After graduating from college, John Vance moved to Tulsa and began his career in automotive sales. John’s successes in sales with a Tulsa Pontiac dealer allowed him to move up the ladder to Sales Management and continue to prosper.

In March 1983, John purchased and began operations of his first dealership located at the I-35 and South Guthrie Exit in Guthrie, Oklahoma. This allowed him to move his growing family closer to Edmond where he had spent his childhood. John recognized that the location of the Dealership property, a previous wheat field in Logan County, allowed a definite sales advantage over other Metro-Area dealerships. “In Logan County, land was still being sold by the acre, not by the square foot, as in Edmond and many locations in Oklahoma County.” Mandated by law, all Dealers pay the same price for cars and trucks from the factory; therefore, having lower overhead allows this dealership to aggressively sell vehicles for less than the competition.

The original dealership consisted of General Motors franchises of Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, GMC trucks. The Service Department staff thoroughly reconditioned pre-owned vehicles and emphasized preventative maintenance and safety related repairs. Capitalizing on the low overhead advantage, during December 1984, sales of the new GM and quality used vehicles had increased five hundred percent over previous Dealer Operators at this location. John believes in the old saying, “the customer is always right”; by following this philosophy, the Dealership personnel had achieved one of the highest Customer Satisfaction Indexes (CSI) ratings in the entire zone.

In September 1987, the dealership added the Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge franchises. John Vance Motors became the only dealership in the Oklahoma City Metro area to offer the full line of Chrysler products; again another advantage over the competition. Sales records continued to be broken, year after year. While many dealers chose to invest their profits in new facilities and advertising, John’s philosophy was to reinvest profits in state-of-the-art equipment and hiring personnel to meet the ever-growing needs of the dealership’s customer base, enabling a high lever of integrity at a low cost to the customer. Exceeding customer expectations and offering competitive low prices became the day-by-day goal and expectation of dealership personnel. This philosophy has been the number one influence on the growth and success of the dealership.

Impressed with the Customer Satisfaction ratings, track record and standards that John Vance Motors had established, Ford Motor Company approached John in July 1992 with the opportunity of adding Ford and Mercury products. By the fall, ground was broken and construction began on land adjacent to the existing facility. Country Ford-Mercury, Inc. began operation January 2, 1993, utilizing the same philosophy and standards established by the personnel of the original dealership. Utilizing the experience he had gained from the previous ten years as a Dealer, John designed the new store to be cost efficient and customer friendly, enabling lower overhead costs which in turn allowed those savings to be passed on to the customer.

July 1995 brought the purchase of the Chevrolet-Oldsmobile franchise in Perry, Oklahoma by John and his new partner, Mike Ruble. Prior to this partnership, Mike had previously set sales records at both Guthrie dealerships, and had managed the sales department of Country Ford-Mercury. Ruble-Vance Chevrolet, Inc. located just off the town square, in downtown Perry, utilized the same business philosophies as the Guthrie locations and has seen phenomenal growth since its inception. In 2002, John and Mike expanded their Chevrolet holdings to include the Ruble-Vance Autoplex in Vernon, Texas, which carries Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac, Buick and Cadillac. They also acquired the Charles Wise GMC, Pontiac, and Buick dealership in Perry during January 2005.

Dr. Jim Newby joined the John Vance Auto Group to form Newby-Vance Mobility in January 1996, with the goal of developing innovative constructs to meet the transportation and mobility needs of children youth and adults with disabilities. Dr. Newby further developed and implemented initiatives which include: establishment of “one-stop” service; staff training on function and use of TDD for persons with hearing impairment; agreement and liaison development with nation-wide mini-van, van lift/ramp and hand control manufacturers to adapt and provide assistance based technology services and devices for people with disabilities; therefore, becoming the first automobile dealership in Oklahoma to provide test drives of vehicles for people with physical disabilities, prior to purchase; becoming the first automotive dealership in the state to market accessible mini-vans. This also allows John Vance Motors to become the first GM dealership in the nation to become an adaptive equipment service and sales dealer with Braun and Bruno Corporations.

Vance Ford Lincoln Mercury in Miami, Oklahoma joined the John Vance Auto Group in March 2005. By implementing the same John Vance philosophy as the original dealership, it is sure to have great success.