I had to go for the "20,000" today, new tires too! I drive from La Mesa to Carlsbad because there is an outlet mall right next to my dealer (Toyota Carlsbad). This area is Car Country. I have to walk past several dealerships on the way to the mall. Dodge: 6 guys just sitting under the umbrella, no one on the lot. A salewoman and another guy at the end of the lot...don't think they know why I am looking at them, they wave. Ford: right across the street, 5 guys just sitting around watching the Toyota lot Toyota: as soon as a sales rep gets done with one sale...another one is standing in front of him/her. people are all over the lot. "I have an F150", "I'm trading the Lexus for a Prius", "How much can I get for the Expedition?" There was a smattering of business at the Honda and VW place....nothing much at the GMC/Chevrolet dealers. It really was literally "shooting fish in the barrel!!" for these sales people.
It's not surprising. In California, domestics don't do well and Toyota's brands are the leader in retail car sales in CA. http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...E/60821001/1041 In other parts of the country, things are different. A former roommate of mine (when I lived in WA where American vehicles don't do so well either) had a crappy Pontiac Sunfire (was giving him some trouble too). His parents seem to only buy American. I asked him why they'd bother given the bad experiences we've had w/GM vehicles. He said where he was from (~ Kansas City, MO), the import car dealers were really far away and they'd have to drive 50+ mins if they needed warranty work. Domestic car dealers were much closer. Nationally, GM is still king. You can see a summary of 06 auto sales in the US on the right side of http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../701040353/1148.
