Closed car lots causing scramble

The demise of Bill Heard Chevrolet and Vista Chevrolet, his other local dealership, is creating grief for some Southern Nevadans and opportunities for others.

Justin Findlay, general manager of Findlay Chevrolet, has noticed a jump in auto repair and maintenance business since the dealerships closed Wednesday. Findlay said he offered jobs to some of the unemployed mechanics and salesmen from the closed dealerships.

"It's been pretty chaotic," Findlay said. "We definitely had to ramp up our service to meet the demand with those stores closing."

Findlay counted three Chevrolet new-car dealers left in the Las Vegas area.

Findlay Chevrolet service manager Ralph Cody said General Motors paid for tow trucks to bring autos under warranty to his shop to complete any repair work that was being done at the closed dealers. In one case, the Bill Heard mechanic had dismantled the engine and engine parts were delivered to Findlay Chevrolet to reassemble.

Tammi Kratzel said her husband, Edward, and his friend worked until they finished repair jobs at Vista Chevrolet, although she is not sure whether they will get paid for the work, vacation time and earnings over the last two weeks.

Richard Wood, formerly manager of security at Vista Chevrolet, estimated that the Bill Heard organization employed 400 to 500 workers. Findlay said he would be surprised if the number wasn't closer to half those amounts.

Findlay guessed fewer than half of the former Bill Heard employees will find new jobs at Las Vegas-area car dealers.

General Motors spokeswoman Susan Garontakos said Friday she was optimistic that GM would decide to franchise one or two replacement dealerships in the Las Vegas area. If that happens, she expects many of Bill Heard's former employees to find jobs at the dealerships.

Garontakos said the locations of the former dealerships are the most likely places for new Chevy dealerships, because the properties already have buildings and parking lots suitable for dealerships.

A new-car dealer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he heard that a Southern California Chevrolet dealer may be planning to open in the Las Vegas area. Wood said he also heard rumors of a new dealership.

"It gives everybody hope," Wood said. "That would open quite a few jobs."

Bill Heard, who claimed to be the world's top-selling Chevrolet dealer with $2.1 billion in sales last year, took two big hits in recent months before laying off 2,700 workers in seven states this week. GMAC Financial Services discontinued Heard's floor planning line of credit for cars in inventory on Aug. 21. The following day, the Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs filed court paper's accusing Heard of a "long-standing pattern of attempting to deceive Georgia consumers in violation of the Fair Business Practices Act," according to Automotive News.

Meanwhile, the anonymous local car dealer wonders if he will lose money, because some customers who financed used cars through his company traded in their used cars at Bill Heard's dealerships. Bill Heard's dealerships haven't supplied new-car buyers with green ownership slips they need to obtain license plates. The dealer doesn't know what happened to the trade-in vehicles.

Kevin Malone, a spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles, said he hasn't heard of any consumer complaints about the dealerships' closings. Malone said Heard representatives have assured state officials they are keeping skeleton crews at work to resolve pending transactions.

Nevada requires that Heard keep records of car sales available for three years and that the dealer post a $100,000 bond to protect customers, Malone said.

Anthony Ruggiero, a spokesman for the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division, didn't respond to a request for comment Friday.

Although one dealer reported the worst slump in car sales within memory, representatives said neither the DMV nor the Tax Division could break out any statistics on car sales for Nevada.

Chevrolet customers looking for area dealerships for service work or repairs can visit www.chevrolet.com or call 800-222-1020.

Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.