Just Dreaming

[Tony McNamara <tonym@phycom.com>]

I disagree with you (and most of this list) on the value of servicing
older cars.  I have two cars, a '97 Audi A4Q and an '87 Ford Escort
(which I bought new in... 1987!).  The Escort only goes to Ford when
there's a problem that I don't trust to other shops.  The reasons are:

1) Service always takes a full day.
2) It's expensive.
3) There aren't so many dealerships.

I've never had a problem with attitude from Ford dealerships, beyond
that they gave me when the car was new.  (Granted, that's pretty damning
praise.)  I've had far worse service from a Subaru dealer on a
recent-vintage car.  

On the flip side, these guys aren't going to make much money off me
either.  When the car gets expensive to fix, I'll dump it.  And one
reason I won't buy another Ford is that they excluded everything from
their warranty; it's almost comedic how much they try to get away with!

Dealerships can't compete with indeps on a cost-basis; the cost of being
a dealership is too high.  Their service departments, therefore, are for
the benefit and retention of PEOPLE WHO BUY NEW CARS.  While most of
this list will be annoyed by being marginalized, they don't fit that
profit-niche.

Does it work?  Yep.  I bought my '97 A4 in a different state from where
I currently live.  Even though I was in no bargaining position and had
to order the car, they knocked several K off the price.  I'd happily go
back, but my car has been serviced by Barrier Audi in Bellevue since I
moved up to Seattle.  Jeffrey Falconer, the service "consultant", is an
Audi fan and takes great care of me.  (He even has the papers that need
signing handy, while most advisors there and elsewhere make you go to
the cashier.)  Tim Subert, the service manager (or equivalent), gets on
great with Jeffrey and I, and also takes great care of me.  In December,
I put $1K down for an S4 for this coming December, at Barrier.  No price
shopping (the contract says I'll pay list), but I'm so happy with the
service I've gotten there that they've got me as a customer.  (And
getting an S4 at all by then may be a challenge; I'm in the double-digit
part of the list.)

That, I believe, is the value of the service department to a dealership.
Not the profit from selling parts to a 12-year-old car, nor the
warm-fuzzy feeling from improving how certain gear-heads feel about the
company that made that 12-year-old car, but rather repeat business in
sales of NEW cars.

BTW, most of the people I know respond the same way, especially women.
If there's a particular car they like (Saab, Subaru, Volvo, etc.), they
go to the dealership that treated them  and their friends best after the
sale.  Other dealerships do survive on price-competition, but lots of
sales are made based on the touch, not the price.  And, as my vitriol
towards Ford may illustrate, lost the same way.

Regards

Dwight Varnes wrote:
> Having worked for several dealers over the years (and blessedly am no
> longer) including a Porsha Audi VW dealer, I've developed a few
> conclusions:
 {snip}
> The stuff previously written about warranty work is true...you don't
> make much on it, and you have to wait to get paid after doing a lot of
> paperwork. Used cars over 6-8 years old are considered junk, a plague
on
> the service department as "those people don't have any money; that's
why
> they're driving that old thing" is the prevelant attitude. Also, they
> don't plan on making their profit in the 'back end' after the sale as
> dealers believe owners are fickle and will take their car to Pep Boyz
to
> get it serviced anyway once the warranty expires. The vicious circle
> here is that the only reason they go to Pep Boyz is because of the
> crappy treatment they get at the dealer as a result of this attitude!
 
> I've worked at 3 different dealerships in my time, and they are all
> eventually the same, even if they start out differently. What is so
> ironic is that it is so easy to make money and keep customers at a
> dealership, but the martians from the sales dept./general management
> refuses to treat its customers or employees like humans.
 
> Which is why my Coupe is going to an independent garage on Tuesday for
a
> wheel bearing, even though the dealer I worked at would give me a
> discount.