"The Score Lies!" What Credit Scores Miss (& What The Top 1% of Dealers Are Doing to Sell More Cars)

"The Score Lies!" What Credit Scores Miss (& What The Top 1% of Dealers Are Doing to Sell More Cars)

From Car Dealership Guy Podcast by Car Dealership Guy

May 28, 2026 · 31 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the limitations of credit scores in auto lending and innovative strategies used by top dealers to approve buyers.

In this episode of the Industry Spotlight, joining host Sam D'Arc are Ben Atkinson, VP of Auto Lending at Upstart, and Evan Driscoll, General Sales Manager at Audi Jacksonville to discuss why the credit score has become the most overrated number in auto lending and how a full-spectrum dealership running everything from $2,000 used cars to $400,000 Rolls-Royces gets first-time buyers approved at competitive rates with no money down. Evan breaks down how a slow approval costs his store at least $1,000 per car per day in aging inventory, and how a 10-second automated decision changed the math. They also get into why 24/7 automated approvals matter most during the weeks traditional lenders go dark. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by Upstart. Topics: 04:30 Why Slow Approvals Kill Deals. 05:50 The $1,000 Cost Of One Extra Day. 08:00 How Soft Pulls Close More Deals. 09:50 Why Customers Love Soft Pulls. 11:20 The 10-Second Approval. 15:00 Why First-Time Buyers Get 7% Rates. 16:30 The 280 Data Points Beyond Credit Scores. 20:00 24/7 Automation Beats Banking Hours. 21:00 The Beach Chair Email That Enraged A Store. 24:30 Why Manual Credit Apps Are Dead…

People in this episode

Host: Sam D'Arc

Guests: Ben Atkinson, Evan Driscoll

Topics covered

  • credit scores
  • auto lending
  • first-time buyers
  • automated approvals
  • dealership strategies
  • inventory management

Keywords

  • credit score
  • auto financing
  • soft pulls
  • automated decision
  • first-time buyers
  • data points
  • 24/7 approvals

Sponsors

Upstart

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Audi Jacksonville

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