Rick Catullo grew up in the automobile business with his family owning and continually operating the oldest dealership CHRYSLER/PLYMOUTH Dealership in Rhode Island. It is this background that has made him aware of the enormous overhead (salaries, commissions, advertising, profit, etc.) in a dealership. It is no mystery why a "NEW" automobile must be sold for an "inflated" price. He has seen the terrible problems that people have had when they purchase a new automobile only to have it depreciate 30 to 35 percent as they drove it out of the showroom. They were stuck. The monies owed nearly always exceeded the value of the automobile. Even if they paid cash in full for their purchase without an enormous loss. The overhead and profit of a new car dealer dictate these "inflated" charges.

With these realizations, Cathy and Rick Catullo cofounded a business concept which they have been sucessfully sharing with their customers for over 23 years. This was the beginning of OLD SOUTH AUTO BROKERS, Inc.

This is how it works. As an automobile broker and a licensed automobile dealer, we act as an agent for our customer. Our customers come to us with their automobile needs. We can sell their present auto on consignment or sell it immediately at auction. We work with them to determine their new automobile needs and the specific make and model desired. This person-alized service is what has made us a success and is what each customer receives. Typically thousands of dollars are saved and another satisfied customer is added to a long list. A fee of $500.00 or 5% whichever is more over market value is our standard fee. The term "market value" as it pertains to automobiles, may be thought of as being similar to how individual stocks are valued at any time by the stock market. The prices fluctuate continually. There are down markets and there are up markets. Our goal is ALWAYS to purchase the MAXIMUM automobile at the current MINIMUM market price.

Typically this is a late-model, like-new vehicle still under factory warranty. It might be an estate purchase, bank liquidation, or one of the many other avenues of purchase that we have developed in our many years in business. Factory sales, existing customer trades, dealer excess inventory (must sell to stay in business and, and believe us, it happens all the time), estate sale contacts are some of the ways we are able to fill our customers' orders. We are always looking for clean, good condition, late-model automobiles. The hardest part of our job is to find the QUALITY automobile.

We can arrange pre-financing approval with one of several financial institutions we have working relationships with - or you can use your own bank. This is most helpful in determining the amounts of money you can comfortably afford for your automobile purchase.

We are very proud to report that over 90 percent of our business comes from referrals and repeat customers. Our philosophy has always been to buy our customer the most automobile possible for the least amount of money. We buy and sell for YOU, exactly the same way we would do for ourselves.

We don't go out and just buy any car. If we don't KNOW that it's right, we don't buy it. The secret, or key ingredient, is that one must KNOW whom they are buying from and exactly what they are buying.

Sometimes we are able to find our customer's desired automobile in a few days or even from immediate stock, but typically it takes two to three weeks and occasionally longer. The rule is that the more time we are given to fill the order, naturally the better the opportunity to find the RIGHT car at the RIGHT price.

Automobile manufacturers are obviously not stupid. Planned obsolescence, complicated tools, and computers are used to keep the public coming back. This too, means a typically never-ending auto loan we could all do without. The cars of today are much too sophisticated for anyone without the backup of a factory warranty to adequately service and repair in all too many cases.

Buying an automobile with factory warranty at a tremendous savings, dealing with experienced people who work for YOU, and quality personal attention add up to a wealth of satisfied customers, repeat business, and a referral base that has made OLD SOUTH AUTO BROKERS, INC. a success for you and me. Please allow us the opportunity to work with you.

Rick Catullo
Cathy Catullo