Made the list

gunbunny

gunbunny

EEEEEEEKKKKK! it's a
Its a sad day. :(
The dealership that I worked at for 14 years of my life made the closing list today.
Joe Kidd Dodge has been around since the early 70's and prior to that Joe called it Quality East Dodge. Sadly Joe passed away about 10 years ago and his brother Ron ran the place until his sudden passing 5 years ago. The place was almost literally on "cruise control" since. We made a ton of money and there was no one to spend it. the business manager told us to continue on and we did.
Joe stuck with Chrysler during the bad years in the late 70's and early 80's. He never gave up on them and now Chrysler treats the place like this. [smilie=k:
This is a place you came to and never left. Salesmen who have been there for 20+ years. The lot guys have been there since the 70's! They are just damn good people to work for!
I carry mail now, I really missed the people I worked with, and there were times I questioned my move to the Post Office. I have been back to help out with odds and ends when I was able.
Seven dealerships in Cincinnati are going to tank. There will only be one left in Clermont County east of Cincy. That will be Wyler C/J and that's a damn shame. Talk about the blind leading the blind.
I guess I should be thankful, I kinda saw the writing on the wall a couple of years ago. But i have a lot of friends that are about to be out of a job.
 
That sucks. I expect to hear a lot more of this kind of thing shortly.

The only Chrysler dealer in one of the biggest towns in the U.P. got the axe, and the dealership at which I was the parts manager and warranty administrator when I was married found out today that the plug has been pulled on their Jeep franchise. This leaves them only with Buick and Pontiac, and we all know where Pontiac is headed so it's a lock that Bero Motors of Escanaba will be no more before too long. If I remember correctly, they've been in operation since 1937 with the same family being owners the entire time, and they have some of the most dedicated customers I've ever seen. It's a shame.

People voted for change, and now they're getting it... it seems lots of folks voted themselves right out of a job. :(
 
Victory dodge in Prattville, AL is one of them, and they couldn't have made a better choice. I feel for the service and parts people, but the dumbasses in the showroom should have been gone long ago.
 
I personally place the blame squarely on Bob Eaton. He sold Chrysler down river to the Germans. They raped Chrysler and left a rotting corpse.
That SOB got a golden parachute the size of Montana and laughed all the way to the bank.
Daimler was a company that had previously hoped to sell 100K units a year. They couldn't handle a company that did that a month. They fired all of the styling people Bob Lutz had hired and gave us the vanilla crap that showed up on showroom floors.
I talked to my friends at Joe Kidd Dodge, they had a car show planed for the the 31st of May. They said they plan on having one hell of a goodbye party that day. If any one is interested in the drive to Cincy, this is always a class act of a show. Mopars only! MCG will be there. The guy who runs it (Bob Gallo) is known as the Mopar snob of Cincy.
 
We have two large Dodge dealerships in the area, both owned by the same family along with the many other dealerships in the area they own for GM and Ford.

Both the Dodge dealerships are safe.
 
Wow!! There's some big names on that list.

Maroone is an automotive staple in South Florida. Don't know much about them other than the fact that Dan Marino does commercials for them.

Bob Dance Dodge has been around forever. When I think of all the DCJ dealerships in the Greater Orlando area, it surprises me that they picked Bob Dance above the others. I wonder if they drew names out of a hat or something. Maybe a whimsical game of Pin the Tail on the Dealership?

Reed Brothers Dodge in Rockville, MD was the location of our first storage lot when I went to work for Rockville Exxon Towing (Now F.A.S. Towing) back in the early 90's

I also noticed there wasn't anything on the list from the Metro Atlanta area.
 
14 cut here yesterday, if you have a problem under warranty on the western slope of Colorado you are screwed. 1 dealer left in Grand Junction.
All the small mom and pop dealers on the western slope and eastern Colorado got whacked.

Now I know why Government Motors didn't release there list to the public, Why would I buy a car from a dealer who won't be around 6 months from now?.:naughty:
 
RustBucket said:
I also noticed there wasn't anything on the list from the Metro Atlanta area.
Click to expand...
I noticed that as well. I also noticed that they whacked two dealerships that were until recently advertising in Mopar magazines for MP stuff: Bill Kay and Gainesville Dodge.

GM didn't release their list of 1100, but I've been picking up a few here and there who got the axe. I haven't found anything local yet, but I'm sure it's coming. Of course, GM is planning on axing a whole bunch more by the end of 2010--around 2600 total.

