How to Run a Dealership

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

We've all heard the horror stories of car dealerships and we all make jokes about the proverbial "Car Salesman" and I have read some pretty good articles on dealerships from the "inside" and most were about the tricks of the trade to keep numbers up and units moving, but I have to relay what happened to me today. Yes, I got sponsored by a Chevy dealership in Fredericksburg, VA. Radley Chevrolet to be exact. The Radley Auto Group owns a bunch of dealerships as a matter of fact. The Chevy dealership is huge gotta be 100 employees. Since my deal was cut in 2004 I have only dealt with 1 salesman (3rd generation, his father and son both work there), 2 Service Managers (the last one has been there for 4 years and he replaced a door hinge for me at no charge out of warranty), 1 oil change Manager (he calls me by name every time I go in). All of my oil changes and regular service are at no cost through the sponsorship so I am the last one they have to worry about alienating. I pull into the service bay and I notice a huge grill bellowing smoke out back. I get out of the truck with my daughter and ask if it's customer appreciation day for lunch and we all laugh. Well, today just happened to be the monthly "all-hands" meeting. I am sitting in the showroom as they set up tables (around the C-6 Vetts) and laying out a spread. My daughter is whispering that it was torture smelling those burgers cooking:lol: I told her this was an employee function and to wait till the truck was done and we would get lunch at Bass Pro (our 2nd stop). They started the meeting with every employee together reciting the Radly creedo....kinda like the pledge of allegience!! While we were sitting there Karen Radley, the President of Radley group walks up and asks us if we would join them for lunch. I told her to take care of her employees and she replied "without you, there would be no employees, so go get a burger" with a big smile. I told her that I knew someone who was a GM employee in Detroit and it is amazing to me to see all the smiling faces and happy employees. She just smiled at me and gave me the thumbs up. They then recounted all of the years of service of each employee whether 1 year or 40 years. There were a lot of 30+. I had a tail light out and the inspection tech stayed in the shop working so that I could get out. Then the Manager insisted walking me to the truck. Total cost of my trip...$5 for a tail light and install. What I got was renewed confidence in GM.



That my friends is why I bought a new Chevrolet last year for my wife.



TOXIC

 

[Texas Transplant]

Very nice story. I'm sure, that there are many more like that around the nation - unfortunately, we don't hear those stories enough.



I have a Ford Product and a GM Product. Like them both. But the GM (Sierria PU) is the one we drive most all the time. Good dependable vehicle; decent gas mileage (averages close to 20 on the highway); and is 'sound'.



As has been my actions since the early 80's - I only buy American built vehicles. Personal preference.



Tex

 

[TritonGlenn]

Thanks for the story Tox. Glad to know those types of dealerships still exist. Wish I could find one here.



If you don't mind, let me contrast your story with "how NOT to run a dealership".



My wifes Jeep Grand Cherokee starts running rough on the way to work one day, and the check engine light comes on. She immediately drives it to the dealership - Ancira, here in San Antonio. She is told she needs two oxygen sensors. So we agree to let them change them. I get a call back saying it is actually all four sensors. OK. Replace them. I don't think they are right, but ok... do it. Then I get a call that the catalytic converter is "clogged" and that is what caused the oxygen sensors to all go bad. OK. It's under warranty for that part, so they change it. Call back - still not running right.... we did a compression check, and a few of the cylinders aren't right. Still warranty - so they rip the heads off and find several burnt valves - warranty item, so they fix them. Back together. Still not running right. I go in and have a "heart to heart" with a few members of management. Weeks later, we get the Jeep back. Problem? There was a burnt sensor wire coming from one of the sensors that was causing the engine to run rich, and therefore - rough... and also setting off the check-engine light. Problem solved? Well... kinda. My wife gets home and tells me her center dash lights aren't working. I check and sure enough - all the center console dash lights, a/c, radio backlighting, shifter, etc... lights are out. I call the dealership and they tell me that "it happens all the time on the Jeep GC's - you need a new center dash insert... and we can sell you a new one and install it for..." I hung up. It wasn't broken beforehand, and I was pissed about it. I planned to just fix it myself, with parts from another dealership if need be. A few weeks later, as my wife is coming home from work, someone flags her down and tells her that she has no running lights. Let me run that back by you... WEEKS later - we finally see that the running lights aren't working. I look up the stuff in the book for fuses, and when I go to check the relay that is supposed to control them - I find that it is MISSING!!! I call Ancira and had another "heart to heart" with the management. They agreed to give me a new relay. I went pick it up and popped it in. Running lights come on... and guess what else lights back up??? Yep. Center dash lights. Wasn't a "center dash insert" after all - it was the frackin people working on her truck that failed to put the relay back in. One question I asked that nobody could answer at the dealership - Why was it removed to begin with? Management asked if I was "trying" to insinuate something. I said "No... I'm not trying to insinuate anything... I'm calling you out directly and asking why it was removed". No answer. On top of this - the truck started leaking oil from the valve covers. Covered the bottom of my wifes Jeep with oil. It had never leaked before then. I bought it back and made them clean it and fix it. They had reused the original valve cover gaskets from what they told me. I told them to put new valve cover gaskets in, clean it, and make sure it didn't leak. They did.



Months later - my wifes truck "check engine" light comes back on about once a week. A diagnostic check with the OBD readout is telling me I have another bad oxygen sensor again. I'm thinking it's either an exhaust leak from when they put in a new catalytic converter, or it's a burnt wire like before... or they put my old oxygen sensors back in when they figured out that wasn't the problem originally. Oh yeah... the truck leaks oil again. Just a drip here or there, but for someone as anal-retentive as I am, even one drop of oil on my garage floor is too much. I'll have to end up tearing the valve covers off and doing it myself eventually - but on that truck, it's going to take time, so I need to make sure I have time before doing it. In the meantime, I'll have to just deal with it.



Total time in the shop - months +. Will I ever go to them for anything again? Heck no. Problem is - Ancira owns most of the dealerships around here, and sells more cars than anyone in the area. You see Ancira stickers on the back of just about every car in the area.



OK... comparison over with.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[TritonGlenn]

Oh yeah - I forgot - I have to give one thing to Ancira's service manager - after all of our problems - he just had us pay a very minimal fee, and he paid for my wifes rental car. It didn't make this whole ordeal better, but it was a gesture that I appreciated.

All the best,

Glenn

 

[Tim Koepp]

Any dealership currently still open ought to have a fanaticism regarding excellent customer support. If they dont, I doubt they will last.

 

[Jody Woodruff]

You hit the nail on the head Pondscum. I bet this economy will close the doors on a lot of crappy auto and boat dealers and I say good riddance. few things in life are more irritating to me than bad service on a high dollar item.