Automotive dealers share how they survived the 2008 crisis, Dieselgate, COVID, and tariffs. Resilient dealers doubled down on what worked, found workarounds, and spotted opportunities. During COVID, fixed-ops activity actually increased while others panicked and closed stores.
The impending crisis. The impending doom. So how many crisis have we endured in our time? We had. We had 2008. Right. We had Covid. I remember one where the Volkswagen got in trouble.
Diesel gate.
The diesel gate. I had two dealers on that day call me and tell me they were closing their Volkswagen stores. Like literally giving up and closing them in a panic. Remember how many clients panicked.
During coven and lost text because they, they let. They furloughed them off?
Yeah.
What were some other crisis?
80S.
Oh, gosh, you can.
80S.
Sorry.
Just a whole decade with a crisis.
Like, I always felt like I missed out on that part of the. Of the car business. The cocaine on the desk.
Cdk. Oh yeah, the cdk.
I mean, if you go back, you got Oklahoma City bombings and then you had nine, 11.
Why did you look at Hoagie when you said that?
Well, I just wanted it in honor of his. Of his people. That's. That was just what it was. But I mean, you had all these, these things that took place. Each one. What about the doom was a great one.
What about the big airbag recalls? Remember that? Yeah.
Ignition recalls.
How about the liftgate latch on minivans back in the late 90s?
Yep. The Toyotas that had the unintended acceleration.
And the Audis that blew up when.
You ran into tap the bumper. There's the Pinto. The Ford Pinto.
I remember that was my first car.
What was the Ford Pinto? Just.
Just the Ford had a gas tank explosion problem.
I don't remember that.
Yeah, Bridgestone tires.
Oh, that's right.
Forgot about that.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
So now we have tariffs.
Right. The.
The next impending crisis or the next impending doom. So if, if we look back on those experiences like Covid and you know, all of them, we have a unique perspective because we see what clients do and the ones that make it and the ones that lose. Lose ground or lose their leverage, in a sense, by their actions. What sort of behaviors suit the ones that end up coming out ahead no matter what the crisis is? Like what. What is it that we see?
Well, you do have to admit the tariff thing is a little out of control. I mean, like, air used to be 25 cents at the gas station, now it's a dollar. I suppose that's inflation.
Imported cheese.
I need a drum set.
Oh, my gosh.
I like it.
Do you want to add anything to that or you're just going to leave it on that?
No, it's going to let that soak out there.
Yeah, somebody just got it.
I think the Dealers that will come out on top are the ones that will double down on what they're doing that's successful. They won't shy away from.
The noise, and they might lean into it and they found success. When others are in fear, that's good.
I think the dealers that are successful will find a workaround. They're going to see it, look at it as an opportunity and work through it and not sit back and let it happen to them. They're going to work towards it and move forward.
Yeah.
I mean, the funny thing is, is.
During COVID fixed ops got busier. Right. Because people kept there. It seems like the one thing that happens with every crisis is, do you guys remember when, like, the average car on the road was like, nine years?
Yeah.
And then 10 was like, oh, my God. The average car on the road is 10 years. And then now we're knocking on 14. Like every crisis, people just keep their longer. Which benefits service. There's clearly no tariffs on labor. Right. There might be on parts, but there aren't on labor. And so when tariffs affect new cars, it means people are going to keep their cars longer. What if we see people keeping their cars for 16 years? It just seems like it works to our advantage every time.
