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Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.06.2008
People shopping for used cars Sunday at a new sell-it-yourself lot at Tucson Electric Park said they liked the concept of buying direct from owners — even if some found the selection a little thin.
Mild, sunny weather brought a trickle of people out for the opening weekend of AZ CarMart, in the south end of the parking lot at TEP.
About 40 cars, trucks and other vehicles were on sale at the lot Sunday, after at least three cars and a boat sold the first day.
Travis Hannon and Josh Berger came up with the idea to offer a place for legal car sales, but they don't act as dealers. They charge $25 per weekend for people to drop off their cars in the lot.
The entrepreneurs said they won't be tracking sales at the lot because they aren't involved in the exchange of title or cash. They'll simply provide a legal location for buyers and sellers to find each other.
It solves the problem some run into when they try to sell a vehicle in a vacant lot or on the side of a road, both of which are illegal and can result in parking tickets.
In addition, sellers can safely leave their cars at the baseball parking lot overnight Saturday because AZ CarMart has overnight security.
Some potential customers checking out the cars Sunday afternoon said they'd hoped to see more for sale, but almost all of them assumed more people would use the lot as word spread.
The south part of the baseball stadium could easily fit twice as many vehicles for sale.
Gerald Riley traveled to the parking lot Sunday from Oro Valley. He had a hard time finding the lot and wished there were more convertibles, since that's what he's in the market for. However, he was still happy for the chance to look at cars.
"You can see it without bothering anybody," Riley said as he looked at the lot with several sedans, coupes, three recreational vehicles, one dune buggy, 15 trucks and sport utility vehicles and a handful of minivans. Two boats were for sale Saturday, but one sold and the other didn't return Sunday, the lot operators said.
The vehicles ranged in price from a $24,000 2004 Mercedes CLK-320 coupe to a 1966 Chevy truck with unknown mileage for $1,500.
Todd and Deanna Leach wandered the lot Sunday checking out an assortment of vehicles.
The two said they found out about the lot separately. Todd Leach saw a story in the Arizona Daily Star, and Deanna Leach found out about it while looking for cars on Craigslist, a free online classified ad site.
They were casually looking at Jeep Wranglers for Todd's father, and RVs for them.
"It's a good concept, buying from someone instead of a dealership," Todd said.
Bob Culver showed up with his 2000 Ford Windstar Saturday morning to see if he could get a spot. He stayed with his vehicle all day instead of going back to Green Valley. Most of the other sellers dropped off their cars and left, he said.
Each car sports the obvious for-sale sign, along with slips of paper with the year, make, model and price of the vehicle and the contact information for the owner. Interested buyers grab these slips and contact the seller to arrange a test drive.
"I think it's actually a good idea. I hope it works out for these kids," Culver said.
"They won't let you park at a shopping mall. I'll probably be back, I think it's a good deal," he said at midday Sunday.
He'd already been trying to sell his minivan and decided to give the lot a try, too.
"I probably had six or seven (people) interested yesterday, and none today," he said.
Shoppers trickled to the lot a couple at a time Sunday, but all took time to check out several cars for sale.
The lot is scheduled to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
● Contact reporter Andrea Kelly at 573-4243 or akelly@azstarnet.com.
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