The Car Business · Charlie Caprara
THE CAPRARA RULES
Fifty-two years in the car business. Three cars at the family home became a used-car machine, ten dealerships, an exit, a comeback and a third generation still in the game.
“Everything in life's relationship.”
A Note From the Founder
Charlie Caprara's story starts with almost nothing: $1,500 in the checkbook, three old cars from Jerome Avenue and a family willing to do the work. They cleaned the cars at home, wrote classified ads and sold from the driveway.
What followed was not one big break. It was fifty-two years of buying, selling, relationships and repetition. Charlie built scale, bought franchises, sold most of the group, bought stores back and never really stopped buying cars.
Matthew C. Haiken
Founder, The Car Business
At a Glance
Where it started
THREE CARS. THEN THEY JUST KEPT GOING.
The family home
$1,500 in the checkbook. Three old cars brought back from Jerome Avenue.
60–70 a month
$4 classified line ads in the Watertown Daily Times.
100 a month
The used-car operation moves to Car Row and keeps growing.
100 by the 10th
Eventually the operation reaches roughly 300 cars a month.
Ten stores
Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Chevrolet, Ford, Kia and more.
Third generation
Nine stores. Five children in the business. Charlie is still buying.
The number Charlie never forgot
“100 BY
THE 10TH.”
Don't wait until the end of the month to find out whether you're having a good month. Create the pace early. Build momentum early. Make the month before the month makes you.
Seven lessons
THE CAPRARA RULES
ALWAYS BE THE EARLY BIRD
“I would go twice a day. I'd go early morning. Always be the early bird.”
100 BY THE 10TH
“The game with us was 100 by the 10th. You had to have 100 cars delivered by the 10th of the month.”
BUY THE RIGHT ONE
“I sell you a piece of shit, I'm getting it back in two years. So why wouldn't I just buy the right one?”
MAKE THE DEAL
“We made every deal we could.” One deal can become a family of customers.
BE A GREAT USED-CAR DEALER
“If you wanna be a good car dealer... you better be a good used car dealer.”
GOOD PEOPLE COST YOU NOTHING
“A good salesperson costs you nothing.” Some of Charlie's people have been with him for 32 years.
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS BEFORE YOU NEED THEM
“Learn from one thing, build relationships... when you're not there, out of sight, out of mind."
What the whole story says
THREE CARS.
NO SHORTCUTS. NO FINISH LINE.
THE EXIT
He sold most of the group, but protected his people and stayed in the business.
THE COMEBACK
Then the call came: “How many you want back? No blue sky.” Charlie bought three.
The Next Generation
HE BUILT THE PLATFORM. HIS KIDS ARE STILL BUILDING.
Charlie has five children in the business. Every one started in the wash bay. They moved through service, parts, finance, advertising and operations before taking larger roles. Today there is a Caprara name across the stores — not because they skipped the line, but because Charlie made them learn it from the bottom.
What stayed with Matthew
THE BUSINESS CHANGED. THE RULES DIDN'T.
I've spent my entire life around car dealers. What struck me about Charlie wasn't the ten stores, the volume or even selling the company and eventually buying stores back. It was how simple his rules are.
SHOW UP EARLY. BUY THE RIGHT CAR. MAKE THE DEAL. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS.
Technology changes. Manufacturers change. The economics change. The way we buy and sell cars changes. But the fundamentals really don't. My favorite line from the conversation was Charlie's simplest: “Everything in life's relationship.” The more I thought about his story, the more I realized that line explains almost all of it.
Matthew C. Haiken
The full conversation
“WE CHASE
THE DEAL.”
Charlie Caprara with Matthew C. Haiken
on Car Dealership Guy.