs that maybe could have potentially happened so you are ultimately getting a vehicle that is in precise condition it gets if it needs tires if it needs whatever the case might be, that's all going to be done before um Mr. Campier takes it and gives it to somebody. So, you know,

you know, I have another Mercedes story that happened to me once.

Uhoh.

I dropped off

this part. Make sure it's good. The last one was good. The last one was good, right?

This one is bad for me. Good for you, I think.

Right. I get a loner. I go over I'm driving it. I go over a curve, right?

Uh my tire goes flat. All right. I change the tire. Bring it in. I drop off the car. I pick up my car. Nothing. I get a call like eight days later, more or less. I think I was here. Excuse me, sir. I'm like, "Yes, calling you from Mercedes-Benz recording your loaner." I'm like, "Yes. Uh, we inspected the vehicle. There's like $12,000 of damages in the axle. The bottom got stretched out, ruined, and everything." And I'm like, "No way." They're like, "Yep, I had to put an insurance claim. Whatever. My insurance took care of everything that your people were on point. You know, they had n there. I mean it we do a prior inspection before we provide the loaner and then when the loners return we reinspect the vehicle because it's going to happen. Yeah.

There's no way you could avoid what happened to you. It happens and you know and that's why you know we will take might take a couple of days. I make sure we don't make a call and then find out that we gave the car that way. So we have to go back research review the inspections and make sure that if we're going to approach a customer call them that yeah we're going to

No, they were very professional about it. You know it is what it is. But um you know that was an okay experience for me. Yeah,

accidents do happen.

But my insurance went up like $400 like like monthly at that time. I was young, too. I think that had an issue to do it.

We have nothing to do with it.

No, you have nothing to do.

You're on your own.

That's uh uh another thing I wanted to ask was certified pre-own, right? What does that technically mean? You know, if someone's going to come here to get a vehicle, um I I see some of them with that title. Other than that, you guys sell either new or certified pre-owner. That's it. No, but certified pre-own is a huge part of our business actually.

Okay. And you have them here?

And we have them here. We actually have a floor just dedicated to certified. The first part of the certification, it goes through service and it'sund and it's 100 plus point inspection.

Inspection.

So we we thoroughly inspect the vehicle as if the vehicle is going to be sold new.

Correct.

So if there's any particular wear parameters on tires that need to be addressed,

any uh any brakes, any suspension, any services has to be up to date. We have to review the service history of that vehicle to make sure that it was properly maintained. So that way when that customer takes possession of that vehicle, we have given the stamp that the vehicle is certified and it meets all the Mercedes-Benz standards and also our dream group standards.

Just so you know, Eddie, our position is that if we're going to sell pre-own Mercedes certified, if we cannot certify it, we're not selling it to the simple. We'll go ahead and send it to a different market, the wholesale market, the auctions. But any pre-owned Mercedes that we sell is a certified Mercedes van

and then you get the backup of the manufacturer with a warranty. So that's what's a piece of mind for the customer, the warranty that comes with a it's unlimited miles and up to an extra year of warranty. You know, I've never had any issues with my car, man.

I mean, I don't know if I'm lucky or not, but the Mercedes have never had a problem. Nothing with the engine.

Are you having problem with your seat belt?

I'm having cuz what they tell me is cuz it's has a little bit of dirt or grind. So, you know, I take a couple. I try to clean it, but I they're telling me, "Listen, at this point, just swap out the

bring it to the expert. Let's do something."

Yeah. I gota I gota I I really do got to bring it.

I promise we'll give you a nice loaner.

No, no, that's fine. I want

I don't know if it's going to be a Maybach, but we got

Listen, talking about that, can you tell us a little bit? We haven't touched on these cars back here. What do we got here to to to my left on this side to the viewer's right?

