July the fourth

Uncategorized No Responses »
Jul 022010

What does the 4th of July mean to you? You should think about it.

When I think of the 4th of July, it’s obviously in a patriotic vein. I think about how we became a country, and also it reminds me of the pride I have in our country. With all of our faults (which we air on our sleeve for the world to see) we are still the beacon of hope to the world. Outsiders can find fault with us, but often because they, deep down, are envious of us. All people everywhere can have reasons to love and be proud of their countries. However, the fact remains, the United States of America is by far the most desired place to live when others are asked, “If you had to choose a different country to live in, which would it be?” We are diverse, we are strong, but at the same time, compassionate and willing to help others in need. As best we can, we’ve tried always to help police the world and protect and help others.

I often think of the veterans who served in our military, many of which also fought for the cause of freedom. Consider this, how often, especially in the last 100 years, has America taken land from those that we were at war with? Consider how many Americans have died while forcibly removing tyrants, dictators, and those that employ genocide, from power.

So as you have the day off, watch fireworks, go and do what you wish, enjoying good food at the same time, remember what made us great, what makes us great, and think of how we can continue to make America the beacon of hope and the greatest nation now, or ever, on earth.



Posted by admin at 4:23 pm Tagged with: , , ,

How green are we?

Uncategorized No Responses »
Jun 022010

You hear a lot about going green these days. At the Birdnow Dealerships we take that seriously and were doing it long before it was politically correct or the latest fad.

About 27 years ago when I first owned my Jesup dealership I noticed an employee heading out the door with a pan of old gasoline. I asked him what he was doing and he indicated he was going to dump it outside on the gravel lot. I told him to never do that. We put it in a barrel and when full we paid to have it properly disposed of. When we began our body shop, we contracted with Safety Kleen to properly dispose of old solvents and paints. We also comply with the emission rules for painting operations.

Even before it was required, we bought an oil filter crusher and began crushing used oil filters. At first we burned the used oil in a waste oil heater. I paid nearly twice the cheapest price for a heater in order to get one that more thoroughly and efficiently burned the oil so as to create less pollution. For the last several years though, we’ve had the used oil from them and from our oil changing operations picked up by a licensed recycler. We paid to have the crushed filters properly recycled also.  For years we’ve properly disposed of oil rags, wipes, and floor dry products as well as mercury switches and fluorescent lighting tubes. We also pay to have used tires hauled away for recycling.

As the years have gone by, most everything that we’d been doing became required, or the law in most cases.

How do we pay for all of this? We put a small percent charge on each repair ticket with a max cap. This money goes into a bookkeeping account and all recycling fees, and charges are put against that. So far we’re pretty close to even.

When it’s all said and done, though, if we all do our part, we’ll leave a better place for those who follow us.

Posted by admin at 2:22 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Insurance, An important part of the cost of a vehicle

Uncategorized No Responses »
Mar 032010

We often suggest that a customer should investigate and compare the cost of insurance for a vehicle they are considering purchasing.

There is a guide that every new vehicle dealer is required by law to furnish you a copy of that compares insurance ratings of new vehicles. The government compiles this book using accident data from most accidents. The rating that a particular vehicle has can greatly affect the premium you’ll pay for collision insurance. Remember that if you finance your vehicle you’ll be required by the lender to have collision and comprehensive insurance coverage. Even if you’re not financing you should have those coverages if your vehicle is worth more than you can afford to lose if it was totaled.

So here’s how it works. A police report says that the driver was going 35 miles per hour and hit a parked vehicle. The insurance company pays the claim to fix the vehicles. That data is compiled along with possibly a million other accident claims each year and the circumstances of the accident. They are then able to spot trends where one vehicle costs more to fix in a similar accident than another. This happens because of the way some vehicles are engineered or built and also because of the cost of repair parts. A large percentage of accidents result in the insurance company paying to have the damaged vehicle repaired so they are very interested in the cost to fix a vehicle.

We once had a Mitsubishi traded in. The customer said they couldn’t afford the insurance, it was three times higher than the same size class and value Chevy we sold them. Recently we found a dash assembly required (because the air bags had deployed in an accident) to fix a Chevy was slightly more than $400.00 and a dash assembly for a similar competitive make vehicle was $3,800.00. That’s why insurance premiums can vary so much from one vehicle to another. Remember that if in a certain accident one car costs $5,000 to repair and a different vehicle costs $8,000 to repair, the insurance company is going to charge a higher premium for the second example.

Finally, when there are safety recalls, that can increase your premiums because it’s not always easy to prove if a vehicles system failed that caused an accident.

Posted by admin at 7:12 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Where Oh Where do I get my warranty work done?

Maintaining your car No Responses »
Jan 312010

Often when visiting with friends and customers the subject of service and warranty comes up regarding different makes of vehicles. It’s important to consider your time and convenience when purchasing a vehicle. If you buy a vehicle that requires you to take it 35 miles for service, does that fit your lifestyle? Many times I’ve had people tell me that they do their own service, or their vehicle never needs warranty repair. I agree, a majority of vehicles never need anything except for routine maintenance which can be done many places. However, vehicles are complicated; they have over 20,000 parts on average. Most parts are designed to last the life of your vehicle, but sometimes things go wrong.

