Fixed Ops Journal - April 2022 - F17

FEED BACK IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
A missed opportunity
for potential trade-ins?
N
C
early half of all customers
who recently took their vehicle
to a service department
were not told its trade-in value
by anyone from the dealership, according
to a DealerRater survey conducted
for Fixed Ops Journal in March.
Many franchised dealerships have
been desperate to increase their used-vehicle
inventories because of a shortage of
new cars and trucks on the lot. Despite
this, 49 percent of all respondents said
the trade-in value of their vehicle was not
discussed when they went in for service.
Twenty-two percent said they were told
the trade-in value, and 29 percent
weren't sure.
For luxury owners, the number of those
not informed of the trade-in value was
higher, jumping to 54 percent, while 21
percent said they were told.
Of mass-market consumers, 48 percent
said no trade-in discussion was held,
and 22 percent said they did talk with
someone at the dealership about the value
of their vehicle. 
NEWSMAKER IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Winning? Just run with it
armen Hinton was always
doubtful about winning contests
and prizes. So she was surprised
when her name was announced
last month at the NADA Show as
the winner of the fi fth annual Women
Driving Auto Retail Video Contest.
Hinton has been the service manager
for the past six years at Carter
Myers Automotive's Valley Subaru
in Staunton, Va.
" I was watching it live. I cried. I
wasn't expecting it, " says Hinton,
who started at the dealership 12
years ago as a receptionist. " I felt
overwhelmed. "
She had been
approached
about the contest, along with a
few other female employees, by
Carter Myers CEO Liza Borches to make
a three-minute video talking about their
experience in automotive retail and why
women should consider it as a career.
Th e contest, designed to recognize women
in the fi eld and encourage more to
join them, began in 2019.
As the winner, Hinton received a $1,000
gift card, complimentary registration to
next year's NADA Show in Dallas and an
off er to attend an NADA training program.
Hinton: Videos
speak to women
Hinton, who also has worked in the
dealership's accounting department and
as a service adviser, says women might be
intimidated by working in " a male-dominated
fi eld. " But she says her male colleagues
have been supportive, especially
when she became service manager.
" Th e men I work with want to help you
learn, " she says. " Th ey ... tell you
not to be afraid to take on roles. "
In the end, she says, " I'm a human
being, and they're a human
being. "
Hinton says she would like to
attend some classes at the NADA
Academy to learn more about
the service business.
" It would allow me to grow, to
come up with diff erent ideas to get
customers in the door and make the service
department grow in all aspects, " she says.
Th ere was a time when she was intimidated
by challenges, she recalls. But the
support of her co-workers - from
Borches on down - along with winning
the contest announced at NADA has instilled
her with confi dence.
" My mindset with everything, " she
says, " is just to take it and run with it. "
- Dan Shine
1938
In a 1935 newspaper ad, Kroger-Jonas Ford billed itself
as the " fastest-growing Ford dealership " in New York.
Three years later, the dealership called itself New
York's largest Ford dealer. Perhaps some of that growth
could be because Kroger-Jonas, on the corner of 95th
Street and 1st Avenue in Manhattan, featured a
24-hour service department.
Photo courtesy of the Collections of The Henry Ford
 We encourage you to submit photos for Fixed
in Time. Send images to foj@autonews.com.
APRIL 2022 PAGE 17
Information intake
Q: The last time you took your car or truck in for
service, did anyone from the dealership discuss the
trade-in value of your vehicle with you?
OVERALL
No
Yes
Don't know
49%
22%
29%
MASS-MARKET
48%
22%
30%
LUXURY
54%
21%
25%
Source: DealerRater survey conducted March 2-8 of 15,739 consumers
who visited new-vehicle dealerships
FIXED IN TIME IIIIIII
Fixed Ops Journal - April 2022

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