What do you drive? A used Volvo. My problem was that I love cars and if I could, I’d buy everything I liked. So we made a rule: We don’t buy cars. When someone comes looking for a car, I don’t have a used car lot. I can’t say, “Here, buy mine!” Instead, I show them what’s available on the market, from dealers I know to be trustworthy, then let the client choose. It lets us find the best deal for the customer.Israel’s status car? Probably isn’t one. Most people just want to go from A to Z without getting to know their mechanic very well.High moment: Helping people out of a jam. Sometimes a new immigrant, who’s inexperienced in the industry, buys a used car, spending every shekel he has on it. Three days later, the car is making funny noises, and he finds out that his car is actually parts of two damaged cars welded together.It’s worthless – and, worse yet, unsafe. So he comes to me with almost no money left. We find him a car, arrange the financing, whatever it takes. Or the woman who’d been told she’d paid the full price for an imported car, then got a bill for NIS 65,000 from customs. She’d been cheated. Helping someone who’s suffered like that feels good.Low moment: I sometimes feel like I’m walking a tightrope. Everyone dislikes a car salesman; it’s worse than being a politician. But sometimes I make a mistake, too.One time I relied on bad directions and arrived an hour late and really got chewed out. I do the best I can, but I’m a sensitive guy, too. It hurts.Controversial? We say we’re the only honest used car salesmen in Israel, which tends to be controversial among other salesmen. Actually, we work with several others who are fine people, 100% straight. We love them.Perks? It’s a beautiful thing to help someone live in Israel, whatever part you play. When a mother gets a car, meaning she won’t have to walk her kids up the hill to school every day, that’s a fun thing to do.Biggest accomplishment? Staying happy. It’s not easy to stay happy, to stay in love, to keep those things as a top priority.Dream? To become a household name. When someone wants a safe car without getting ripped off, they’d know to call ZviCars.
Working week: Ezra Benjamin of Zvi Cars
If a person is a new immigrant, not fluent in Hebrew, horror stories are not uncommon.
What do you drive? A used Volvo. My problem was that I love cars and if I could, I’d buy everything I liked. So we made a rule: We don’t buy cars. When someone comes looking for a car, I don’t have a used car lot. I can’t say, “Here, buy mine!” Instead, I show them what’s available on the market, from dealers I know to be trustworthy, then let the client choose. It lets us find the best deal for the customer.Israel’s status car? Probably isn’t one. Most people just want to go from A to Z without getting to know their mechanic very well.High moment: Helping people out of a jam. Sometimes a new immigrant, who’s inexperienced in the industry, buys a used car, spending every shekel he has on it. Three days later, the car is making funny noises, and he finds out that his car is actually parts of two damaged cars welded together.It’s worthless – and, worse yet, unsafe. So he comes to me with almost no money left. We find him a car, arrange the financing, whatever it takes. Or the woman who’d been told she’d paid the full price for an imported car, then got a bill for NIS 65,000 from customs. She’d been cheated. Helping someone who’s suffered like that feels good.Low moment: I sometimes feel like I’m walking a tightrope. Everyone dislikes a car salesman; it’s worse than being a politician. But sometimes I make a mistake, too.One time I relied on bad directions and arrived an hour late and really got chewed out. I do the best I can, but I’m a sensitive guy, too. It hurts.Controversial? We say we’re the only honest used car salesmen in Israel, which tends to be controversial among other salesmen. Actually, we work with several others who are fine people, 100% straight. We love them.Perks? It’s a beautiful thing to help someone live in Israel, whatever part you play. When a mother gets a car, meaning she won’t have to walk her kids up the hill to school every day, that’s a fun thing to do.Biggest accomplishment? Staying happy. It’s not easy to stay happy, to stay in love, to keep those things as a top priority.Dream? To become a household name. When someone wants a safe car without getting ripped off, they’d know to call ZviCars.