Fixed Ops Journal - April 2018 - F24

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

RAMPING UP RECON

 N.J. dealer sees new revenue stream in detailing for service clients
ARLTON, N.J. - Facing slimmer margins and slow revenue
growth in fixed operations, dealer Peter Lanzavecchia is moving used-vehicle reconditioning and detailing
in-house, instead of contracting those jobs,
and is marketing detailing work to service
customers.
These moves will save money and increase
revenue, Lanzavecchia predicts. He owns
Burns Buick-GMC in this Philadelphia suburb, along with next-door Burns Hyundai,
which has a premium channel Genesis franchise.
"I hope to expand customer-pay detailing,"
he told Fixed Ops Journal. "It's another revenue stream. As maintenance becomes a little
thinner, with the product quality improved so
much, people aren't coming in as much.
We're looking to replace that revenue, and
cosmetics is an area we're looking at."
Lanzavecchia says he's confident that detailing will be a popular offering in his market.
He already provides courtesy washes to service customers.
"You see it at premium-brand dealerships,"
he said. "Did you ever see a dirty BMW 7 series or Mercedes S class? Pretty rarely. People
like to keep those cars clean, and we think a
lot of people with other kinds of cars will, too.
Think of the convenience of getting [detailing]
done when you're getting a courtesy wash
anyway."
Some customers will be in too much of a
hurry, and others won't want to spend the extra money, Lanzavecchia concedes.
"We service around 100 cars per day, between Buick, GMC and Hyundai," he said. "Of
those, probably 70 are pickup and drop-off the
same day, so unless they come in early, you
probably can't really offer them detailing."

Spend it to make it
Lanzavecchia's dealerships handle detailing work in four bays at the Hyundai store's
service department. But he has acquired a
nearby former Jeep dealership. Once he remodels the facility's 36 service bays, he plans
to consolidate scattered operations and expand service, used-vehicle reconditioning,
detailing and body shop work.

PAGE 24

APRIL 2018

Dealer Peter Lanzavecchia,
shown at the New York
auto show, is moving
reconditioning work
in-house to boost revenue.

JIM HENRY

Lanzavecchia is installing a car wash and
detailing center in 12 of the old bays. They
would look at home at a BMW or Mercedes-Benz dealership. The car wash will recycle wastewater. Detailing workstations will
dispense liquid products such as wax and tire
cleaner from central tanks, along with exhaust
mitigation equipment - all from supplier Eurovac in North York, Ontario.
The company seeks to expand its U.S. dealership business in part by expanding into reconditioning and car wash and detailing
equipment, says Rob Retter, Eurovac's sales
manager. He calls the Burns facility one of the
supplier's biggest U.S. dealership projects.
Eurovac's core dealership business has been
see RECON, Page 26

"Did you ever see a dirty
BMW 7 series or Mercedes S
class? Pretty rarely. People
like to keep those cars clean,
and we think a lot of people
with other kinds of cars will,
too. Think of the convenience
of getting [detailing] done
when you're getting a
courtesy wash anyway."
PETER LANZAVECCHIA

JIM HENRY

foj@autonews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - April 2018