Jon Taffer - Bar Rescue - You ever watch this show?

I like that guys way of doing things and I like that show... But I believe his name is Jon Tapper, not Taffer. :)
 
Hello,

Exactly a year ago I bought my Yukon Denali from a Honda dealer in Minnesota. I figured there would be some defects even though there were only 9,000 miles on the truck. I drove 350 miles to see it was totally blown away by how clean it was. Absolutely no scratches or swirls anywhere. To be honest, it looked as good or better then the new Denalis. So good I leave it in the garage and drove my beater car. I asked what was used to detail the car. I received a couple of answers but was told they have someone comes in and detail their cars. Not the new ones, but cars that come in on trade or auction ( like mine was).

I'm sure this added to the price but it was worth it. I understand dealers needing to make money and remain profitable. I don't know if to many people that buy new or used really pay attention to the paint.
 
waterman said:
Hello,

Exactly a year ago I bought my Yukon Denali from a Honda dealer in Minnesota. I figured there would be some defects even though there were only 9,000 miles on the truck. I drove 350 miles to see it was totally blown away by how clean it was. Absolutely no scratches or swirls anywhere. To be honest, it looked as good or better then the new Denalis. So good I leave it in the garage and drove my beater car. I asked what was used to detail the car. I received a couple of answers but was told they have someone comes in and detail their cars. Not the new ones, but cars that come in on trade or auction ( like mine was).

I'm sure this added to the price but it was worth it. I understand dealers needing to make money and remain profitable. I don't know if to many people that buy new or used really pay attention to the paint.
Click to expand...

If I owned a new dealership I would be concentrating on the looks of my used cars. A $50-65k used Denali better look comparable to the new one. Your Honda dealer made a wise choice investing $700-1200 in the Denali detail. Guaranteed he got all the money back when he sold it. Glad you got the car you were expecting. How disappointed would you have been if the Denali was swirled out mess.

I bet subconsciously the customer notices the scratches, but it just looks like a used car and they expect to see paint in that condition. Most buyers just assume used cars look like a swirled out mess, because 90% are.

We could take a lot of AGO's members 1-3 year old cars and roll them onto the dealers showroom and most salespeople would think they are new. Might have to put new tires on some of them:)
 
***Update***


Just returned to Autogeek after a day of shop calls... and our shop call went good.

More on this later as it's time to call it a week.





Benny said:
As the owner of a car dealership,

A lot of us care how our inventory looks, including down to how straight the cars are parked in a row.
Click to expand...


And just to note, that's how the General Manager of this dealership feels. He knows his cars can look better and that's why he's being pro-active and calling out for help. I have a lot of respect for this guy and after meeting many of his staff today, I have a lot of respect for his team.



Natron said:
SUBSCRIBED.

As some of you know, I run the detail center at a dealership. I feel that this is a trend that we will see more of in the next couple of decades.

FORWARD THINKING dealerships will become more willing to invest in their people and develop their own professional grade detail department.

Nathan
Click to expand...


I agree.

Actually, it's the dissemination of information like this forum and other educational sites offer that slowly but surly educate the masses and this in turn will put pressure on dealerships to put more effort into the detail portion of their business.


:)
 
What may be of the most interest to the dealership, and to the "detailers" on staff, is to ask them to bring one of their own already "detailed" cars in, and show them exactly what the issues are, and then you or your Autogeek buddies can go over a section of the car, and show them the difference. Have their management there as well, and make sure that the management understands that this takes time and skill, and those come from education and experience (i.e. this is the wrong place to cut costs, so no high school drop outs taking rotaries to a top end Mercedes on the first day pm the job).
 
Benny said:
As the owner of a car dealership,
I would have to respectfully disagree.

A lot of us care how our inventory looks,
including down to how straight the cars
are parked in a row.

The consumer on the other hand is cheap
and is only concerned about price.

If you own a dealership you aren't going
to be worried about making every car look
perfect as if it were entered in a car show
for judging.

As the saying on this forum goes most
people don't know the difference between
a swirl and a squirrel. My real life experience
has to agree.

I'm not going to dedicate hours of work
on every car for a customer who doesn't
appreciate what we did. It's like when we
put brand new tires on a used car and
people are mad we can't take off an extra
$500. They'd rather have the car $500 less
with bald tires.

A lot of people like to bash detailers at
dealerships but let me tell you something.
Some of my rush 1-step buff jobs look
better than some "professional" detailers
all day long buff job.

You can't always blame some of these
dealership detailers either. Their boss
at the dealership might not be providing
them with everything they need, again
to keep costs down.

That doesn't mean the detailer doesn't
know HOW to properly detail a car like
a pro. At the end of the day it is all about
the mighty dollar.

Running a dealership isn't cheap and the
government keeps forcing regulations
down on us, especially with financing.

It is very costly and you have to make
cut backs where we can. Like I tell people,
you'll pay a ridiculous profit to apple for
an Ipone but if we made $1 on the car we
sold you, you think it was $1 too much.
Click to expand...
Quite the winsome write-up... :xyxthumbs:

However:
The below is 'par for the course'
around my neck of the woods:

image117.jpeg


The above mess, on a brand new
2015 Corvette, was the result of:

1.) Cost-cutting measures at a
Dealership (lay-offs back in the
get-ready/Detailing Dept.)...

2.) and, then: "cross-training" the
Finance guy to help out where needed.


•It, along with many other new vehicles,
sat looking like that for 1 1/2 years:
-No potential customer wanted it in
that shape...(not because they were
cheap consumers)!

•It finally wound up in the possession
of the Dealership owner's son.
-He had it professionally detailed.

Yes...
This is one Dealership that would
definitely benefit from a Mike Phillips
"rescue mission"!


Bob
 
Klasse Act said:
Now THIS I would watch!
Click to expand...


You (both the detial shop guys and the management) have to see the problem before you can address it. Doing a before and after is the fastest way to get their attention. The cost cutting and use of unskilled detailers is something for management and ownership to deal with, nothing that Mike and the Autogeek guys can do about that.

John Tapper shows the bar owners what is wrong with their operation, Mike and the Autogeek guys could do the same for the detailing shop. If the detailing shop does things the right way, they could start to offer detailing services, and possibly turn that into a profit center, not just a way to improve the appearance of their used cars.
 
John "Tapper "?
Trust me. It's Taffer!
But seriously, this is a great topic.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
c2f52ea95e14c01f671d3fba3e119dc4.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top