Dodge dealer death toll

[TK73]

Seattle area:

Lynnwood Dodge - DEAD

Bill Pierre Dodge - Dead?

BBC Dodge - 1/2 Dead and going fast

Dwayne Lane - Moved to intensive care

Lithia Dodge - Rumors of death soon

[Ghoste]

Not just Dodge or Seattle though.  I'm not even sure it's a sign of the times.  I'm not sure that it's not, but...

[A383Wing]

Hey TK

Puyallup Chrysler....died a few months ago...

Brewer Chrysler (Auburn) ....Gone

Bryan

[Mopar440+6]

South Central PA:

Brenner Dodge - Dead

Naugle Motors (Dodge, Chrys, Jeep) - Bought out by another dealer (not by choice)

[Brock Samson]

 WSJ article estimates 700 new car dealerships will close by 2008..
  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122515313773474407.html

[RallyeMike]

Brewer Chrysler (Auburn) ....Gone

I noticed that they had closed when I drove by a couple weeks ago, but figured it had happened some time ago. Their sign says "Brewer Chrysler / Plymouth". When did they stop making plymouths?

Hey, maybe one with a small and affordable show room and shop will close up and I can move in..... 

[rav440]

that is a shame . but there is also a common sence factor involved . that is you cant keep making and try to sell things people cant afford i.e. cars & houses . the market is flodded with new cars and houses atleast around here in the pittsburgh area . and the had to come to a point that everybody has what they want or need or can afford . once that point is reached there is no sence in building more and more and more . that and the fact the middle class has been damn near wipped out or pushed to the edge . there is no one to sell them to .
i dont feel bad one bit for the auto makers the workes yes but the corporations no ! take away the american jobs and ship them to lower paying countrys so you can make a bigger profit .  then what happens 

theres nobody left to buy your product when you ship it back into the U.S.A. ive been saying it for years .now look where it got us .

they never should have gotten away from HENRY FORDs idel .

[triple_green]

Tom Matsen Dodge in Auburn is still there. That is because Tom, Jr. is a "business man", not a car guy.

I showed him my car at the nationals at Pacific Raceways last July. The car was purchased new at his dealership (his dad owned it then). I have the original window sticker and cert card, etc. He was only mildly interested.

3X

[Magnumcharger]

Tom Matsen Dodge in Auburn is still there. That is because Tom, Jr. is a "business man", not a car guy.

I showed him my car at the nationals at Pacific Raceways last July. The car was purchased new at his dealership (his dad owned it then). I have the original window sticker and cert card, etc. He was only mildly interested.

3X

He gets my vote as "business bozo of the year".
Don't be in the car biz, if you don't like cars....

[GeneralLeeTESH]

Look at the JOKE of a car the new GTO   I S   !!!  Basically they took a Vette motor and jammed it into a Honda. Laughable. Right in the same category as a Beeeeeemer  !!! (more wasted $$$)
We Americans WANT ass-kicking works of art MUSCLE cars-PERIOD ! Why can't the 3 manufacturers make them??? The revival of the HEMI is what has helped SAVE Chrysler ! 

[hutch]

Haynes Chrysler/Jeep in Richmond Virginia.  Been in business for over 50 years and it closed up about two months ago.


Sad deal but I could not afford a single thing they had to sell so I dont know how they stayed in business as long as they did.  Cars need to come way down in price if they expect to move them any time soon.  People cant keep taking 5 and 7 year loans for cars. Its stupid.

[hutch]

Look at the JOKE of a car the new GTO   I S   !!!  Basically they took a Vette motor and jammed it into a Honda. Laughable. Right in the same category as a Beeeeeemer  !!! (more wasted $$$)
We Americans WANT ass-kicking works of art MUSCLE cars-PERIOD ! Why can't the 3 manufacturers make them??? The revival of the HEMI is what has helped SAVE Chrysler ! 

Yep, if they would have looked to their roots with body style and had it at around 18 to 20 the thing would have sold like hot cakes.

[Big_John]

Sam Dell Dodge in Syracuse, NY seems to be no more. Years ago, they owned all the cars on their lot.. the whole floor plan of vehicles were paid for unlike most dealerships where the bank really owns the cars.

[41husk]

We have about 10 dodge dealerships with inn a 30 mile radius.  I would guess a few of those are close to dead.  Dave Croft in Collinsville IL filed bankrupcy but still breathing!

[jmanscharger]

I rode by the dealer in the my old home town. My Dad bought cars here, some I now own. Ironically the lot is empty and Heritage Chrysler Dodge (South Hill, VA) is no more...

