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For the Second
Year in a Row...

CHANGING MARKETPLACE page 79

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Michigan's #1
e Standards for Excellence
Dealer

RINKE CADILLAC!

.Additional $500
Lease Renewal
Incentive for
current Cadillac
Smart

1997 Seville
SLS

St.14t V8 18001

Chrome wheels,
leather lumbar pkg., heated

seats, safety & security pkg.

'lbw" SMARTLEASE `'ne"" '

Mont E E $449

7

PLUS

$ 11

672
i

1997 Sedan
DeVille

Additional $500
Lease Renewal
Incentive for
current Cadillac
Smart Lessees,

Stic# V260107

Leather seats, chrome
wheels, leather interior.

M ndEAs
Month $A08
E w
S

$1900 down

°Ile Sin gle PaYineni

PLUS

$ 12 1

982

1997 Catera

Stk# V105960

Leather seats, heated seats,
Memory seats, theft

deterrent system & cast
aluminum wheels.

'

x 1900 down

SMARj L

E one single Payment

Cn

GMAC Smartlease 36 months, 1st pymt., ref. sec. dep. of $600 or less, down pyme. as shown above, new plates or transfer fee, admi
istration fee due on delivery. State & Lux. tax additional. Mileage limitation of 36,000 miles. 150/mile excess charge over 'imitate. LessE
has option to purchase at lease end for pre detennained price. To get total pymt., multiply pymt. by no. of months.

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RINKE CADILLAC

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genera151,fotors
Family— 1917

1-696 AT VAN DYKE

758-1800

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MASTER
DEALER

DEDICATED TO

If traveling west on 1-696, exit Hoover, follow Service Drive to RINKE.
If traveling east on 1-696, exit Van Dyke; take to second bridge past Van Dyke over expressway to RINKE.

piCEUENCF

Al Harris talks cars with Richard Schultz at Tamaroff.

"Let's say I'm going to put my
car through a 150-point ques-
tionnaire," Mr. Tamaroff said. "So
the mechanic signs off on it. We
certify that the car has been in-
spected, and everything that's
wrong has been fixed. Forget
about dings and paint work, that's
a given. I mean mechanically.
"Then we can sell a used car
warranty that backs us up.
There's a lot of believability in it.
In fact, it's so believable that the
manufacturers all have their cer-
tified used car programs.
"So while AutoNation and
those guys advertise 99-day war-
ranties, it is only nine days longer
than a three-month warranty.
And we do it too."
Mr. Tamaroff also takes issue
with AutoNation's stated policy
of having "up to 1,000 pre-owned
vehicles to choose from."
Said Mr. Tamaroff, "You have
1,000-1,200 cars on a used car lot.
And those cars depreciate. Tradi-
tionally, in July, your cars drop in
price because you're now on the
back end of the year. But if you've
got this large inventory like Au-
toNation, and some of it is going
to depreciate, how do you sell it?
"Let's say they sell 300 cars a
month. Theoretically, they could
turn their inventory in 90 days,
but that's only if all of the cars
sold," said Mr. Tamaroff.
"An ideal situation is 250 used
cars. It's always fresh, although
you don't always have what every-
body wants."
Mr. Tamaroff believes the at-
traction of no-haggle buying may
be divided along generational
lines. He doesn't believe his gen-
eration will buy at the super-
stores. "You know why? Because
people in my age group like to ne-
gotiate. They've tried one-price
selling. When it comes to vehicles,
they want to negotiate. You know
why? Because they have a trade-
in.
"Think about the old saying,
`You can't beat a man at his own
game.' Now I'm not saying people
are suckers. But you have a new
generation, those people born af-
ter the war. They have a different
viewpoint of the world, and how
they would shop. And that's why
WalMart was so successful.

"You can walk into Best Buy,
and it's hard to get waited on. And
when you do get waited on, the
person doesn't know his product,"
Mr. Tamaroff said.
Sticker shock still lives at the
superstores, said Mr. Tamaroff.
"We checked their prices. Their
prices are $1,000 more than book.
In other words, we can sell a car
approximately $1,000 cheaper
than they can for the same type
of car.
`Then there's that certification
deal they advertise. It costs mon-
ey to insure cars."
George Glassman has checked
the superstore prices too. "There
certainly is nothing wonderful
about paying top retail price,
whether it is a nice car or not. And
I can tell you in my experience,
they are paying top dollar for the
cars that they buy, and as a result
they're charging top dollar.
"There are no bargains to be
found. Their prices are not com-
petitive. They are at the high end
of the scale. And that's okay. If
consumers are comfortable with
that, then that's fine. And people
who have shopped there have said
they enjoyed the experience. They
may or may not have paid too
much, they don't know, but they
liked the experience."
There are a number of super-
store ideas that are good, said Mr.
Glassman. "But space concerns
would be an issue. If you started
from scratch in 1997, and looked
at what the needs are today, they
are somewhat different from those
of 20 years ago. People then were
not addressing the issues of
should you have a playground for
the kids? Should you have a Jun-
gle Jim? Should you have a coffee
bar?"
Any dealership providing those
amenities 20 years ago would
have been an oddity. But Mr.
Glassman has met the 1990s by
providing an area where people
can plug in their computers and
work while waiting for their cars
to be serviced.
Suggestions like that one come
from listening to customers.
Another change from 20 years
ago is dealerships near shopping
centers and malls. "A manufac-