Has the Rainier Auto Group lost their flooring?

[XDCX]

News reports from KOMO TV in Seattle indicate that vehicles have been removed from three of the four dealerships owned by the Rainier Auto Group.

According to the report a dispute between the manufacturers and the dealer have resulted in vehicles being removed from Auburn Nissan, Burien Nissan and Eastside Subaru. Other sources indicate that Rainier's Eastside Hyundai still has new vehicles on their lot.

The news report suggests that both Nissan and Subaru owned the vehicles, but I'm betting that they were all floored by one source. It seems unlikely that two flooring sources would act at the same time while the Hyundai vehicles remain on site. (In fact, I'm not even sure if Subaru offers a factory floorplan?)

Here's a link to the news report: http://www.komonews.com/news/41416857.html#idc-ctools

[XDCX]

I was surfing the Internet in an effort to find more information about the closing of the three Rainier Auto Group dealerships and found a story that suggests that Nissan Motors Acceptance Corporation is in the process of dropping flooring accounts for all competitive franchises.

Here's a link to the report: http://www.b-townblog.com/2009/03/16...ans-inventory/

While that explanation may explain why the vehicles were removed from Eastside Subaru, it would not explain why the vehicles were removed from the two Nissan locations.

Does anyone have any additional information?

Are these closing the result of a policy change at NMAC or is the Auto Group SOT?

[XDCX]

KIRO TV reported vehicles have been removed from all four Rainier Auto Group stores. Initially it was my understanding the Hyundai store still had their inventory.

The KIRO report suggests there's a dispute between Rainier Auto Group and NMAC. It's not clear if NMAC has a relationship with the Auto Group that extends beyond flooring. If they hold the real estate loans then this situation would appear to be very similar to what happened with the Superior Auto Group in California.

The report indicated the Rainier Auto Group is in the process of securing a new flooring source but acknowledges that it will be challenging in this credit environment.

Here's a link to the news report: http://www.kirotv.com/money/18962612/detail.html

[SHACOS]

It sounds like something is missing from this story. What did Rainier do to piss off Nissan?

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by SHACOS

It sounds like something is missing from this story. What did Rainier do to piss off Nissan?

I agree, it does seem like something's missing.

The part that surprises me the most is that Subaru is a hot franchise in Western Washington. I see tons of Subarus wherever I drive and there are only a few dealers for the entire market.

Maybe NMAC has everything cross-collateralized, but you'd think Rainier would have been able to sell off their Subaru store to subvent the losses at the Nissan stores?

It will be interesting to see what happens.

[XDCX]

I had a chance to visit the Seattle area this weekend and I made a point to drive by the Rainier Auto Group stores.

While the two stores in Auburn are in great locations, it looks like the rent factor must be pretty high at the Nissan store. It's a beautiful facility, but I bet it's expensive. The Hyundai store still had inventory and appeared to be operational.

The Nissan store in Burien seemed odd to me - it was a nice facility on a relatively small lot. It seems hard to imagine they could ever sell enough cars to cover the rent.

The Eastside Subaru store was the biggest surprise - an absolute terrible location. It was a newer facility on a small lot that was off the beaten path. Subaru may be a hot franchise in this area, but those are some tough obstacles to overcome.

I hope the Rainier Auto Group is able to find another flooring source, but I fear it may be an uphill battle given some of their facilities/locations.

[XDCX]

The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that two of the four Rainier Auto Group stores have been sold. Eastside Hyundai and Eastside Subaru have been sold to different purchasers.

Both of the Nissan stores remain for sale. (And both probably have high rent factors....)

Here's a link to the news report - http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/s...l?ana=from_rss

[XDCX]

I've noticed that this thread gets a lot of visits from people who search Google for "Rainier Auto Group."

I haven't heard any news regarding the Rainier Auto Group for months and I'm assuming the two Nissan stores are still closed.

If you're a customer and have information that you think would be valuable to other customers and want me to add it to this thread, just click on the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page and send me a note.

I'm hopeful that all the customer issues have been resolved, but it makes me wonder when I notice the number of guests who have viewed this thread?

[ovrobinson]

I am one of those that found you while doing a google search. I purchased a car at Kirkland Hyundai and had been taking it for service to Burien Nissan. When I bought the car, I was registered with the Rainier Auto Group, who said they would supply free oil changes and other service discounts for the life of my car. When the "check engine" light came on today accompanied by a rattle, I tried to call - only to discover that they had gone out of business. I am rather annoyed that they took no responsibility to inform customers. They can send me tons of "service reminders," but no notification that this was coming or ideas on where to go. I took it to them in May for an oil change and it was not brought up

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by ovrobinson

I am rather annoyed that they took no responsibility to inform customers.

Thanks for the update.

As I mentioned above, I notice that this thread gets a lot of traffic from Google and I always felt a little guilty that it didn't provide any updated information.

Concerning the notification of their customers, while I understand your frustration, I'm not surprised. Based on what I've read the dealerships closed shortly after Nissan Motor Credit pulled their floorplan loans. I don't think the dealership had much advance notice.

To their credit, I haven't heard any stories from customers who were left with unpaid trade liens, unfunded Service Contracts, etc. It appears that Rainier Auto Group met all of their obligations before they closed.

[XDCX]

I noticed an ad on Craigslist the other day indicating that Car Pros will be re-opening the Burien and Auburn Nissan locations.

Given their success with Hyundai, it will be interesting to see how Car Pros does with Nissan.

[XDCX]

As I've mentioned before, thanks to Google this thread gets a fair amount of traffic from retail customers who have been impacted by the closing of the Rainier Auto Group stores.

One customer sent me an e-mail indicating that she was owed for a Service Contract cancellation and figured she was out of luck because the dealership was closed down.

After a couple of e-mail exchanges, we determined that the customer could still process her cancellation directly with the Administrator. I received an e-mail just a few days ago from the customer reporting she was amazed that it actually worked and she got her refund check in the mail. :thumbsup_old:

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