Right there. There's a

try to say pee in here. is a 2026 uh Mercedes-Benz Maybach. It's the luxury line of the Mercedes-Benz. If you could, if we had a chance for the camera to see inside the car, it has this beautiful leather. Um the rims are different. You know, it has the emblem Mercedes Maybach emblem on it. So, it's it's a very nice uh very nice car to drive, that's for sure.

How much is something like that going for more or less?

That's around $250,000.

250,000?

Yes.

So, I'm leasing that like 4,0004,500 a month. uh about about that

about that.

You come work for us,

huh?

You come work for us as part time.

I could, man. I would honestly I'll crush it here, bro.

I don't even crush it here. I have no problem with that.

Definitely have a And right behind us, there's a SL.

It's a convertible line of convertible line of Mercedes.

Yeah, I love that car.

And and on that side,

that's we're going back to the Maybach line, but in the SUV version. That's the same Maybach, but in the SUV version of uh the models. Peter had told me that I think Jimmy Butler bought one of those. He was telling me that he had got one of those.

Jimmy Butler had one.

That thing has reclinable in the back.

I guess we captain the seats in the back and you have a reclinable. It has a cooler so you have a champagne bottle, a bottle wine.

If they ever kick you out of the house, you can live in one of those. So,

wow, man. That's a beautiful car. And the same thing. More or less same price.

More or less the same price.

How much are you guys moving those monthly here?

We actually are.

Wow.

We actually are. We're we're one of the top Maybach dealers in the country, actually.

And those are the only two you have right now? not and that we're showing in case we have a second floor here in their new showroom that we have Maybox and the AMG models.

How how often does somebody come and they want something you know that maybe they don't see here custom they're picking colors you know does that happen often?

It does and we actually do we do actually do factory orders for the customers. So if so there's something that we cannot find because we definitely carry over 500 units new units in inventory we can go ahead and uh put a special order for that customer.

And how long does that take to get? It depends at the moment of time of the year that you're putting that order because there's a time of the year that they're switching years from from the new model and at that time it will take a bit longer but usually three months you can get a a vehicle

and I know that your industry has seasons. It's like seasonal sometimes. No.

Yes.

I don't know if that happens to you but I know with other other dealerships.

You know this market has not has gone away from being seasonal. I think that for us uh in the last I would say 7 to 10 years the summers when we get a little bit slow right the summer start June will be the slowest month

and then July starts picking up August and and we're very busy the rest of the year I mean I I would say June is the only month they really see even January is a good month for us

is there like a like if you're you know if you're a shopper is there like a best time to go buy a car

today. today of

today. Now

we need them all now.

Out there that at the end of the month, that's what I was saying.

We get best deals, we got programs, the programs will normally remain the same.

Obviously, I think that the, you know, the industry have created a stigma that doesn't at the end of the month, you're going to get a better deal. They're pushing to hit a number. There is some truth to that. You know, many times we're close to the number we want to hit and, you know, might be a little bit more aggressive than normal. But honestly in today's world you could look up prices information online and consumers are very educated. That's another thing too.

You know they're very educated. So when they come here we're trying to minimize the negotiation because consumers know what's out there. Manufacturers advertise program incentives is out there. I mean I cannot go buy a a watch or a dryer find out what the cost is. But in that industry you you go online and find out what the cost is incentives financing lease specials. So consumers are very educating today for them.

And how does that make does that make your job easier or faster or better? Like when consumers come in, are they like, "Hey, I like gate, but without my

I got $1,000 and that's it. I don't want to go anything over." Or do you say, "Hey, these are the cars you can get."

No. What what has happened is um the customer comes in and knows sometimes even more about the car than actually the salesperson because they've been studying that vehicle. That's the one they want. So they study it from everything is in the internet nowadays. You know, you want to find out anything with that chat GBT question and you can that chat GBT

when it comes to the pricing even though they research it, they have all the information, they still think we have a little bit more.

Yeah.

Oh, you got more than that. We don't. That's right there. So, I I think it's human nature to come in and and try to push the envelope a little bit more. I think that comes our, you know, our professionalism that we explain to the customer. We go over the vehicle they want, the reasons why, this is the price, and you know, you just make them feel get a comfort zone where they feel comfortable.

