You Won’t Get Rich on Mobile Service — But You’ll Lose Without It with Joe Castelino, Ephraim Barcelo and Cody Collins

Send us a text

This exclusive interview series from Automobility LA at the LA Auto Show is brought to you by Cars Commerce.

The next battle for customer loyalty won’t be won in the service drive… but in their driveway.

Recorded live at the LA Auto Show, this roundtable pulls together three very different perspectives with one shared problem: the customer has moved on, but most service departments haven’t. With Joe Castellino from a multi-store group, Eve Barcelo from a single-point Toyota dealership, and Cody Collins representing General Motors’ fleet and commercial arm, the conversation rips into how Amazon, DoorDash, and on-demand everything have completely rewritten expectations around convenience, timing, and control. The old “drag them to the dealership” model is colliding with a world where customers have 16 other places they can service their vehicle — and they’re taking those options.

What starts as a talk about mobile service turns into a masterclass on retention, infrastructure, and brand perception. The group breaks down how recalls and software flashes are being handled in customers’ driveways, how rental fleets are now demanding on-site service, and why some dealers went from one mobile unit to three in six months. They’re honest about the mistakes (like trying to DIY mobile service out of a random vehicle) and clear about the upside: you won’t get rich off mobile service alone, but it might be the single biggest lever for keeping customers loyal over the 13 years they hold onto a car.

Timestamped Takeaways

0:00 Why Service Is Changing Faster Than Sales

0:08 Three Perspectives: A Dealer Group, a Single-Point Store & an OEM

2:23 The Consumer Has Changed… and Dealers Haven’t

3:14 The “16 Other Options” Problem No One Wants to Admit

4:54 Why Convenience Became the New Currency in Service

5:27 How Toyota’s First Mobile Dealer Made the Leap

6:06 Recalls at the Customer’s Doorstep: The Reality of 2025 Service

7:12 Fleet & Rental Demand: When Enterprise and Avis Start Calling You

9:37 When One Mobile Van Turns Into Three — in Six Months

11:24 The DIY Mobile Service Disaster Every Dealer Tries Once

13:01 OEM View: The Push to Modernize the Entire Service Experience

15:59 The Real ROI: Retention, Loyalty & Winning the Long Game

18:06 Mobile Service as Infrastructure — Not a Side Project

Connect with Joe Castelino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joecastelino

Connect with Ephraim Barcelo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ephraim-barcelo-a464aa135

Connect with Cody Collins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cody-c-b31aa81b

Learn more about Curbee: https://www.curbee.com/

⭐️ Love the podcast? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your LinkedIn or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally!

We have a daily email!

https://www.asotu.com

✉️ Sign up for our free and fun-to-read daily email for a quick shot of relevant news in automotive retail, media, and pop culture.

🎧 Like and follow our other podcasts:

1. Automotive State of the Union
2. ASOTU CON Sessions