New Business Update: TW Auto

Location: 700 Vandiver Drive
Owner: Tom Schranck, 499-0700

Tom Schranck said he hopes his recently opened used car dealership will attract customers turned off by the experience of negotiating for prices at other dealerships.
Schranck, who’s worked in the auto sales industry for 27 years, opened TW Auto  on Vandiver Drive between three large franchise dealers: Joe Machens Automotive, University Chrysler and Estes Motors. Schranck said he hopes his location will stand out for its upfront, relaxed sales environment.
“I’m very low-key, laid back,” Schranck said. “If I tell (a customer) a price, there are no hidden fees.”
A former Joe Machens used-car department manager, Schranck began his career at age 20 working for a dealership in St. Louis. In 1993, he moved to Jefferson City to work for Mike Kehoe before ending up at Machens, a job he left in 2008.
Schranck said he had been eying the location on Vandiver for awhile, and when he saw the former occupants, Auto Link, had closed, he began looking into setting up shop. Schranck signed the lease on the location Jan. 1 and got the dealership up and running at the beginning of March.
Schranck said he hopes to hire someone to run the day-to-day operations sometime in the future, which would allow Schranck to travel the country searching for vehicles. In 2009, Schranck said he spent 40 weeks on the road, a schedule that has slowed to one out of every three weeks since opening the dealership.
While in Columbia, Schranck said he knows the type of customer he wants to cultivate for TW Auto.
“My basic target is people who are looking for a first or second car that has been checked out pretty well,” he said, noting that the average price of his vehicles ranges from $5,000 to $10,000.