Good morning. Hope your week is off to a good start. If your day is already bouncing between an appraisal, a sales meeting and an open position in service, this one’s for you. Today, we’re digging into smarter buying, the hybrid sales picture and a different way to recruit technicians. We’re also looking at a dealership fraud case and the customer wait that can spoil an otherwise good deal. Let's get into it.
The deal was easy. The wait wasn’t.
CDK’s October 1 report on September buyers found 39% said the process took longer than expected, up from 33% in August. Just 64% said the paperwork was easy, versus 68% a month earlier. These are survey findings, not Florida-specific results; the public article does not disclose sample size. (Original research)
Where does your customer stop moving after agreeing to buy? Consider timing the sales-to-F&I handoff and the wait for delivery, then decide who owns each gap. A friendly salesperson cannot make a silent hour in the waiting area disappear.
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The customer, the loan and the check didn’t match
In an earlier case, Lei Zhou received a 42-month sentence on September 23 in Connecticut federal court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. DOJ described a scheme involving at least six luxury vehicles worth more than $650,000 from a Greenwich dealership. (DOJ, September 24)
One Corvette transaction combined $114,175.31 in financing under one stolen identity with a forged $14,000 down-payment check in another victim’s name. (DOJ)
For your business office: do the applicant, identity documents and payment source tell a consistent story? Decide who can stop delivery when they do not. This is a management check, not a new Florida legal requirement.
Buy the car, not last month’s market
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THE MORNING DRIVE / USED-VEHICLE VALUES
September reset
U.S. USED VEHICLE RETENTION INDEX
Seasonally adjusted · September 2026 · Source: Black Book, October 5
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September 2026 U.S. Used Vehicle Retention Index. Directional illustration, not a time-series chart.
Original Morning Drive graphic. Data: Black Book.
Yesterday’s used-vehicle report deserves a place beside today’s appraisal screen. Black Book reported that its September U.S. Used Vehicle Retention Index fell 3.1% from August and 3.3% year over year. This is a seasonally adjusted wholesale-value measure, not a report that every retail asking price fell by the same amount. (Black Book, October 5)
The mix matters. Full-size pickups, minivans, midsize cars and full-size crossovers/SUVs were among the larger decliners; sporty cars were the only segment to increase month over month. (Black Book) That argues against an across-the-board markdown or an equally broad buying freeze.
The index tracks two- to six-year-old vehicles, using wholesale values relative to original typically equipped MSRP and adjusting for seasonality, age, mileage and condition. It is a national benchmark, not a Florida-specific valuation or a forecast for an individual trade. (Black Book)
For your store, consider reviewing acquisitions by segment, recon needs and realistic time to retail. A cheaper replacement at auction does not automatically rescue an aged unit already on the books. Nor should last month’s acquisition cost become the reason to stretch on today’s trade.
One useful question for the used-car meeting: if this vehicle arrived today, would we still buy it at our current all-in cost?
The hybrid story now has an industrywide scorecard
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THE MORNING DRIVE / THE HYBRID PICTURE
A bigger piece of the market
15.6% CONVENTIONAL HYBRIDS / 84.4% OTHER
January–September 2026 · National data · Source: NADA, October 5
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U.S. conventional-hybrid share and sales growth, January–September 2026.
Original Morning Drive graphic. Data: NADA.
After last week’s brand-by-brand results, Monday’s NADA Market Beat adds the broader U.S. picture: conventional hybrid sales rose 22.4% through September, reaching 15.6% of new light-vehicle sales. That share is up 3.1 percentage points from the same period last year. (NADA, October 5)
Those are year-to-date national results, not a September-only growth rate or a Florida market-share estimate. NADA separately reports battery-electric vehicles; the conventional-hybrid figures should not be presented as an EV total. (NADA)
The management question is narrower than “should we buy more hybrids?” Compare demand by model, trim and payment range. Then check whether your team can explain the difference between a conventional hybrid, a plug-in hybrid and a battery-electric vehicle without turning the conversation into a specifications quiz.
Recruiting is one option. Building the pipeline is another.
St Patrick’s Technical College workshop, file uploaded in 2014.
Patrick Kelly · CC BY-SA 4.0.
In an October 5 interview, Tom Wood Auto’s fixed-operations director Bill Demaree said its training program has 33 students and a waiting list, with enrollment expected to reach 50–60 next year. That last figure is his expectation, not a completed expansion. (CBT News’ original interview report)
The group’s program page describes a partnership with The Pursuit Institute, 12 first-year dual credits through Vincennes University, and second-year paid work experience. Employment after graduation depends on performance, business needs and openings. (Tom Wood program details)
Florida dealers do not need to copy an Indiana program wholesale to borrow its central idea: give students a visible route from training to productive work. Before approaching a local school, identify the mentor, the skills progression and the person responsible for making paid work experience useful. A recruiting promise needs an operating plan behind it.