I don't know if that's really true in the US, but it certainly isn't in the UK or the rest of Europe. Most cars taken in "part exchange" are either scrapped or (occasionally, for the very best vehicles) sold to a company for resale at a very low price. They take them as sweeteners for the sale, no more. It's illegal to re-sell used electrical goods without tests and certification that make such a sale totally uneconomic - I know, I scrapped a fridge freezer when I sold a house in the UK recently because I couldn't sell it. It was only 7 months old and had cost almost $1000.
Honestly guys, this discussion is really pointless. Look around you. Surprisingly there are some pretty savvy people who have got themselves into the scuba retail industry, and across the board they're failing. "Witty" carping criticism is all very well, but it won't change that fact. If it were one or two that could easily be attributed to personal failure (though in many cases of my experience that would be an error), but when so many are going to the wall there's a message. Part of that message is that before long there won't be any LDSs in large parts of the country/world, which means that there also won't be anywhere to buy a new mouthpiece, a hose, or get a tank filled. Already there is a popular diving area in the UK that now has no LDS within 100 miles.
And at a resort level in a place such as this, most operators are now struggling, people are being laid off, boats are being beached, you can't buy a PADI manual because no-one has the money to import them, and dive-dedicated hotels are on the point of shutting up for good. We already have some islands (in other parts of the world) where all the dive operators (and most other hoteliers) went out of business at the same time because the airlines decided to stop flying there.
Don't joke about it and fling mud - look around and recognise what is happening.