Boortz: A LETTER FROM A DODGE DEALER

Nealz Nuze ^ | May 20, 2009 | Neal Boortz

[yankeedame]

A LETTER FROM A DODGE DEALER

By Neal Boortz @ May 20, 2009 8:24 AM Permalink |

A listener pointed me to this letter from a Dodge dealer down in Florida. Thought you may enjoy ....

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My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business.

We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed over 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability.

I work every day the store is open, nine to ten hours a day. I know most of our customers and all our employees. Sunshine Dodge is my life.

On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000.) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory.

Our facility was recently totally renovated at Chrysler's insistence, incurring a multi-million dollar debt in the form of a mortgage at Sun Trust Bank.

HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN?

THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY

This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong.

This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster.

HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?

I beseech your help, and look forward to your reply. Thank you.

Sincerely,

George C. Joseph President & Owner Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu

[cricket]

This is an American tragedy, really. Forget Willy Loman and 'heartless Corporate'. Our Government and it's 'progreessives' make that story a 'fairy tale' by comparison.

It was suggested yesterday, by another Dealer who shares same story, that there may be some political 'targeting' here.

Meantime, all should know by now; that what is passing for Obama's Government assistance' is just the wolf; slipping into Grandmother's nightgown.

[Adder]

I ain’t buying it.
Bush at best was complete blindsided as were Paulson and Bernanke. I don’t think any of them had the foggiest clue as to what to do except try to stop the crash by throwing money airbags at it.

The house Republicans defeated the first bill, the second bill was passed with some severe arm twisting reservations and was never intended to go to the auto companies.

That is dumbledoins, if I recall correctly.

Gm and Crysler are getting exactly what THEY deserve for picking up the snake. What did they expect and why did they expect it would turn out differently?

But guys like this dealer are the real victims. Best he can hope for is to sue everyone he can think of.

[jimt]

Bump.

[bcsco]

All dealerships carry an inventory, but this dealership’s recent “insisted” renovation seems to contradict the previous claim of how financially sound the dealership is. It implies they may not have made that decision had not Chrysler intervened. That’s debt upon debt.

Still, one can’t conclude the dealership was struggling. But in today’s economy, it could well have been healthier.

[warchild9]

You’re using logic, friend.
Remember where you are.

[brydic1]

Oh, now when the economy collapses as a result of trillions of borrowed (created) dollars, we good conservatives must just excuse Obama of being blindsided. Don’t give me that crap about Bush being blindsided. He was an integral party to all that happened and if he had a modicum of conservative principles he would never have consented to the use of socialism to save capitalism, what an idiot. And with respect to the auto bailout, the republicans in the senate led by Corker refused to approve it but Bush went ahead with it anyway. Until the Bushbots and Rinos leave the GOP and join up with the socialists the republicans can never successfully present a position that can win again.

[saleman]

You don’t buy vehicles from Dodge, GM, Ford or whoever. You buy them from your local dealership. The dealers buy from the manufacturers. The dealer pays the manufacturer for the franchise. He owns the property, facilities and inventory.

[brydic1]

One would think with the disaster that Bush created for the GOP, the Bushbots would hang their head in shame, but no, they continue to excuse his march toward socialism and the welfare state.

[cricket]

Yes. . .it’s called the Czar MO. . .love it; or else.

[WilliamPatrick]

I don't see how closing dealerships results in a savings to Chrysler.Fewer mousetraps means fewer sales. It seems to me that Chrysler should owe some compensation to the closed dealer since the dealer paid for the franchise.However, who knows what the franchise contract says. This dealer might be wise to sell off the inventory at cost. Chrysler should at least allow the dealer to continue to offer warranty service on the vehicles he sold. The dealer should investigate obtaining another franchise if he wants to stay in the business or turn his operation into a used car dealership that provides service for all types of vehicles. I think he could make this transition.Most dealerships do not make a lot of money on the sale of the vehicle. It is the service portion of the business that provides the bulk of revenue. If he has a good mechanical staff he can survive as an independent service operation.

[warchild9]

The bots are desperate for a hero figure, so they either dream about a W who never existed (”whom” never existed?), or grasp onto straws like Jindal or Limbaugh.

There are serious candidates out there, like Duncan Hunter, but supporting him requires thought and effort, since he seems to be a serious dude who doesn’t run his mouth for a living.

[cricket]

Blaming this on Bush? Amazing. . .

[RobinOfKingston]

I’m not a ‘get-a-lawyer’ kinda guy, but these people, and a lot of others, need to pool their resources and get the biggest, ugliest, meanest, hairy-knuckled attorney they can find.

[prismsinc]

No. Skank Paulson knew. He’s to America what Putin was to Russia. A closet fascist, he threatened Wells Fargo with tanks to take the stimulass money. He’s in fascist glee right now.

My suggestion Mr. Joseph, trade your vehicles for weapons and arm your family, friends, employees, and community. Prepare to save yourselves. The Gas chambers are next.

[Adder]

I do NOT excuse Zero as being blinsided...he is using this to completely destroy us.

I do accuse Bush of being blindsided. Or he was smarter than I give him credit for.

And I am not seeing anything that says he was that smart. I simply do not think he had a clue was was easily manipulated by Bernanke and Paulson. They reached for socialism as you put it to stop the complete collapse of a whole host of financial companies. I am not sure they or anyone else had the foggiest clue of what to do. Did you? I sure didn’t.

Was it the best thing to do? I don’t think so...we could have saved trillions by letting them fall all at once instead of bleeding trillions and having the fall stretch out over the months it is going to happen.

Just a theory.

[Cyclone59]

Wouldn’t filing for Bankruptcy protection be a good strategy here?

[prismsinc]

Obama has made closet deals with their competetion. Here in South Florida, the Arrigo brothers are literally dancing on TV, while they use Adolf Obama’s face and voice to advertise their dealership. It’s about politics, not profit.

Obama is using the surviving dealerships to do indirect political campaigning. It’s quite clever. Bravo, Marxist O (strictly in the sinister sense of course)

I can’t wait for Obama to dismantle the sellout dealerships. They will reap what they sow.

[brydic1]

You asked if I had some suggestions as to how this financial collapse (which should never have happened if we had had an administration that had cut back on spending and appointed a Fed Chief who would not use his powers to expand the money and credit of the nation to the ultimate destruction of our system). Yes, I would have let the collapse happen, the sooner the better. It will undoubtedly happen anyway except it will be infinitely worse with the trillions or quadrillions of dollars being poured into this bottomless whole. Paulson and his handmaiden, Geithner, along with the numerous other leftists whose fortune were tied up at Goldman Sachs and the other big money center banks were the chief recipients of the monies poured into AIG in the so-called effort to save the financial system. It was basically a self serving act to save themselves and their friends and someday we may actually find out the identity of those who pocketed the trillions of taxpayer money. Yes, the best thing one could say about Bush was that he was clueless. But I am not sure that we should support a person as President of the US who is clueless. He should have bit the bullet and he should certainly have let the auto companies go into bankruptcy in 2008 which they would have done w/o his intervention and saved us billions of taxpayer dollars that we will now lose as a result of postponing the bankruptcy until May and June of 2009.

[freekitty]

GM is filing for bankruptcy and Obama is giving them to the Union. How, I don’t know except he thinks he can.

[VaBthang4]

Stop bitching and get an attorney, nitwit.