Daniel Chandler of Glendale in the winner of the $500 scholarship we are awarding this afternoon at our Customer Appreciation Day celebration. Daniel graduated Raymond S. Kellis High School last December . His Junior and senior year he was an "A" student. I spoke with his counselor there and she had nothing but good things to say about him. His pastor and another teacher at the school also had a good opinion of him He is applying to ASU and Southern University and plans to major in business.
Daniel is the son of Audrey Hudson and is one of 10 children in the family. In speaking with him I immediately was impressed with his attitude and style. I am proud to be honoring him with this scholarship.
May 31, 2008
May 15, 2008
Misleading Advertising
I was reading a “Hot Button Bulletin” from the Better Business Bureau in
“Guaranteed Credit? We doubt it! Advertising in the Auto Trader, Auto Mart, Newspapers etc have contained phrases like “Everyone Approved”, “No One Turned Down”, “Bad Credit, Bankruptcy, Repossessions, Etc. Waived”, “ Bad Credit, No Credit, We’ll Get You Financed!”
Arizona Attorney General Ad Guidelines say:
CREDIT AVAILABILITY: A dealer should not use claims such as “everyone financed”, “no credit rejected”, “we finance everyone”, or similar statements unless the dealer can and is willing to extend such credit to any individual, under any circumstances.
The BBB code of advertising addresses the issue in the same manner:
“NO CREDIT REJECTED” The words “no credit rejected” or similar terms should not be used unless true, since they imply that consumer credit will be extended to anyone regardless of the person’s credit worthiness or financial ability to pay.
In other words ads that use these terms say that you will extend credit to the homeless guy who lives under the bridge, to the student with no job or income, the person with no down payment. There cannot be any stipulations!!
These terms are used to draw customers to toe lot thinking they will be able to get a car when the chances are stacked against them getting one unless they do meet certain qualifications.
At Consolidated Auto Sales we do approve a good percentage of the customers who come in. We do also reject a few because they do not meet the criteria we want in a customer. It could be time on the job, time at the address, down payment, credit or a lot of other things. But obviously we are in the business of selling cars, so telling a customer they can’t have the car they want does cut into our income. The other side of that coin is “ I would rather look at a car on our sales lot, rather than looking for it because the customer isn’t making the payments!”
May 7, 2008
Customer Appreciation Day
On Saturday May 31st we will be having our Customer Appreciation Day. There will be food, drink, deserts, jump castle for kids, prizes and fun. We will be awarding scholarships to 2 deserving high school seniors who are graduating this spring. There will also be a prize for the person in attendance who purchased a car furthest back. Last year 3 customers came in who had purchased a car in 1943. That was our 2nd year in business and 65 years later we are still here.
This is our way of thanking our customers, past, present and future for their continued support. If you haven't been here in the past, this would be a perfect time to come in and look around. We are a no pressure car dealership, and on a day like this, there will be less emphasis on sales. It is more of an opportunity to let people know who we are and what we do. To look at our facility and inventory, and meet the staff.
I invite you to come in and visit with us on May 31st.
This is our way of thanking our customers, past, present and future for their continued support. If you haven't been here in the past, this would be a perfect time to come in and look around. We are a no pressure car dealership, and on a day like this, there will be less emphasis on sales. It is more of an opportunity to let people know who we are and what we do. To look at our facility and inventory, and meet the staff.
I invite you to come in and visit with us on May 31st.
May 3, 2008
Fuel Economy Gas Savings
There is a great article in the "Arizona Republic" about improving your gas mileage. The interesting thing is that Jim Stack is pictured with the Article. He was the guest on
"Frank Auto Advice" last Saturday, April 26th. We spoke of the hybrid, hydrogen and all electric cars. Anything but the standard gasoline powered car most of us drive every day.
Since the advent of the instant MPG readings in cars, I have tried to get the number as high as possible. I remember reading a book about driving many years ago. The chapter I remember spoke of driving a limousine. The aim was to drive as if your passenger had a full glass of champagne on the tray in the back compartment. You didn't want to spill a drop, this meant easy acceleration and braking. Just what this article recommends to get better mileage. I know that the a car driven by one person can achieve more or less MPG when driven by someone else, it has to do with a persons style of driving.
I read that Nissan is having a problem selling the Titan trucks and the Armadas. Ford, Chevy and Dodge have also reported that truck and SUV sales are down. Could this have to do with gas mileage?
I know that we are seeing people who want to trade the gas guzzlers for something that gets better MPG. They say that history repeats itself. I remember in the gas crunch days of the 70's that the car companies cut back on the large cars and ramped up on the smaller more fuel efficient cars. In the past 7 or 8 years I have noticed that even the small economy cars have grown in size and weight. The Sentra has grown from 2392 lbs in 1999 to 2513 in 2006. The Tacoma pu has grown from 2580 lbs in 1999 to 3180lbs in 2006. The public wants the luxury and size but can't pay for the fuel to run it.
I like the Europen system of car design and manufacture. There are no cafe standards to deal with, they manufacture the cars that people want to buy. In Europe people have been paying $4.00 per gallon or more for years. The pocketbook helps decide what someone will buy. They still have the gas guzzlers for those who want and can afford to drive them, but the government doesn't dictate what they have to build.
I know that the trend will now be toward downsizing the cars again, I wish they would get the cars that run on other than gasoline, then the problems would be over.
"Frank Auto Advice" last Saturday, April 26th. We spoke of the hybrid, hydrogen and all electric cars. Anything but the standard gasoline powered car most of us drive every day.
Since the advent of the instant MPG readings in cars, I have tried to get the number as high as possible. I remember reading a book about driving many years ago. The chapter I remember spoke of driving a limousine. The aim was to drive as if your passenger had a full glass of champagne on the tray in the back compartment. You didn't want to spill a drop, this meant easy acceleration and braking. Just what this article recommends to get better mileage. I know that the a car driven by one person can achieve more or less MPG when driven by someone else, it has to do with a persons style of driving.
I read that Nissan is having a problem selling the Titan trucks and the Armadas. Ford, Chevy and Dodge have also reported that truck and SUV sales are down. Could this have to do with gas mileage?
I know that we are seeing people who want to trade the gas guzzlers for something that gets better MPG. They say that history repeats itself. I remember in the gas crunch days of the 70's that the car companies cut back on the large cars and ramped up on the smaller more fuel efficient cars. In the past 7 or 8 years I have noticed that even the small economy cars have grown in size and weight. The Sentra has grown from 2392 lbs in 1999 to 2513 in 2006. The Tacoma pu has grown from 2580 lbs in 1999 to 3180lbs in 2006. The public wants the luxury and size but can't pay for the fuel to run it.
I like the Europen system of car design and manufacture. There are no cafe standards to deal with, they manufacture the cars that people want to buy. In Europe people have been paying $4.00 per gallon or more for years. The pocketbook helps decide what someone will buy. They still have the gas guzzlers for those who want and can afford to drive them, but the government doesn't dictate what they have to build.
I know that the trend will now be toward downsizing the cars again, I wish they would get the cars that run on other than gasoline, then the problems would be over.
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