Working in a dealership

Who here supports their hot rod addiction by working in an auto dealership or working in a used car lot?
Are you in sales, service, restoration, imports, or domestics ?
Are you tanking or actually pulling ahead in this current business climate?

 

just got out after the first 10 years of my working life being in dealerships. i will never go back.

 

17 years in dealer (tech) open my own shop almost 4 years ago

 

37 years in a dealership.I rekon I will be there till I retire.

 

I worked in a Chevy dealership in the mid to late 60's, both in parts and sales. It was a lot of fun dealing in muscle Chevys during that decade.
From the 70's thru the very late 80's I was in the retail and wholesale used car business.
Dealt in a lot of muscle cars and lease cars. I didn't earn a big living but I sure enjoyed what I was doing.
I've been employed in sales by a To@*#a dealer for the past 21 years.
It was a great job 'till now.
Every week it's more new grief. I'm 63 year old now but feel 18, This might be my last year doing cars to support more cars.
It been an interesting ride.

 

I wish I would have gone into an automotive related field and not into IT. Now I travel so much for work that I am home maybe 1-2 weeks a month. It does not leave much time to even start on my latest project.

 

40 years in dealerships. Doing good now, I changed jobs a couple of years ago before the SHTF so to speak. I felt taken advantage of, and because I had been there for so many years they felt that they could "put it to me" and I would take it. The last two years I was there was bad, and the last six months of it, well, it was a challenge to walk into the door in the morning.
Once I turned in my notice, well hearts and flowers came out, and how can we fix this was the line. My answer was too late, it should never gotten to this point.
At least I feel appreciated where I am at now

 

My first job, 1972 detailing cars at Schapel Buick in Merrillville Indiana $1.25 per hour!

 

worked mid 60'sto mid 70's in dealerships, mostly ford, i say the light and went to heavy truck stayed there almost 30 yrs, semi retired, driving a truck part time, i work about 6 months a year and i am having a blast.

 

I'm officially retired, but I end up working a lot at my buddy's Ford/Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership. I'm the 'floater' ... I do accounting, work in the business office and (when they twist my arm ) work on the parts counter.

It's generally fun and I put whatever I make there into the 'projects fund'.

 

I worked at a Honda dealer for 30 years til they booted me.
Now in the wholesale parts business...
The money is not as good as the dealership, but the stress is tremendously lessened.
And its a 40-45 hour week, rather than a 70-75 hour week.
Now I have time for a part time job at a dragstrip...

 

Spent 15 years in GM dealerships parts & service. It was fun and I learned alot. Now have my own auto & tire business.

 

I spent 40 years in GM dealerships total. The last one I spent 31 years before it folded almost exactly a year ago today. I always made good money, the hours were awful, the stress unbelievable but the money made it worthwhile (sort of). I teach Automotive Tech now full time and I REALLY an enjoying it. The pay isn't very good but the stress level is zilch. I'd never go back...never.

 

20 years at a gm dealer
now just do work for the local hot rod guys
way more fun workin for myself

 

19 years for Toyota. Left in 2005 to start my own business. Economy screwed that up for me. Now I am working as a Maint. mechanic for a large company.

 

About 20 of my 30 working years have been in dealerships, the rest bar about 1 year has also been automotive (wrecking/parts/pumping gas)
In service department now, and happy, started in parts, have done warranty, realy couldn't be fucked trying sales.

 

My uncle worked at a GM dealership his whole life. When he was young it was during the muscle car days. He has some crazy stories to.

My Uncle was into street racing back then and the local police in his town ordered a bunch of new '66 Impalas with big blocks in them. They were an ugly purple color and had four doors. They looked like shit but were fast as hell. Well the police brought one in for servicing and my uncle gave her the regular tune up. Then after him and his friend snuck out with it that night. They went to the street racing spot were there were hundreds of people. Everyone just stood still when he puller up and just about shit their pants. Then he rolled down the window and started laughing.

Another time my uncle would always take out the Corvettes and Camaros and he was just sneaking out a brand spankin new 1970 1/2 Camaro Z28 then the boss came (he was about 17) he came over and said "what the hell are you doing?" My uncle just looked at him. Then the boss said "Oh what the hell have her back by the time lunch is over".

I hear storied like that all the time from my uncle. He also worked for a Ford dealer for a bit. They gave him a brand new Mercury Capri (Like fox body Mustang) to drive. He snapped the shift knob while racing a guy going from 1st to 2nd.

Man I wish I could have been alive during those days.

 

Well......after 23 years at this dealership being the shop foreman/head mechanic we are getting the squeeze put on us by Chrysler. Small town dealers have a hard time keeping up with sales and parts volumes that bigger dealers have. Pencil pushers don,t care whether or not I have a job or a family to feed. Combined with a boss that lies through his teeth to every one my future at the dealership is dubious. On the bright side I get job offers all of the time,my assets far out weigh my liabilities and I am actually looking forward to a few months of time off to get caught up at home.Spring is coming and I have many vintage cars to pick up and part out.I might even sort out my basement.....

