I hate buying cars. I mean it. I have a brother who collects them, and I really enjoy looking at them in his garage/showroom/man cave. But I would most likely break out in hives if I had to own that many vehicles. Which is probably why I never became an auto dealer. 

Then there’s Mike Granberg. Cars and their acquisition, their maintenance, and their performance, are matters of both serious and playful concern that were baked into his DNA thanks to a father who was an avowed “car guy.” Which is why it should come as little surprise that for the past 20+ years Mike Granberg has owned a Burlington-based used car dealership. If you can make a case for “career destiny,” consider Mike Granberg Exhibit A. 

Stepping onto the lot of Pacific Coast Auto Center, the first thing I noticed was the trucks — gorgeous rigs that make you check their stickers twice to make sure they’re actually previously owned. Then, as I was working my way through the F-150 crew cabs, Rams, Colorados, and a sweet Honda CRV, I noticed something else. Nobody was in my face, or even standing next to me. In fact, I didn’t see a salesperson anywhere on the lot (I admit, it was damn cold that afternoon). It was like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. 

Not detecting the sound of Rod Serling’s voice, I strode up to the storefront, which exuded the no nonsense lines of a ‘60s diner. That sense of familiarity carried over as I walked through the door. Inside, a couple of serious gents who were working at their desks greeted me. There were pictures and murals of cars on the walls, and I walked down to a cozy little lounge with an adjoining office, grabbed a coffee, and caught up on some Matlock episodes on the flat screen while I waited for Mike to finish helping a customer. Did I mention that there was an awesome Harley parked there?

Welcome to Pacific Coast Auto Center. What follows is the story Mike told me about his life in the auto business during our meeting that day.

An Interview with Mike Granberg

I’ve always been around cars. My dad gave me the car bug. He ran the food service department at Skagit Hospital for 30 years, and he was an avid car guy. He was into Packards and Chryslers and Model “A”s, and he lived, ate, slept and breathed the classic car hobby. I used to go to car shows with my dad. He passed away in 2009.

I was born in Sedro-Woolley and graduated from Sedro-Woolley High School in 1987. My fantasy car was a ’69 Mustang. I had a ’66 Mercury Cyclone when I graduated, but I always wanted to get rid of it and get a Mustang. I got into the car business after that and worked my way through the ranks. 

I first started selling for Mountain View Motors in Burlington at the I-5 AutoWorld, back when Denny Steinman owned the store. From selling, I moved into finance, and eventually I became a used car manager for Foothills Toyota, working for the Nelson Family. In 1993 I went to work for Vern Simms in Sedro-Woolley as his used car manager. That’s how I got to love the auction process: buying the cars, bringing them back, pricing them, interacting with people. It’s fun to be able to buy cars with someone else’s money.

I was 25 when I went to work for Vern. I had just gotten married. Four years later I decided to stick my neck out and open my own store. I had a newborn daughter and my son was three. I went and borrowed and hocked and begged and did everything I could do open this place in 1997. It took awhile, but I made it work.

Years ago, people bought cars differently than they do today. Back then, people believed in the myth that after 100,000 miles a car was worn out. Now it’s different. Cars are built so much better, but they are also much more expensive. That makes the buying cycle longer. It’s typically the second biggest purchase people make, after their house. When they come in here they’re nervous, so we try to make them welcome and feel at home and let them know that we’re going to take care of them.

The internet has changed the car business drastically in the 24 years we’ve been open. People used to come in with car books — the auto trader magazines, the Harmon car guides — and they would walk the lot looking for a particular car. There were more people coming onto the lot to look at cars back then. Nowadays they are online shopping for what they want. The internet is evolving to the point where people can do virtually the whole transaction over the internet. They don’t even want to come in any more, they just want to do the whole thing online and buy it. It’s going to get to the point where I believe we’ll end up just delivering a car to their house.

Most auto dealership showrooms today are overwhelming, and that is also what is pushing people toward the internet. Why does anyone want to buy a new car? They shouldn’t, because they’re going to save thousands of dollars when they buy a one or two year old rig, which is what we specialize in. Our sweet spot is late model trucks and SUVs that are one to five years old, and we try to sell vehicles that are priced at under $30,000. A new full-size Cadillac Escalade SUV is $100,000. I’ve got a similar vehicle that is a 2013 model that sells for $27,000. We want a middle-class family to be able to come in here and buy something. We have the same financing as the new car stores. We have all the credit unions, all the banks, we can do everything here that a new car store can do, but for thousands less, which is why I’m still here more than 20 years later. 

My store has a low overhead. We have four people who work here; I have two salesmen, myself, and a person who does the financing. We don’t do as much negotiating as we used to. The negotiation process has become easier for the customer, which people like. With the evolution of the internet we have to be transparent, since all the information a consumer needs to make a sound decision is available to them online. When people come in here they already know everything. They have so much at their finger tips. They already know the price, what their car is worth, what the bank rate is going to be. We’re just here to facilitate the process and do the paperwork. We try to have quality stuff, low miles, priced right, serviced and lot-ready to drive off.

By contrast, the franchise stores have a huge overhead. They’re big stores with a lot of employees. They don’t sell cars for nothing. They can’t. It’s a myth to think you’re going to get a better deal going to a bigger store. It can’t happen. They have to sell cars and make money. We have to make money too, but I’m on a way smaller scale than those guys.

This valley is small, and word-of-mouth is priceless. You’ll never survive without it. I’ve seen dealers around me come and go, but we take care of people. Vehicles are going to break, so when customers come in with a problem my salesmen take them to our service department and help them solve it. Everything we sell comes with a 90-day, 3,000 mile warranty so that when they drive off the lot they know that they’re covered. That’s the biggest thing for me. I grew up here, I know a lot of people in this town, and I don’t want to see somebody at the high school basketball game who’s upset with me because they bought a truck and it blew up three days later.

We’ve done well, but I worry about being an independent car dealer. I think that across the industry it’s becoming a thing of the past. Its hard for us to compete with the buying power of the big new car stores. The majority of our inventory comes from auction. I don’t have the luxury of being able to call up Ford and asking them to send me 50 new F-150s — I have to go to an auction and get them. I go to auctions four days a week…I just got back from one. I go to Seattle, Spokane, Oregon, California, and I may have to compete with 50 other guys who are bidding on the car that I want. You can buy them on the internet, but I’m one of those old school guys who isn’t comfortable buying something unless I can touch it and feel it. I still like the live auction process. 

It’s always challenging to keep our cost and overhead down so we can be competitive. The profit margins in this industry are shrinking, and ten years from now I’m wondering how it’s going to be. More and more now, guys are just sitting in their offices, drinking coffee and buying cars on auction on the internet and having them shipped to their store. The internet is consuming the car business. I’m kind of becoming a dinosaur with the way that I purchase stuff, and it’s hard for me to keep traveling. Luckily, I’ve got good people here to help run the store while I’m gone.

I’ll be 60 in ten years, and my plan is to be done by then. I’l retire with my wife and enjoy a lot of stuff. I have hobbies: tractors, my son races cars, I have a lot of collector cars myself. I can find plenty to do. In the meantime, it would be easier for me to just buy on the internet and never have to leave my store, but I’ve had some bad experiences with doing that, and it’s my money — and I’m going to have to sell the cars I buy. It’s not as easy a business as people think it is, but it’s still fun for me. I still get excited about seeing people get their pictures taken with their new rigs.