Quote:
Originally Posted by stevepaa
Local Chrysler dealer with a big lot closed its doors on Friday. Guy said people just stopped spending money on service this year. Service is what supports a dealership, not car sales.
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I heard of a Jeep/Chrysler dealership in Nor. Cal. the other day, may be the one you are talking about. Heard it through a friend of a friend type thing, but supposedly the dealership went 30 days without selling a single car.
Most dealerships are being really hurt by a lack of service. Part of the problem is cars are becoming more and more reliable, so there is less repair/warranty work, and the "tune up" intervals are becoming longer and longer, so there is far less routine maintenance work.
There are very rough times ahead for car dealerships. They have the triple whammy of a sagging economy, tightened credit and record gas prices. During the last big downturn in the industry in the early 90s, 6,000 car dealerships went out of biz in the US. This time is going to be worse.