Service

Study: Customers turn to social media for service

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 25, 2013
Mastering social media is getting tougher for auto companies and dealers because of shifting consumer expectations. Consumers increasingly want their service questions answered via Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and fan sites, a new study by J.D. Power and Associates says.... Read More »

 

BMW recalls X5 SUV for brake flaw

12:13 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 15, 2013
BMW is recalling 30,265 of its X5 SUVs from model years 2007-2010 to correct a brake vacuum pump leak, according to U.S. safety regulators. Separately, Chrysler said it is recalling 4,278 Dodge Viper sports cars globally to fix a part that could cause the airbags to inadvertently deploy.... Read More »

 

JIM HENRY

The dealer, F&I vendor disconnect

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 13, 2013
There’s a disconnect in the F&I space that’s getting more obvious. Many dealers, including some of the big publicly traded dealership groups, say they’re limiting their F&I menus to three or four items: extended-service contracts, GAP policies, prepaid maintenance and perhaps another.... Read More »

 

FINANCE & INSURANCE

Banks hunt ways to set F&I products apart

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 11, 2013
For some big banks, financing is not enough. They want a piece of the F&I product business, specifically with sales of vehicle service contracts. But it's not easy to break into that product segment.... Read More »

 

JASON STEIN

Look for innovation overdrive in the service drive

5:12 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2013
The location is unknown at this point (let’s get crazy and assume it’s Las Vegas). The state of the industry is unclear (here’s hoping it’s healthy). But when the 2025 National Automobile Dealers Association convention rolls around, the vision for retail is: The big winners will have service as their middle name.... Read More »

 

How to sell service plans in the service lane

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2013
With top managers' support, proper training and a maximum of two levels of coverage to sell, service writers can significantly boost their dealerships' sales of service contracts, F&I trainer Rick McCormick says.... Read More »

 

Dealer uses service clinics to build loyalty

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2013
Dealer Bob Rountree says that about 70 percent of his new- and used-vehicle buyers at his two Ford Motor Co. stores are repeat customers. Rountree credits much of his success to an epiphany he had 10 years ago: He would offer a service clinic once each quarter to his buyers of new and used vehicles. Rountree owns a Ford dealership in Brattleboro, Vt., and a Ford-Lincoln store in Keene, N.H. -- both small markets.... Read More »

 

After rivals close, dealer adds 18 bays

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2013
Dealer Larry Taylor sees service as his Field of Dreams. "Build it and they will come," says Taylor, 64, owner of Beau Townsend Ford-Lincoln in Vandalia, Ohio, near Dayton. Taylor indeed did build it. He saw opportunity for more service business after four nearby Ford Motor Co. dealerships closed. Last year he added 18 service bays.... Read More »

 

In service business, speed counts

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2013
Many dealers focus their service departments on big-ticket repairs and warranty work. Brothers Colin and Richard Wickstrom decided to focus on time -- specifically, their customers' time. The dealer principals of Wickstrom Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram in Barrington, Ill., about 35 miles northwest of Chicago, have designed the service areas of their dealership to give the impression of speed.... Read More »

 

Old car, new repair prospect

4:02 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 9, 2013
Expect consumers to keep their cars longer, requiring more repair work, and expect more dealership groups to follow AutoNation's lead and brand themselves.... Read More »

 

Phone photos help sell needed repairs

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 9, 2013
Smartphones are helping dealership service advisers battle an age-old problem: Convincing a customer of the legitimacy of a needed repair.... Read More »

 

Sales tactics migrate to the service bays

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 8, 2013
Eighteen months ago, dealer Monica Peck hired several full-time employees to keep in touch with her service customers. Retention rates, gross profit and customer-pay repair orders at Peck's Hare Chevrolet in Noblesville, Ind., are up. In March, Roger Pipher launched daily spiffs and games to motivate his service advisers to sell more products. Service department gross profits at Coleman Buick-GMC-Cadillac in Lawrenceville, N.J., are up $100,000 over last year.... Read More »

 

