Fix, finance, thrive: a family-run dealer’s growth story

Before Affiniti

A sharp eye for inventory, and no eye on the spend

Before founding Covedale Motors, Nathan Valerius spent over 15 years in California as a real estate investor, specializing in the purchase and rehabilitation of distressed rental properties. He built a reputation for spotting overlooked assets and turning them into thriving ventures, a skill he later carried into the auto industry.

Nathan noticed how insurance companies often wrote off cars as total losses due to minor damage. With consumers turning to Uber, Lyft, and affordable used cars, he saw an opportunity: buy repairable vehicles at auction, fix them cost-effectively, and resell them. Just as he had done with distressed houses, Nathan turned overlooked cars into reliable, affordable transportation, and a growing business.

To get Covedale Motors off the ground, Nathan leaned on an American Express card from his real estate days to pay for vehicles and parts. It worked, but it didn’t run the business. Employees made purchases he couldn’t see until the statement came, and a card built for travel had nothing to say about who bought what at the parts counter or whether it belonged on the job.

The switch

The trial run that took over the dealership

As a longtime member of NIADA and OIADA, Nathan relies on their resources to run his dealership, and when they endorse something, he pays attention. He wasn’t planning to replace his AmEx, but he figured the card was worth trying.

“To be honest, I’m a big fan of American Express. I wasn’t looking for an alternative. I even told my team to just use the card for gas or basic expenses,” Nathan admitted.

Then the approval came back. Right from the start, Nathan had a $30,000 credit limit, with buying power 24 hours after he applied. “With AmEx, I started off with something a lot smaller, then built my way up over the years to a $35,000 line. To be honest, I was quite shocked that the Affiniti team would invest that much into my business without a pre-existing relationship in place. That says a lot to me.”

A gas card does not get that kind of attention for long. Within months, the AmEx was the backup.

Running the dealership on Affiniti

The $1,800 cart that never left the store

What moved the card from backup to primary was visibility. Every purchase on every card triggers a text alert on Nathan’s phone the moment it happens, and the first time that mattered, it paid for itself.

“Some of my guys wanted to buy auto parts that usually run a few hundred dollars. Within 30 seconds of their $1,800 purchase, I got an alert, called them right away, and had them return the entire cart before checking out again.”

The alert is the part Nathan noticed. The spend controls behind it are what keep the next $1,800 cart from happening. Each card on Affiniti carries its own policy: a daily cap sized to a normal parts run, a card locked to the parts store so it only works at the parts store, a limit for auction day that closes when the sale ends. A new hire gets a card with guardrails on day one, and the owner finds out about a purchase before it clears, not when the statement arrives.

Buying power from day one

A used car dealer’s inventory is cash on a lot. The faster Nathan can buy, repair, and list a car, the faster that cash comes back. Twenty-four hours after applying, he had $30,000 to work with, enough to stock parts and fill the lot without waiting on a bank or burning through personal credit.

More than $130,000 in vehicles and parts has run through Affiniti since. For a dealer whose average car sells for under $8,000, that is a lot of inventory bought, fixed, and turned on a line that arrived in a day.

The results

How Covedale buys inventory and watches its spend now

Nathan took the card as a favor to his association and expected to use it for gas. It is now how Covedale Motors buys inventory and watches its spend.

What that looks like in practice:

• $30,000 in buying power within 24 hours, versus years of incremental increases to reach a similar line elsewhere.
• An $1,800 overspend caught in 30 seconds and returned before checkout, the first month the alerts were on.
• More than $130,000 in vehicles and parts bought on Affiniti since joining.
• Every employee purchase visible as it happens, with per-card limits and vendor locks replacing after-the-fact statement reviews.
• A primary card that was underwritten on the business, not on a years-long relationship.

Today, when a Covedale tech walks up to the parts counter, the card decides whether the purchase goes through and Nathan knows about it before the tech is back in the truck. When a car he wants comes up at auction, the line is there to buy it the same day.

Nathan’s advice to other auto dealers

Nathan’s advice has nothing to do with cards. It is about buying what sells, which is the same discipline that made him look twice at a card he had no intention of using.

“To be honest, a lot of businesses are ego-driven. I’ve seen dealers buy cars they personally like, assuming that’s what the market wants. That kind of thinking, and the refusal to pivot, is a recipe for disaster. I focus on buying cars the market actually demands. I never expected a third of my lot to be Hyundais, but I was proven wrong.”

The same goes for how he runs the money side of the dealership. “I’m excited to keep growing as a family-run business,” he said, “and I see Affiniti as a key stepping stone, helping set up the future owners of Covedale Motors to continue that growth.”

Credit limits subject to approval and underwriting.