The Bus From Lodi

The Bus from Lodi is a mythical figure in the world of a Car Man. I suspect that no matter where you go in this great land of ours, every Car Man has his version of it. Whether it’s the Bus from Hackensack or the Bus from Tacoma, the myth of a magic bus has been around for as long as I’ve been in the business, and I suppose it will continue to be long after I’ve got to that great used car lot in the sky.

As the story goes, the Bus from Lodi is always just about to arrive at your dealership. Most popularly, it’s rumored to be pulling up right after the Saturday morning sales meeting. The bus is said to be full of lay downs, all qualified and ready to go. The cash buyers sit on the driver’s side of the bus; the credit customers on their right, filled out credit apps ready on their laps, cash down payments in their pockets. So don’t go to an early lunch. You might lose out!

I often wondered why the bus was coming from Lodi, which is a city about 80 miles from the Bay Area. Why not the bus from San Jose or Oakland? Well, scratch Oakland, too many credit criminals. Out here in the west Lodi has a popular place in our imaginations ever since Creedence Clearwater Revival got stuck there in the 60’s. (If you don’t get this reference, I’m too weary to explain it to you.) Lodi is the “Everytown”, the representation of a typical American city. Instead of a city made of gold, it’s a city full of buyers.

I always imagined the passengers on the Bus from Lodi as a bunch of big dummies with a way to go. They’d all have decent enough credit. They’d all buy something in stock. Throw in a warranty and some snake oil to keep F&I happy. After delivery, they would all drive off, smiles on their faces never to be seen again. (It’s nice to have a car deal without any heat.)

One day in the late 1970’s I was working at Hayward Datsun in Hayward, California. When we arrived to work one bright Saturday morning, there was a big yellow school bus parked in front. On the side it said, “Lodi Unified School District”. The crew went crazy! We got my brother’s Polaroid camera and snapped several pictures of us standing beside the bus. No one was in it. The driver, I guessed, had dropped off a group of kids for a ball game or something and had gone out to breakfast. It sat out there for a couple of hours and suddenly it was gone.

Alas, the Bus from Lodi had finally arrived, and it was empty!

Ever since that time I have always felt a little twinge whenever a bus travels past the dealership I’m working at. Just once I would like that bus to stop and disgorge a couple of buyers. Wouldn’t that be nice? Of, if only this was a perfect world!

Because in a perfect world, it would happen.

Where is your Bus from Lodi coming from? Please leave a comment if you wish.


Talk to you later,



David