Profile - Philip Kleckner, Lead Appraiser / Buyer
Posted by Betsy Briggs on Thu, Apr 08, 2010 @ 04:28 PM
"PK" joined our team in 2007 as our lead appraiser and buyer. He knows cars inside and out and he keeps up with the current buying and selling trends in the marketplace. PK is celebrating his 50th year in the auto business.
"Say hello to a good buy" was one of the standard slogans developed by my in-house advertising agency at Phil Kleckner's Used Cars. I opened and operated the used car lot for 15 years in my home town of New Rochelle, NY. Among other ads, I created 30 spot TV commercials that were aired in New York City. I was interviewed by the New York Times for a story about independent used car dealers, which was published on the front page of the business section with a large photo of me in front of the dealership.
I have always loved the car business. My first purchase was a two-car deal from my friend's father; I sold them for a good profit. I continued to earn money buying and selling individual cars until I was able to open my own used car lot. I earned my reputation by providing excellent customer service and became known as an honest owner/operator who always tried to satisfy the customer. Thus, I gained countless referral business.
As a youth I enjoyed playing hockey and baseball. As a young adult, I liked fast cars, motorcycles, boats, water and snow skiing. I attended the University of Tampa, The New School for Social Research, NYU, and Columbia University. While living and attending school in New York, I drove a Yellow Taxi Cab and worked with at-risk youths for the federal job core program located at Federal Plaza in New York City. At the age of 21, I was hired under a special General Motor's Training program, "The Buick Caravan," to sell new Buick's.
As a Buick salesman, I received many awards for excellent sales and customer service, including the Sales Masters Award six times. My performance placed me among the top in the USA. When I was 24, I became a manager of a Buick dealership and was an important part of the team that created one of the most successful dealerships for GM at the time in the US. The standard used was by units sold, customer satisfaction, and market share. I also have held a number of other managerial positions in high-line foreign and domestic new and used car dealerships. In 1993, while operating my own dealership in NC, my wife had an opportunity to serve in the Clinton Administration; and we relocated to Arlington, VA, where I still reside.
I have a 21 year old son, Max who is an honor student at NOVA. I am a history buff and have served on the board of directors of a number of non-profit historical associations, which lead to an important role in the Thomas Paine exhibit at the Freedom Forum's NEWSEUM.
A beautiful car still gets me as excited today as it did 50 years ago.
Philip Kleckner