Our Story

Are we there yet? No, but we're on our way.

You've undoubtedly heard a child ask this dreaded question: Are we there yet? At Legacy, when someone asks this, the answer is always no. To say we've officially arrived would indicate complacency and a dull awareness of our ever-changing world. So we don't celebrate the destination. But we sure get excited about the evolving journey and its adaptable course-so excited, in fact, that it inspired our tagline: Let's drive.

We're proud to highlight things that demonstrate this forward thinking-like our compensation plan that rejects the traditional profit-based commissions paid by most dealers. Fair and transparent plans like this have helped shape our reputation as a customer-centric company with integrity. But it didn't happen overnight. It actually began in 1973, when the visionary who started this company first became a car enthusiast.

His Early Career

Edward worked in a metro area selling cars for a dealership with a culture that did not reflect his personal values. He observed co-workers who commonly combined high-pressure sales practices with twisting the truth. Salespeople had "anything goes" attitudes about making money, and it worked. He found himself wondering, "Is lack of integrity a necessary component in succeeding in the car business? Does the nice guy always finish last?" He soon realized, because he refused to play that game, that cars sales is not a zero-sum business: The dealership as well as its customers can-and should-both be winners. But in a large city during that time, dealers weren't much interested in customer loyalty; the numbers of the day were all that mattered.

Legacy Is Born

Edward worked in a metro area selling cars for a dealership with a culture that did not reflect his personal values. He observed co-workers who commonly combined high-pressure sales practices with twisting the truth. Salespeople had "anything goes" attitudes about making money, and it worked. He found himself wondering, "Is lack of integrity a necessary component in succeeding in the car business? Does the nice guy always finish last?" He soon realized, because he refused to play that game, that cars sales is not a zero-sum business: The dealership as well as its customers can-and should-both be winners. But in a large city during that time, dealers weren't much interested in customer loyalty; the numbers of the day were all that mattered.

Dedication is Key

Along with integrity and forward thinking, key to this success and rapid growth is Edward's dedication to family-his own as well as the families of his employees, and his community family. He has demonstrated this since the very beginning by providing health insurance for all full-time and many part-time employees. He reasoned that if he couldn't afford health care for his Legacy family, he couldn't afford to be in business. Legacy's community support is demonstrated through major sponsorships for area schools, such as the Legacy Nissan Classic at North Laurel High School, The GJ Smith Showcase at South Laurel High School and the iReady program at Corbin Elementary, among others. Additionally, the newly-formed Legacy GPS program is now serving area schools through investment-free fundraising opportunities, with the GPS Driver Network offering promotional assistance for the program.

Are we there yet? You know the answer to that. But we're making progress, as always, so stay tuned.