Used car dealers and car salesmen in general don’t have great reputations, and their practices have become the basis for jokes that are practically part of the collective consciousness.
That’s backed up by a 2025 Gallup poll, which shows nurses on one end and car salespeople on the opposite end of the trust spectrum.
“In addition to nurses’ 75% ‘very high’ or ‘high’ rating, of the professions tracked regularly, medical doctors (57%) and pharmacists (53%) again earn majority-level scores for their honesty and ethical standards. In contrast, telemarketers (5%), members of Congress (7%), and car salespeople (7%) remain the lowest-rated professions for ethics,” Gallup’s data showed.
America’s Car-Mart has a bigger problem than its reputation, but being one of America’s least-trusted professions isn’t much of a selling point when car prices remain high.
The used car dealer cast doubt on its ability to survive in its annual report, issuing what’s known as a “going concern” warning.
It admitted in that SEC document to “the existence of substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
America’s Car-Mart has been working with its lenders
The company offered more detail about its financial situation and the attempts being taken to resolve it.
“As previously disclosed, the company remains engaged in an evaluation of strategic alternatives, overseen by a special committee of the company’s board of directors and which may include potential financing, recapitalization, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, and other transactions,” it shared in the SEC filing, which was published in June.
At the same time, America’s Car-Mart entered into an amendment to its Credit and Guaranty Agreement with Silver Point Finance, LLC, as administrative agent, and the company’s lenders, as part of its efforts to preserve liquidity and advance its ongoing strategic alternatives process.
“Under the terms of the Amendment, the company must satisfy certain milestones, and the lenders have agreed to waive specified defaults and events of default under the Credit Agreement and to provide covenant relief for a defined period. The Amendment provides for an initial period running through early September 2026,” it shared in a press release.
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In July, in its fourth-quarter earnings release, America’s Car-Mart confirmed it has consolidated 60 dealership locations in the period of 12 months (from April 30, 2025, to April 30, 2026). The company’s active dealership count decreased from 154 to 94, resulting in a 40% reduction.
By consolidation, the company meant it transferred the customers and loans from the 60 closed locations to nearby stores, or, when there was no convenient location, loan processing centers.
America’s Car-Mart faces a significant threat to its survival.
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America’s Car-Mart has had five extensions
While the original deadline to make a deal has passed, America’s Car-Mart has been granted five one-week extensions by its lenders, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The latest extension expires after Oct. 8.
America’s Car-Mart, however, does believe a deal can still be made.
“The company believes it has made significant progress towards a transaction and that discussions remain active with third-parties, the Agent, and the Lenders,” it shared in a Sept. 30 8-K filing with with SEC.
It also acknowledged that a deal may not happen.
“There can be no assurance that the company will satisfy the conditions to a permanent waiver of such defaults, that the company’s review of strategic and financing alternatives will result in any transaction or other outcome favorable to the company or its stockholders or that the company will be able to achieve a sustainable capital structure,” it added.
America’s Car-Mart meets a need
America’s Car-Mart posted a loss of more than $139 million in fiscal 2026, including an over $29 million loss in the fourth quarter, according to its Q4 earnings release.
CEO Douglas Campbell explained during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call that its customers weren’t going anywhere.
“Working families need reliable transportation and fair access to financing, and that need isn’t going away.
America’s Car-Mart uses a model aimed at lower-income customers who may not qualify for funding at traditional dealers.
“We have a strong tradition in the buy-here-pay-here industry of serving hard-working Americans by providing used-car financing and delivering quality used vehicles at affordable prices,” the company shared on its website.
In Feb., the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Housing, Banking, and Urban Affairs ranking member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) sent a letter to Campbell requesting America’s Car-Mart’s auto repossessionpractices and error rates.
The letter was blunt in its assessment of the Buy-Here-Pay-Here (BHPH) model America’s Car-Mart uses.
“BHPH dealers provide financing to individuals who may not meet the qualifications for standard lenders and who may also end up paying higher rates and/or have large down payment requirements. It was reported that between 2018 and 2020, BHPH lenders wrote off more than 35% of their loans,” the senators wrote.
The accusations got more serious, but no actual charges were made specifically about America’s Car-Mart.
“There is also evidence that repossessions are built into BHPH dealers’ business models and that defaults and repossessions may actually be more beneficial to BHPH dealers than a consumer’s successful completion of all the required payments,” added the senators.
The letter was just a request and had no legal standing. Warren’s office has not shared a direct response from America’s Car-Mart.
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