Herb,
My next door neighbor, when I was a little kid, was a Pontiac dealer (this
was in the early to mid 50s). Later on, in life, I sold new VWs (just long
enough to learn that I did NOT like dealing with the general public). A
very good friend of mine became service manager at a small MG & Triumph
agency (agency was owned by a former AMC, and VW/Porsche Audi dealer, for
fun). Without a doubt, what you say is true. It used to be a fun business,
and with a lot of good, honest, hard-working people in it. When the
family-owned VW dealership, where I traded for many years, was acquired by a
large, multi-agency, multi-make "automotive super store", things began to go
downhill almost immediately. A lot of good people were replaced by others
whose obvious goal was, first and foremost (besides staying employed), to
squeeze as much profit out for the company as possible, at the expense of
customer service/relations. Now, in my area, there are very, very few of
the old, independent, family owned dealerships remaining. It's all big
business, now.
But, that's part of the Great American Myth: bigger is better. Along with
"your check's in the mail", and "of course I'll still respect you", and a
few other gems.
Bud Osbourne
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-spridgets@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of WFO Herb
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 6:58 PM
To: Allen Hefner; Spridgeteers
Subject: Re: I'll try again...
Hi Allen,
Years ago...I'm talking YEARS ago...the car business was fun...then it
changed.
I sold from '72 until '84. Closed on Saturday and Sunday. Then one of
the larger dealers started opening at noon on Saturday. I could live with
that. Within a year, all day Saturday. THEN some SOB sales manager decided
Sunday would be a great day. You know, catch all those going home after
church.
Wasn't a "happy camper" during those days. Next came "open 'till eight
o'clock BS! I'm getting really sick and tired of this....
Large Chevy dealer started letting the low-man-of-the-month go. Didn't
matter if he was top salesman for the previous eleven months.
All dealers followed suit...except us. VW, Porsche-Audi (later Subaru).
Some where along the line I became owner of the agency. Still got out.
(but I've got a couple nice older 911's in my stable still)
Yep, used to be fun.
WFO Herb
|