Not all of the lessons in the Walker Deibel playbook fit between its covers. One of the first bolt-on acquisitions Lucas Philips tried to close was a tiny shop in rural Oregon — a guy who had spent decades fabricating custom interiors for Porsches. Philips flew to Portland, grabbed a brand-new convertible Mustang on a free upgrade from his shiny new Hertz President’s Circle card, and spent three-and-a-half hours driving south through “the most beautiful” Oregon landscape toward the seller’s property. The owner had originally quoted $40,000 for the operation. Two days later, after watching Philips pull up in a gleaming convertible and spend time on site, he decided the price should be more like $320,000.
“I regret that so much to this day,” Philips said. “I should have just taken the Camry.”
