Ray, with all due respect, I think your memory, about domestic
dealerships, for whom you may not have worked, is "faulty".
The Dodge Reporters (in-house newspapers) that I have, here, are FULL of
stories about how "SERVICE" departments are the money-making backbone of
dealerships, and that sales discounts are recovered, during service
visits, and that future sales, and customer sales-referrals are directly
"tied" to the Service Department experience.
The Dodge News monthy periodicals are also 'full' of service
advisories/reminders.
The IMPORT car dealers HAD to talk-up "service" , because a customer's
concern about being stranded in the middle-of-nowhere HAD to have been
of an over-reaching concern to a prospect, who KNEW that brand-x
dealerships were NOT in every town, in the country.
So KEEPING an import in 'tune' was of crtical importance, as there
wasn't the 'safety-net'
of American car dealerships "everywhere", and, American car buyers,
knowing this, weren't so paranoid , as import owners, in making sure
that their cars kept running,in perfect condition.
So, we can argue the comparative merits of small, fuel-efficient cars
(how about their 'performance' , in crashes with domestic products),
but, to say that an import buyer bought a car "because" of the Service
department, is rather incorrect.
A more-accurate statement, IMHO, would be, that the import dealer tried
to reassure the prospect that service "would" be available, somewhere,
in the country, and, that import buyers "should" have their cars be
serviced regularly, so that the cars would not break down "in the middle
of nowhere".
Neil Vedder
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