Economic Threat to Auto Industry

(Huge Opportunity if You Need to Buy a Car)

“No idea or behavior shift has ever spread more quickly or completely in the history of the planet. In seven weeks, the life of every single person on Earth changed, and the unfolding tragedy and the long slog forward will drive expectations for years. Expectations about being part of a physical community, about the role of government and about what we hope for our future.”

I copied and pasted this introductory paragraph from a blogger I follow religiously…Seth Godin. His words on the Coronavirus describe these times perfectly.

When I woke up this morning, before I had my coffee, I had an eerie feeling…” maybe this is a bad dream!” I know this is an old cliché, but if there was ever a time when it fits perfectly, it’s today. We’ve all had bad dreams that, during the dream, we wondered if this is a dream…usually that’s when you wake up. I’m pretty sure I’m not dreaming.

I’ve mixed emotions about writing on the Coronavirus/COVID-19. This blog/column is entitled “Earl on Cars” and maybe I should be explaining how you can avoid paying too much for your next car. On the other hand, all human beings on our Planet are thinking or talking about survival…physically and/or economically. Today, a car can be important to both your physical and economic wellbeing; so, I’ll advise you on how to buy or lease one during the Corona Crisis and get, not just a good price, but probably the best deal ever on a new or used car.

Auto manufacturers and dealers are as desperate as you. When this crisis passes, there will far fewer auto manufacturers and dealers than today. I’m a car dealer who sells a very popular make of car, Toyota, and my business stinks. Most manufacturers and car dealers aren’t as fortunate as I, and many with less popular makes won’t survive. Sensing this, car dealers and manufacturers will do whatever they can to outsell their competition, if they want to be among the “survivors”.

If you’re a regular reader of mine, you’ve heard me say, “Competition is your friend”. One thing all auto manufacturers have in common is being fiercely competitive. GM must outsell Ford, Toyota must outsell Honda, Mercedes must outsell BMW, etc. Expect the biggest discounts and rebates as well as lowest interest rates and payments. Today is not the time to rush out and buy or lease a car. Time is on your side as the COVID-19 pandemic peaks. Current predictions point to the end of April. Now is a good time to begin your homework…due diligence. Study Consumer Reports to decide exactly what year-make-model vehicle you want to buy. Once you do that, put out some price “feelers” online. Shopping online, you can expand your radius as far as you want to. If you want to buy a Cadillac, you can shop 3 or 4 dealers or 30 or 40! Time is on your side because you won’t be making buying decision until the end of April. This gives you time to “separate the wheat from the chaff”. Some dealers won’t satisfy your demand for an out-the-door price which includes ALL charges including dealer fees, dealer installed accessories, and tax and tag. An out-the-door price is the number you can write on your check, present it to the dealer, and drive the car home. Once you have at least 3 out-the-door prices on the exact year-make-model vehicle, you’re ready to strike at the end of April…the optimum time to buy a car.

On Thursday April 30, contact your “finalists” (at least 3) and let them know you’re going to buy your car from the dealer that reduces his price to you by the most. Reemphasize that their price must be final, out-the-door. At even the mere “hint” of a shenanigan, you’ll vanish, and they’ll never see or hear from you again.

My regular readers know that you should arrange your own financing with your bank or credit union. The only exception is low interest financing offered by the manufacturer. If you have a trade-in, you should have already shopped its value with Carvana, www.WeBuyAnyCar.com, CarMax, and AutoNation. Also, get bids from the used car departments of dealers that sell the same make of car as you’re trade-in.

If you follow these guidelines, I strongly believe that you will get the best deal on your next new or used car that you ever had; but let me close with one big caveat. You’re getting a great deal because car dealers and auto manufacturers are desperate. Desperation inspires both giving you a great discount or tricking you into believing you’re getting a great price when it’s not. Caveat Emptor/Buyer Beware. Good luck, and stay safe.

