Three Montavilla car lots sit empty along 82nd Avenue at the end of 2025, marking a shift in an area known as Portland’s used car destination for budget-conscious buyers. It is not uncommon for locations to change tenants and for lots to relocate within the area. However, some auto industry businesses blame City-led changes to infrastructure and potential tax increases for adding to their operating pressures.
Hood To Coast Auto Sales relocated to 428 SE 82nd Avenue in 2021, having outgrown a location near NE Sandy Boulevard and NE 138th Avenue. From the prominent SE Stark Street corner, owners Lindsey Barber and Matt Barber ran the used-car lot for four years until staff recently cleared out the inventory in November. By mid December, the lot was empty, and the property’s owner, Harry John, placed a “for rent” sign on the sales lot’s fence.
82nd Auto Mall recently closed its 1164 SE 82nd Avenue location this year, as the property’s owner seeks to sell the three-quarter-acre site that once housed a Triple XXX Drive-In. Previously, the used auto sales lot bounced around the area with a stint at 1205 SE 82nd Avenue from 2003 to 2009. It served customers from 707 SE 82nd Avenue in 2010 and 2011, then moved back to 1205 SE 82nd Avenue in 2013, before setting up in its last location around 2021.
Atlas Motors expanded from its 605 SE 82nd Avenue location to the adjacent vehicle sales lot at 707 SE 82nd Avenue around 2012. Royal Motors and 82nd Auto Mall previously worked from the space. This fall, Atlas Motors consolidated its inventory to its original lot and vacated the expansion space. Sales Manager at Atlas Motors, Madjid Okhovat, explained that it is not a lack of vehicles impacting these changes. From his perspective, it is interference by local and state governments.
Nationally, automotive sales are declining in some segments. On December 16th, the U.S. Census Bureau released data on national retail and food sales for October, showing a 1.6% drop in motor vehicle and auto parts sales. However, that data focuses on the new- and late-model used-vehicle market. Cars on 82nd Avenue primarily fall into the below $15,000 segment, which is less volatile. Okhovat said that customers he sees shopping for a car on 82nd Avenue are budget-conscious. “Most people shopping on 82nd Avenue are working-class people with blue-collar jobs who need dependable cars to get to work, spending $7,000 to $10,000… Now people are also having trouble making that fit into their budget.” He noted that the average age of vehicles on the road is creeping to 13 years old, as people avoid the cost of an upgrade. At the same time, new vehicle prices approach $50,000, and late-model used cars still sell for substantially more than the average 82nd Avenue price, driving commuters to 82nd Avenue for affordable options.
Okhovat noted that not all car sales lots along the former State Highway are reputable, and some bad behavior toward customers has given 82nd Avenue a lower reputation. He says Atlas Motors will repeatedly encounter customers who bought a vehicle with significant issues from another lot and found the seller is no longer in business or unwilling to help. A recent Reddit conversation echoed that perception, with several commenters stating that Atlas had treated them well in comparison.
When asked about the conspicuously vacant lots surrounding his workplace, Madjid Okhovat said he felt it was due to pressures from local officials. He explained that new center-lane raised medians were recently installed by the City in front of Atlas Motors, and that the former Hood to Coast lots block left turns into their property. He also noted that proposed plans for 82nd Avenue Transit and Safety Improvements will extend those medians south to similarly block 707 SE 82nd Avenue and the former 82nd Auto Mall lots. He feels that those changes, along with the possibility that Portland could convert the outer travel lanes on 82nd Avenue into Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes, weaken the future prosperity of a used-car business in the area. Selling used vehicles in the lower price range has many risks, and Okhovat said that current and pending fees impacting the automotive industry are making it tough for buyers with limited funds. Consequently, he thinks, used vehicle sellers are anticipating a challenging marketplace and can no longer operate at the same level they have been.
These current car lot vacancies may be a coincidence of timing in the business cycle of used car sales on 82nd Avenue. However, operators willing to discuss their experiences along 82nd Avenue are not optimistic about the future prosperity of automotive-oriented businesses on the avenue. Atlas Motors has a long history in the area that they intend to build on, and it is possible that vacant lots will fill with another similar business, but at the moment, the empty spaces have attracted the attention of the community as a visible signal of change.
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