Daily data help Nissan boost service satisfaction

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 8, 2013
Every day at his Nissan of North Olmsted store near Cleveland, dealer Mike D'Amato looks over information that he never used to see. It is a customer satisfaction report that he receives daily from Nissan North America, telling him what his customers are saying about their visits to his service shop.... Read More »

 

Ford says 900 dealers will be EV-certified by spring

12:05 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 5, 2013
More than 900 dealers, about a third of the Ford-brand dealer body, will be certified to sell Ford-brand plug-in vehicles by spring, the company said today. That number of EV Certified Dealers has grown from about 200 dealers in November and is ahead of where the company projected it to be. EV Certified Dealers have to meet special certification requirements in order to be allowed to sell Ford-brand plug-in vehicles.... Read More »

 

FIXED OPERATIONS

At Miami store, selling new tires is just the beginning

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 4, 2013
Selling tires is fine. But what Nestor Alvarez really likes about tires is that they provide an opportunity to sell alignment, brakes and other items in his dealership's service department. Alvarez is the service manager at Land Rover North Dade, a Miami dealership.... Read More »

 

FIXED OPERATIONS

Bigger, faster, better

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 4, 2013
Sheehy Ford Ashland's new dealership was built for one main purpose: to expand its service business. The new store in Ashland, Va., opened in June with seven additional Quick Lane service bays, new tire displays, larger tire inventory and more technicians and service advisers.... Read More »

 

FIXED OPERATIONS

Chrysler dealers set contract sales mark

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 4, 2013
Chrysler Group dealers in the United States sold a record 1.4 million service contracts in 2012, a 16 percent increase over the previous year, the head of the Mopar brand said.... Read More »

 

FIXED OPERATIONS

Dealer set to charge, take charge of EVs

12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 4, 2013
When Tom Moorehead's BMW and Mini dealerships outgrew their buildings, he wanted to make sure his new facilities would reflect the future as well as the present. That's why the new $22 million service department of BMW of Sterling, in Sterling, Va., features 16 charging stations with electric receptacles able to charge batteries or accept portable chargers for electric cars.... Read More »

 

GM offers two years' free maintenance to GMC Sierra buyers

9:00 am U.S. ET | Feb. 1, 2013
GMC is launching a free-maintenance promotion for Sierra pickup buyers with an advertising campaign that kicks off this weekend. The 24-month scheduled-maintenance coverage, called Pro Grade Protection, is an effort by General Motors to enhance GMC’s premium image and stoke demand for outgoing 2013 Sierra models, which will be replaced by a redesigned truck in the second quarter.... Read More »

 

JIM HENRY

Subprime lenders court Orlando magic

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 23, 2013
Dealers shopping for subprime lenders could wear out some shoe leather at the upcoming NADA Convention & Expo in Orlando next month.... Read More »

 

GM offers maintenance plan to fleet buyers

3:40 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2013
GM is offering a two-year, 30,000-mile maintenance plan through its Business Choice program for business fleet buyers.... Read More »

 

JIM HENRY

Are these the best of times?

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 16, 2013
The business dynamics of auto lending are so good -- low interest rates, low cost of funds, low delinquencies and rising consumer demand -- that auto lenders are asking: Is this as good as it gets?... Read More »

 

FINANCE & INSURANCE

How a service manager spurred the F&I office

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2013
Nestor Alvarez, service manager at Land Rover North Dade in Miami, says selling extended-service contracts in the service lane has had a side benefit of motivating the store's F&I department to sell more service contracts, too.... Read More »

 

JIM HENRY

Auto-credit worries appear over

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 9, 2013
Hopefully this isn’t wishful thinking, but strong 2012 U.S. auto sales seem to indicate once and for all that consumer credit won’t be a drag on another year of improving sales in 2013.... Read More »

 

FIXED OPERATIONS

Audi lets dealers OK more free repairs

12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 7, 2013
To improve customer satisfaction, Audi of America is letting dealers authorize more free repairs. Dealership service managers can authorize repairs of as much as $5,000 on out-of-warranty vehicles at no cost to customers.... Read More »