If you love Corvettes as much as we do at Vettes of Atlanta Magazine, you jump at the chance to spend a few hours learning more about them. We slid into the Corvette Cruisers of Atlanta caravan early one Saturday morning and followed this great group of enthusiasts up to John Megel’s Chevrolet dealership in Dawsonville, GA.
Dawsonville is the southern terminus of the 2,146-mile Appalachian Trail. It’s rolling tree-covered foothills are the start of the North Georgia mountains. What strikes you instantly as you pull into the John Megel parking lot is the way the building’s architecture blends seamlessly into the surrounding landscape.
It is more reminiscent of a well-appointed hunting lodge than the cookie-cutter building designs of most corporate Chevrolet dealerships. As we were soon to learn, there is nothing cookie-cutter about this family-owned business.
The Little Things Matter
What sets a dealership apart from the competition often comes down to the small things. They add up, and they do matter when you’re considering where to make your next purchase or have your beloved Corvette serviced. Even before we got out of our Vettes, the service team had each member slowly drive down one of the service bays to check our tire wear and alignment.
Carefully arrayed lasers and cameras automatically measured the tread depth of the four tires and checked our OEM specification wheel alignment. Beyond the basics that we’ve seen before, this graphical printout was easy to read and provided valuable information about our specific year and model.
More importantly, it was the first touchpoint we had with the dealership, and it spoke volumes to us. When a dealership is willing to invest in advanced equipment, they no doubt invest in the training of their people as well.
That commitment was soon to be apparent as we settled into our chairs for their engaging two hour Q & A presentation.
Real-World Corvette Experience Matters
David Theriault, the Fixed Operations Director for the dealership, started the session by sharing a brief overview of this unique dealership. As he introduced each member of the team, he talked in-depth about their role in the dealership, tenure, and number of years servicing the Bowling Green creation.
As David talked about his team, several points became apparent. First was their surprising length of tenure at this location, and the other was their impressive number of years servicing the Vette brand.
Please make no mistake, when it comes to maintaining your high-performance sports car, the real-world knowledge of your technician truly does matter. Technology can only take you so far. There is simply no substitute for experience.
You would be hard-pressed to find a dealership in the Atlanta area that has more hands-on years with Vettes at the tech level. I’m someone who will drive by several Chevrolet dealerships to take my car to my trusted “Vette Whisper.”
If you’re reading this article, then you know exactly what I mean. This dealership has the real-world experience that you’ve been searching for.
Tenure At A Dealership Matters
Each presenter had a treasure trove of expertise and engaging stories to share. You got the feeling they could have gone on for hours as they answered questions from our group and shared their insights. We could easily have written a series of articles just on the information they shared with us.
The common thread among each presenter was the years they had at the John Megel Chevrolet dealership. In today’s corporate-owned car dealership world, you usually see all new faces every year or so. Turn and burn seems to be the sad norm in the car business.
John Megel Chevrolet is different.
Staff longevity, expertise, and genuinely caring about people, seems to be the priority here. This matters because today’s Corvette is, in many ways, one of the most sophisticated consumer products to design and manufacture. Tenure is what keeps the knowledge and the expertise at your dealership to ensure your Vette runs smoothly.
Being Family-Owned Matters
There is a palatable difference between a family-owned dealership and a mega car franchise organization. You can tell it as soon as you walk through the front door. You could hear it when David Theriault and his team spoke about the dealership.
They genuinely cared. This presentation on a Saturday morning wasn’t an imposition. It was something they passionately wanted to do.
It’s not easy being a single-store dealership. The National Automobile Dealers Association reports that while single-store owners represented 64.8 percent of the nation’s roughly 7,500 dealership owners at the end of 2018, their ranks have shrunk 35 percent since 2008.
Meanwhile, the number of dealers with ten or more stores has increased by 62 percent. In many ways, it’s like owning a local hardware store, and you’re going up against Home Depot.
Being family-owned has always had an advantage when it comes to having the freedom to work with your clients. From the conversation we had with Mike Simpson, the Parts Manager to C.J. Lombardi, the General Manager of Sales, and others, you knew they cared about doing business the right way.
The Service And Parts Director Matters
David Theriault is the Fixed Operations Director for John Megel Chevrolet. Many dealerships succeed or fail based on the talent of the one holding this position. Fortunately, David has over 40 years of Chevrolet experience and the skill set, in our opinion, to make any dealership successful.
He understands cars and the people who drive them. He has a particular, deep-rooted affinity for the performance-minded people who track their car because automotive racing is in his blood.
Originally from Connecticut, he was the crew chief for the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano early in his career when he was racing 1/4 midgets and Legend cars. If you competitively race or track your Vette, give this man a call.
His daughter, Michelle was a race car driver for many years. David turned wrenches and set up her car to win. And win they did.
She was the youngest female to have feature wins at both the Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. She was also the first female to win a championship in Legends racing history. Michelle also raced successfully in the Camping World Truck series.
Once again, we can’t thank David Theriault and his team enough for inviting Corvette Cruisers of Atlanta to their facilities in Dawsonville, Ga. It was a fun, informative shop day event for all who attended. Not to mention, we appreciated the giveaways and warm hospitality provided by the dealership!
When it comes time for service on our Grand Sport coupe or ordering that new C8 Grand Sport convertible, we know we’re heading to John Megel Chevrolet. Their incredible team and family-owned business check off all the right boxes that matter to us. You owe it to yourself to experience this exceptional Chevrolet dealership for yourself soon.
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