WORLD CRISES & U.S. LEADERS

Please excuse this column’s deviation from Earl Stewart on Cars automotive theme. I started to write a column on “How not to get ripped off by your car dealer”, but it seemed rather unimportant in view of the Coronavirus threat.

My father, Earl Stewart Sr., was born in 1892. He was an avid Republican and disliked Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

I’m old enough to remember that he strongly supported Harry Truman in World War II because he was our president and the leader of our country. After the war was over, he regressed to referring to President Truman as “that G.D. Haberdasher”. 😃

He told me that he also supported Franklin Roosevelt during WWI.

The Coronavirus, Covid-19, is potentially a greater threat to humanity than WWI or WWII. As I write this, nobody knows just how many lives will be lost or how much damage it will have on the world economy. We must hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

There’s almost no one alive today who was alive during WWI and very few that were during WWII. History tells us a lot about how the “free world” survived those times. Survival is our strongest instinct and the USA did what had to be done for us and the rest of the free world to survive. Looking back on some of the decisions our leaders made, there’s lots of controversy…Interring Japanese Americans in camps in California, killing millions of innocent civilians in Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, and knowingly sacrificing 37,000 American and allied soldiers during the Normandy Invasion. Arguments are made today on both sides of these and many other issues; but during WWII, there was no time for arguments or even compromise. Time was of the essence and our survival was at stake.

Much of what our leaders did to win those two world wars is still unknown. Censorship and secrecy will keep us from knowing everything done to ensure victory. But the bottom line is that we won and are not a German or Nazi state today…neither is the rest of the world.

Here we are in the 21st century when secrecy and privacy are almost nonexistent. Freedom of speech allows everyone to criticize and object to anything or everything. Everything is subject to debate and decisions are usually based on compromise. During an emergency, a crisis, these rights can slow us down.

To come out of this crisis as quickly as possible, we must decide and act as quickly as possible.Our leaders must put aside personal animosities, and political differences. We should send a message to our politician’s that we U.S. citizens, Democrats and Republicans, will “bury the hatchet” until covid-19 and our shattered economy are history. We can tell our elected leaders, Republicans and Democrats, that we want swift and strong legislation even if one side or the other doesn’t get everything they want. We should all watch our leaders carefully and, when they come up for reelection, remember those that played petti politics with our lives during this crisis and vote accordingly. I’ll vote for the Republican or Democrat who swallowed his or her ego and pride for the sake of winning WWWIII.

There’ll be plenty of time for political attacks and mindless partisanship AFTER we’ve defeated the Coronavirus.

Coronavirus “Catch-22”

Stay Home if You Might Have the Coronavirus

But If You Don’t Go to Work, You Won’t Get Paid

Catch-22 Definition (logic) A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations.

This column is directed to all businessmen, especially retailers like car dealers, department stores, etc. I’m sure, Mr. Businessman, that you’ve told your employees that they shouldn’t come into your workplace if they have symptoms that might be the Coronavirus. That gets you off the hook because you warned them, but how effective do you really expect this directive to be?

A lot of your employees, either cannot afford to go without a paycheck, or don’t want to. Human nature is such that some will come to work anyway, possibly even concealing their symptoms. Lots of employers don’t provide for sick pay or, if they do, require a doctor’s certificate to qualify. Many employees receive substantially less pay while off sick than they normally earn…especially commissioned employees.

I know what you’re thinking…a lot of my employees will take advantage of my generosity and “have a paid vacations” at my expense when they’re feeling just fine. You’re dead wrong! If you show your employees that you care for them and trust them, they won’t take advantage of you. Oh, maybe one or two will…there’s always a chance that we have a rotten apple in our barrel. But that’s a small price to pay to protect all your employees and customers, not to mention your business.

Sure, you can wait for the federal government to come to the rescue, but you know how long it takes politicians and federal bureaucracy to act. You can count on two things; politicians aren’t going to say or do anything that won’t help them get elected and the Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on anything.

