A lot of dealerships have closed. Many of the 4 or less dealer chains were bought up by larger dealers. One of the biggest around here was playing games with the mfgrs, and they played games back with him and now all h*ll broke loose. A bunch of his dealerships are now closed and he's struggling to survive.

We've had two dealerships and several used car lots go out in just the last couple of months.

Nope, our Ford and Dodge dealerships are still here. No signs of closing. NancyLouise

We haven't lost one yet.

Many dealerships should have closed LONG ago.

A dear friend in the business says that too many under producers were kept adrift... part of a good ol' boys system.
But now, with things tight in Detroit, the Big 3 are not going to let those same dealership slide by on their coattails.
He predicts that 20-25% will be gone within 3 years.

We only lost one here... the guy who had the dealership for 40+ years only averaged 2.5 Buick sales per month. Not good enough for Detroit, they pulled his financing and he is gone.

i agree w/ luann. we have no less than 3 of each brand of car seller w/in 50 miles of us, well except for porche, bentley, BMW, mercedes, range rover etc... some like ford have 5 dealerships w/in 50 miles of us. that's wayyy to many for this economy to support. BUT what will happen is pricing will creep up as they tighten supply. we have had several very large dealerships close over the last yr too. ~ liz

Yes, the only one for three towns (all within 4 miles of each other) closed in December. I think it was a Ford dealership. Dottie

Not that I have noticed.

Yes, for a couple of years...but quite a few have converted to foreign car dealerships and are doing great.

Yes, we had a long time (several generations) family owned Honda/Ford dealership close. It was the only Honda dealership within 75 miles.

No, no closings here. We have a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership, also Chevy and Ford dealerships here. I did here of one in Omaha closing. I think it was a Buick dealership.
Leslie

So far only the Kia dealer has closed here. Of course I own a Kia! They consolidated with their other dealership about 45 min. from here. I won't be driving there for service.

The Mazda dealer is building a new showroom here.

Linda

We have one in our small town and no....also none in Muskogee and only one that I know of in Tulsa...Stacy

We have 2 in our small town.They aren't closing but will no longer sell new auto's just used.

So far none have closed down around here.

Yes, they are closing. Towns that grew fat on retail sales -- encluding car dealerships -- are paring down.

I'm also in a small town. We've lost a Ford dealer and two used car dealers. All we have now is a Chevy dealer and it looks like his inventory is way down. He is only on one lot when he used to be on two. It's a big loss of revenue for our town.

Oops, I should have said 'I did hear' not here.

We only have one dealership here, Ford. So far I don't think there have been any changes there. It belongs to friends of mine and I hope the business is not hurting.

I believe from reading the paper that a few that have multiple sites have consolidated to one site & some of the small used car dealerships have closed. I don't think that any of the major dealerships have completely closed.

An Atlanta area chain of Chevy dealerships closed last fall. We had been taking our van there for service when it was still under warranty. I think they went quickly, not closing a couple locations at a time, just wham bam, all at once.

No, haven't seen any closing here--not the new car dealerships, or the little corner used car places. They all seem to be doing a good business, and many are expanding or redoing their showrooms.

But then, it really doesn't seem that our area is nearly as bad as the news is reporting. I don't know anyone who's lost a job, there are companies advertising for workers that seem to be having trouble FILLING positions. And houses are still selling at a good clip, for as much, if not more, than they were selling last year. I do believe a lot of the economic problems are regional, but are being blown up just a little, so the rest of us can be hit up for the funds to bail out those in trouble.

It's nothing like that here, Azzalea. In that same town, one of the two newspapers just closed. Across the river in another state, a friend's hours as a reporter were cut by half. An hour or so south of here, another friend (with two kids and a big mortgage) lost his job. The Help Wanted section of our newspapers are a fraction of the size they used to be.

I've had 28 acres for sale for three years.

And I meant to add a comment on a non-regional situation: My end-of-year statement from my stockbroker was sickening. The value of my portfolio decreased by 40%, and I gather this is not an unusual figure.

Thing is, Alisande, I live in a megalopolis. There is virtually NO building land left in the county where I live, and it's home to over a half million people. That means houses sell, because they all have to live somewhere and they have to buy older homes. They all need services, they all drive cars, they all need to be educated, buy food, etc. And the economy truly seems to be booming here. I see companies advertising ON TV, begging for workers--I've never in all my life seen anything like that. And a young friend from here, just out of college, just got a job across the country earning close to $100,000/year. That's almost obscene for a first job.

But, then, the county we're moving to is a little more sluggish. It's only 30 miles away, but houses are sitting a little longer there, and going for less. The one we bought, we got at a steal (222,500)--if it were in my 'other' county, right now--depending upon which town it was in, it would be selling for a minimum or $300,000--probably closer to $400,000 or more in some locations. So we were able to take advantage of the economy a bit, in buying our retirement home. The house we will be listing to sell will probably sell for at least what we paid for our new one, probably more--even though it's not nearly as nice, and doesn't have as much property.

As I said, though, things can be vastly different in different areas. There are opportunities in any economic climate (buying low, selling high for us, for example). The creative and adventurous will find them and will come out the other end of this rich.

Yup, I live in the opposite of a megalopolis.

Re your last sentence, I'm thinking the creative and adventurous and young will find those opportunities and come out the other end of this rich. Or maybe I'm just tired this morning. :-)