Dealership says they do not have a "touchless" tire removal tool?

[karnov]

I brought my car in to have a repair done on a tire that had a nail in it. They referred me to "specialty shop" that does high-end wheels since my 1LE has the ZL1 wheels. They said they were afraid they would scratch the wheels if they did it at the dealership since they don't have the "touchless" tire mounting equipment.

I was surprised to hear that the dealership was not equipped to do repairs on Camaro, Corvette, SS, or any other vehicle they sell with factory wheels. I could understand if they were some aftermarket wheel, but these are factory wheels which is why I took it to the dealership in the first place. Had I known I would have just gone straight the Discount Tire by me that has a "touchless" tire mount system.

It is sad to say but I am not really trusting the dealership to do anything to my Camaro besides the free oil changes I get for the first 36,000 miles.

[i2disturbedSS]

Yeah same with me and my car. Sent me to a custom shop down the street. But then I found another chevy dealership, 30mins away, that did it for less.

[coryrulez9]

At least they referred you...Trust that more than if they just went ahead and scratched your wheels.

[Eddiefuzz]

I think that was smart for your dealership to refer you to a specialty shop. Dealerships main business is selling cars, not fixing them. They do fix them, but if they could sell an unbreakable car, you could bet that shop in back would be closed fast.

[flyinlow]

Those machines are expensive and only dealers that sell alot of Corvettes and Camaros are going to have them. Here's a video to one type of machine

[Camaro_Corvette]

That's why all my service work is done at a dealership that has 100 camaros/corvettes out front. Yeah it's 30 miles away, but the dealership in my town hasn't sold a camaro in 2 years... In fact, they couldn't even spell camaro right. They spelled it with an "e"

[Billy10mm]

Originally Posted by Camaro_Corvette

That's why all my service work is done at a dealership that has 100 camaros/corvettes out front. Yeah it's 30 miles away, but the dealership in my town hasn't sold a camaro in 2 years... In fact, they couldn't even spell camaro right. They spelled it with an "e"

That's just sad.

[Mamooth]

Originally Posted by Eddiefuzz

I think that was smart for your dealership to refer you to a specialty shop. Dealerships main business is selling cars, not fixing them. They do fix them, but if they could sell an unbreakable car, you could bet that shop in back would be closed fast.

As someone who has worked at dealerships when I was younger and has a close personal friend of the family that owns over 20 dealerships... this is horse shit. Most dealerships make more money through the service department than the new car department. Indeed, many times the only thing keeping the business in the black is the service department.

You DO realize how absurdly low the profit margin is for the dealer on a great many models percentage-wise, right? Based on percentage of markup from dealer cost to MSRP, automobiles are one of the lowest retail profit generators in the market.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...rose-6-in-2012

Average net profit per new car was just over a 100 dollars. Pathetic.

[Eddiefuzz]

That's fine you believe that. The gas station only makes 15cents per gallon too.

[Billy10mm]

Originally Posted by Eddiefuzz

That's fine you believe that. The gas station only makes 15cents per gallon too.

He said net profit and he's just about right. After the payout to the sales person + the expenses of taxes, keeping the lights on, health-care costs, etc ..... most standard car dealerships NET (not gross) less than $150 per car.

Service and parts is a MAJOR part of any dealership's bottom dollar.

And for the record, many gas stations make less than that per gallon GROSS. The big money in gas stations is in attached convenience stores. Smaller stations in the NY area that don't have the real estate to put up a store must run higher prices to make their profit and its clear as day that the least expensive gas comes from the stations with the largest convenience stores.

[Jrichards73]

You are forgetting about used cars, we all know that selling new cars is just a license to steal used cars.

[Eddiefuzz]

Originally Posted by Jrichards73

You are forgetting about used cars, we all know that selling new cars is just a license to steal used cars.

You can "spin" the numbers anyway you want. I make $206 a year. After I pay all of my bills, eat at expensive restaurants , buy gas, hookers and dope. That's what I make ever year......I use that to help pay for car washes. There main goal is to sell cars. They make THOUSANDS on the trade in and THOUSANDS on the new car. Don't "kid" yourself.

[TN REBEL SOUL]

Service/Parts Dept is where the REAL money is for dealerships. Just like other businesses, entertainment venues, etc; the real money is not in the admission ticket price - that just pays the bills. The real money is in concessions, souveniers, product-licensing, advertisers, etc........

[flyinlow]

Eddiefuzz, don't know where you get your info, but you are dead wrong. My sister in law was the controller at a Chevy dealership for 20 years. The profit centers, in order: service, used cars, new cars. The key thing being "profit center". Their highest profit/loss ratio is in service. Yes, they make thousands selling cars, but they have to sell alot of cars. And selling new cars is self serving, those new cars they sell need service and warranty work, the majority of buyers will bring the car when it needs service to the same place they bought it.