Yeah. I was going to ask this to Peter earlier because he told me he was the finance guy. How much can someone really negotiate? You know, is there is there fees? Cuz I get my friends call me all the time. I know you work on Mercedes. I have people in the DMs. I know you work with these guys. You know, can you give me a good deal? Is that something that does really exist or it just depends on the person's profile? How does that work out? Look, it depends on model programs. If they're leasing, they're buying. Look, somebody DM me on the Gwag. Hey, get me a G Wagon. That's Gwags are pre-sold. We don't have enough being built so we could provide for customers. Got there's a two-year wait. Even though customers been buying for a long time, Gabriel will tell you, they come in, you know, we try to expedite those, but there's a wait. There's not enough production. So, and everything else is based on whatever the if they're leasing, whatever the program is. So it's a high volume vehicle, it's going to have programs all the time. It's a low volume vehicle, it doesn't have. So there's certain fees that are required, you know, by the leasing company, by the state that you have to charge those.

Yeah.

But sometimes customers think that we're making money in those fees.

Yeah. That's what that's that's usually the general population that, you know, they feel like, you know, they're just, you know, getting this fee, that fee, that fee, etc. Talking about the G Wagon

that during what co? No,

no, it was actually it's been a little bit longer. Give me the history of the Gwagon cuz that's one of my favorite cars.

The G Wagon G Wagon is a very interesting vehicle right now. It's very interesting. If we had uh a th000 we will sell 105.

Yeah. Because

why why why is that? Cuz

it became a it became a popularity. You know, it became it became what you call an in car. You know, everyone wants to to have that G Wagon, the G63.

Oh, the tax write off. It also helps. It helps at the end of the year, but but it's just, you know, who who has it? Who can who can drive that car is what it is about. Um, it's it's a great car. It's been around. They only bring under 300 cars a year

to the United States. So,

yeah. And even though listen, the the the tax benefit started a few years ago, but even before that, it was a niche vehicle. And it's amazing how it's whether you're a male or female, when they drive, when they have those cars, they they they keep buying the same car over and over and over again. You know, is it the most comfortable car? No. But it's a status thing that you show up on the the G Wagon 63 R 550, you put the wheels. It's, you know, people love it.

I love it. I love that car.

You know,

someone told me the Kardashians helped it a lot too. Oh,

yeah. I I saw like all the crypto guys had it during coards helped it.

The and then the the price, you know, just dramatically rose too over time. No,

it has the demanding. You got customers that they they'll they'll bid on the car just to make sure

that they get

that they get the car. Yeah.

It's amazing, man. And um talking about the technology in the vehicles that's changed dramatically. I see most of them now are all fully touchscreen.

I mean when it comes to technology and you compare it to a vehicle itself, it's is it's really like a phone. It's going to keep evolving. Software is going to keep changing. New technology is going to be out. Sometimes you know we try to keep up as much as best as we can. Um a lot of these technicians, you know, our master technicians have become IT specialists.

I say they have to continue education all the time. training. The training is always important. You know, we send a lot of our our team members to training to continually stay with a new model, uh new technology, the vehicle. Uh but yeah, but it's it's just like a phone. When you put it in layman's term, you know, you have a phone, you have software, uh some glitches that you have like on your brand new smartphone that you were going to have on a brand new model, and you just got to roll with the punches and just try to, you know, stay really updated with the knowledge because there's a lot, you know, different models change. They should know here at Mercedes Corables we have three staffs or concier. This staff all they do is spend time with every customer who purchase or leases a vehicle from us to make sure they spend as as much time as needed to go over all the features, all the options to make sure they understand. And if they need to come back and then go over again, we offer them as many time as is needed as well. I don't know if this is a funny question or not, but you get your lease. You have your limits of miles. You're about to turn in your lease. Everybody knows, everybody in Miami knows somebody that can supposedly roll back miles.