If you truly want to make your workplace safer for your employees and customers, give them an incentive to stay home that they can’t refuse. Pay them as much as they would earn while staying home as they would in on the job. Pay commissioned employees based on their average earnings. Yes, this can get expensive, but not nearly as expensive if one or more employees spreads the virus to your other employees and customers. You’d be forced to close your business.

By the way, a fringe benefit of this is to build confidence in you from your employees and customers. You can’t put a price tag on that…it’s truly priceless. After the Coronavirus is “yesterday’s news”, your company’s brand and your brand as a leader will have grown substantially. I promise you that you’ll recoup, from increased sales and profits, all the costs of paying employees for staying home and then some.

Voted the Best Car Dealer in Palm Beach County

Regular readers of my newspaper columns and blog know I avoid promoting myself and my car dealership, Earl Stewart Toyota, in North Palm Beach, Florida. My weekly radio show (Earl Stewart On Cars), YouTube videos (www.YouTube/EarlonCars, public speaking engagements, and my book (Confessions of a Recovering Car Dealer) represent my efforts as a consumer advocate to help you avoid being ripped off by car dealers.

A year ago, a friend called to congratulate me for winning a contest sponsored by Palm Beach County’s newspaper, The Palm Beach Post, as the Best New Car Dealership and the Best Auto Dealer Service Department in Palm Beach County for 2019. I thought she was kidding because I didn’t even know there was a contest! I don’t advertise in the Palm Beach Post. One of my customers, employees or friends must have nominated my dealership in the contest without my knowledge.

2019 was the first year for this contest which was held again for 2020 and Earl Stewart Toyota won again! You may be wondering why I’m bragging about being the best car dealer when this column is supposed to be written by a consumer advocate giving you advice on how to buy, lease, maintain, or repair your car without being taken advantage of. That’s a fair question, and please allow me to answer it.

I really have two goals as a consumer advocate: (1) Equip you with the awareness, caution, and knowledge to protect yourself from being deceived by car dealers and (2) Set an example for car dealers to prove that ethics, honesty, and transparency with their customers is actually good for business.

There are literally dozens of car dealerships in Palm Beach County selling every make of car available. I have only one dealership. I sell new Toyotas which represent only about 15% of the new cars sold. I’m one of four Toyota dealers in Palm Beach County. Palm Beach Toyota, Southern 441 Toyota, and Delray Toyota are the others. Eighty-five percent of the new cars sold in Palm Beach County are sold by those dozens of other car dealerships that sell everything besides Toyota. Many car dealers in Palm Beach County own multiple dealerships…Schumacher, Napleton, and AutoNation for example. For more people to vote for Earl Stewart Toyota than those car dealers with multiple locations, I must have had car owners that don’t even own a Toyota voting for Earl Stewart Toyota.

At this point in this article, I am addressing all the car dealers in Palm Beach County who were not voted number one. I know you must be upset that you lost to me and you might not understand why a car dealer with only one location in a small town like Lake Park, FL (we’re technically in Lake Park but I use North Palm Beach in my name because so few people know where the small town (population 9,000) of Lake Park is. Logic must tell you that for me to win this contest, I must have received votes from other than Toyota owners that I sold. You must wonder why some of your customers must have voted for me. They voted for a Toyota dealer when they buy Hondas or Chevrolets!

Here’s why they voted for my Toyota dealership even though they like the make of car you sell more. (1) I don’t add over a $1,000 in hidden fees (aka dealer fees) to my advertised prices. (2) I don’t add over-priced, dealer-installed accessories to my advertised prices. (3) I post my lowest, out-the-door price on ever new and used car I sell. (4) I offer a 7-day UNCONDITIONAL moneyback guarantee on every new and used car I sell. (5) I don’t hide from my customers. I give every customer my personal cell phone number and have 5 red phoneslocated around my dealership that connect directly to my personal cell phone. Every Earl Stewart employee must adhere to the Earl Stewart Code. Check it out at www.EarlStewartCode.com.a