Could Bringing Classic Cars Into Dealerships Create a Halo Effect?

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

While there are dealerships that will happily service your vintage automobile, there are reasons a lot of classic cars are wrenched at home or taken to speciality shops. It’s not typically in a service center’s best interest to hunt down rare discontinued parts and train employees on the reassembly of carburetors. But it still happens, especially among premium brands.

Porsche is rather obsessive about its heritage and has extended that to maintenance and repairs at a large number of stores. It isn’t alone, either. Mark Rogers, a 20 Group consultant with the National Automobile Dealers Association, estimates as many as 1,800 U.S. franchised dealerships are willing to service vintage cars. Some are even selling them — putting desirable classics on the showroom floor in the hopes they might garner positive attention.

With more high-value classics on the road than ever before, some dealers are thinking it might be time to expand the business to include them. However, the practice isn’t exactly rampant.

“Dealers are too busy selling and servicing new cars,” Rogers told Automotive News in an interview. “It is not financially feasible to dedicate the time and space” for classics, he said.

That limits franchised servicing of vintage cars largely to premium brands, which owners are more likely to develop and maintain an emotional attachment with. The same goes for sales. Hennessy Porsche North Atlanta in Roswell, Georgia, became one of only five factory-designated Porsche Classic dealerships within the United States in 2015.

According to Jeff Corey, the store’s service director, the shop invested heavily into new tools, the training of two technicians and two service advisers, and finally designated a pair of service bays specifically for models years 1998 and older. When the dealership was remodeled in 2016, Hennessy also allocated a portion of the showroom for vintage Porsches.

“We’ll do 15 to 20 cars a year,” Corey said. “The average repair bill is $3,000, though we’ve done a couple at $20,000 and rebuilt the whole engine of a 964 for $42,000 … The oldest Porsche we’ve worked on was a 1963 356.”

Those old cars can occupy valuable real estate on the shop floor as technicians wait for specialty parts. But the dealers willing to touch them are starting to see the benefits from a marketing standpoint.

Michigan’s BMW of Ann Arbor has been a BMW Certified Classic Center since 2014. It sees roughly one vintage Bimmer up on a lift per month, said the dealership’s service director, Mark Wade. The oldest to come through the garage doors was a 1972 2002 tii, but he said the shop also restored a 1985 BMW M6 to factory condition, noting that it was exceptionally difficult to acquire parts.

“But it’s a labor of love for us and the owners,” he said.

While not highly lucrative in itself, Wade believes the center’s prestige attracts other parts and service customers among owners of older BMWs.

“We do get plenty of early-to-mid-’90s cars, but those customers aren’t looking to restore their vehicles, usually,” he said. “They’re more concerned with the mechanical breakdown or drivability issues.”

“I would imagine the volume will increase once those cars from the ’90s hit the 30-year mark and the value starts to increase,” Wade continued. “We would like to see more.”

While classic servicing and sales isn’t exclusive to premium manufacturers, it is limited to the more exclusive models. Buds Chevrolet-Buick in St. Marys, Ohio, provides service to owners of vintage Chevys, primarily Corvettes from the C4, C5, and C6 generations. However, work on such classic Corvettes is sporadic — perhaps only 15 a year, according to Troy Jones, the service adviser and shop foreman.

Jones recalled an instance where it took technicians five hours to replace a faulty heater core on a 1980 Corvette (which sounds about right). It would have taken much longer, he explained, but, thankfully, the owner had brought replacement part with him.

A dozen or so vehicles a year isn’t a massive number, even for a small-town dealership. But Jones is also of the mind that the shop’s relationship with vintage Vettes bolsters its reputation and solidifies its relationship with current owners — which may translate to future sales. Buds Chevrolet-Buick hold an annual enthusiast meet-up each May. Jones claimed this year’s event attracted more than 600 Corvette owners.

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Carguy67 Carguy67 on Sep 04, 2017

    When a new Austin-Healey dealership opens nearby I'll be glad to bring mine down to the showroom.

  • Dividebytube Dividebytube on Sep 05, 2017

    The time I tried to bring my 10yo BMW into the dealership, they treated me like a leper. I didn't get the friendly service if I had been under warranty or driving a newer model. Which is a shame on them, because you never know who your customer could be. For example my old man is rather well off but bombs around in a '99 Aurora and a '04 Trailblazer.

    • See 1 previous
    • Hummer Hummer on Sep 05, 2017

      @turf3 I've never had this problem with my nearly 20 year old H1 or 12+14 year old H2s at the old Hummer dealer. They're always happy to take my money. Actually the last several times I've picked up my vehicles they've mentioned "x" number of people asked if my trucks were for sale, and how they (service manager) wished they still sold Hummers. Whether that's flattery or honesty I don't know. On a side note I hadn't realized how downmarket Audi, BMW, and Mercedes had went. I started looking at competitors for my new car to know what direction I would be going after it is used up. I was sorely disappointed to see so many poverty spec cars with 4 cylinders selling for more than my SS sedan.

  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
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