The Auto Channel
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The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
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Car Wreck - An Expose Of The Auto Industry

Car Wreck


Mark Ragsdale (select to view enlarged photo)

"I know you’re angry. I helped make you that way. I was a car dealer for twelve years... And I am going to teach you all the things you’d never know about the car business by telling you all the things I shouldn’t. The stuff you would never see on TV news..."

By Mark Ragsdale
Author / Speaker / Trainer / Consultant

CHAPTER 1

Are consumers angry at the car business? You bet! Do they have good reason to be? Sure! Failing to get enough for their trade-in to even cover their current auto loan, getting sucked in on advertisements for which they mysteriously don’t qualify, and paying up to hundreds more per month than they anticipated, without a receiving credible explanation why are reason enough. Most consumers end up driving home something other than their first choice of automobile and paying more than they expected for it. Why?

For much of the last half-century, frustration toward the car business over stories like these lived no farther away than your office water cooler, local pub, or Sunday barbecue. If you ever questioned the driving forces behind the anguish of car buying, read this series of articles I am developing for TheAutoChannel.com. If you were ever curious about the real goings-on behind the guarded walls of the automobile industry, you will find the answers right here. If you work somewhere in the automobile industry; from the assembly line, to the dealership delivery lane, or in the banking industry underwriting all this madness—The AutoChannel.com will spell it all out for you.

As I condense and serialize my new book Car Wreck: How You Got Rear-Ended, Run Over, & Crushed by the U.S. Auto Industry, not only will you be better equipped to protect your wallet as a consumer, but I will also make you the resident auto industry expert within your circle of friends. While others postulate and theorize you will know the inside story behind the industry: why it is currently failing and how it can be fixed. Think of this Auto Channel series as your secret decoder ring into a subject everyone guesses about but few truly understand.

How do I know you are angry and confused? I helped make you that way. I was a car dealer for twelve years, owning six franchised auto dealerships and three franchised motorcycle stores. I have been banging around dealerships since the age of seven. And I am going to teach you all the things you’d never know about the car business by telling you all the things I shouldn’t. The stuff you would never see on TV news. A fair warning is in order though. What I have to say may anger you even more.

I am a messenger of truth, but no angel. I consummated car deals I knew in my heart were not in the best interest of my customers, deals I would not have made if I were sitting on their side of the table. I was neither their clergyman, nor their financial advisor, but a car dealer trying to score as big a profit possible. Profit is not a four-letter word. However, nothing I ever did, or any other dealer might legally do, could rival the rear-ending you are taking by not knowing what you don’t know.

There are dozens of books that can guide you on how to negotiate your best price at a car dealership. I hope they are helpful to you. Negotiating with professional negotiators can be a scary endeavor. Manufacturers, banks, unions and the government love when a new one of these consumer guides hits the shelves. It keeps them out of the limelight. As you chase after an extra thousand dollars or so in savings at the dealership level, these institutions manipulate the market value of your trade-in, keep you in debt, reduce your credit rating, and altogether prevent you from driving what you would otherwise be able to afford. They operate with little or no oversight; flying under the radar, using the public face of car dealers to hide their indiscretions.

There are reasons why you owe more on the vehicle you drive than it is worth. There are reasons why your car payment goes up each time you trade for an essentially equivalent model. One thing I know for sure, dealer profit is not the cause. You have far bigger fish to fry than purchasing your next car or truck at dealer cost. I say this with absolute assuredness, regardless of your personal wealth, income, debt, or credit situation. No matter who you are, I’m talking to you.

Protecting your self-interests requires arming yourself with the inside truth. Opinions provided by someone sitting in a boardroom or behind a news bureau desk no longer count. Shell games and perpetuated misconceptions have no room here. The industry has commanded $63 billion in taxpayer bailouts. A government task force has nuked some 2,150-car dealerships off the map. The casualties of their unfettered actions include thousands of otherwise profitable businesses (and their employees) now forced into bankruptcy! Apparently they are not “too big to fail,” in the eyes of our politicians. In the meantime, you have unwittingly funded the handcuffs of having fewer places to shop, fewer vehicles in stock to compare, and less price competition in the marketplace.

Dealers are solely responsible for delivering all the automobiles ever to be built in this country. They do so, while being maligned by extreme bias in the American pop culture. They endure the latest whims of their automakers’ management, while stroking adulterous relationships with fickle, fair-weather bankers. They navigate senseless legislation that gains votes for bill sponsors, but hinders commerce and hobbles the economy. These Trojan horse laws are designed to look pretty enough on the outside. But they serve as nothing more than smoke screens hiding the real issues—those that rear-end you, run you over, and crush you the quickest.

We have set the table and truth is on its way over for dinner. In the next of our series, I will cover the language car salespeople use, why they use it, and how you can leverage your newly found translating skills to get a better deal. At the end of the day, I want to shorten the amount of time you need to spend at the dealership. Get in, get a car, and get out will be our mantra. Because just like sitting in the dentist’s chair, more time usually equals more pain.

CLICK HERE for Chapter 2

Mark Ragsdale

www.MarkRagsdale.com
Email: Mark@MarkRagsdale.com
Business Phone: 508.299.7080
Fax: 866.299.6010


Author's Social Media Contacts:
Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/CarWreckBook
Twitter Author Page: www.twitter.com/MarkRagsdale
LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/MarkRagsdale


Car Wreck's Social Media Contacts:
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/CarWreckFans
Twitter Book Page: www.twitter.com/CarWreckBook

Mark Ragsdale is author of the book Car Wreck: How You Got Rear-Ended, Run Over, & Crushed by the U.S. Auto Industry (Langdon Street Press, ISBN-13: 978-1934938652, Paperback 256 pp., $15.95). It is sold by booksellers nationwide and online. Mark has been interviewed by Fox Business Channel’s Neil Cavuto, Wall Street Journal Radio, and various syndicated news columnists. For more information about the book or author visit www.MarkRagsdale.com.

SEE ALSO: The Auto Channel's 4 Steps to become a smarter car buyer