Shawn O'Hara: Welcome, everyone. My guest today is Hunter Juhasz. Hunter is an independent auto broker and sales executive based in Vancouver, BC. He specializes in procuring high-quality vehicles. He helps buyers access enthusiast and luxury inventory that often sits outside traditional franchise dealer channels. Hunter is known for his customer-focused approach to matching the right people with the right car. Thank you for being here today, Hunter. 

Hunter Juhasz: Thanks for that introduction, Shawn. Good morning. 

Shawn O'Hara: Could you tell me what you do? 

Hunter Juhasz: Absolutely. I'm an independent auto broker here in Vancouver. Primarily, I'm a buyer of vehicles, but I also work with two retail operations here locally to expand the services and volume of vehicles that I can offer to people. 

Shawn O'Hara: That's fascinating. How and why did you get into this? 

Hunter Juhasz: I'm an afflicted car enthusiast, so I really had no choice in the matter. I've always been a huge buyer and seller of just personal vehicles really my entire life. And once I finished at Queen's University in Ontario, I was really fortunate to be offered a sort of entry-level sales job in the auto industry. That was right around when COVID was sort of ramping up and the market was starting to rapidly change, so that was a very volatile market to get into and get into an auto sales environment with. And as I started to understand what working at a franchise dealer meant, I increasingly wanted something different. And I was offered an opportunity to go work with a fine gentleman named Max Gillen at his operation, Vancouver Dream Car, operating an independent wholesale brokerage and also working as sort of a sales and procurement specialist for Max and Andrew over at Dream Car. 

Shawn O'Hara: Not being a franchise gives them a lot more flexibility then. 

Hunter Juhasz: Absolutely. I used to work at a large franchise store here in Vancouver, and being suggested to sell a certain make above all others does not give the customer a full picture of what's available. As an independent, I'm not, I don't have a foot in the race to sell you an Audi over a BMW over a Jeep if your needs suggest one over the other. I'm able to go out and source something that's specific to what my customer needs from a vehicle standpoint and also from a financing, leasing, or an older vehicle that's more within someone's budget. One of my favorite things about what I do now is when somebody comes to me and says, for example, I had a good friend of mine's sister, she was looking for a seven-passenger. Her family was expanding, and her budget was around thirty thousand dollars for the car. I was able to find something in wholesale for her that was low mileage, trim. It had a really nice tan interior, it was ultimately a way nicer car than I think what she had imagined for her price range. And that was a car that I really enjoyed doing that deal, not only because it was a friend of mine, but also because of the value I was able to show her and just seeing her face when she saw the car in person and goes, "Holy cow, this is what I'm driving?" Beyond what she had imagined and based on driving to dealerships, looking at Volkswagens on the ground, I was able to exceed her expectations. And those kind of deals, be that ultra-high-end or something more of a daily driver, it's a good feeling to be able to help someone out. 

Shawn O'Hara: That's an excellent story. So they're not all half a million dollar cars then. 

Hunter Juhasz: They are not. I'm more than happy to service really anybody, and that's another part of being an independent that's a huge benefit to me is that I don't have that massive overhead. I'm not paying thirty thousand dollars a month in rent, which is a thousand, fifteen hundred dollars on every deal I'm doing in a month that I don't get, that my customer doesn't get. So I don't have the same margins. I don't need to make seven thousand, five thousand dollars on every single deal that I'm doing in order to cover an accounting department. Unfortunately, you're speaking to the accounting department, the finance department, the sales department, so things get a lot simpler as an independent, and I think that that simplicity just directly translates to a better customer experience, at least a more straightforward one. If you want a fancy coffee machine and glass everywhere when you come into the store, I may not be the guy for you. I'm happy to pick you up a coffee on the way to the showing, but we do not have one in the showroom. 

Shawn O'Hara: As franchises are regulated or governed by the franchisor, so who regulates your industry? 

Hunter Juhasz: So I'm regulated the same way that a dealer would. And as far as I think the regulatory entity goes, I'm no different than a franchise dealer. I still am regulated by a company called the VSA, the Vehicle Sales Authority. I am a licensed salesperson. The dealerships that I would work with are licensed dealers, just in the same way that some of these huge franchise stores are. There's really no difference from a licensing standpoint, depending on the size of the dealer. It's all the same thing. 

Shawn O'Hara: What's involved then being regulated by the VSA? 