I assume with the way technology has changed, especially killed him with tech. No,

you can't. Now, listen. I'm sure people could find a way, but it it's embedded in the system and when the car comes in, we're going to find out what the mile

I heard it's like a fourpoint checker system like that. It's in the tires instead of this. Is that true or

I mean really really you have engine control units that monitor, you know, your wheel speed rotation. That's what actually calculates your mileage. Um, all these modules communicate with each other. So even if you try to manipulate one, the other ones are going to read. When we do a fault check, when you bring your vehicle in for service, we do a fault check to check that. all that pops up and if there's any red flag the system automatically pops it up and now you're dealing with warranty type of situations because you have it has been manipulated. So it can it be physically still done? Probably. Is it very very tough to do? Yes. Can we determine when a vehicle is in for service? A thousand%.

Um even if you go as far as you know software updates for engine control unit so you can get more horsepower and all these things while your vehicle's under warranty. My suggestion unbelievable will be as

there software updates to get more horsepower on the vehicle

from other manufacturers. Yeah, there's a lot of horsepower, you know, things that you can tweak, you know, mod modifications that you can do if you own a vehicle and you have it under warranty and you don't want any issues, my suggestion is just to let it be and leave it alone and

you'll have a happy life with your car.

Yeah.

You can sleep at night.

No, I mean I I just, you know, growing up you always heard about that, you know, get the lease, roll it back, turn it in, you know, that's it. That's against love, by the way. I know. I I would never do that, but And then I always thought about it, bro. Imagine getting prosecuted for rolling back miles. How dumb is that? You know,

unfortunately,

for a couple grand or a couple hundred bucks,

that's what it is. It's only 20 cents a mile. So, unfortunately, it does happen.

Yeah. The sales reps here nowadays, uh, is it is it is it more competitive than before? you know, I don't feel like when I come in here, I don't feel like, you know, that typical shark, you know, in the dealership, you know, I feel very welcome. I feel concier style, you know, how has that changed over time? You being

that's the culture of the store. You know, there is something called culture and we really do believe in it a thousand%. You know, you got it's a culture. You have sales people here has been for 47 years. You know, having a salesperson that's been working here for 47 years, it says a lot about the store. you know, how we treat our employees, how we treat our customers. It's a family at the end of the day. It's a family. And the process, you know, the process is huge. You know, we put in a process and we just follow it and everyone follows it and everyone when we're hiring someone needs to fit that culture for us to for you to be able to work at this store.

How many people do you have right now?

Right now, we have 37 salespeople.

37 salespeople and it's it's a big store and big numbers. So,

and just to piggy back on what Gabriel said, he said we have a process where we have what's called an up system electronically. So, when you come in, you you put your name, your name is there, and there's a rotation. So, there's no reason why for anybody to be standing out there waiting for a customer, you know, when the customer comes, you got three or four people addressing right away. We don't have that, you know,

have a great little nowadays, a lot, you know, a lot of time on the phone by internet leads, you know, it's a lot of communication back and forth. So we we the culture is very important you know we we we have a wristband that we wear that says that we can we will because we can we will be the number one and then we say trust the process.

Wow.

It's important for our staff to understand that the culture we have and the process we have to believe them. If they believe in then they're going to you know then show showcase themselves and the customers will get that that that great service and uh and respect that they need.

Are you giving these guys like there new vehicles come in? Is there like a formal training that you guys take on the pep talks like, "Hey guys, this is what we're gonna hit." Like kind of take me behind the scenes on that.

There's always training. If you stop training, you stopped. You know, you're you're you stop evolving. So, there's always training. There's always new models, new programs. There's always training going on from that manufacturer and from, you know, from uh training how we use the systems, how we use the phones, how we use the leads. There's always training. It's always training. Every day there's some type of training.

What's the biggest sales you've ever done here?

What do you mean by The most expensive car has ever been sold.

