Paradise Motors Mt Pleasant Sc

Hall of Fame boxer finds paradise in used-car sales business east ...

Looked at one way, Johnny Boyd spent more than 30 years fighting to get where he is today.

Boyd boxed in Golden Gloves as a youth and young adult, entering the South Carolina Boxing Hall of Fame a few years ago. And he worked in the car business for decades before he was fortunate enough to own an outlet outright.

Yet it wasn't that big a battle; in fact, it's been a fun time for the most part. Boyd said he picked out a name early on for what he would call a business - any business - of his own.

"Paradise," he said. Like the song, "It's Just Another Day in Paradise." To show he's not kidding, Boyd wears Hawaiian shirts to work every day, noting he has a collection of 40 or more.

Boyd, born in Charleston and raised east of the Cooper, launched Johnny Boyd's Paradise Motors in 2005.

"In four years, we've had a little bit of everything," he said, "from a $75,000 Mercedes to a 1965 Mustang convertible right now."

The used car spot at 594 Johnnie Dodds Blvd. offers an array of pre-owned vehicles, with 35 to 40 on the lot at any one time. "It's a great location, near the (Ravenel) bridge, he said.

While figures can vary, the cars are primarily two to 10 years old and priced from $8,000 to $15,000. Most of the vehicles are imports such as Mercedes, Land Rover, BMW, Honda and Toyota, but Boyd also sells Ford and other domestics.

Typically, the vehicles have 60,000 to 100,000 miles. "I really look at the condition," Boyd said. That's why the mileage can vary. A car with 95,000 miles on it can be saleable as long as it's in good shape.

Paradise Motors gets most of its vehicles from customer trade-ins or wholesale purchases from local new car dealers. "You know more about the (car's) background," he said.

The lot has had at least one celebrity buyer. Mount Pleasant resident Darius Rucker, lead singer of the band Hootie and the Blowfish and more recently a country music artist, bought a pre-owned Mercedes CL500 coupe a few months ago.

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