There are still a few quirky shops on Broadway, like Roger's Autoworks.
Not a very flattering drawing of an Alfa.
I looked through the window of Precision Motors and saw this 2CV!
And the motorcycle in the foreground, an IMZ-Ural motorbike. How bizarre.
One of the most hopping places on the Row is the Honda dealership. Did I mention that the waiting room in the service department has TWO classic arcade consoles? I scored the highest points in Ms. Pac Man and Galaga.
The GMC-Pontiac-Cadillac-Buick-Chevy dealership is huge, and dead.
This faded, dusty 2007 Pontiac catalog by the showroom window is sad.
Here are some shots of the lot. There's a notice posted stating that the area will be converted into a 150-car parking lot. The only problem is, who is going to park there? There's a medical complex nearby, but it doesn't need that many extra parking spaces.
Funky old school credit card signage.
Once you walk past the weeds on the sidewalk, the Mercedes dealership is actually nice. I did not see an SLS on the sales floor. When I walked by, the salesmen (all middle aged guys in Nordstrom shirts, ties, slacks, shoes) were having a meeting.
Here's another empty lot.
There's a small triangular building on the Row that used to belong to Kia. For some strange reason, someone (maybe a car dealer who lost his dealership but not the lease on the building) decided to display his own private cars in the building. They are not for sale.
The juxtaposition of these signs leave me speechless. (Connell was a huge dealership on the Row.)
6 comments:
Really enjoyed these two posts. Thanks!
@Edvin: My pleasure. How are new car dealers doing in Finland?
Wow, great post but depressing. I remember an article about the differences between Toyota and GM dealers. Both sell about the same amount of vehicles in the States, but Toyota has 1/5 the dealer network (talk about about bloat on GM's part)
@MattC: Any idea where I can find stats on number of dealers by marque? I tried NADA and found nada.
Quite well, new car sales have been rising steadily since 2009. Some smaller companies have been bought by larger ones, but not too many have closed up.
The company I work for just built a flashy new building. http://www.autotoday.fi/modules/utility/files/large/Audi%20Center%20Airport.JPG
Erich, the owner of Precision Motors (and now Roger's Autoworks -- it's a Pan-European empire!) owns the 2CV and the Ural. Good guy. Look for the old Alfa signages out back.
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