Uh, a week ago, we sold a uh a 2024 Ferrari Puda

for $600,000.

Yeah. Wow.

But you're talking about training any new hire that comes to work for three motor group for our stores. They must get go through the whole training process, get certified by Mercedes-Benz before they start working. That's essential for us because you want to make sure somebody starts working, they could speak about what they're doing and and be qualified for that. So any new hire goes through a process takes about two weeks I think right guys correct

and they got to they have to take all these testings get certified once they're certified then we let them mirror someone another experienced employee to make sure they get you know get acclimated with the process and system we have in place

what's the average time you're talking to a client average time before they make a decision like when you're walking them around taking or does it vary

if if it's you were excited to get a car it be half an hour

sign the do bro get the sign

you know I think that Every customers every every deal stands on its own. There's customers that do a lot of homework before they get here and they know what they want. There's customers that when they get here they still not sure what they want and we have to you know help them select you know what vehicle they want or they have they come with the idea of getting this vehicle but then they really should get another vehicle there could be a trade in. So I would say in today's world what two hours two and a half hours from the minute you walk in you select and you drive away.

I I love the dealership experience man. I like the, you know, you're coming in to negotiate and talk and watch the cars and things if you're serious, you know, if if you're just window shopping, it's it's it's it sucks, you know, because you can't get what you want.

I got to tell you, I think that most of the clientele that we get in here, they they they they're looking to buy.

They're looking to buy.

It's up to us whether, you know, we we're able to make that transaction, but

it's one of those stores that the customers that come in, they're ready to buy.

And um let's say I come in, I get hired by Mike, I passed the twoe test, I'm working here, putting in the hours.

Hired by Gabe, by the way. Sorry.

I'm going to be hired by Gabe trying to and then I'm cranking out, man. I'm doing a good job. How much am I looking at? You know, like how much can I make a year working here, working working good and and and making things happen?

That's very sensitive. you think uh or 150 or 150 or 150

you know in in sales regardless in the car business whe obviously you sell a Mercedes in the segment you know but you can make you know if you if you do what you're supposed to do the numbers you mentioned is very very

wow yeah

it can make a good living

it takes a lot of time it takes dedication

no I get it like anything else in life you know it's not

it doesn't happen overnight you got clientele I'm saying like focused on it and this is what you want to do

I could tell you one thing you're going to get back what you put into it.

Absolutely. you don't put if you don't put that's you know you're going to get back what you put into

and you have to be adaptable nowadays you know and you know the marketing we do as you know is totally different before we have listen we have salespeople here one of our top salesmen oh he doesn't he doesn't answer any phone calls any leads everything he does is through social media

social media

and he sells about 20 cars 25 cars a month

through social media

I'm going to be getting a part-time bro that

there you go I get all my people to come buy cars And you can wear a suit every day.

And I can wear a suit.

There you go.

I have to do it part time. Maybe I can come in the afternoons.

There you go.

Definitely.

Guys, is there anything else you want to touch base on that you had in mind or

we're here for you to here to serve and uh and whatever a customer needs, we're here to answer all questions and service them.

Let me see what else I have here that I had. And and listen, we also want to take the opportunity to thank the the Corg Gables community for for trusting in us and and believing in us and and keep supporting us because without them, we wouldn't be able to do have the have the business that we have.

Yeah. I mean, living in C, I mean, being in Corable, doing business in Corable, the people here, it's like no other city, man. You know, you walk down the street and it feels like a small town in a big city. Everybody knows each other. Everybody says hello, everybody goes and eat together. Everybody's very respectful, doing good business. you know, I've never been, you know, screwed over or anything like that with any business here either. So, I think it has it cultivates the right type of mindset, you know. Um, and you guys are, you know, the pinnacle of that here, you know, you can tell, you know, um, I walk down the street and I just see Mercedes everywhere, all over the street, everywhere, you know. So, you know, it's funny when I drive around, I look to see who the tag frame is. I want to make sure it says Mercedes and Corables.

