December 2008 – DealerRefresh | DealerRefresh Automotive Dealer Forums

2008 DealerRefresh Year End Review

Wow, what a year!! No doubt a roller coaster ride for our industry. We hear about “the dealer down the road” closing their door just about every other day. While the strong dealers are surviving, too many dealers are just now figuring out that internet marketing needs to be the dominating percentage of their marketing …

Opinions & Advice

American memories are shorter than ever

If there is anything 2008 taught me, it is that America’s memory has shortened even further than it was before. It is amazing how fast people switched their car-buying habits based on gas prices going up and coming back down. I can’t get over the speed at which truck sales died and came back. Do …

Dealership Marketing

When is enough enough? Where do we draw the line on expense cutting?

As most of you know, I am part of the third generation of Snyder’s at the Checkered Flag Automotive Group. My grandfather founded the company in 1964 after he himself was part of another third generation of Snyder’s at a department store we used to own in Downtown Norfolk since the late 1800’s (closed in …

Other Stuff

Seasons Greeting and Happy Holidays to everyone

Season’s Greetings and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Other Stuff

Boy would I be pissed!

I had to post this. It’s makes you sick to watch, but you have to see it. A D.C. family is saying there is a good reason why their vandalized car shouldn’t have been towed. Could you imagine?

Industry News & Trends

Mazda Eliminates Poor Performing Third Party Lead Sources

Mazda changes direction with their third party leads and Search Engine Marketing efforts. An email from Mazda Dealer Online: ——————————————- Over the last few months we have been working with dealers, conducting surveys, and obtaining input from Mazda Action Teams regarding the evolution of our Mazda Dealer Online (MDOL) program. As a result of this …

Best Practices Opinions & Advice

Dealer Website Trade-in Tools; is it KBB Leaddriver OR Black Book Online?

Does anyone have any comments on the effectiveness of online trade-in value tools? As far as I know, there are only really 2 available. Black Book Online (Activator) vs KBB Lead Driver I’m sure at one point or another, almost every Internet sales manager has used one or even both of these online trade evaluation …

Industry News & Trends

Grant Cardone on the Automotive Bailout Plan – Video

Grant Cardone pushes for a tax credit for dealers and the consumer.

Dealership Communication Tools

Review on the Verizon Blackberry Storm 9530

All in all, the Storm is a great phone. I'm not convinced it is "the" phone and my search will continue one day. I'm looking forward to the new Curve, but I certainly will not be getting one on launch day. If you're a heavy Blackberry user with little patience you will hate the communications side of the Storm, but if you need to visit heavy websites on the go, you'll love it. So I'm split because I need to do both.

Industry Events

Increase Your Traffic Without Increasing Your Advertising Spend – Webinar

Increase Your Dealerships Traffic Without Increasing Your Advertising Spend AIADA and CarFax Presents is hosting a FREE Webinar: Date and time: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 12:00 pm Eastern Standard Time Panelist(s) Info: Jay Luna Process Improvement Manager, CARFAX Duration: 30 minutes Description: This FREE 30 minute webinar will examine the best practices that leading dealers …