04 August 2026
The Ford Whisperer Who Turns Broken Dealerships Into Empires | Eddie Stivers, President at Stivers Auto Group
Car Dealership Guy Podcast
About
Today I'm joined by Eddie Stivers, President of Stivers Auto Group.
He breaks down why his own cost of people sits at 56% of gross against Carvana's 20%, and the plan to fix it within 36 months.
Eddie also unpacks how he is using Claude to catch missed fleet sales and rethink decades of gut-feel vehicle ordering.
Topics:
03:30Ford Hit Dead Last In Satisfaction.
08:05Stivers Buys Broken Toys.
10:30Repeatable Turnaround Playbook Works.
14:16Car Business Is Now Tech-Driven.
37:35AI Disrupts Dealerships In 18 Months.
37:55Carvana's Cost Crushes Dealers At 56%.
This episode is brought to you by:
1. Digital Dealer - Discover what's working in sales, service, marketing, AI, and operations Join us September 22–23 in Detroit. CDG readers: save 25% — just use code CDG25OFF at checkout. Register today @ here.
2. CDG Circles – Connect with verified dealers, join topic and OEM-specific groups, and get real-world strategies —all inside the CDG Platform. Learn more @ here.
3. Plug – If your dealership is taking EV trade-ins or looking for used EV inventory, you need to check out @ here.
Check out Car Dealership Guy’s stuff:
For dealers:
CDG Circles ➤ https://cdgcircles.com/
Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com
Dealership recruiting ➤ http://www.cdgrecruiting.com
Fix your dealership’s social media ➤ http://www.trynomad.co
Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://www.cdgguest.com
For industry vendors:
Advertise with Car Dealership Guy ➤ http://www.cdgpartner.com
Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com
Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://www.cdgguest.com
Car Dealership Guy Socials:
X ➤ x.com/GuyDealership
Instagram ➤ instagram.com/cardealershipguy/
TikTok ➤ tiktok.com/@guydealership
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Threads ➤ threads.net/@cardealershipguy
Facebook ➤ facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077402857683
Everything else ➤ dealershipguy.com
He breaks down why his own cost of people sits at 56% of gross against Carvana's 20%, and the plan to fix it within 36 months.
Eddie also unpacks how he is using Claude to catch missed fleet sales and rethink decades of gut-feel vehicle ordering.
Topics:
03:30Ford Hit Dead Last In Satisfaction.
08:05Stivers Buys Broken Toys.
10:30Repeatable Turnaround Playbook Works.
14:16Car Business Is Now Tech-Driven.
37:35AI Disrupts Dealerships In 18 Months.
37:55Carvana's Cost Crushes Dealers At 56%.
This episode is brought to you by:
1. Digital Dealer - Discover what's working in sales, service, marketing, AI, and operations Join us September 22–23 in Detroit. CDG readers: save 25% — just use code CDG25OFF at checkout. Register today @ here.
2. CDG Circles – Connect with verified dealers, join topic and OEM-specific groups, and get real-world strategies —all inside the CDG Platform. Learn more @ here.
3. Plug – If your dealership is taking EV trade-ins or looking for used EV inventory, you need to check out @ here.
Check out Car Dealership Guy’s stuff:
For dealers:
CDG Circles ➤ https://cdgcircles.com/
Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com
Dealership recruiting ➤ http://www.cdgrecruiting.com
Fix your dealership’s social media ➤ http://www.trynomad.co
Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://www.cdgguest.com
For industry vendors:
Advertise with Car Dealership Guy ➤ http://www.cdgpartner.com
Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com
Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://www.cdgguest.com
Car Dealership Guy Socials:
X ➤ x.com/GuyDealership
Instagram ➤ instagram.com/cardealershipguy/
TikTok ➤ tiktok.com/@guydealership
LinkedIn ➤ linkedin.com/company/cardealershipguy
Threads ➤ threads.net/@cardealershipguy
Facebook ➤ facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077402857683
Everything else ➤ dealershipguy.com