Hunter Juhasz: You obviously have to go through with your salesperson licensing. Frankly, that's not the most difficult test in the world. I'd describe it more so as like common sense morality. It's a little bit more complex than should I blatantly lie to the customer, but if you answer that question as no, I think you could figure it out. Aside from that, there's some dealer and licensing fees, but the big killer is just the wait that you have to go through, sometimes a year or even longer just for them to file the straightforward paperwork of getting your dealer license ready. So it's almost just a bureaucratic fight to get past the long delays. 

Shawn O'Hara: A year is a long time. 

Hunter Juhasz: A year is a very long time, much longer than I would imagine it should take to process a new dealer application, though I think there's a really high volume of new applications that they're likely facing. 

Shawn O'Hara: Would that indicate that they actually, they do vet, that they are checking to make sure everything is legitimate? 

Hunter Juhasz: I would hope they do. And I think a lot of it is that there are dealers who abuse the system and who don't treat people right, and the industry does have a less than positive reputation for a good reason. A lot of dealers, and I think that there's a direct correlation between the size and how easy it is to control the quality of your salespeople on the ground, as it is with any business. But being an independent, I'm able to be accountable for all of my actions. If you're buying a car from me, Shawn, I'm dealing with you from start to finish. There's nobody else coming in, stepping in. You may deal with Max or you may deal with another partner or a detailer, or if some work's being done to your car, you may deal with one or two other people. But at the end of the day, I'm able to stand in front of you and be accountable for everything that I'm saying, there's no mix-up even on the basis of communication, let alone anything beyond that. So that's something that I really like about being an independent, is that I'm able to avoid a lot of those issues just on the basis of accountability and a lack of complication in the process. 

Shawn O'Hara: So in the four years you've been doing this, or since you started, have you learnt anything along the way? If you could give yourself advice four years ago, what would it be? 

Hunter Juhasz: There's a few vehicles I think I'd probably hang on to. I had a nice Aprilia and a Yamaha at the time, and I think that was a good two-car solution, and I probably should have kept that. But I'd like to think I've learned a thing or two sort of operating a business over the last few years. The industry changes a lot, and four years ago I was doing a lot of export. The north-south relations were very different, and while I'm sure those people would still love to be doing business with a twenty-seven percent now tariff on anything going across, it's a very different market, and a lot more cars are being sold to Canadians. One thing that I'm discovering recently that I didn't know was an option when I had first started out in the industry was sort of luxury and high-end sales outside of BC. Obviously, in BC, we have the luxury tax, and selling vehicles is quite difficult because of that. So if you're in Alberta, if you're in any other province in Canada, the bite you have to take out of what you're able to buy due to taxes is so much less that these high-end cars are a lot more appealing anywhere else. So being able to effectively transact a car across Canada, having smooth transport, smooth paperwork, doing a proficient walk-around mechanical inspection, and just conveying the condition of the car really accurately and forthright, it's a great avenue. Some of my favorite deals that I've been doing are with folks who are flying in or even doing deals remotely, but are huge enthusiasts and people that ultimately have even become my friends in many cases. 

Shawn O'Hara: You mentioned selling cars across country. Is that cars from BC that are sold? Because do our cars last longer here due to the lack of salt and so on? 

Hunter Juhasz: So that's the double-edged sword. I will say a lot of people out in Ontario, out in Quebec, out east do take really nice care of their cars. There are cars out there that are in great shape, are summer drivers, they don't have that corrosion. Now, what's interesting is that the cars on the West Coast here in BC are generally the most desirable and in the best shape. That makes people in Ontario, people in Quebec who are looking for the nicest examples often like to find something in BC. We have a huge luxury market, so a lot of these cars start their life in BC. I have a fairly smooth and simple process for selling these cars out of province. It is not a complicated ordeal. I stand behind all of the out-of-province inspections. So if I'm selling you a car to Alberta, if I'm selling you a car to Ontario, I've obviously inspected it before I've bought it in. I usually do another quick inspection before I send it off, and if it lands, you have any issues with the local inspection, which if you've already had an inspection done you should not, I'm happy to stand behind that work and guarantee that you'll be able to pass that inspection, get it registered smoothly. 

The other big part of that is transport. You can use inexpensive rail transport. I don't generally do that. I work with a few companies, one in particular who's really professional, and my clients love him. He's able to get the car loaded up, transport it to their home, to their shop, wherever they'd like the car delivered, roll it off, and they have their car front door ready to go. It's arguably a better experience than driving to a dealer and buying it there. Certainly no business office. There's no lengthy process that you need to go through at the store, and it's quite efficient. In some cases, people trade in a vehicle. I'm able to source that or place that vehicle already. They drive their vehicle on, our vehicle comes off, they're on their merry way over in Cold Lake, Alberta, for example. 

