GM Trimming dealers by about 1/3

[Vonderbach]

Buying American is a multi-faceted endeavor. One can buy an import and still support American workers, be they factory workers, distribution people, sales people, et al. The only additional benefit to America when buying an American vehicle is the net profits that are reinvested into the company and stay in America. But to be honest, if you're buying a domestic nameplate that is made in Mexico, I'm not sure it really matter where the profit ends up, since it's still being used to support foreign labor.

In my humble opinion, it's a complete wash, import or domestic cage. Motorcycles are a different story, there's no doubt where they are made, but I don't care. Unless someone can make a Hayabusa killer, there's nothing made in the states worth buying.

 

[shadetree57]

Oh, and as for the independants. . . They've been doing better than dealers for a LOOOOONG time. You would be surprised at the number of customers who come in and just want their car diagnosed because they're having the repairs done somewhere else. A lot of dealers were starting to impliment one of two different policies. One was that if you get the vehicle diagnosed there, you have to get it repaired there. No JUST diagnostics. Or, if you got the repair done at the dealer, the diagnosis was free, but if you only got it diagnosed, you had to pay for it. The problem for independants is that automakers are making it harder and harder for independants to work on new stuff. So many things require special tools or dealer-only service information that it makes it hard on independants. And pretty much anything electronic you can almost guarantee it's going to need programing with an MDI wich is an interface that plugs to the diagnostic port and has to be used with GM Service Programing only available to GM dealerships and you have to have a GM Service Tech login ID and password to get in.

You Got It. We have a lot of money tied up in our Modis and still can't do any reprogramming with it. Updates are outrageous but if you don't stay on top of it you'll be out of business quickly. The automotive field is getting tougher every day.