 

10 years as a tech in a ford dealer, the new cars are horrible to work on, I want out.

Brad

 

Worked for a Chevy dealer in the mid to late 80s in the body shop. They hired a new GM who's main focus was how many kickbacks he could get from suppliers. Hated that SOB, but turned out he did me the biggest favor in my life by driving me to quit. Left to start my own shop. I'll never miss the politics at dealerships.

 

I was the Body shop Manager at a local Lincoln Mercury dealer for a few years. (but you knew that Disgustin') It was a great opportunity to fine tune the business end of things before going out on my own.

My boss was always surprised when a body guy/painter called in sick and I just took over the job- thought it was strange.

Hated the tie thing though

 

40 Yrs in Ford dealers in southeast Mi. The graveyard of the economy. Anyone who has worked as a wrench in one of these places know how its been. Cant really add much more about these places.

 

Chevy master technician worked my way up through dealership to service manager,than service director. Finally they replaced me with a younger guy who couldnt pass the service managers test. Now they got it all back GM shut them down. Now I have my own shop and they got nothing.

 

Over 20 years of the dealership scene....I actually started at an AMC/Jeep dealer. Moved around a couple times to follow Jeep. Now at a Dodge/Ram/Chrysler/Jeep dealer. Between the economy, changes in the corp. and outragous health ins....I WANT OUT! I'm so burned out out dealing with crying a$$ customers! Techs whining about warranty rates and customers whining about customer pay prices....I have come to hate my job!

 

I worked at Vasek Polak BMW as a mechanic for several years. We were very busy as Manhattan Beach has millions of BMW's.

Great bunch of guys. They once threw a surprise bachelor party for me at work including hookers. How cool is that?

Sadly, the owner was killed while on a trip to Germany. He flipped a loaner Porsche at 90 MPH. The empire he built fell apart after that. I resigned not long after.

Here's his story:
http://www.vpracing.com/Vasek_Polak/vasek_polak.html

 

I worked as a gopher and in clean up for a Plymouth - GMC dealership in the late 60's and very early 70's. (Strange combo, I know) It was a very small dealership, but we had our share of muscle cars during that era. Lot's of fun when i was a teenager.

When I sold my business and retired I went back to work in sales at a Pontiac Buick GMC store from 99-03. Helluva business to get into AFTER retirement! Terrible hours for not much pay, but I really enjoyed it until my health forced me to give it up.

 

Standing at a parts counter right now. Pretty slow so far this year. Been in this racket for 20 years, hoefully not much longer. Very tired of the shit head boss, and especially the previously mentioned whiny-assed customers. My wife tells me it's something those in the health care industry get called "compassion fatigue". I say I'm just tired of the sob stories and free advice seekers trying to fix the late model plastic piece of shit they drive without actually BUYING something from me.

 

started in a gm store 9 days out of high school , wrenched for about 5 years , svc consultant for about 5 years , and service manager for about 24 years now . 4th store and 3rd owner ive worked for . this business has never been as hard as it is now , from fighting with wholesale for decent labor hrs to fighting with warrenty companys for payment , and the customers (most of which are good people) who i believe are just fet up with lots of shit , are a little hard to deal with at times . but its all i know , i think im fairly good at it , and "self medication" sooths it out at the end of the day . mopar210

 

I am a collision shop manager for a big Chevy dealership and I really enjoy the job. The hours aren`t too bad but the business has changed so much in just the last five years that if you`re working on the pay plans of old, you`re starving! Insurance companies have a very large foothold on the collision repair industry and basically control the workflow with direct repair programs. If you aren`t aligned with several the work is slow in coming. Way too many bodyshops out there.My employees are dedicated and have all been here for many years and genuinely enjoy the work. I used to be a service manager and would never take that job again. Caught between techs, manufacturers warranty and customers is not the place to be. The hours sucked too.
I work 7 am to 5 pm and the pay is very good so hopefully we can stay afloat until I retire and go play with my old trucks.

 

I went to wyotech a few years ago and now I work as a technician at a volkswagen dealership. It's been up and down lately. last month we made lots of money but this month we're strugglin. I'm actually in the shop on my lunch break right now lol. Ive been doing it about two years, I enjoy it for the most part. When I went in to wyotech I wanted to work in hot rods and swore I'd never work at a dealership, but after doing the hot rod thing 8 hours a day, everyday, I realized I didnt have the patience for that kind of work. Also it's much more difficult work for much less pay most of the time. I'm pretty happy with the decision I made, I make a pretty decent living for someone my age (21). not much money left over for the hotrod though, so my car's still got a loooong ways to go before its done.