Local vehicle dealerships have sold vehicles to a variety of locations, but Power Dodge in Estevan recently had a most unique sale.
The dealership sold a 2018 Dodge Durango RT to a customer named Dejvid Slakopovich in Slovakia. Brett Howie, a sales consultant at Power Dodge, said they were approached by a broker in the European nation who has a client, Slakopovich, who is a music producer.
“The guy said this was the kind of vehicle that he was looking for,” said Howie. “He wanted the RT with the hood scoop and the kind of sporty front end. We happened to have one at the price he wanted to be at, and then it was a matter of trying to negotiate arrangements and everything else, like payments.”
The broker, who sells mostly North American vehicles, even gave Howie a couple of links to his website in Slovakia. Those vehicles are mostly interesting ones that you normally wouldn’t see over there, Howie said.
“Something like the Durango is not sold in Europe,” said Howie, who noted it’s a well-equipped vehicle.
When a request like this one is received, Howie said his first instinct would be suspicion, because he wondered why someone in Slovakia would turn to Saskatchewan to purchase a vehicle.
“We talked with the guy, and we emailed quite a bit, back and forth, and it was a long exchange, because his operating hours are when I’m sleeping, and vice versa,” said Howie.
But he kept asking questions and the sale fell into place.
“When we told him that this is what we require from him for payment and proof and everything, he never hesitated to provide anything for us,” said Howie. “Even when it seemed like we might hit a snag, the purchaser on the other side, Slakopovich, would not hesitate to call me.”
Often they had late in the evening or early in the morning conversations.
“We’ve all heard the horror stories of people being ripped off online, so it took a little longer for things to really come together, because we were being really cautious. The last thing I wanted to do is be the salesperson who was responsible for the dealership getting ripped off.”
If Howie thought at any time that the prospective buyer wasn’t serious, then he would have walked away from the deal. But Howie could tell the buyer was serious, and he proved to be easy to work with.
After the sale was finalized, and the cheque cleared, the Durango was loaded on a truck at the local dealership, and then it was taken to Houston, a central area for Global Dealership Exchange, the company used for shipping. It will then be shipped overseas.
This is, by far, the furthest away he has sold a unit. He has sold into several other Canadian provinces, but it’s rare to ship a vehicle internationally.
Howie believes the broker found Power Dodge’s listing online. The broker had reached out to a couple others that were higher-priced, but Power Dodge had the vehicle he was looking for and the price he wanted for the customer.
A good working relationship has now been struck between Power Dodge and their clients in Slovakia, and Howie has been sending pictures of trucks that could be of interest to them for future buyers.
