LAS VEGAS — At this week’s Industry Summit, F&I and Showroom named Davis-Moore Automotive as F&I Dealer of the Year. Accepting the award was Sean Tarbell, who serves as vice president of the Wichita, Kan.-based operation.
Now in its 15th year, the F&I Dealer of the Year award, sponsored by The Warranty Group, is handed out annually to an operation with a highly profitable F&I department that demonstrates a commitment to regulatory compliance and customer satisfaction. This year’s field of finalists, which the magazine refers to as F&I Pacesetters, included operations from Kansas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana and Florida.
“We had a great field of finalists this year,” said Gregory Arroyo, editorial director of F&I and Showroom. “Not only are they top performers; these Pacesetters are committed to compliance and their communities. It made choosing an F&I Dealer of the Year difficult.”
Davis-Moore Automotive, founded in 1955, is the largest dealer group in the state of Kansas, operating five stores in Wichita, as well as the Clint Bowyer Autoplex in Emporia. The operation is led by President Dawson Grimsley, who took over after the group’s founder, Grant Davis, passed away in 2001.
The group’s F&I department averages $1,230 profit per unit (PRU) on new vehicles and $1,017 for used. Leading the way are service contracts, which penetrate at a 55% clip. GAP comes in at a close second with a 47% acceptance rate, while tire-and-wheel penetration sits at 38%.
But what really shines is the dealer group’s commitment to compliance. Davis-Moore video-records every transaction to ensure that every F&I team member follows its rigorous process and audits those videos every 10 days. And all of the operation’s 11 F&I managers — who have 133 years of combined F&I experience — are certified by the Association of Finance & Insurance Professionals.
“We do what we say we’ll do,” Tarbell said of the operation. “And people like doing business with us.”
Davis-Moore took home the Better Business Bureau Integrity Award this year, and also boasts a slew of Reader’s Choice awards from Wichita’s local newspaper, The Wichita Eagle. President Dawson Grimsley was a TIME Dealer of the Year nominee in 2011.
