Help a Chrysler dealer with your business
As you might have heard by now, several hundred Chrysler dealers are going out of business. This is a very unfortunate circumstance for the operators of the franchises that will be shut down.
However, if you’re in the market for a car, you could help out a Chrysler dealer and benefit from it at the same time.
Plight of the Chrysler dealer
The owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu in Melbourne, Florida, wrote a letter to the editor about the situation he faces. He explained that Chrysler informed him the company is terminating its franchise agreement and turning the dealership over to another car dealer.
Basically, the owner of Sunshine Dodge, George Joseph was stuck with all the merchandise. Joseph wrote:
My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009.
That’s where you come in. Joseph and other Chrysler dealers need money now.
In the market for a car?
If you are looking to buy a car, you could get a great deal at a Chrysler dealer going out of business sale. Better yet, you could get a really great deal on it.
Chrysler dealers are trying to get rid of as much inventory as they can — as quickly as they can. It’s a bad situation for them, but if you take advantage of it, you’ll actually be helping them out.
Background on Chrysler dealers going out of business
Just to catch you up, here are some details from previous reports on what has been going on with Chrysler:
United States automaker Chrysler says it will close 789 of its U.S. dealerships, which adds up to about a quarter of its total dealerships.
According to the Washington Post, Chrysler has 3,181 dealerships in the U.S.
Who will be hit hard
Toledo.com, a news outlet in Toledo, Ohio, says that 47 dealerships in Ohio, mostly in the northeastern part of the state, will close.
The Chrysler dealerships closing include Jeep and Dodge. Many Jeep, Dodge and Dodge Truck dealerships across the country will be shut down.
Does Chrysler need debt relief?
The dealership shutdowns are the result of Chrysler rushing to pare down business and cuts costs. Chrysler has already filed for bankruptcy protection and gotten $4 billion in federal loans.
Chrysler received bankruptcy protection April 30. Chrysler has been conducting a project called “Project Genesis” to determine which dealerships are the “most desirable,” according to The Washington Post. That helped the automaker determine which Chrysler dealerships are closing.
History of an American automaker
According to Wikipedia, Chrysler was:
first organized as Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG (now Daimler AG). … Under DaimlerChrysler, the company was named “DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC”, with its U.S. operations generally referred to as the “Chrysler Group”. On May 14, 2007, DaimlerChrysler announced the sale of 80.1% of Chrysler Group to American private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., although Daimler continued to hold a 19.9% stake. This was when the company took on its current name. The deal was finalized on August 3, 2007.
Wow, Chrysler dealer is getting defensive. Must be losing a lot of money.
Jeff,
Dealers that I know that have been family owned and operated for generations have closed their doors and laid of hundreds of employees. Like I said before. We are business people. We don’t build the cars. We sell them and fix them when they break. How would you like to have your place of work be forced out of business due to no fault of your own? Forced out of business by an president and car czar that has a socialist agenda? I think you would be a little pissed off too!
Hey Chrysler Dealer,
I’m currently shopping for a truck. I love the 2009 dodge trucks….it’s a very innovative truck. It’s has features that none of the other competitors can match. Plus, they have had stellar reviews on edmonds and others. However, I’m still leary to buy one for a few reasons. Mainly, because of the stability of the company. Also, because i have had 2 reputable automotive repair shops advise me against it….for 2 reasons; in the past dodge trucks aren’t made to last (although it may be too soon to conclude this for the newer trucks) and also because chrysler parts are hard to come by now….one of my sources said that they actually had to resort to ebay to acquire a part…which sounds like a nightmare to me. The lifetime warranty that dodge offers is great, but what happens if all of my local dealers close down?…I’ll have to rely on local shops that can’t get chrysler parts. when will dodge start closing down some of their dealerships? Are they going to release anything to indicate exactly which ones will close? If i was chrysler, and if they really do believe that fiat is going to save the day, i would be doing some serious damage controll to reassure potential buyers (like myself) that they wouldn’t be making a mistake by buying a chrysler product. What’s your take?
You are a customer that proves the point that canceling franchise points do not make any sense at all! Thank President Obama and His former Car czar Steven Ratner for violating franchise laws and closing your local dealers! It goes to show how intelligent they really are – because in reality – customers will not buy cars from manufacturers that are inconvenient to get warranty work from. Sounds like they shot themselves in the foot to me! They said we cost them money. In no way shape or form do dealers cost the Manufacturer’s Money – we are their income stream. Now do your civic duty and call your Congressperson, call Chrysler call the white house and tell them you are upset. Read up on Congress HR2743 and Senate s10304 and make your opinion heard!
DO you really think they will listen, I write/called emailed them about the stupid Health Care Bill, but looks like they are not listening. Maybe you need to tell the Unions to talk to them, I am sure they will listen then!
