Southern (Off Road) Hospitality
We joke around here at Southern Off Road that we’re your local “world famous”, off road everything store, but the fact is that in our little corner of the automotive industry, we punch a little above our weight. One aspect of this bit of recognition is that we routinely sell vehicles to out-of-state--and even international--buyers. This gives us an opportunity to demonstrate a little Southern (Off Road) Hospitality to those guests who travel here from far-flung places in order to buy a buttoned down, inspected four-wheel drive vehicle from our Pelham dealership.
We always enjoy getting the chance to play tour guide to a client who has never had the chance to visit Birmingham, or perhaps even the south. As one of Birmingham’s favorite brands, we never miss the chance to show off our hometown. We'll often pick up our clients from the airport, then wind our way back to SOR making sure to swing past Five Points, Vulcan, Oak Mountain State Park, or the Barber Motorsports museum on our way. One of the most satisfying moments - and one we have seen repeated - is witnessing the surprise our guests show as they realize what a great town Birmingham is. They quickly realize how much this up-and-coming city has to offer, and how attractive Alabama can be as place to live and work.
Benefits of Buying Used 4x4 Vehicles from Southern Off Road
What brings people from as far away as California or New York to Alabama just to buy a vehicle and be customers of SOR? It turns out it's the same thing that has brought more and more people each and every year from the right here in central Alabama: a fair deal on a solid machine.
One of the main benefits of picking up a used 4x4 from SOR is that we had to buy it to begin with - and we're a tough group to unload a bad truck or SUV on. Years of servicing, repairing, customizing and modifying four-wheel drives of all makes and models has given us a depth of experience that we bring into play each time we purchase a vehicle for resale on our lot. This experience means we can usually avoid buying troubled units in the first place.
Every vehicle we retail on the lot goes through a very thorough inspection process. If we do pick one up that needs a wrench put on it before we let it go, that's not a problem as we have a very highly experienced staff that ensures each vehicle is ready to drive. This allows our customers to buy a used vehicle from us without the worry of having to turn around and come out of pocket for costly repairs.
Why Out-of-State Customers Seek Us Out
We are confident that the vehicles we sell are ready to hit the road, and that's a good thing, because just within the last month we’ve had folks from all the surrounding states, as well as Colorado and South Carolina roll into our showroom and pick up vehicles that they drove home. In the case of our Colorado client, he picked up a mint “97 Chevy Pickup that he proceeded to drive back over 1,600 miles to his Colorado hometown. He asked for assurances that the truck would make it home and we were careful to go over the truck in detail to make sure it was road-ready, despite having been in service 20 years. When he made it home after almost 20 hours on the road, we asked him how the truck did. His answer: the truck did great and he was very happy with it!
Of course, not every customer who buys one of our Southern (read: not rusty) four-wheel drive vehicles actually comes out to visit us. Many of our out-of-state clients actually buy their vehicles from us sight unseen. Their paperwork goes back and forth via FedEx, and their vehicle is loaded up with one of our trusted transporters and shipped directly to their driveway. Such was the case just recently on a deal we brokered for an extremely rare Porsche Cayenne Transsyberia Rally Package SUV. This was a rare bird, with only a handful of examples made to celebrate Porsche's participation in this famously gruelling rally. Our client was in California and had tried repeatedly to source this particular SUV - with its trademark black and orange rally paint scheme and big Hella off road light bar - but to no avail. They kept getting away from her. When she found out that we had one for her she quickly asked us to make arrangements. We helped her arrange financing, shuttled the paperwork, and had her Porsche on a transport truck bound for Cali in short order.
The fact that people travel from all over the world to purchase their pre-owned four-wheel drive vehicles from SOR--often sight unseen--means a lot to us. If you're currently in the market for a quality 4X4, swing by to see what it is that brings in so many off road enthusiasts from so far away. It could mean a lot to you as well.
