Apr 24, 2002 By Peggy Harris Associated Press Writer 2 min read

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – The world’s largest retailer is taking a test drive in the used-car business. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is planning to lease property adjacent to five of its stores in the Houston area to a Connecticut-based car sales company for six months, Wal-Mart spokesman Jay Allen said Tuesday.

Allen said Wal-Mart and Asbury Automotive Inc. will then evaluate the program and decide where to go from there. Wal-Mart’s only involvement will be to lease the property and help Asbury Automotive develop the program, he said.

By early May, Houston shoppers could be able to bank, get their hair done, buy groceries, new clothes and a car, gas up and go – all from the same location.

The Bentonville-based Wal-Mart and Asbury Automotive will announce later which five Wal-Mart locations in Texas will be the first to open the Price 1 Auto Stores. The store name refers to the “no haggle” set price for each vehicle, Allen said.

Each lot will have an assortment of 60 to 100 foreign and domestic cars, pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Allen would not say why Wal-Mart chose the Houston market for the new venture.

Advertising would be minimal and consist of posters in area stores, Allen said. “The whole idea is with Wal-Mart’s traffic, you don’t need to do much advertising,” he said.

The vehicles will be 1 to 4 years old with fewer than 75,000 miles and will be sold for less than the Kelley Blue Book value, said Allen Levenson, chief marketing officer at Asbury Automotive. The average retail price should be about $15,000. Asbury Automotive will put the vehicles “through a really terrific 70-point, bumper-to-bumper inspection” before putting them at the Price 1 stores, he said. Buyers will be given an “autobiography” that outlines the vehicle’s ownership history and what mechanics have fixed in the inspection. They also will be able to finance the cars through Price 1 and can return the vehicles for their money back within five days if they aren’t satisfied, Levenson said. After 30 days, customers can exchange the car for another if they are not satisfied.

The vehicles will come with a 99-day or 3,300-mile limited warranty with no deductible, he said.

Levenson said the venture was a first for Asbury Automotive, as well. While the company has sold thousands of new and used vehicles nationwide, this will be its first free-standing lots under the Price 1 name.