The parking lot is one of the most important and underrated aspects of any car dealership. It’s essentially the canvas for every vehicle you want to display. There are a variety of things that influence the overall quality of your lot, but its condition, color, and the material it’s made from can directly impact your sales.
As it stands, most car dealerships use asphalt for their parking lots because almost every parking lot in America is made from it. It’s the default material for car dealership lots and many are unknowingly sacrificing sales due to their run-down asphalt lots.
As the owner of a car dealership, your main goal should be to boost your sales and save as much money as possible by eliminating unnecessary expenses around your lot.
In case you’re interested in taking your dealership to the next level, let’s take a look at the downsides of asphalt parking lots, as well as what the best types of parking lots for car dealerships are right now.
Asphalt is Outdated and Expensive
Asphalt was originally introduced as one of the most cost-effective auto dealer lot solutions but with today’s stormwater detention and impervious cover restrictions, the cost of the asphalt alone doesn’t tell the whole story. And maintenance is frequent and expensive. Not only does it crack and get sticky on hot summer days, but it can also unravel or even shift and separate, leading to huge crevices in some parking lots. Not only that, who wants to stand on a steaming hot asphalt lot in the middle of the summer where temperatures climb exponentially due to heat absorption properties of the blacktop.
Asphalt does not stand up to cold winter temps very well either, often allowing water to seep through the surface and cause a ton of damage within the surface of the lot. This can end up causing ruts, divots, and even sinkholes in your lot.
The potential for vehicle damage is present with asphalt, but the main issues with it are the heat island effect and the maintenance that it requires when it inevitably falls into disrepair.
The heat island effect is caused when your black parking lot absorbs and retains heat from the Sun, creating an uncomfortably hot situation for both your customers and you. This can end up forcing a potential buyer away before they’ve had a chance to browse as much as they wanted to, a major missed opportunity.
Asphalt also unravels over time due to recurring traffic, which means you will need to resurface your lot every 10 years or so. This is not a cheap project, costing over $10,000 on average, sometimes much more.
The downsides of asphalt are that it can damage the atmosphere of your lot and make your vehicles seem cheaper than they really are, which is why you need a better solution.
Permeable Pavement Parking Lots are the Wave of the Future
If you want a dealership parking lot that looks just as, if not better than a fresh asphalt lot, with none of the downsides that come with maintaining asphalt, permeable pavers are the answer. The TRUEGRID PRO PLUS system, for example, is perfect for commercial use and will save you money in more ways than one.
Both stylistically diverse and uniquely beautiful, permeable plastic pavement is also much more durable than asphalt. It won’t break down in any weather and doesn’t react to Sun exposure either. For this reason, it will require almost zero maintenance throughout its entire lifetime.
There’s also the fact that permeable plastic pavement, like the kind produced by TRUEGRID, is essentially it’s own drainage system, allowing rainwater to pass directly through it and into the soil beneath. It typically is coded as pervious cover and you can actually use the system for stormwater detention, eliminating detention pond expenses.
This eliminates the need for sharp parking lot sloping as well as costly drainage systems and water detention pods. By eliminating the need for water detention pods, you can use that much more of your land for parking vehicles. Like 100 % of it.
TRUEGRID Permeable Pavers and Hardscape Hybrid
Another option is to use TRUEGRID in your parking spaces and hardscape like asphalt or concrete in your drive lanes.This helps reduce detention requirements and impervious cover restrictions but allows for more traditional approach to the pavement.
AutoNation and Cox Automotive are two auto mega-brands that have TRUEGRID parking lots.
Maximize your lot with SuperSpot® parking markers that come in a variety of colors for visually-pleasing, maintenance-free lot lines that never need to be repainted. You can also choose from a selection of different types of aggregate, depending on your personal preference.
When you take into account all the features and benefits of TRUEGRID permeable pavers, there’s no doubt that they are the best solution for car dealership parking. Not only will your vehicles look better parked on a clean-cut permeable paver lot, you can also save a ton of money on long-term maintenance, and eliminate the need for costly drainages systems and detention ponds as well.
In addition to the elimination of the heat island effect, as well as lot lines that will never fade, it’s not hard to see why dealership owners across the country are making the switch to permeable pavers.
If you’re interested in transforming your dealership parking lot and giving your business a much-needed makeover, don’t hesitate to call us. Contact a paving professional at TRUEGRID for a quote today.
