Welcome to Bodhi Motors
Bodhi Motors is a small, independent used car dealership in Tama, Iowa. I'm involved in pretty much every part of the business, from finding and buying inventory to getting vehicles ready for sale, photographing them, listing them, and working directly with customers.
The dealership officially started in 2023, but the buying and selling started quite a few years before that.
It started with my first car
I bought my first car before I could even drive it. I had saved money from mowing family members' yards and from a litter of Labrador puppies from my Lab, and eventually bought a 2004 Audi A6.
I didn't keep it long. I sold it and, right before I turned 16, bought a 1988 Mustang GT convertible. That was probably where the buying and selling addiction really started.
Through high school I wheeled and dealed my way through more than 10 cars, mostly different Audis, Volkswagens, and whatever else caught my interest, plus a few golf carts. I was constantly on Marketplace looking for the next deal, fixing or cleaning up what I bought, driving it for a while, and eventually selling it to move on to something else.
Turning a hobby into a business
I kept doing the same thing through college, except by then it was helping pay for school and living expenses.
Along the way I learned how to diagnose and repair cars, detail them, take better pictures, write listings, and figure out what was actually worth buying.
I briefly tried selling cars at a franchise dealership and lasted about three months.
I realized pretty quickly that just selling cars wasn't the part I liked.
I liked the whole process — finding the car, making the deal, getting it ready, marketing it, and selling it myself.
So I decided to figure out what it would take to do it on my own.
Bodhi Motors
In April 2023, I got my dealer's license and started Bodhi Motors. A few months later, I bought the property in Tama where the dealership operates today.
The property needed plenty of work when I bought it. Improving the shop and lot has been an ongoing project alongside building the dealership itself.
Since then, I've been learning every part of the business as I go — buying inventory, repairing and reconditioning vehicles, improving the property, handling the financial and regulatory side, and working directly with customers.
Bodhi Motors is still a one-man operation, and that's something I actually like about it. If you see a vehicle for sale here, I'm probably the person who found it, bought it, got it ready, photographed it, listed it, and answered your call or message.
There's still a lot I want to build here, but the part I enjoy most hasn't changed much since I was 15 — finding a good car, making it better, and moving on to the next one.