Wal-Mart to get used car dealers

By Earle Eldridge
USA Today

Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, is teaming with an auto dealership chain to offer used cars at some of its stores as part of a six-month test project that could go nationwide.

Asbury Automotive, the fifth-largest dealership chain with 91 stores, will open used-car stores on the parking lots of five Wal-Mart stores in Houston beginning next month.

The stores, which will be called Price 1, will have 70 to 100 used cars up to 4 years old and with less than 75,000 miles. The cars will have no-haggle prices and feature a five-day, no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee, a 30-day exchange policy and a 3,300-mile warranty. Buyers also get 12 months of free roadside assistance.

The stores will be modeled after Circuit City's CarMax used-car superstore chain, which after getting off to a rough start in 1993, now has 40 stores and has become profitable. Price 1 could be the first formidable challenger to CarMax since AutoNation's used car mega-stores closed in 1999.

While the vehicles will be sold in prefabricated buildings on Wal-Mart lots, the Price 1 stores cannot use the Wal-Mart name, and Wal-Mart, which is leasing the land to Asbury, doesn't have a financial stake in the company.

But, Wal-Mart spokesman Jay Allen says: "This is consistent with our program to provide one-stop shopping. You can get your hair done. We have banks, optical and now we are looking at getting cars as well."