Regular readers of this blog know that there can be serious ramifications as the result of illegal and unethical actions done by a crooked car dealer, but thankfully death is not usually one of the results. Sadly, that is not the case on Long Island, NY.
Apparently two Lawrence NY car dealerships have been involved in illegal activities to help drug dealers, pimps and gang members obtain luxury cars while keeping their names off the DMV records. The police initiated this investigation after a 2007 shooting death. These dealerships conducted all the usual crimes like identity theft and financial shenanigans to conduct this type of illegal activity. I bring this story to your attention to drive home the point that there are many dealerships around the country involved in illegal activities and if you are not careful in your dealings you will be a victim too!
For both Ford and General Motors their problems are caused by their poor domestic sales. Both companies are doing well overseas, but because their US sales figures have fallen off the table they are both losing money. Today Ford announced a $7+billion dollar loss and this announcement was on the heels of huge losses posted by GM.
Ford’s losses amount to about $1 billion in cash and the rest is accounting related. Within Ford’s numbers their overseas figures are strong along with sales globally for divisions like Mazda. The company would be doing great except their domestic Ford business is hemorrhaging money! GM is seeing the exact same tendency, doing well overseas and losing buckets of money domestically.
As a shopper, both manufacturers offer you several very attractive, well built vehicles and right now you can buy many of these vehicles at a fantastic price because US dealers are desperate for business! This situation can create a great buying opportunity for you.
It’s not news that the US auto industry is in a bad funk. The only question now is how long this down market will last? Well, according to Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s Chief Executive US auto sales will be down through 2009. According to Mr. Ghosn there has been a tremendous shift in the mind-set of the US car buyer and it might not go away any time soon.
Nissan is planning on shifting their US vehicles to represent more 4 cylinder fuel efficient cars. Over the last few years Nissan has enjoyed strong sales with vehicles like the Murano and Pathfinder. This is no longer the case, like other manufacturers of SUVs they are seeing demand for these vehicles plummet. Not only is the type of vehicles changing, but the total number of new vehicles sold is shifting also. Right now Nissan projects that US new auto sales to be 14.3 million units this year, down from 16.15 million last year. They also predict about 14 million units sold for 2009.
This means as a shopper you are in control. Except for a few very popular vehicles, everything on a dealer’s lot is on sale. Car dealers are desperate to sell SUVs and trucks so you can get a tremendous savings. And the savings don’t stop there, with an overall decrease in sales you can also get a great deal on a fuel efficient car with a few exceptions like the Honda Accord and Civic. As a car shopper you’re in the driver’s seat, shop smart and save a lot!
Car dealers are overwhelmed with bad news on a daily basis, so when there is some good news it really is newsworthy. The good news pertains to their service departments. According to JD Powers there has been an overall increase in customer satisfaction with their dealer’s service departments. For the second year in a row Jaguar ranked number one in customer satisfaction and they are followed by Cadillac and Buick.
Service satisfaction is a consideration for car buyers today do to the complexity of modern cars. On most cars the days of changing your own oil are gone. Today’s car dealers have realized that they most likely will see their customers while their car is under warranty, but after that the customer’s service experience goes a long way to determining were they will have future work done on their car.
When you are shopping for your next car it is a good idea to take a stroll through the dealer’s service department. Depending on your lifestyle amenities like Saturday service hours, free loaner cars, late night service hours all can have an influence on were you decide to do your auto business.
Yesterday it was reported in the Detroit Free Press that the average price of a new vehicle sold in May and June of this year fell 4% when compared to a year ago. This represents the first decline in five years. So what does this mean? It has less to do with the actual prices of the cars and more to do with the cars that are being sold. During this auto sales slump dealerships are seeing a dramatic shift away from large vehicles like trucks and SUVs to smaller more fuel efficient cars. With so many people shifting away from the larger vehicles it has forced dealers and the manufacturers to lower their prices. This is the reason we see this price drop.
So, if you are currently shopping for an SUV or a truck you are sitting pretty! Except for the Toyota Tacoma, SUVs and trucks are significantly cheaper to buy than they were a year ago. Additionally, most dealers have an extensive inventory of these large vehicles so you should have no problem getting a vehicle in the color and with the equipment you desire. And best of all, you should be able to get a great price!
It would be nice if we could walk into a car dealership and expect that you are doing business with an honest, above-board local business person. Unfortunately that is not the case. I am not accusing all car dealers of being crooked or unethical, that would not be an accurate statement. But, there are so many car dealers out there from coast-to-coast who are doing unethical and often illegal acts you must carefully and scrutinize everything you do with them!
For instance, Suzuki Auto Plex in Lincoln, Nebraska is a dealership that has consistently run afoul of the law. In fact the owner, Chadron Gutschow recently had his license to sell new vehicles taken away by the state. It’s the usual story; he was holding titles, failing to pay-off loans on trade-ins, double charging customers for things like extended warrantees all the usual scams. Mr. Gutschow is your typical low-level crook.
Thankfully the state has taken away his license… kind of. He can still sell used cars, allowing him to pull his scams on those people. And to make matters worse, he has sold his license to his father! That solves the problem. Great, has anyone at the Nebraska DMV heard the expression, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? In my opinion it won’t be long before it is business as usual for Suzuki Auto Plex and that’s bad news for the unsuspecting people of Lincoln, Nebraska!
Remember, there are people like Chadron Gutschow in virtually every town and city so you must be careful. Know what paperwork you need from the dealership and get it! If the structure of your car deal requires the dealer to pay off your previous loan call that bank and make sure they are paid off, it’s important for your credit history! If they ask you to sign something read it first. Be smart and shop smart!
When someone’s so sleazy and so dishonest you must realize that it’s impossible to beat them at their game so you MUST steer clear of them at all costs. Recently the parent company of Wildcat Mitsubishi located outside Tucson Arizona, Ideal Automotive Group declared bankruptcy. This is not an unusual story until you dig a little deeper.
You see, the heat on this group of dealerships has been getting hotter and hotter and it’s not because they are in the desert. They owed $1.3 million in taxes while have $7 million in unsecured debt. Wait – it gets worse! They were also under extreme pressure from the Arizona state government because of shady and illegal business practices that included selling damaged vehicles, filing false documents, selling salvaged vehicles and calling the police on customers.
How bad is it to do business with the Ideal Automotive Group owned by the Johnson family? Since May the state had barred them from selling vehicles to Fort Huachuca soldiers! Wow, I’ve heard of a lot of bad dealers but I’ve never heard of a state barring a dealer from doing business with a group of people. Yet the saddest part of this story is the fact that with the government hot on their heels it looks like they declared bankruptcy to provide protection from the upcoming fines the state hoped to levee against them. You just can slither with snakes!
I relay these stories to my readers to stress a very important point; you must be careful who you do business with. There are dealers all over America who are as crooked and dishonest as anyone can be. These criminals make their money on the uneducated buyer. If you happen to walk into one of these dealerships without a sound plan, without an idea how to navigate through their deception and tricks you are almost assured to leave there with thousands of dollars fleeced from you. Nobody moves better on their bellies than snakes, so don’t try and slither with them!