Courtesy of Kelly Stumpe
Kelly Stumpe, whose family operates Suntrup Automotive Group, has amassed 142,000 followers on her Instagram page. There, she reviews whether cars like this 2021 Audi e-tron might be a good fit for other mothers.
Kelly Stumpe, or @the_car_mom if you follow her on Instagram, grew up in the car industry. Her grandpa and his brother started the Suntrup car dealership in 1957, her dad and his brother grew the franchise to its current six locations, and Stumpe joined the family business shortly after she graduated from college. “I love selling cars and am super passionate about the entire sales process,” she says.
But as a new mom, Stumpe found that the hours of the car business didn’t work with her new schedule so she began doing more administrative work. She missed selling cars, so her husband suggested that she focus on selling cars to other St. Louis moms.
That’s when The Car Mom was born.
As soon as Stumpe began, she realized that this was bigger than just a St. Louis issue. She found that honest, reliable reviews were hard to come by and that many women felt that the entire car buying process was intimidating. So she created an Instagram account to give “honest reviews and show women what they actually want to see in a car,” she says. “I wanted to empower them to feel confident while car-buying.”
Courtesy of Kelly Stumpe
Within four months, she had 10,000 followers on Instagram. By nine months, that number jumped to 100,000. A year later, she says that she has, on average, 400 new followers a day.
She’s careful not to recommend a “best car for moms” because everyone has such different needs and preferences. “Women and mothers buy cars for so many different reasons and every car has the capacity to fit two car seats, so then it comes down to budget and aesthetics,” she says.
But she has a few favorites: In the mid-size range, she does like the Volkswagen Taos for its second-row bench seat. In the larger SUVs, she prefers the Ford Expedition because it offers great flexibility with car seat setups. And for minivans, she likes the Kia Carnival because it looks more like an SUV. “It’s pretty snazzy,” she says.
When you’re looking at cars, don’t just think about your current situation, think about what your life might look like in six to seven years. “I see a lot of people who do not anticipate their family’s growth,” Stumpe says, adding that it’s important to know that when a manufacturer says that a vehicle holds eight passengers, it doesn’t always mean that there’s room for eight people. It means that there are eight seatbelts.
Stumpe says that you should do your research to find the right salesperson: “Everyone goes on Google to read reviews on dealerships, but a good salesperson can make or break the experience.” She recommends dealerrater.com to find the right salesperson and make an appointment, because “if you just roll into a car dealership on a busy Saturday, you’re stuck with whoever doesn’t have a customer.”
In addition to her videos on YouTube and her blog, Stumpe hopes to begin offering an online course on how to buy a car.
