It is dealers like that that give the rest of us a bad name.

All of 12 minutes (yes I timed it as I walked out) with the 12 yr old salesdweedle told me all I needed to know.

Evidently not much has changed at the BH circus since then.

I drove by Landmark Chevrolet yesterday and the local CBS affiliate (KHOU) had their news van (ironically it was an Econoline) in the front lot. I missed the nightly local news, but I expect they had more info on the store closing…and I bet they didn’t mention losing GMAC floorplans.

As for the woman whose one year old was stuck in the SUV while the BH employees surrounded it. I’m a calm guy but I’d probably gone to jail that day.

Fine – you want to deny me access to my child and my vehicle? Watch this fellows…

Saw some of the same tactics at a few Honda dealers about nine years ago. That automatically disqualifies a dealer from getting my business and I make that clear. Negative news about the dealer spreads further and faster than positive news, ya know?

I am curious to know whether this means that Bill Heard has surrendered his franchise back to GM. If not, it seems that he could re-open under a new business name. He’s undoubtedly got plenty of capital and would not miss out on the opportunity to make more money in the future. Any word on this?

“I have seen plenty of businesses that just could not figure out that their star salesman was costing them money”.

You nailed it. I might also add star sales managers. These dealerships are drunk with the numbers game. As long as you’re near the top of the “sales board” each month you’re the superstar and everyone else sucks. You can be the sleeziest, most thievin’, lyin’, immoral, dope smokin’ slug on the planet and as long as you have the numbers you’re gold. The decent upright and honest salespeople go by the wayside. This is the culture in many dealerships from coast to coast.

I made this very point in a letter to Bob Lund when I left my sales job at the local sleezy Chevy dealer…..I never got a reply.

>shudder< that IS a bad website.

I agree that this will be good for GM in the medium to long run. They need to work as hard as they can to get rid of bad dealers; these guys did them a favor by imploding.

There is such a huge opportunity for a smart automaker to make dealer experience a high priority, and I know they’ve tried but not very effectively. They can build all the cappucino lounges they want, but the core experience of buying a car still blows chunks.

I have seen plenty of businesses that just could not figure out that their star salesman or distributor was costing them money.

I sent you the vins, I put them in the mail….

Definitely a Fargo (the movie, not Robert Farago) moment. Nicely put.

Nashville Bill Heard

Couple of funny quotes from that article:

“Attorney Barry Weathers calls Bill Heard “a cancer on the community” and says the problems reflect the company’s corporate culture. ”

“She refused to hand over the keys. That’s when, she says, the salesmen surrounded her car while another used a truck to block her in all while her 1-year-old son sat strapped in his car seat…. Wilson finally called police from her car to get out of the dealership — with her car.

She is now suing Bill Heard for false imprisonment.”

After the selling price was done and he wanted to talk shop with “car guys” this guy told us that back in the day he worked at a Pontiac dealer where he took a red/red and a green/green 1985-ish Grand Prix and made a red/green and a green/red Grand Prix out of them. He then advertised a low, low price on two cars in stock. Obviously almost no one would buy such hideous cars, but it got people in the door.

Switching interiors to get foot traffic? No wonder Bill Heard gave him a job…and a promotion or two. And they do that still, I saw a blue Cavalier with a yellow Starsky and Hutch stripe on their lot. It works.

(Houstonians: you might see Cavaliers/Impalas with Starsky and Hutch-esque stripes around town, and Bill Heard badging on the back. I’ve seen two. Those are the advertised stinkers that mislead people to their showrooms)

Anyway…

We then went to the finance department, they gave my brother a mediocre finance rate (given his debt to equity ratio) and snuck in an extended warranty with it. Yes, that interest rate was only available if you got that warranty. But he wanted the car so he got it. Even after all that work, they broke us down. Not our finest hour as pistonheads. Nice car, terrible dealer.

Also, in tough economic times less people are in the market, those that are left know they have more power, so they will put up with less. Too many dealers, not enough customers.

So long Bill Heard, time for the junkyard.

At the time, the porsche 944 was my unattainable dream car. Her contract for a small Mitsu came to over the 24k the porsche would have cost, spread over five years.

We took the case out of sheer sympathy, and didn’t make any money. She took the car back to the dealer, with our letter, and after some attempts to get her to “make just one payment and we’ll work it out” (which locks her into the deal legally) we did end up stuffing the 14k car for 24k up the dealer’s nose.

Car dealers suck to sue. They know every game, and they don’t deal in “good faith”…ever. I sued Ramsey Automotive a few years back (you NJ folks, it is my personal opinion that you should take your money elsewhere, never Ramsey Auto Group) for bad transmission work, and they played every game-I did win a settlement, but it was not what they cost me and if I had not been a local attorney, the case could not have been pushed as it was.

I sued a local high end eurocar dealer. My clients bought a used volvo with a used car warranty. When the timing belt blew, the warranty company claimed it was not “an internally lubricated part” and disclaimed. They paid a part as a “good faith settlement”, which worked out to the policy less a third as legal fees. My clients sued in local small claims, and a good Judge held the dealer responsible for the remainder of the repair work.

This is why insurance companies always lobby against raising the Small Claims Court limits. It means they can’t play games.

With car dealers, get it done before you sign, or get it in writing….any “we’ll work it out” is a crock of poop…and that’s my legal opinion.

Oh yes, one last story. My mom, after a divorce, bought an MR2. She had it two days when the stealership called and said she had to come in to sign new papers because “her deal was wrong”. Mom was a recent divorcee, but is also a NY real estate shark. After speaking to attorney son she called back and said “come get the car”. Manager called, and threatened her. I called and laid the manager out. No further issues, but what sort of people call a stressed person and threaten to take her new toy and symbol of freedom away ? Bastards.

I worked for the largest Chevy dealer in north NJ and they would actually say in the weekly sales meetings, “do anything, say anything, promise anything, lie if you have to, just get the people on paper, we’ll worry about the problems later”.

Yes. Horrible. A friend was given the old ’switcheroo’, where she was called back in two days after the sale because ‘the credit rate was too low’, only to find they had already ’sold’ her trade.

Secondly, they sold a new car to someone who was using a friend’s SS number with no legal documentation whatsoever. None. And plead complete ignorance, blaming said friend (who lived 150 miles away) on going on a drunk bender and forgetting her actions.

Here in Houston, only the truly desperate knowingly went to BH.

I sent you the vins, I put them in the mail….

Glad to hear that you did not take any crap and fold over when they tried to pull a fast one.

PS. I let my wife buy all my cars. She calls dealing with some sales and F & I guys “Sport”