Dealership closes

While I am not a Chevy guy, the only Chevy/GM dealership we had in town closed it's doors unexpectedly this past week. From what I understand, it gave no notice to it's employees and just taped a sign on the door saying "Closed". Our middle daughter's boyfriend was a salesman there before being let-go a month ago. In my view, they did it to themselves, as they didn't seem to be too customer-friendly. For example, if you wanted to just test drive a new vehicle you first had to complete a credit check form. In the newspaper, the owner said the economic times and the recent ice storm did the business in. I'm not quite sure how the ice storm did any harm, as there was no structural damage to the vehicles on the lot or his buildings. He stated in the newspaper that he took the keys to the dealership to the bank and turned them over to them. Word is now that the bank is saying they have not rec'd any keys. This should prove to be interesting.

The only dealerships left in town now are the Ford (where I buy my stuff) / Nissan / Toyota places, all owned by the same company. If someone wants another brand they will have to drive about 50 miles out of town now.

Same thing happened here with a local dealer. Here though there is another dealer within 10-15 miles if your looking for a certain brand.

A local farm/nursery closed its doors after 65 years. I guess they could not compete with the Home Depots and Lowes. Hopefully things turn around soon for everyone.

Maybe if some of these dealers had more reasonable prices, maybe they would sell more cars. They are all over priced in my opinion.

ACarbone624 said:

Maybe if some of these dealers had more reasonable prices, maybe they would sell more cars. They are all over priced in my opinion.

Click to expand...

everything has gotten way out of control. it's one thing to design features that increase mileage and safety, but i worked on a new car the other day that had a button on the middle of the dash to electronically open the glove box. maybe i'm wrong, but if you need something out of the glove box it seems like you can open it with the handle, i mean, you're there anyway. now when that switch goes out you'll have to spend 300 bucks to be able to open it. and safety things are getting out of hand too. i think its 2011 all cars will be required to have those reverse cameras on the dash. i say if you are not smart enough to avoid backing over your kids in the driveway then you probably don't need to be breeding anyway.

we had the same thing happen to a chain of big name dealerships here. he had a dozen or so dealerships all over the metro. he even had his own "finance center" and claimed he could get financing for almost anyone. Radio and TV ads all the time. Then one morning a few months back the door got locked on half of them, Employees at the Dealers that are still open re having troubles getting paid and a few Manufaturers are claiming he hasnt properly paid for the vehicles left on the lots.

Easy financing and overpriced vehicles.

As the saying goes, you can always see who is skinny dipping when the tide goes out........


I agree with the statements of the too many "frills" on cars these days. I cant count how many times over the years I have decided to go look at a certain vehicle only to find out I had to get the leather seats, premium sound system, power everything, alloy wheels etc, adding thousands to the price.

they really need to get back to basics. build a decent looking vehicle, with the only options being AC and PS. roll up windows, basic cloth seats, AM/FM radio etc. and price it nice and low.

My favorite is the $2500 GPS option....... :LOL2:

Jim said:

My favorite is the $2500 GPS option....... :LOL2:

Click to expand...

here is my $13 GPS option.......

https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Cities-Metro-Street-Atlas/dp/1583013059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240673713&sr=1-1

shizzy77 said:

Jim said:

My favorite is the $2500 GPS option....... :LOL2:

Click to expand...

here is my $13 GPS option.......

https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Cities-Metro-Street-Atlas/dp/1583013059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240673713&sr=1-1

Click to expand...

$13 more than I pay :LOL2: https://www.mapquest.com/


Just kidding, I was given a GPS for Christmas, Or I would of just used the free one that came with my work phone.

its the greatest book ever printed. Mine is the 1993 edition. Its missing the front and back cover and its all dog eared. it has followed me through at least a dozen vehicles. if I ever get lost, I pull over at the next road sign and find it in the index and then find my way.

remember when gas stations all handed out free state maps. that was great. now it's 75cents to air up your tires, if you move fast, or it's another 75cents.

grizzly said:

now it's 75cents to air up your tires, if you move fast, or it's another 75cents.

Click to expand...

Or the hose is broken or the machine eats your money.....but you feed it again. AND the Gauge does not work either sometimes.

Don't get me started, My wifes old Honda had a slow leak in her tires so I would visit those things on a monthly basis! :evil:

$.75 is a bargain. It is a buck a pop around here.

There are a few here that still have free air. You have to search for it because they don't advertise it and have the hoses somewhat hidden but I think that I have found all of the free air sites in town. :mrgreen:

I remember back in the day the Mobil station by my parents house had a hose on the side with a big box with a dial on the side and a big analog readout. you would turn the dial till it read the pressure you wanted and when you were putting the air in your tire it would go chunk-ding-chunk-ding-chunk-ding till it hit the pressure you wanted. Man that was cool.

Jim said:

My favorite is the $2500 GPS option....... :LOL2:

Click to expand...

What I hate is if you want ONE certain option, you have to buy an entire package of options.

Quackrstackr said:

$.75 is a bargain. It is a buck a pop around here.

There are a few here that still have free air. You have to search for it because they don't advertise it and have the hoses somewhat hidden but I think that I have found all of the free air sites in town. :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

:beer: :LOL2: