Grand Rapids Auto: The Owner

I’m sure this guy is a nice guy and all, but my sympathy meter takes a dive when I see that calculator on his desk. If you’ve ever bought a car at a dealership, then you know the sneaky shell game mathematical tricks that they play with those calculators — with the sales guy and the manager playing good cop bad cop, etc..
I suddenly feel like I’m looking at the guy who sold a million cars and jipped a million people and ushered in the grand age of global warming.
He may be portrayed as a victim, but he’s also part of the problem.

We at BNN have been doing background work on this story for several months now, having decided last winter to try and document the recession in a more intimate way examining the life of one retail enterprise.
Given the shape of the car industry, and also the fact this kind of business tends to have a manageable size, a mix of white- and blue-collar employees, and what you might call more “visually-conducive working parts” we were interested in car dealerships from the beginning. We approached many businesses but the level of anxiety and pressure from the recession — in combination, to some degree, with people’s lack of familiarity with the blogosphere — made for a protracted process, that is, until we connected with Christina Clusiau, a very fine freelance photographer who happened to be the daughter of Tom Clusiau, the owner of this Northern Minnesota dealership.
Given that BNN is a liberal/progressive blog operating in a seminar-style in an atmosphere of constructive critique, I’m proud of “our culture” here and expect, as we move forward with this series, that the posts and the pictures will open up the broadest spectrum of issues ranging from corporate governance and control; the limits of private enterprise; the role and identity of small and mid-size versus big business in America; the dynamics of family businesses; yes, the practices and ethics of the car business at the retail level; and many other things.
In applying thought, time and sensitivity to a subject the media and the public doesn’t relate to often or really even focus on very much — which is, the life of the American business –we were looking for a story that was that robust.
Over the coming weeks and months, we hope to get to know not just the Clusiau’s, but also many of the employees at the dealership, from the salespeople to the service staff to the people that keep the accounts. In the process, I imagine a reciprocal process would take place, where they, also, will get to know us. It’s my hope that, as the story grows and expands, both from the imagery, the reporting in the posts and the observations, questions, commentary and the give-and-take in the discussion threads, we might all be the richer for it.
Michael

I am always addened when someone portrays automobile salespeople as crooks. I would agree that many people in this (I have been selling cars for 29 years )and many other businesses are dishonest and only concerned with dollar profits. By that I mean, there are an abundance of non dollar profits in this business such as personall gratification for a job well done and the smile on the face of a satisfied customer, supporting Little Leagues, and whatever else the community asks for. Yes there will always be problems and many times the rub is not between the customer and the dealership, but between the dealer and the manufacturer as to what is covered under warranty and what isn’t. It all comes down to who pays for what. The dealership where I work has been selling cars since 1910 and you don’t last this long in the car business without doing your level best to satisfy the customer, many times at our expense and we look at it as an investment in ours and the customer’s future relationship. We’ll get through this downturn just like all the others buy never getting over extended and making every decision with an eye towards selling the customer more cars in the future and avoid being concerned for short term profit.

Sorry to kick off the discussion on such a negative note, there…
I’m sure it will be good to get to know these people as people, but you’ve got to realize that most of the public’s association with the car dealers involves a hugely stressful, expensive transaction where a buyer is forced to trust someone that is infamous for ripping people off. Think about it– “used car dealer” is practically synonymous with “cheat”.
So, again, sorry about the bad start, but that might just be where this conversation begins between the public and car dealerships. Are all dealers bad guys? I’m sure they are not! Are some? Well.. have you ever felt ripped off by one??

I agree, most people dread the process of buying a car from a dealer and this is the result of having been taken advantage of during past purchases. The responsibilty for being taken advantage of rests squarely on the salesperson and this is something that many salespeople don’t get. I believe that being honest and upfront as to the price of the car, what you recieve for your trade in and any fees and financing charges be properly disclosed before they sign on the dotted line. I would not buy a car from anyone who does follow this practice and niether should you. One other thing is that very few people understand the financial side of a car deal from the dealers side. By that I mean when you trade a car to a dealer and there is a balance owed on that car, say $10,000.00, the dealer must send the people who have the lien the $10,000.00. Then if there is say a $4,000.00 rebate on the new car and the new car invoices for $25,000.00 then the dealer has to have the money for the lien holder, the money to pay for the new car and the rebate money on hand. So the whole deal on one car might require a total of $39,000.00 and then the dealer might wait 10 days for the money from whatever finance company the customer used and until the end of the quarter for the rebate money from the manufacturer. Alot of money to put out there for maybe a $700.00 gross profit.

I applaud you efforts to cover this story in such an intimate way. It’s hard to to challenge existing opinions of this kind of business. Even when some of those opinions have been more than earned. Aside from the sales people and their managers (there are honest players in that biz) the parts dealer, the office managers, the detailers are all people making an honest buck from the dealership world are in a world of hurt.

I agree, most people dread the process of buying a car from a dealer and this is the result of having been taken advantage of during past purchases. The responsibilty for being taken advantage of rests squarely on the salesperson and this is something that many salespeople don’t get. I believe that being honest and upfront as to the price of the car, what you recieve for your trade in and any fees and financing charges be properly disclosed before they sign on the dotted line

Best Ford Dealer

I am always addened when someone portrays automobile salespeople as crooks. I would agree that many people in this (I have been selling cars for 29 years )and many other businesses are dishonest and only concerned with dollar profits.
Best Ford Dealer