So, here are some things to consider:

Does the dealer offer free loaners? The Birdnow Dealerships do for as long as you own a vehicle that was purchased from us. A customer told me the other day that he had to rent a vehicle while he had his vehicle serviced at a metro dealer. The rent was $175.00 for the four days his car was in the shop.

What happens if there’s a recall? The average vehicle needs to be checked at a dealership four times and those numbers are basically the same for American brands as is for foreign brands. Most customers only hear of safety recalls such as is the case right now with millions of Toyota models. Many times there are what are called “campaigns” where the manufacturer sends you a card asking you to stop so a dealer can check something that might be a problem, that is different than a recall.

How much is the dealers labor rate? The Birdnow Dealerships offer just as good of service, with technicians that have the same levels of training, if not more, for a fraction of the labor charged by many other dealers.

In conclusion, here’s a story that I think will really drive home what I’m describing. One day a customer came in with a GMC truck that was a year old and still under warranty. He wanted to trade for a new Chevy. Trading every year isn’t unusual, but his reason was a bit unusual. He’d become angry at the treatment he’d received at the GMC dealer he’d bought his truck from. He left angry, telling them he’d never be back. When he got home, he opened the phone book to look in the yellow page for another GMC dealer. He was unpleasantly surprised to see that the closest one was 45 miles away!

2/1/2010 UPDATE:

WOW! I just listened to the president of Toyota beat around the bush for ten minutes on the Today Show about the problems that over half the Toyotas have with accelerators that stick. This problem has been happening for around ten years. He wouldn’t guarantee that the repair they’ve come up with would fix the problem. Also, does anyone else wonder how a problem they’ve been aware of for ten years can all of a sudden be fixed with a washer under the pedal and that they’ve come up with this in less than a week? He referred to this as a rare problem….I hope no one I know experiences that rare problem!

Posted by admin at 4:23 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

A good idea to avoid home and vehicle fires

Maintaining your car No Responses »
Dec 262009

I’ve added some pictures of what can happen to a vehicle if you leave chargers plugged into the outlets. Actually for years I’ve unplugged electric items at home that I know aren’t going to be used for a while for the same reason, or while on vacation.

In most cases, if there’s a short circuit, just like in your home, a circuit breaker will trip to avoid a fire or shock to a person (shock regarding your home 110 volt circuits, not your vehicle) What can happen, however, in your vehicle or your home, is what happened to the vehicle in the pictures. The charger itself got hot enough to melt and start a fire, but it wasn’t drawing enough power to trip the circuit breaker. The fact that the vehicle was in the home’s garage could have even created more of a disaster.

At the dealership, over the years, we’ve encountered a few situations also where those chargers actually drew enough power to discharge the vehicle battery over a few days. That’s always inconvenient, to have your vehicle not start after sitting at the airport for a week!

Posted by admin at 8:20 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Something really new from the Birdnow Dealerships!

Uncategorized No Responses »
Nov 272009

The Birdnow Dealerships are going to launch a first of its kind 24/7 emergency message service for our customers. All of our customers will begin receiving a card with a toll free 24/7 emergency contact number on it. We are calling this card our VIC (Very Important Customer) cars. Only our customers will have access to this number. When calling, a live operator will ask which of our locations you normally do business with, or which one of our locations you’re closest to, and, at your choice, will call a specific manager, or the emergency contact managers of that store. If no one answers, if you wish, an email will be sent to all emergency contact managers at all of our locations. As soon as possible one of our emergency contact managers will call you back and see how we can help. Each of our managers will have a complete list of contact numbers for all staff in the entire Birdnow Dealerships organization. So, for example, if you normally do business with our Oelwein location, but it’s the middle of the night, you call our VIC emergency operator, and our emergency operator isn’t getting an answer to their phone call, an email will be sent to all emergency contact managers. Early the next morning, the first emergency contact manager that sees the message will call you, find out how we can help you, and will use our master list of all employees to call the appropriate person from the store location that can help you. Our 24/7 operator will have contact information for after hours towing, etc. to help you, but our purpose is not to replace emergency services or roadside assistance. Examples of what we would be able to help with is a loaner on the weekend, or advice on where to have a damaged vehicle towed.

This is just one of many things that make our dealerships unique. We like to say that we have all the benefits of a large dealership (a lot of vehicles to choose from, many sources of lenders to get you the best possible deal, better trained technicians and equipment) but not the negative things big dealerships can have. (high service labor rates, turnover in sales staff, high pressure to buy today, don’t care attitude once you’ve purchased from them, etc.) The Birdnow Dealerships are one big family, spread across NE Iowa, if you’re a Birdnow Customer you’ll be at home at any of our locations.

Posted by admin at 1:00 am Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
© 2010 Let's Talk About Cars! Suffusion WordPress theme by Sayontan Sinha