- Joined
- Dec 3, 2009
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I am in the car business
Have been for 31 years now
I have worked in sales, finance, and all admin sections (corp controller current position, asst gen mgr secondary title)
I have worked for large dealer chains, and for small one shop independent dealers
My experience is anecdotal.....but i think it is fairly accurate
Retail car sales is one of the toughest businesses out there....especially in big city areas, where you have 3-4 dealerships selling the same brands within a 25 mile radius. So customer satisfaction, and service retention is what separates the winners from the losers. The sales department may sell you the first car, but the service and parts department determine whether or not you'll ever buy there again.
We pay top dollar for our technicians....we have to, as the competition in this area is fierce for qualified and certified ASE mechanics. We keep our shops clean, our guys trained and up to date, and stock parts to try to limit the times we dont have what you need right away. We provide free loaners, and we wash our customers cars after we service them.
But all of that comes at a price....and many of our customers have now began moving to the independent shops for their repairs, because they believe our prices are too high. I am sure a lot of you do the same.
We cant compete with the independent shop labor rates....nor do we want to. Our service is the best we can provide, and is tailored to the brand of car we sell. His service mechanic may be very good....maybe not. But he isnt an expert on the car you bought probably.
Just something to think about.....
Good point.
As long as the dealer is honest, which isn't always the case, it may be worth paying a bit more for service and repairs. The dealership I described lost my business for many years, and seems to have a business model of attracting customers through extensive advertising and aggressive sales techniques. I suppose that model works, as they are still in business.