Buckalew Chevrolet in Conroe is now (or very soon to be )Keating Chevrolet.

Sad to see an iconic dealer leave the family business, so to speak. Hope it was a good deal for the Buckalews.

Why are so many family owned dealerships selling to consolidators? I'm guessing there's a big advantage to scale in the car business. Sewell seems to be buying up all the west Texas domestic dealerships and Cavender is doing the same with import dealerships. Hendrick seems to be consolidating Austin and Keating is working their way out from Houston.

I assume scale is a big part plus the manufacturers pressure to invest more than owners can stand or afford. A lot of small GM shops closed last time they required a brand refresh.

I also think there's probably a lot of families that don't have anyone that wants to run it anymore or they have heirs that want a payout so they sell to super groups.

Going to the dark side...

The manufacturers used to help with single pint dealers that wanted to sell. Heck they used to buy them. I have a friend whose family owns the Buick GMC dealer in San Angelo, GM gave it to his dad as a retirement gift when he retired from GM sun Detroit.

Our group went on a run of buying up single points 15 years ago. We now acquire smaller groups (8+) on the regular. I can't remember the last time we bought a single

It's not good for the auto manufacturers. They are allowing a smaller group of large owners to takeover their dealer network. Which shifts leverage towards the dealers.

We see this happening with private equity corps all over the O&G industry happening right now as well.

Corps_Ag12 said:

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Dang, I would love to own a dealership and provide honest service to people in my community.

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Yep, it's a rare but valuable service. I'm glad to have one here.

I heard this was coming from an inside source before It was announced

I'm sure the Buckalew's got a handsome payday

Keating is reaching the size where no dealer is too large for them to purchase

Ag for Life said:

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Maybe one day we can buy straight from the manufacturer like Tesla. Such an outdated, completely unnecessary thing that only exists to screw people out of money. And this particular group is one of the worst offenders as evidenced by the numerous threads on texags over the years. But hey, look at all the shiny racecars and lavish lifestyles it provided for them!!!

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I don't deal with Tesla, so I cannot speak to their level of service after the sale. That said, I watched this consolidation of dealerships happen 30 years ago in the farm equipment industry. Large manufacturers like Deere put burdensome requirements on their dealers to the point it pushed all the small, family-owned, dealerships to sell out to consolidators. As that happened, the quality of service went to crap because there was no sense of local ownership. Same thing is going on in the auto industry.

Quite frankly, I don't see how dealing directly with the factory will make this better, but I don't own a Tesla.

Ag for Life said:

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Maybe one day we can buy straight from the manufacturer like Tesla. Such an outdated, completely unnecessary thing that only exists to screw people out of money. And this particular group is one of the worst offenders as evidenced by the numerous threads on texags over the years. But hey, look at all the shiny racecars and lavish lifestyles it provided for them!!!

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If I were to buy a Tesla, the nearest service center would be DFW or Austin. I've got 2 Ford dealers, 2 GM dealers, and many other brands within 10 minutes of my house.

I know my friend had several service visits to the Tesla service center after he got his Model 3.

Ag for Life said:

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Maybe one day we can buy straight from the manufacturer like Tesla. Such an outdated, completely unnecessary thing that only exists to screw people out of money. And this particular group is one of the worst offenders as evidenced by the numerous threads on texags over the years. But hey, look at all the shiny racecars and lavish lifestyles it provided for them!!!

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He won't touch this thread.

Burdizzo said:

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Ag for Life said:

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Maybe one day we can buy straight from the manufacturer like Tesla. Such an outdated, completely unnecessary thing that only exists to screw people out of money. And this particular group is one of the worst offenders as evidenced by the numerous threads on texags over the years. But hey, look at all the shiny racecars and lavish lifestyles it provided for them!!!

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I don't deal with Tesla, so I cannot speak to their level of service after the sale. That said, I watched this consolidation of dealerships happen 30 years ago in the farm equipment industry. Large manufacturers like Deere put burdensome requirements on their dealers to the point it pushed all the small, family-owned, dealerships to sell out to consolidators. As that happened, the quality of service went to crap because there was no sense of local ownership. Same thing is going on in the auto industry.

Quite frankly, I don't see how dealing directly with the factory will make this better, but I don't own a Tesla.

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Purchasing and servicing are two different topics. It would be nice to know this 2024 F150 with this XYZ Package is $50K, cool, click, ordered. Instead that same F150 is $55K at dealer A, $65K at dealer B, $45K at dealer C + $15K of add-ons you can't remove (Keating obviously). Then you deal with the finance office, back and forth with the manager or you internet blast 50 dealers, etc. It's all so exhausting and slimy and I've hated every minute of every dealer purchase I've ever made. It's a stupid and outdated model, but it obviously makes a small few very rich so here we are.

Brand specific service centers would pop up everywhere if dealers were disbanded. I have a 2023 Expedition with 30K on the clock and I've visited my local dealership 0 times since owning it. I bought it an hour and a half away because the local dealer wanted $5000-$10000 more at the time for the same vehicle. I know I'm in the minority doing my own maintenance but dealers are just as bad as quick lube places in ****ing things up. Dealer in Waco drove my BIL's Cummins around with no oil in it after an oil "change" and locked up the engine for example.

I'm not a Tesla fan boy and don't really like EVs, but I may buy one anyway next time just to not have to deal with all the bull**** again.

Define "everywhere"

Burdizzo said:

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Define "everywhere"

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in or to all places

So I could expect to see a Ford or GM service center in, say, Ft. Stockton?

If all the dealerships across several brands went away, you'd likely go to an independent repair shop that could service multiple brands and bill the manufacturers for warranty work. Gm could open their own service centers in big cities. But without the sales side, I'm not sure there's enough business in small towns.

EMY92 said:

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Ag for Life said:

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Maybe one day we can buy straight from the manufacturer like Tesla. Such an outdated, completely unnecessary thing that only exists to screw people out of money. And this particular group is one of the worst offenders as evidenced by the numerous threads on texags over the years. But hey, look at all the shiny racecars and lavish lifestyles it provided for them!!!

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If I were to buy a Tesla, the nearest service center would be DFW or Austin. I've got 2 Ford dealers, 2 GM dealers, and many other brands within 10 minutes of my house.

I know my friend had several service visits to the Tesla service center after he got his Model 3.

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But only one sales man right???