IRVINE, Calif. -

Off-lease vehicles have come streaming in recently after dealers put up with tight used supply for years after the recession.

But some automakers are selling so many certified pre-owned vehicles — evident through this year’s overall soaring CPO sales — that sourcing still remains a challenge.

Take Kia Motors America, for example.

“While the statement of increased off-lease volume is correct, because of our skyrocketing CPO sales growth over the last two years (72 percent in 2013 and another 43 percent year-to-date, as of early October, for 2014) we are in a supply-and-demand position that makes inventory mining a bit of a challenge for our dealer base,” said Maria Williams, CPO retail support manager at Kia Motors America.

Though expanding supply should allow dealers to be a bit choosier when filling their CPO lots, for now, many are certifying every unit that is up to par.

“Kia dealers are still having a bit of an uphill battle attaining the inventory they need, and the majority of the successful ones are not being picky and are certifying every Kia vehicle that is eligible to be CPO,” Williams said.

Williams expects the automaker’s off-lease vehicle supply to increase significantly in 2015, growth she says will assist in Kia’s continued CPO volume sales expansion.

For now, though: “while dealers still have preferences in regards to what their best CPO vehicles are (older than 2014 with about 25,000 miles on them), they are not turning any contenders down,” Williams said.  

When looking for the best sourcing methods in this challenging environment, Kia dealers try first to focus on their own customers.

“Trade-ins from a dealer’s own customer base are always the most beneficial way to go.  There is no competition for purchasing the vehicle, like there is at auctions; if the customer did the maintenance with the dealer he knows that the vehicle is of great quality so less reconditioning for the dealer to do and therefore reduced cost and more of an opportunity to make a greater net profit and no transportation costs since the vehicle is on his lot already — yet another reduction in cost and increase in the net profit,” Williams explained.

Kia also suggest the following sources to its dealers in regards to CPO inventory mining:

  • Service drive 
  • Data mining from the dealer’s DMS
  • Auction
  • Local rental agencies 
  • Craigslist
  • Third-party sites
  • Newspaper  

Editor's Note: This story is featured in the Oct. 15-31 print and digital editions of Auto Remarketing, which is our annual CPO Dealer of the Year issue that includes a special look into CPO trends and best practices