As ambitious Texas dealer grew business, he found F&I support was key

Mega dealer Bart Reagor manages a winning team to grow Reagor Dykes Auto Group and likes to keep things simple when it comes to offering finance and insurance products to his customer.

"We do not want to overwhelm the customer; moderation is good," said Reagor, the west Texas-based dealer who built his company up from a single site and three employees to a car-selling behemoth of 23 retail locations, 750 employees, and an $800 million annual turnover.

Reagor and his partner Rick Dykes operate Reagor Dykes Auto Group out of Lubbock, Texas, the city where it all began in 2003.

For some years, the company used a small Dallas company to manage F&I for its growing business, but switched to Zurich F&I around two years ago.

"It was a good company," Reagor told Mega Dealer News, but Reagor and Dykes recognized the company was getting too big and needed some extra F&I muscle if they were to continue. Reagor has big plans, including becoming the largest retail operator in the country.

And Reagor and Dykes recognized the company was getting too big and needed some extra F&I muscle if they were to continue. Reagor has big plans, including to be the largest retail operator in the country.

"We were attracted...to the sheer power and size of Zurich, which has departments with great compliance experience and a maximum ability to do business the right way," he said.

Reagor Dykes has an in house team dedicated to F&I, but Reagor is also relies on the local Zurich representative, who works out of Lubbock. The company offers a limited number of products, such as three-month, 3,000-mile limited warranty; vehicle services contracts; some bundled offers; gap waivers and road hazard tire and wheel protections. 

This keeps it simple, which ties in with his very two basic goals when it comes to running the company -- make it the best place to do business and make it the best place to work.

Reagor likens his workforce to an athletics team, and many of them were involved in college and high school football and other sports. They work as a team and have a strong desire to win which aligns with Zurich's philosophy. 

The dealerships sell all types of cars, including recently, as Reagor pointed out, a Maserati and a 1987 Ford Escort. Sixty percent of the cars they sell are pre-owned, mostly low mileage, with the rest new.

While all the dealerships are situated in Texas, the company has taken advantage of new technology and is using the internet to sell across the country.