It's funny, really: Both companies think they're helping themselves by eliminating nearby competition and therefore driving up profit margins, but with unemployment already rampant in these parts, if my friends in local dealerships lose their jobs, do you think for a second that were I in the market for a new car, I'd consider buying from the company that laid them off? Not fuckin' likely, and grudges have a funny way of sticking much longer than favors do in one's mind.

I'm glad I'm in the aftermarket.
 
this one at first startled me
TIMBERLINE DODGE INC DBA TIMBERLINE CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE 42184 DTCJ
2406 N E SANDY BLVD
PORTLAND, OR 97232-2399
ARTHUR A LAWS
Click to expand...
reason being is that its THE HUB..if any mopar parts house doesnt have it or needs to order it its coming from them.....then it hit me..this is actualy a string of 6 dealerships..that adress is/was?..THE place to take a viper if your on the west coast..PERIOD......at any given time you could walk in there and find race vipers to daily drivers etc on the racks...some coming form many states away

now if there shutting down the entire timberline lots...well...im fucked if i need a part in a hurry...they have a full block thats just warehouse of parts
 
It wouldnt surprise me for something to be leaked, about the closings.. I could see them picking and choosing who closes, by witch party they support/donate to ..
 
I know why the dealer I worked at was targeted. It had nothing to do with politics and every thing to do with playing ball.
When Chrysler told the owner to build a new building, Joe told them to "go shit in their hat" and he meant it. He had a dealer agreement that went back to the 50's and was bullet proof. At least until the bankruptcy voided that.
There were several large dealers that got the ax. These were all multi point dealers or were big or old enough to do their own thing with out Chrysler's blessing.
 
hmm that right there makes sense..the grandfather dealerships who could do what they want as they want getting the ax makes FLAWLESS sense..timberline is one of those dealers
 
We sold more units than Towbin Dodge did without hanging all that gaudy ass crap on cars. We stayed in the top 75 dealers followed right behind us was another of our stores.
When Chrysler would come in and told us we needed to buy 75 bedliners we said no thanks, we just didn't play ball.
But when things started to get tight, Chrysler asked us to take 17 units from them this past February. We did it, sold them and asked for more.
Then the list came out. Oh well, Wednesday is the last day as a Dodge Dealer.
 
gunbunny said:
We sold more units than Towbin Dodge did without hanging all that gaudy ass crap on cars. We stayed in the top 75 dealers followed right behind us was another of our stores.
When Chrysler would come in and told us we needed to buy 75 bedliners we said no thanks, we just didn't play ball.
But when things started to get tight, Chrysler asked us to take 17 units from them this past February. We did it, sold them and asked for more.
Then the list came out. Oh well, Wednesday is the last day as a Dodge Dealer.
Click to expand...

I feel bad for you and all of the other people loosing their jobs due to this lovely economic down turn. I got laid off in January and still have not any success in finding a job. But then again, nobody is hiring 56 year old mechanics for 70k a year.

Sucks being a pawn in an economic chess game. :(
 
gunbunny said:
Daimler... fired all of the styling people Bob Lutz had hired and gave us the vanilla crap that showed up on showroom floors.
Click to expand...
While I agree that the Nazis sent Chrysler into the toilet, the above statement just ain't true. Trevor Creed only recently left Chrysler, and up until that point still worked with most of the stylists that brought us the '93 LH cars and their '98 descendants, the '94 Ram, the original Neon, the Prowler, the PT, the Viper, and the LX cars. Though they're all dated now, all those were exciting designs in their time. In '97, if you were in the market for a midsize sedan and were basing your decision on styling alone, what would you have bought: a Camry, a Lumina, a Contour, or a Stratus? The Stratus was easily the prettiest of the bunch at the time.

I think the fact that the 300C was a hit screwed up Chrysler styling badly... they must've figured that if the public loved that car, everything they built needed to be blocky and angular with a low glass ratio. Hell, even the new Camaro's got a tiny greenhouse with gun-slit windows... and it's not the only non-Mopar where one can see that trend.

Cliff Gromer recently did an excellent editorial in Mopar Action about what happened to Chrysler at the hands of the Nazis. It's not in front of me, but I'll find the issue and post it. Highly recommended reading.
 
I've got faith in the pentestar coming back. If I didn't I wouldn't have bought that new truck; nor would I contemplate that Challenger. It was mentioned at the dealership that Lee, and some of his chosen, were available to come in...........
 
I know I have no regrets buying my '09 1500. I pimp the hell out of that thing, and it does everything better than I have a right to expect it to. Over 18 mpg, runs low 14's, rides REALLY REALLY well for a truck, fairly cheap, and I can carry stuff with it. They hit a home run with the 09's in my book. Maybe they should get some of the truck guys to work on designing cars too.
 
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