Service centers are quickly becoming hot profit centers for car dealers around the country. As the economy continues to creep along, and gas prices keeping new car sales prices down, many dealers are focusing their efforts on their service centers to make up for low vehicle sales.

Many dealers are spending money on revamping their parts and service departments to keep profitable and to keep customers coming onto the lot. Dealers such as Patrick Pontiac have recently invested money in new waiting areas and lounges to help keep customers happy and comfortable when servicing their vehicles. Customers at Used Cars Rochester can even sip gourmet coffee while waiting for service thanks to the Starbucks they have inside their dealership!

Car dealers are finding that they’re selling more parts and maintenance than ever before thanks to their efforts, which helps to offset the lack of demand for new cars. Dealers that have maintained large truck and SUV inventories have been especially hurt. For example, while new Sequoias sit idle at one dealer in Texas, another dealer is more successful promoting Toyota replacement parts and accessories along with routine maintenance.

Websites and other forms of advertising are being increasingly utilized to promote dealers’ parts and service offerings. Many are struggling to educate customers and potential customers that they can offer much more than just new and used cars and that all their parts and service needs such as for those customers looking for an Oil Change Shreveport LA can also be satisfied.

Parts and service typically account for a large part of dealer profits. These profits usually account for half of the dealer’s total profits, with the other half coming from new and used car sales. With significantly reduced new car sales across the country, accounting for the lowest new car sales in more than a decade, the service and parts centers are becoming the focal point of many dealerships.

In recent years, improvements in new car quality have reduced the number of warranty repairs at dealers. This has significantly lengthened the times between service appointments by customers. To keep the flow of customers coming in, many dealers such as Auffenberg Nissan have invested significantly in their auto facilities.

With fewer new car sales, and fewer warranty repairs, service is becoming the one factor that dealers can use to get people to come back to the dealership. But competition plays a huge role in the success of a service department. Competing against dozens of other dealers as well as dozens of other independent mechanics and repair shops, dealers like Toyota Service Burnsville are finding that they’re in dire need to differentiating themselves and improving quality of service to keep people coming back. Online Toyota parts stores have even seen an increase in customers who want to invest in their aging vehicles, rather than buying something new.

Lower prices, larger waiting areas, and more complimentary services are all being added, not to mention a wider range of parts and after market accessories to make dealers the one stop shop for everything automotive.

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