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Chuck and Linda Bennett check out their new GMC truck delivered by Bill Marsh Sales Consultant Mark Blazok, right, to their Traverse City home on Tuesday morning.
Bill Marsh Sales Consultant Mark Blazok wipes down the new GMC Canyon he delivered to Chuck and Linda Bennett at their Traverse City home on Tuesday morning.
Chuck Bennett attaches his license plate to his new leased truck.
Bill Marsh Auto Group offices have signs alerting customers of curbside-only service and social distancing rules during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chuck and Linda Bennett check out their new GMC truck delivered by Bill Marsh Sales Consultant Mark Blazok, right, to their Traverse City home on Tuesday morning.
Bill Marsh Sales Consultant Mark Blazok wipes down the new GMC Canyon he delivered to Chuck and Linda Bennett at their Traverse City home on Tuesday morning.
Chuck Bennett attaches his license plate to his new leased truck.
Bill Marsh Auto Group offices have signs alerting customers of curbside-only service and social distancing rules during the COVID-19 pandemic.
TRAVERSE CITY — The first sale under the new rules had a lot of meaning for Fox Motors.
The Bill Marsh Auto Group drove some 120 miles to deliver a sanitized sedan.
A virtual phone operator may greet you at Serra Motors Traverse City.
Welcome to the new ways new and used car dealerships are operating in the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been open for business, just with a different procedure,” Fox Motors general manager Tom Gordon said.
Vehicle dealerships went dark after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order on March 24. Whitmer loosened the restrictions with an April 9 order allowing online sales, starting April 13.
Fox Motors closed its first sale days later, replacing a vehicle totaled by a nurse. Gordon said getting a health care employee on track was a great way to return.
“She had to get back and forth to work at the hospital after her accident,” Gordon said. “Since then we’ve seen a touch of normal after that.”
Bill Marsh Jr., partner in the Bill Marsh Auto Group, said the dealership was on pace to sell 50 cars in two weeks. One of those included a sale to someone in the western Upper Peninsula.
The vehicle was “delivered” to a designated spot near the Mackinac Bridge.
“Overall it’s gone very well,” Marsh said after two weeks under new rules. “The customers appreciate it and we’re able to keep them safe.”
“Outside the dealership or outside the house, we’re modifying the way we do business,” Gordon added. “We’re trying to make it more respectful so that this becomes the new norm.”
Chuck and Linda Bennett took possession of a 2020 GMC Canyon Crew Cab 4-wheel drive at their Old Mission Peninsula home Tuesday morning. Chuck Bennett said he traded in the same vehicle after his three-year lease expired. Both the trade-in and the new truck were sanitized after Bill Marsh’s Mark Blazok delivered it.
Chuck Bennett sat in the new truck and started it, but never test drove it because it was the same as make and model with “a few more bells and whistles.”
“It was very interesting, obviously, keeping significant personal space,” he added. “There was all kind of disinfectant going on.”
Making a major purchase online is far from unusual. Marsh said about 95 percent of a vehicle purchase is made before a customer even steps on the lot.
“For years people have completed a portion of the shopping and buying process online,” Marsh said. “The difference is the transactional capabilities now. Our ... software can go even further into the transaction.”
“We can work all the numbers by phone, email or digitally,” Gordon added.
Fox Motors and Bill Marsh have phone apps and software allowing the customer to select different options, from what is on the vehicle to finance terms. Each of the 200 new and 200 used cars at Fox Motors has a minimum of 40 online photos, Gordon said. Carfax reports and service records are also available.
“The Internet has changed the way we’ve done business for years,” Gordon added. “Now it’s never been more prominent.”
Fox Motors is working on an electronic signing system so the entire transaction can be done remotely. Currently documents are signed separately, whether outside the dealership or at the home delivery.
“The day may come where we do everything online,” Marsh said. “People will have a lower threshold for doing things online, even making major purchases like a vehicle.”
“It’s changing by the day and by the moment,” Gordon said of the first two weeks of the ‘new’ process.
The biggest change dealerships have had to deal with is sanitization. The coronavirus requires much more than a plastic cover for the seat and a paper floor mat.
Fox Motors Traverse City is using a product that Gordon said kills “99.9 percent of germs, including coronavirus.” Gordon said disinfectant is used pre- and post-delivery for retail and service vehicles. Keys are also given the treatment.
Bill Marsh Jr. said his company is using a “hospital-grade sanitizer” and soon will expand to a product that is similar to a fogger.
“Sanitizing products are more and more popular,” Gordon said.
Other normal auto practices have also changed dramatically. Marsh said customers have been willing to accept the changes.
“It’s gone very smoothly for not having showroom access,” he said. “The customers can’t go into the showroom at all. It’s systemized and it seems to have worked very well.”
Negotiating with the sales manager across a desk is another aspect kicked to the curb in social distancing. Fixed-price dealerships like Bill Marsh and Fox already have put an end to haggling.
Forget about having someone from the dealer accompany a potential customer on a test-drive right now.
Some of the new practices might be embraced by car shoppers. Gordon said it hasn’t prevented people from strolling through the lines of new and used vehicles.
“We have folks on the lot all the time,” Gordon said. “We just have signs up that the showroom is closed and give you a number to call. We don’t go out there and dog them like we did in the old days. We respect their distance and allow them to browse.”
Gordon and Marsh said activity gradually has picked up in the two full weeks dealerships have been back open. The reasons are varied, they say.
“Some of that was pent-up demand, cars on order and leases that were due,” Marsh said. “But we’re also getting some fresh visits.
“I don’t think that’s unusual; we’re not surprised by that. There are some significant manufacturer incentives and deferred payment options. This is typically a robust selling season.”
“We’ve been somewhat busy,” Gordon said. “I don’t know if the government stimulus had anything to do with it or not, but $1,200 or $2,400 makes a nice down payment.”
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