Shawn O'Hara: Certainly sounds like a smooth process. So they don't have to come out to BC then? 

Hunter Juhasz: They do not. Often they do. They like to come out and test drive, and as you can imagine, when you're spending that much on a vehicle, a flight is not a large amount to be spending just to come out and take a look, right? It sort of scales with going to look at a car costs you five percent or one percent of the purchase price, it really wouldn't be a big deal. But since a flight in most cases is maybe ten or twenty percent of what a vehicle would cost, depending on how far you're coming, I guess it, a lot more, I find a lot of the high-end clients just trust my walk arounds, and I'm quite thorough. I'll generally do a driving video, an in-depth walk around, open all the doors, test all the buttons. And that's something about my job I enjoy doing. I'm a big car guy, so I love to nerd out and be very in-depth with my clients. And I'm forthright. You know, if there's a little scratch or a little rock chip here or there, I'll point that out and also be proactive. I have a great detailer here, David over at Elements Auto Spa, and he's able to take care of really anything that I need for my clients. So he's a huge, he's a very useful connection for me to have. 

Shawn O'Hara: There's a variety of different vehicles out there, including EVs, electrical vehicles. Is there anything special that you need to do when dealing with them? I know for people who don't live in this province that there has been restrictions on getting damaged electrical vehicles onto our ferry system. 

Hunter Juhasz: That would make sense. I think that the sort of spontaneous combustion fear around EVs may be overplayed a little bit. Obviously once they're on fire, that's a different story. I'm fortunate enough to have most of the people that inquire with me or deal with me on a return or frequent basis are enthusiasts, and one of the things that people who love cars love the most are engines. So I don't deal in a huge frequency of EVs. I do wholesale them occasionally, but from a client-facing standpoint, usually the people that are reaching out to me are looking for gas-powered, traditional vehicles. 

Shawn O'Hara: There's quite a different roar, the engine of an EV compared to gas-powered. 

Hunter Juhasz: Oh, I hate it when I hear the sound of God coming down from the heavens, and it's an electric Ford backing up. That is way worse to me than a completely straight piped, super loud car right next to me, for sure. 

Shawn O'Hara: Look to the sky sometimes expecting the UFO to land. 

Hunter Juhasz: God, I'm hoping they're going to beam me up. 

Shawn O'Hara: Besides battery and petrol, what are the differences between gasoline-powered and EVs? 

Hunter Juhasz: I think they're largely in how they're made. The recent push with vehicles in general, I'd say since about twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, has been to make them less expensive, have less of an individual identity so that they appeal to a larger group. I'd sort of compare them to being centrist. If a BMW does A best and an Audi does B best and whatever else is C, if each one of those manufacturers become a little bit more like the other, not only do they become less expensive to produce, they lose some of their identity, but you can really maximize profits because those cars are going to be purchased not because people have an emotional attachment, but because of a marketing push saying, "Well, we do this better than the other guy, not that we do this differently." This is demonstrated with smaller motors, the push to screens, less physical buttons, more haptic buttons. That's not progress. That's just cost savings. A lot of the difference lies in how these cars are thought about and produced.

I compare them often to not watches, but smartphones. They're consumer devices and anything with a battery in the surface, it's designed to look polished, look really nice. But once you get into it, you realize that this is something that is not solidly built. And ultimately, the big issue lies in how difficult they are to repair. People think that EVs have less parts to break so that the cost of maintenance is lower, but in reality, they're so much heavier. All of the wear and tear of the suspension parts, the tires is much higher and the ultimate lifespan of the car, because of how expensive the batteries are to replace and the general build quality being that much lower than traditional gas vehicles, they only have a lifespan of about a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty thousand kilometers before the battery needs to be replaced. And generally, they're worth less than the battery is at that point, so it's just a write-off. 

With a gas vehicle, you could replace the engine, you could replace all of the parts in that car. If you maintain it, you're likely having to replace nothing, and you can get two hundred, three hundred, in some cases even four hundred thousand kilometers out of some of these German cars, Jettas, Cayennes, for example. The difference is that one is a tool and one is more of an appliance. So not everybody needs to be driving around in something that is capable, interesting and requires maintenance to remain on the road. For some people, they just want that appliance-like, new cellphone every three or four years sort of experience. And the EVs are great for those people. 

Personally, I will resist having to drive an EV for as long as possible, and I advise people accordingly. Not to say that an EV is not a good car for anybody, but I would always prefer a gas equivalent over an EV just from a customer experience. I don't want people to call me up and say, "Hunter, I'm having problems. I'm not happy with my purchase." In my experience, the frequency of that happening is just so much higher with electric vehicles, and the user experience is generally a bit more problematic. 