My sister Bay. Okay.

That's a sister. It's a sister. It's a sister story. We we like our sisters.

Yeah.

Yeah. Hey guys. All right. So, we're going to go to the the toughest question. Okay.

Gabe.

Yes.

What are your top three restaurants?

Top three restaurants.

You got to give us in Corable, but it could be

in Corg.

Oh, no. No. Sorry. Doesn't have to be in Corable. Wherever you go to, it doesn't have to be anything. You know,

my my personal top my life my life the day in Gabriel's house.

Start with number three.

Number three, I'm going to say that we order from Sergios every other night.

Oh, wow. Man, a lot of people been asking the best super does a great job. Great job. Great job.

And we cannot pass a week without going to Flanigans and having their

You're going to get a lot of heat. Listen, I'm a personal fan of Flanigans. You know, there's people that say a lot of bad things. I like say that special of the week.

Yep.

And number one,

number one's believe it or not, it's a little bit down south. We're talking about going into the Keys and it's called Ziggy Mad Dogs. Oh,

singy Mad Dogs. Anita Mora is actually Mad Dog was uh he was a dolphin player and he bought into that restaurant steakhouse.

If you see it outside, you wouldn't even imagine the food that's inside.

What's good in there? What's What are you What is it?

Steakhouse. It's it's like you can compare it to any good steakhouse in the city.

Compared to Daniels or

Daniels is top top n, but

I'm sure prices it defends itself, but it's in Morada and it's it's a great steakhouse that everyone should try. All right. What do we got? Start number three.

Number three. I'm going to go a little bit off of off off topic. Why? Coral Gables. Busy, working, a lot of situations going on, in and out, quick, good food. It's a little corner down the street here from a gas station called Punto Creo.

Punto Creoyo. Justin loves that place. Our producer Venezuelan little place. I you go in, out. They have a menu set in place. In and out. Get back to work. Get back to the grind. I love that place. I love that place.

And when it comes to

and it's sorry and it's really homey inside too, you know.

It's small, you know, kind of place kind of place when you leave, you kind of smell a little bit like the empanada, but it's okay. Um, number two, I'll say Ma.

Mika's amazing. Mika's amazing, man. Shout out to Alex Perez over there.

Mika to me, I mean, just

Yeah.

Yeah. I know. No, that's Listen, the ambiencece, the people, the way they treat you, the food. Listen, you cannot I'm sorry. I'm going to blow everybody over now. You cannot beat their lunch special. No. You know, and the whole city has had to adjust to their lunch special because you go in there and it's always packed.

Absolutely.

It never comes out to the price of the special because you always get other stuff. But it's a phenomenal experience. You have that I think it's a three course meal that they give you there.

Listen, I I love their risoto. So that's that's that's the

Yeah, I've been there several times.

And then obviously

Jose's number one. You're going to say, you know, I I copy a lot from this this gentleman, you know, and and everybody else here. But

I was the blessed to go in one day to Daniels and

Yeah, it's top notch.

I'm just Manny was there. They took you only one day. They've taken you. I see them there all the time.

Many many We went in one day and the rest is history.

Actually, we I I we have lunch at Meek at least three times a week.

Yeah.

You have lunch where? Oh, it's amazing.

But you never call us, huh? He never wrote what he was right across the street from there.

But yeah, good choices.

Definitely. You know, those would be my top choices.

All right. Good, man. Good, guys. It was a real pleasure. Hope to do this again

and thank you guys for coming on.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. You guys have a good leader, bro. Mike, you could tell it resonates all the way down, all the way through. It reminds us a lot about the organization we have with our guy too, Manny. It resonates all the way down, man. Leadership is important. Mentorship is as equally important. And I'm I'm I can see you guys will pass that on as well too to people under you. Um but it's real pleasure to be here. You guys have a beautiful place um and a wonderful team. It

was a pleasure having you guys and we appreciate uh you guys very much.

Thank you my friend. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.