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.
April 25, 2008
Stolen Car Found -Phoenix Police do wonders
Yesterday morning a gentlemen came into our dealership looking for a car. He wanted to look at one of the cars. He said he had good credit so he didn't want to fill out any paperwork. After the 2nd request he let us look at his drivers license. The salesman got up to get the keys to the car, and went with the customer to look at the car. The customer got into the car, the salesman handed him the keys. When he started the car, he put it into gear and drove off.
We called the Phoenix Police who had a car here within 3 minutes. Officer Monson did an excellent job finding out what happened and asking the right questions of us. After the person was gone with the car, we realized he had picked up the copy of his license and took it with him as he walked out of our office. I had given my cell phone number in case the car was recovered after hours. We gave our descriptions of the suspect, gave the officer the description of the car and the report was filed. This was about 10:30 in the morning. Around 4:00pm a call came to my phone from the Police department. They had located the car behind a small apartment complex less than a mile from our business and had three suspects in custody. We went to the scene, the officers there were very professional and pleasant. They had noticed a car in the parking lot with no license plate and had stopped to investigate. According to the suspects in custody, a person matching the description of the suspect had been there earlier, but had left. We didn't get our guy, but we got the car back undamaged and no worse for the wear.
This was the first auto theft like this we have had in over 20 years, so we talked about what happened, and how things could have been differently. Some changes have been made that will help in the future.
Thanks again Phoenix Police. I know that most stolen cars are recovered, but I don't remember one being recovered this quick.
We called the Phoenix Police who had a car here within 3 minutes. Officer Monson did an excellent job finding out what happened and asking the right questions of us. After the person was gone with the car, we realized he had picked up the copy of his license and took it with him as he walked out of our office. I had given my cell phone number in case the car was recovered after hours. We gave our descriptions of the suspect, gave the officer the description of the car and the report was filed. This was about 10:30 in the morning. Around 4:00pm a call came to my phone from the Police department. They had located the car behind a small apartment complex less than a mile from our business and had three suspects in custody. We went to the scene, the officers there were very professional and pleasant. They had noticed a car in the parking lot with no license plate and had stopped to investigate. According to the suspects in custody, a person matching the description of the suspect had been there earlier, but had left. We didn't get our guy, but we got the car back undamaged and no worse for the wear.
This was the first auto theft like this we have had in over 20 years, so we talked about what happened, and how things could have been differently. Some changes have been made that will help in the future.
Thanks again Phoenix Police. I know that most stolen cars are recovered, but I don't remember one being recovered this quick.
April 9, 2008
Fuel Economy
I have driven several models of the hybrid car. The Honda Insight, and several different years of Prius. They are quite expensive to buy and maintain, but you do save considerably at the pump. A friend of mine purchased a Prius a year or so ago. He did the studies of cost versus gas savings. He said he would have to keep it a long time for the savings to equal the additional cost of the hybrid over a standard vehicle. I purchased a 70,000 mile Prius. I noticed some warning lights that were on and that it didn't operate quite right. Even though I employ 5 mechanics and have access to lots of repair information about many vehicles, we had to sent this to Toyota for repair. The problem was a bad computer. The computer in this car was listed at close to $4,000. The computer in the average car is several hundred. I wonder what other expensive things lie waiting to break in this car.
Gasoline prices are at an all time high. Gasoline is taking a bigger bite out of your wallet. The most logical solution for this problem is to drive less. Combining errands and going out once rather than 3 or 4 times. There is also the old rule I learned in drivers ed many years ago. If you accelerate as if you had an egg between the pedal and your foot, you accelerate more slowly and smoothly thus getting better mileage. When I am driving a car that is equipped with the instant MPG feature, I try to get it to read as high as possible. This corresponds with teh slower and smoother acceleration.
Gasoline prices are at an all time high. Gasoline is taking a bigger bite out of your wallet. The most logical solution for this problem is to drive less. Combining errands and going out once rather than 3 or 4 times. There is also the old rule I learned in drivers ed many years ago. If you accelerate as if you had an egg between the pedal and your foot, you accelerate more slowly and smoothly thus getting better mileage. When I am driving a car that is equipped with the instant MPG feature, I try to get it to read as high as possible. This corresponds with teh slower and smoother acceleration.
April 3, 2008
Buying a Lemon Revisited!
I spoke with my friend who purchased the damaged car yesterday. Things came out reasonably well. A lawyer had been retained and the seller will be giving the sale price plus attorney fees back. The title and registration fees, the extra key, the new floor mats, the little goodies you get for a new car to personalize it, these expenses aren't included in the settlement. You could ask for those extras, but if the seller gets upset he may change his mind and not go through with the deal.
Consider the expense tuition in the school of life. This unlucky buyer has now repurchased her former car and is driving it again. At this point there are no plans to purchase another car in the near future.
Consider the expense tuition in the school of life. This unlucky buyer has now repurchased her former car and is driving it again. At this point there are no plans to purchase another car in the near future.
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