[WingCharger]

Clermont County, Ohio Area: Joe Kidd Dodge-DEAD...Replaced by school offices.

[dkn1997]

Hard to feel bad for them when I bet you can still find them selling challengers for over sticker with plenty on the lot.  For years, car dealers have been operating from a position of strength: they have something you want and are passionate about.  also it's not a simple transaction buying a car so the opportunities to screw you abound.  They are getting theirs now and maybe this thinning of the heard is just what they needed. 

You go into these places and they treat you like garbage, or an idiot. they use 60's and 70's sales tactics like bait and switch, "talk to my manager" and charge you for floormats....It's like they live in a different world. 

I would say that at least half of the 'I'll never buy (insert car brand) again, they suck" comes from bad dealership experiences and not necessarily the quality of the vehicle itself.  It's like the manufacturers dont' care who is representing them and selling their product.  maybe they will start actually caring how the dealers treat people.

one simple change would help: take the negotiating out of it.  Saturn had it right when they first started. no negotiation and that first generation of Saturns were very good little cars that ran forever.  I knew people who swore by them.  Now they got too "gm" and decided to make suv's, big cars, etc...don't know if they still have the no haggle price, though.

[Ghoste]

I so agree with you dkn.  We so stupidly (in our own greed) shop based on price all the while thinking that is where the competition lies.  The truth is, the competing part should be based on the service after.  If the car companies had gotten together a long time ago and done something about it, they'd have all made more money in the long run.

[Ghoste]

We Americans WANT ass-kicking works of art MUSCLE cars-PERIOD ! Why can't the 3 manufacturers make them??? The revival of the HEMI is what has helped SAVE Chrysler ! 

Saved Chrysler??  Tesh my friend, right now at this very moment a group of too wealthy men in dark suits are sitting somberly around a table with their clever young lawyers discussing the terms of Chryslers surrender and execution.  These are the very last days of Chrysler Corporation.

[hemi-hampton]

I notice a GM dealership closed up last year & now another one gone I noiticed just yesterday here in Detroit area LEON.

[WingCharger]

We Americans WANT ass-kicking works of art MUSCLE cars-PERIOD ! Why can't the 3 manufacturers make them??? The revival of the HEMI is what has helped SAVE Chrysler ! 

Saved Chrysler??  Tesh my friend, right now at this very moment a group of too wealthy men in dark suits are sitting somberly around a table with their clever young lawyers discussing the terms of Chryslers surrender and execution.  These are the very last days of Chrysler Corporation.

NO NO NOOOOOO......!!!!!!!
GM WILL PUT HEMI'S IN CHEVYS!!!

[Ghoste]

I would be extremely surprised if they did.  GM is one of the most beaurocratic organizations in the world and they pretty much wrote the book on "not invented here".  It isn't Chryslers technology, dealer network, factories, offices or anything like they want.  It's the 12 billion dollars in cash so they can stave off their own extinction.

[451-74Charger]

Northern KY area
Champion Dodge - Died a couple months back (although thier other dealerships still seem to be surviving for now)

[PocketThunder]

I would be extremely surprised if they did.  GM is one of the most beaurocratic organizations in the world and they pretty much wrote the book on "not invented here".  It isn't Chryslers technology, dealer network, factories, offices or anyhting like they want.  It's the 12 billion dollars in cash so they can stave off their own extinction.

Help me out with this question.  How can GM buy Chrysler and recieve its 12B in cash?  I'm not following the logic.  Say I buy a car from you for $20,000, i give you $20,000 cash and you giving me $12,000 in cash in return, so in reality did i just buy a car for $8,000?  Do you follow...   

[rustafarian]

Look at the JOKE of a car the new GTO   I S   !!!  Basically they took a Vette motor and jammed it into a Honda. Laughable. Right in the same category as a Beeeeeemer  !!! (more wasted $$$)
We Americans WANT ass-kicking works of art MUSCLE cars-PERIOD ! Why can't the 3 manufacturers make them??? The revival of the HEMI is what has helped SAVE Chrysler ! 

*****
I think the '66-67 GTO body style is incredible - the sail panels being very much alike the '68- '70 Chargers.  Awesome.
I too hated the new GTO when it came out, and I still think it would've sold more with a retro muscle look.
However,  the '05 and up have 6.0s. These cars rock.  I sell them used I can assure you there is a very strong market for these cars,  especially manual cars from kids that would never have looked at the thing if it was retro muscle.  These guys are buying American made tuner cars and beating the living daylights out of them,  like they should be.