Shawn O'Hara: Fascinating analogy between tool and appliance. That would explain some of the demographics. I live in Victoria, South Island, and I think the percent of EVs is highest here because many people here don't drive more than, say, twenty kilometers a day, so a little EV works well for many. 

Hunter Juhasz: Well, and in that case, I sell a lot of people, actually funnily enough you mentioned that, over on the island or here in Vancouver in the Kits area, I sell them hybrids. If they're going up to Whistler or they're skiers or they're more into the outdoorsy, they'd still like a vehicle that functions. You can have that gas backup, but with a thirty or forty kilometer EV range in that car, you can still drive just to the coffee shop or to the tennis club or wherever you're going and get all of the benefits of an EV, but still retain the functionality and particularly the residual value of a traditional vehicle. So that's why, for example, hybrid Toyotas are so in demand right now. And if an EV runs out of juice on the road, it's just there, but we can always walk and get a jerry can of gas if needed. 

Hunter Juhasz: Like an iPhone, I think they call those bricked. 

Shawn O'Hara: Oh, if a company wants to expand their fleet or even get a fleet, what type of regulatory or warranty issues should they be aware of, especially if they're thinking of adding an EV or gasoline-powered fleet or vehicle? 

Hunter Juhasz: Typically, if you're going to be getting a vehicle for your company, it's going to be a lease. So I always suggest that people look at leasing a vehicle similar to renting one. The nice thing about leasing an EV is that when it becomes a defunct paperweight in a hundred and however many kilometers, it's not your problem. You can return that car to the dealership and have benefited from a low payment on a vehicle that you ultimately also don't need to invest gas into. So, frequently I do suggest that people doing small delivery operations, light loads, lots of driving, but they don't need storage capacity, a small EV could be a great, great car for them. Most of what I do for corporations or companies that require a fleet of vehicles are gas cars, Ford Transits, box trucks, pickup trucks, that realm of vehicles, people that need the space to move vehicles around. 

Shawn O'Hara: Would leasing apply to, say, just a regular homeowner for personal use? 

Hunter Juhasz: Yeah. 

Shawn O'Hara: Same? 

Hunter Juhasz: Absolutely. Generally, depending on how many vehicles you have in your home, you could even apply for a personal fleet policy if they're all going to be under the same umbrella. And that's something that can be a pretty immense cost saving for some folks. If you don't know and you have a bundle of vehicles, that's probably worth checking out if you're listening in. 

Shawn O'Hara: You know how many vehicles that is? 

Hunter Juhasz: If you have five or more vehicles under your name registered or leased, you can generally apply for that fleet policy. 

Shawn O'Hara: What does that give you? 

Hunter Juhasz: Depending on what the vehicles are, in some cases I've referred people and they get more than a fifty percent reduction. I'd suggest connecting with Samir. 

Shawn O'Hara: Yes. Samir Karim from Sussex Insurance in Surrey. 

Hunter Juhasz: Generally, if you have heavy-duty trucks, they're going to be used strictly for business. A lease on those or a finance plan is how people prefer to own them. Truck wholesale to retail, the markup is substantial, comparable to some of the ultra-high-end and luxury units. You know, some of these thirty and forty thousand dollar vans and trucks are marked up as much as these hundred and fifty, two hundred and fifty thousand dollar supercars that I'm seeing. I can show people a lot of value bringing trucks over from the wholesale side to the retail side and sourcing them for their companies. A lot of the people that I buy cars from are also fleet and leasing managers that have access to these trucks that then come back from the companies on lease, having already faced that initial pretty steep depreciation cycle, and they can be great value if they are in good condition for someone else looking for something a little less expensive, which has been a lot of what I do for some smaller businesses as well. 

Shawn O'Hara: There's a lot of psychology that goes into buying cars, car ads, and so on. What should people be doing when they're thinking about buying a vehicle, whether it's new or used, gas or EV? 

Hunter Juhasz: I think that sometimes from my perspective, there's a bit of a disconnect here. My own vehicle buying process is very thorough, but I am also a complete nut. I know what to look for, and I know what the pitfalls are of a car, and finding out and discovering those things is something that I greatly enjoy. So my process is generally helping others do that effectively and avoid some of the common pitfalls. Buying a lot of cars, you see where people go wrong when they're purchasing. When I do my due diligence on their vehicle that they didn't years ago when they purchased it and they get a surprise, I unfortunately have to be the bearer of bad news, which I do not like doing. That's why I always suggest anybody buying a vehicle, make sure you have an independent PPI. Don't trust these dealer inspections, because ultimately they're not reliable, at least in my experience. 

