"Car Lot Cowboy" Reality TV Show coming to Spike TV

[chryslersrt8]

I watched episode 1 last night. That lot is an explosion waiting to happen. The whole sales force were a bunch of tools. That included the sales manager. I could not believe the owner allowed this kind of garbage to happen. He deserves to fail. I'm willing to bet the staff decided to go with the flow until Tom left, so he thought he made a difference. Then they went to same old ways. Owner than gave show bull**** numbers for show follow up to look good.


I hope the next episode features a dealership that truly needs/wants to change. Otherwise they lose me as a viewer

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

I watched episode 1 last night. That lot is an explosion waiting to happen. The whole sales force were a bunch of tools. That included the sales manager. I could not believe the owner allowed this kind of garbage to happen. He deserves to fail. I'm willing to bet the staff decided to go with the flow until Tom left, so he thought he made a difference. Then they went to same old ways. Owner than gave show bull**** numbers for show follow up to look good.

Thanks for the update. I have the episode recorded on Tivo and I'll probably watch it tonight.

The concept for the show has so much potential - I hope the producers don't screw it up by creating false drama or focusing on dealerships that are so clustered up that they don't represent reality.

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

I hope the next episode features a dealership that truly needs/wants to change. Otherwise they lose me as a viewer

Same here.

[steve_biegler]

Watched the show last night. Not very impressed. I find it hard to believe that 2 hrs being a bell hop will change any of those people. Really nothing about the car business just lots about men that are really just big kids that need to grow up. As we know the dealership has changed names and still getting bad reviews. I guess leopards don't change their spots.

Looks like next Sunday's show may not be any better by the teasers. Another independent lot.

Bar rescue on spike seems to be more on task with the whole business not just the drama of the employees, although there is enough of that also.

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/car-lot-res...012100294.html

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by XDCX

I have the episode recorded on Tivo and I'll probably watch it tonight.

I had a chance to watch Car Lot Rescue last night and thought it was really, really, really bad.

I wanted to like the show and I've always had a positive impression of Tom Stuker but if the first episode is any indication of what's to come I think Car Lot Rescue will be finished after their first season airs.

In my opinion, Car Lot Rescue took the worst elements of Bar Rescue (the yelling, swearing and fake drama) and left out the best elements. (the process improvements, use of new technology and facility upgrades)

The whole episode seemed fake and scripted - especially the part where the Sales Manager gives his customer (another guy) a hug and explains he was having a bad day when he initially refused to perform post-sale repairs.

I also think it's preposterous to suggest that Stuker can double a dealerships sales by simply focusing on the sales staff's phone skills and customer greeting techniques.

On a final note, how does a dealership that probably has 150 cars in inventory manage to sell 26 cars on a single day when they only have six or seven salespeople and one or two managers working the desk? Am I expected to believe that the Dealer and Sales Manager each desked 13 deals and each salesperson sold three or four cars?

Sorry, but I don't buy it - just more fake "reality" TV in my opinion. (Does the store even have an F&I Manager, or are we expected to believe that the two managers desked and contracted 13 deals each?)

Bottom line: In my opinion there's a reason SPIKE TV decided to premier Car Lot Rescue in a horrible time slot - they know the show is poor and they want it to fail.

Who knows, maybe next week will be better, but I'm not betting on it....

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by steve_biegler

Watched the show last night. Not very impressed. I find it hard to believe that 2 hrs being a bell hop will change any of those people. Really nothing about the car business just lots about men that are really just big kids that need to grow up. As we know the dealership has changed names and still getting bad reviews. I guess leopards don't change their spots.

Looks like next Sunday's show may not be any better by the teasers. Another independent lot.

Bar rescue on spike seems to be more on task with the whole business not just the drama of the employees, although there is enough of that also.

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/car-lot-res...012100294.html

Thanks for the link - it was interesting to read the show we watched was recorded back in December, 2011.

I checked Tivo last night and noticed there are about 8 - 10 episodes of Car Lot Rescue and my bet is they were all filmed over a year ago.

Maybe the producers are hoping SPIKE TV will pick up the program for another season based high ratings? If the first episode is any indication, I wouldn't suggest they hold their breath waiting for a phone call from SPIKE.

[steve_biegler]

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=RX2dPz5zVlg

Watched the show last night. Micco motors closed Nov. '11. Never sold 100 cars like the show said. Read the comments in the link. This show is a joke, Tom Stuker should be ashamed of himself.

On another note I see today that Fiat has hired Grant Cardone to train their worst 150 CSI dealers. Just what those dealers need, training from a guy with a ego that just won't quit.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by steve_biegler

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=RX2dPz5zVlg

Watched the show last night. Micco motors closed Nov. '11. Never sold 100 cars like the show said. Read the comments in the link. This show is a joke, Tom Stuker should be ashamed of himself.

I have the episode recorded on Tivo but I haven't watched it yet.

It's interesting to read the dealership featured in last night's episode closed in November, 2011 - that had to be just after Stuker was there.

The fact the producers lied about the dealership selling 100 cars isn't a surprise - I don't think there's a single element of truth about the show based on what I've seen and heard.

Originally Posted by steve_biegler

On another note I see today that Fiat has hired Grant Cardone to train their worst 150 CSI dealers. Just what those dealers need, training from a guy with a ego that just won't quit.