Wow!! Finally, the Auto dealers and Manufacturers get a taste of their own medicine! We have been victims of quick talking car salesmen, shady loan practices, speedy talking lawyer-ese at the end of the commercials that took over the airwaves and tv spots ALL DAY LONG!! Personally I was sick of hearing of them all day, while I was listening to the radio for MUSIC. I’m glad that they are feeling the pinch and getting shaken up. They really needed a “Market Correction” as well. How about the fact that they pull the bait-and-switch on the commercials touting the best prices every in the whole entire world since the beginning of time, but were really only for the most elite of financial prospects!! As for the average Joe; “Oh, you have a 580 score, then you have to put down 3 times as much, cause we just dont trust you to pay your loan and have an itchy feeling that your going to default!” I’d like to know who gets that money that is a down payment! Is it the dealership or the bank? Oh, and how about the “I have to talk to God, to see if I can come down on the price” Even when they ALREADY know how much they can move on. We work hard for our money and dont really need you jerks to screw us out of the most that you can. They have stuffed it to us for so long, I hope that they all get shut down and have to start all over just like the rest of us! The only ones that I truly feel sorry for are the mechanics, and parts stores. Management and sales people can rot!! The truth always comes out in the end!!
Hey Paul,
What dealer are you talking about? Did you by a used car from someone that took advantage of you. Because after all it is your choice where you spend your hard earned money. Believe it or not some of the Chrysler dealers that Chrysler Corporate have chosen not to renew have been family owned and operated for GENERATIONS! The last #’s that I read are over 100,000 blue and white-collar jobs are going to be lost. The average income of these folks are about 50k a year. That means your town, city and state is going to loose millions of dollars in tax revenue. So when your town closes services because they can’t afford it – don’t whine in a blog!! I don’t want to hear it!
Yes, job loss is inevitible and unfortunate, but just because you are the big players out there doesn’t mean that you are untouchable. There have been some shady practices that the automotive industry as a whole have participated in that have helped put the economy into it’s current state. You can’t tell me for a minute that they are out there looking for our best interest when selling the cars to us.
Again, I’m glad that Chrysler is being cut. It makes a statement. The flip-side is that there will be another car company that will take it’s place and the people WILL find jobs again. After all, what is permanent anyway? Only exception is death/taxes.
I can voice my opinion all I want. If you dont want to hear it, then why dont you get back to concentrating on the re-org of your company and come up with a better solution than trying to defend a measly-little blog like this. Your time was not spent wisely, and is the reason for the current situation. NOW GET BACK TO WORK AND DO THE RIGHT THING!!!
You need to understand two things Sir – first – we don’t build em’ – we sell em’ – second – that our government and the Presidents Auto Task Force told GM and Chrysler to cut dealers and they would have a speedy ride through bankrupsy. All the while they are trampling on our Constitution and voiding my rights to own and operate an independent franchise. In the big picture sir – it does not matter if we are talking about GM or Chrysler selling cars – domestic – foreign – or flipping hamburgers at Mc Donald’s or Burger King – we are talking about franchise rights – and the rights that we are afforded by the state franchise laws have been trampled on. Right now there is a movement in Congress and the Senate regarding the constitutional violation of my rights by the White House and Obama’s Czar Stephen Ratner. I recommend that you become one of the informed rather than comment on something you “feel.” People like you clog the system and unless you can comment from a factual basis your opinion is worthless – because quite frankly sir – what you feel – does not stand up in court. If you would like any factual information regarding the constitutional Analysis that was prepared do a little Google search and become one of the informed not one of the problems. Here are search terms for you – Congress bill HR2743 – Senate bill S1304 – Automotive Dealerships Franchise Rights.
It’s a shame to see Chrysler close down. I feel particularly bad for the automaker’s franchise owners. They don’t have a say, but yet they are affected in such an enormous way.
As a rebuttle to Mrs, Smith – Chrysler is not closing. Don’t blog if you don’t have a clue. Comments like yours add to the feeding frenzy. Do you drive a Toyota or a Honda?
You’ll get better resale if you do!
A Chrysler at this moment may not be the best buy, but that is if the company goes completely under. If they are able to stay in business and guarantee parts and service, then this is a good time to buy, as they will be looking to move inventory as fast as possible.
Chrysler is a “World Class Automobile!” The problem with blog posts like this is that most bloggers” do not have a clue what is going on! “Don’t buy a Chrysler because they might be going completely under.” If this person had an actual clue he/she would realize that our Government is handing out BILLIONS of our tax dollars to support Chrysler and GM but at the same time they are allowing them to slash dealers as they utilize loopholes in Federal Bankrupsy Laws. As you read this Reps. Daniel Maffei (D-N.Y.) and Frank Kratovil (D-Md.). ate trying to pass H.R. 2743 Legislation Would Restore Franchise Law Rights to Auto Dealers the bullet points are as follows Restores the protections of state motor vehicle franchise laws to General Motors and Chrysler dealers as they existed prior to each company’s bankruptcies;
· Preserves General Motors and Chrysler car dealers’ rights to recourse under state law;
· At the request of an automobile dealer, requires General Motors and Chrysler to reinstate franchise agreements in effect prior to each company’s bankruptcies; and,
· Makes clear that the legislation is not intended to void the court-ordered transfer of assets from Chrysler to New CarCo or the transfer of General Motors assets that could be approved by a court after the introduction of the Act.
Now go buy a Chrysler!!!
I have bought Chrysler and GM products in the past, but never again. Its a shame that “we the people” have to bail out both to keep them in business.