The other big thing that I always recommend is to see a recent and updated CARFAX. Make sure that there's no major claims on the vehicle, that it doesn't have a rebuilt title. You can see where it's been. And a lot of the things that will be caught in that PPI you can do just in a general walk around of the vehicle: tire wear, scrapes, dents, dings, ensuring all of the lights and electrical parts work on the car. These are all things that I do when I do a quick appraisal and sometimes are overlooked by customers. "Oh, the sunroof has never worked." Well, you know, a sunroof is sixty-five hundred dollars, Mr. Customer. And you know, that's something that people don't know, they aren't expecting, and sometimes with a little bit more due diligence, you can avoid a lot of headache when it comes time to sell your vehicle. 

Shawn O'Hara: What's PPI? 

Hunter Juhasz: A pre-purchase inspection. I like to, depending on what kind of vehicle it is, I have a few different sort of specialist shops. Here locally, I'd say the closest shop is probably near Olympic Village there. Any dealership that's going to sell a vehicle should be willing to get that independent inspection done. And similarly, I'd say even more so if you're buying a private seller vehicle, that'll be a really good two, three hundred dollars that you spend having that peace of mind and knowing exactly what's going on with the vehicle, right? If there's a small leak here or there or a small issue, at least you know about it, and you can decide if you want to proceed with that vehicle accordingly. Nothing's perfect. There's no used car factory pumping out perfect five-year-old vehicles that have already depreciated. So you can expect some wear and tear, but knowing exactly what you're looking at is huge. 

Shawn O'Hara: Yeah, cars can be quite fascinating in even coming off the factory. I read one of the books by Henry Ford, he was talking about that. They can roll two cars off that everything is identical, the parts, the people who make them, they've done everything the same. They're side by side, yet they feel or sound different. 

Hunter Juhasz: Well, that makes sense. It is a Ford. People have said fix or repair daily, and I guess they've had those issues right off the factory line for time immemorial. 

Shawn O'Hara: Fix or repair daily. I hadn't heard that one. Great. What do people love, or what do you love, about luxury cars? 

Hunter Juhasz: Well, you know, that's a great segue from the previous question. Maybe not so much luxury cars, but what do people love about cars? There's a saying that my little brother has up in his workshop, "I'd rather push a Chevy than drive a Ford." And I think that there's a level of pride and care that people have for their vehicles and the cars that take them places, be that the literal machine itself or social network that it gives them access to, the connections, or even just driving. We're hosting a track day next month up at Area 27, and the people that come out to that, they love one thing. They love loud motors. They love driving their cars fast, and there's a level of competition there that isn't really accessible anywhere else. In these high-performance cars, you're just not able to access the full potential of them on the street. As good of a driver as you are, there's only one place you can really enjoy these machines. 

Shawn O'Hara: When I was in my teens, there was a contest to win a Lamborghini Countach and a cross-country one, and the winner was on PEI, Prince Edward Island, and I felt sorry for him because he can't go full speed on the island. He'd be right across it in the water. 

Hunter Juhasz: Yeah, we have that problem over on Vancouver Island, which I think is why there's such a frequent speed trap presence over there. A lot of people think the same thing with their toys from the mainland. I think there was recently a new record set for crossing the United States, sea to sea, not long ago. 

Shawn O'Hara: Well, this has been fascinating. How can people contact you if they're interested in your services? 

Hunter Juhasz: Well, the best way to contact me is through my phone. My cell number is 604-785-9005. Also, you check out our website. We have some very interesting inventory, and we often send out an email blast, so I'd recommend reaching out if you're interested in seeing what cool and interesting vehicles we have in stock. Generally, we try to have things that are a bit more enthusiast, destination pieces, if you will, and if you're an enthusiast, we may have something that tickles your fancy. 

Shawn O'Hara: And what's the website again? 

Hunter Juhasz: vancouverdreamcar.ca, and we'll add that into the show notes. 

Hunter Juhasz: Lovely. 

Shawn O'Hara: Well, thank you. My guest today has been Hunter Juhasz, who is an independent auto broker in Vancouver, BC, and thank you for being here today, Hunter. 

Hunter Juhasz: Thanks for having me, Shawn. 

Shawn O'Hara: That's a wrap.

Links

Hunter Juhasz, www.VancouverDreamCar.ca
Phone:  604-785-9005
Samir Karim, Sussex Insurance, Surrey (for fleet insurance)