I've been away from the Internet and haven't read about the Fiat CSI training initiative yet. I'll try to get caught up later today.

[steve_biegler]

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...i-crash-course

Article on Fiat training. If you want to get a taste of Cardone go to youtube and search his name.

[steve_biegler]

http://www.ripoffreport.com/auto-dea...icco-47a08.htm

I guess he's still in business, just a different name. Seems to be a pattern here.

[PACarDealer]

While I watched the show last night, it looked like the calendar behind the Manager in his office said October, 2010...if that is true and he didn't just forget to turn it to the new page then they lasted nearly a year before they went under after the show. Who knows though.

I did see on that Youtube link that Steve posted, there is a comment from Brian Dreggors (the manager?) It says:

"We didn't do BHPH at all. Mostly secondary financing and cash sales. Curtailments for cars on floorplan put us out and the area really just didn't support what we were doing. Hudson is very economically-depressed and there's only so much you can do around that.

Now, Gary and Johnny are working at an independent in Tampa, Emilio is a salesman at a large Fortune 500 used car store, and I'm at a smaller internet and wholesale dealer in Tarpon Springs with higher line cars. We're all doing well."

So supposedly the floor plan killed them....

I have to say, it was a pretty poor show and I found myself wondering how much was edited and staged just to make it look the way the producers wanted. I mean, the first thing I noticed was that they kept showing rat cars sitting near the woods with weeds all around them. I assumed they were dead cars, not really for sale but they kept making it seem like those were front line cars.

I guess I'll watch it one more time but I doubt I will stick with it.

[XDCX]

I watched the latest episode last night and have the same impression of Car Lot Rescue that I did last week - Stuker should be embarrassed for himself.

I'm tight on time at the moment so I'll add more comments later tonight.

[chryslersrt8]

Episode 2 was at least as bad as episode 1. Why pick places this embarrassing to the industry?These remind me of the Bar Rescue where a hokey pirate dive bar that was bombing so bad the owner had to sleep in her parents basement, went through the changeover, made money, but didn't like the change over, changed back...now out of business!

I realize they need to find stores that need help but give me a break, there has to be a decent believable turnaround.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by XDCX

I watched the latest episode last night and have the same impression of Car Lot Rescue that I did last week - Stuker should be embarrassed for himself.

I'm tight on time at the moment so I'll add more comments later tonight.

Sorry if that sounded a little cranky - I was tight on time when I created that post and didn't have a chance to explain my frustration.

At the end of the day, I concede that Car Lot Rescue is just a TV show and I guess I really don't care. That said, I've always had a positive association with Tom Stuker and I thought the show would be both entertaining and educational - it's proven to be neither.

I also created that post after I did a quick Google Street View search for Micco Motors. Here's what I found: (For a full size image - click here)

While it's probably hard to read, I used a red box to surround the date the Google Street View image was taken - May, 2011.

The Google Street View image was clearly taken before Micco Motors took possession of the property - that means the dealership had been open for six months or less when Stuker arrived to "save" them.

Stuker's been in the business forever and knows thousands of people in the car business and this is the best store he can find for his second episode?

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

Episode 2 was at least as bad as episode 1. Why pick places this embarrassing to the industry?

Exactly - I agree 100%.

It's also insulting to suggest (lie) that a dealership can be "saved" after a week of training that includes either working as a Bell Captain or a Sponge Fisherman.

In the case of Micco Motors, it appears the real cause of their failure the curtailment demands of their flooring source. This is a common failure of small dealerships that try to grow too fast and don't manage their cash flow. Stuker had an interesting story to tell - too bad the producers decided the viewers would be more interested in sponge fishing.

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

These remind me of the Bar Rescue where a hokey pirate dive bar that was bombing so bad the owner had to sleep in her parents basement, went through the changeover, made money, but didn't like the change over, changed back...now out of business!

I think that was the last episode of Bar Rescue I ever watched. It just seemed too stupid that a bar owner would walk away from changes that made the bar profitable just so she could go back to her pirate theme and win the affection of her employees and limited customer base.

To the show's credit, I did enjoy watching what they did for market research, branding and the changes they made to the interior and exterior of the business - that's something that's mostly missing from Car Lot Rescue.

Originally Posted by chryslersrt8

I realize they need to find stores that need help but give me a break, there has to be a decent believable turnaround.

That's my frustration too - Stuker should know hundreds of dealers who would have been better candidates then the two stores we've seen so far.

It looks like the next episode goes to a Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram store. It might be interesting but I'm keeping my expectations low.....

[XDCX]

At the risk of sounding cynical, maybe there's a market for TV shows that appeal to stupid people and Car Lot Rescue is simply filling that niche.

Why would I form that theory? Here's a screen print from the webpage of one of the advertisers from last week's episode of Car Lot Rescue: WesternSky Financial

When I saw the ad last week I thought it was interesting that WesternSky Financial emphasized their company was 100% owned and operated by Native Americans and the business operated on Native American land.

Now that I see their interest rate table I'm guessing that WesternSky's Native American origin probably exempts them from some state usury laws.

To be clear, I don't have any issues with Native Americans but I'm not sure our society needs a lender that offers a seven year loan with an 89% APR or a short term loan with a 342% APR.