“The Great Train Wreck”: How Affordability and a Broken Process Are Costing Dealers the Sale | Matt Lasher, Streamline Auto

“The Great Train Wreck”: How Affordability and a Broken Process Are Costing Dealers the Sale | Matt Lasher, Streamline Auto

From The Dealer Playbook by Michael Cirillo

March 17, 2026 · 18 min

About this episode

Matt Lasher discusses the challenges dealers face in automotive retail due to affordability issues and broken processes that lead to lost sales.

Matt Lasher pulls back the curtain on one of the most expensive and preventable problems in automotive retail. The moment a customer falls in love with a car, spends five hours at the dealership, and then the deal collapses in finance because nobody asked the right questions early enough. In This Episode What the great train wreck actually is and why it is happening at every dealership every single day How the affordability crisis is creating a tidal wave that dealers need to start preparing for now Why lenders and dealers are like Mars and Venus and what it costs everyone when that gap stays open The hidden bias toward customers with credit challenges and why 40% of consumers have a credit score of 680 or less Why empathy is not just a soft skill in automotive retail but a business strategy How technology should be used to enhance human connection rather than skip over the people that make the deal happen Matt's perspective on why dealers are resilient and why this crisis is no different from every other one they have survived About Matt Lasher Matt Lasher is President at Streamline Auto and a people first advocate in automotive retail. With a background rooted in dealership…

People in this episode

Host: Michael Cirillo

Guest: Matt Lasher

Topics covered

  • automotive retail
  • affordability crisis
  • dealer finance
  • customer experience
  • technology in automotive

Keywords

  • automotive
  • dealership
  • finance
  • customer service
  • credit score
  • technology
  • empathy
  • sales process

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Streamline Auto

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