When Taddarell “TQ” Qualls negotiated a car deal for a friend in the early ‘90s, it drove him right into the automobile business.
“I felt like I was good at negotiating,” said Qualls, who now owns and operates Top Quality Auto Consultants, a leader in local African-American car sales.
As his business’ name signals, Qualls’ niche hinges on consulting, and includes post-deal services that feature discount parts and maintenance.
Consultation includes credit, finance, brokerage (locating cars for buyers at wholesale price) and beating high interest rates.
Top Quality Auto’s brokerage network consists of foreign and domestic dealership, which include Chevy, Porshe, Mercedes, Acura, Honda, Rover, BMW, Infiniti, Toyota, Cadillac, Ford, Dodge and Lexus.
“We’re consultants – not salespeople people – and we’re dedicated to being up front because we want our customers to be educated,” Qualls said.
“We guide them toward the best deal and provide service and consultation after the sale.”
Qualls added that his business has a vast variety of connections to facilitate customers in their related endeavors.
Top Quality Auto Consultants specializes in luxury, certified low-mileage, pre-owned vehicles and financing for customers with less-than-perfect credit.
Qualls was inspired to work with under-served consumers who often have less-than-perfect to no credit because of a prior community service experience while attending Lincoln University.
“A lot of times, people lack the knowledge and are convinced they can’t ride in a nice car, but that doesn’t always have to be true,” Qualls said.
Qualls, an East St. Louis native, acquired a B.S. in marketing at LU and pledged Kappa Alpha Psi.
But it was his late father, a former small businessman, who fueled his ambitions beyond a nine-to-five to provide comfort for his family, especially after Qualls lost his brother to violence.
“I wanted to do more than stabilize my family – I had to make it happen,” he said.
Things started happening soon after college when Qualls took notice of his negotiating skills.
Within two years he jump-started a vehicle brokerage firm that ran for seven years. He transported the knowledge from his first venture into wholesaling and dealing.
Qualls grew the business into what is now Top Quality Auto Consultants.
He brought on Dino Deros, who has extensive experience as an auto retailer at mid- to major-sized dealerships.
The two met and dealt with one another while Qualls was still wholesaling vehicles. Deros now serves as general finance manager. The two bring a combined 25 years of experience in the auto industry.
Deros takes pride in defying popular perception that people in the car sales sector are dishonest and prey on potential buyers.
“We have a lot of repeat customers and referrals because of how we do business here,” Deros said.
Qualls said, “My company vision was to combat the tricks and trades of the automotive industry to which unsuspecting consumers are often subjected. The sole foundation of the company is to assist our clients in making smart decisions with the automotive purchasing process.”
Qualls said that building relationships, creativity and dedication has led to Top Quality Auto Consultants’ premier status in the business.
“People think it’s just the price, but the product might be sub par,” said Deros.
“But then you can get a good product and the service be bad. So we make sure we are good in every department.”
