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Many dealers complain bitterly that Detroit has overproduced both in variety of models and cars, forced them to take more cars than they need so that the giants can outsell their competitors. Dealers point to their own slim earnings and to General Motors' 8% net profit last year. "When it became apparent we were in trouble," complains Denver's Bob Jones, "I went to the Ford people and tried to pull this dealership down to 75 units a month. But they said no, that I had to sell 160 new cars and 40 trucks each month. They are going to have to teach cats and dogs to drive to ever sell the number of cars they want to produce and push out on dealers." Nonetheless, counters Ford's Lee lacocca, "the dealers are the first to acclaim you for coming out with new models." Jim Moran says that he takes only as many cars as he wants, adds that dealers have to be firm with Detroit to keep from being overloaded. He also thinks many dealers too rigid on prices. "If they can't sell a car for a $300 or $400 profit," he says, "they won't sell it. If we can only sell a car for $50 profit this month, we have to sell it for $50 profit. Maybe next month we'll have to take $40. Maybe the month after that it will be $100. We have to take what the market will bring." Moran sniffs at dealers who want a factory-fixed fair-price arrangement: "A lot of dealers are sitting around waiting to be legislated into making a living." Poor Service. Many dealers insist that customers make a mistake by shopping around in search of a rock-bottom price; they say that if the customer does not buy from his local dealer, he cannot expect to get good service from him later.
But buyers answer that service is too often lip service, fancy slogans, a brusque shop steward and an indifferent mechanic.
Many a big-city buyer has had such poor experiences with dealer service that he prefers to take his car to the corner service station or even to drive to a small town, where the service is usually better.
"Let's face it," says Sales Manager Joe Bensley of Los Angeles' Bruin Motor Co., "service in most places is lousy." Bensley —who is known for good service—and other dealers blame the factory, complain that Detroit inspects only one in ten cars, sends dealers cars that take two or three days to get into shape, gives them an insufficient allowance to do the job. "The dealer just can't do it in a volume business," says Bensley. "He has to push out cars as fast as he can. The customer finds all kinds of things wrong with the car, and tries to get them fixed. The dealer either won't listen or wants to charge for things that should have been fixed right before the car was sold. The customer has been hooked once, but he'll never buy the same car again." Other dealers blame their troubles on the difficulty of getting good mechanics ("Everyone wants his kid to go to college and not work in a garage"); still others complain that Detroit's warranty allowance on new cars is often not enough to cover the repairs that the customer expects.