Opening your Service Department at 4am??

I used to work at a dealership where we would take cars in until 9 and work on them overnight. the customer could pick up their car in the morning. it worked well for some but it just wasn't profitable enough. we officially opened at 7 but if there is a customer waiting at 6:30 we will invite them in for a cup of coffee and write them up. Every dealer has a unique dynamic and customer expectation. if you figure out what works best for your customers you are already far ahead of the game. Good luck.

Jim , I get the concept but we are all forgetting about our most important customer. Our a service department employees. These customers already work from 7am until 6 or seven or sometimes later . They already work that 6th day. Already are asked to come in on Sunday in a lot of areas. I think Kevin is correct

This can work in some places and not in others. Best to do your homework with your customers finding out what days and hours are most convenient for them . Once you have that information you can make your most educated decision.

Sounds good in theory. Pencil to paper for stores that are actually open til 2am and open at 6am not much but extra expense from the stores I know doing this model. As an ex consultant for high line for a few years this will not work in that environment. And it is easy to look at this from a 10k foot level by not being the one that has to actually staff this store. The percentage of people that have kids would not benefit from this time as it would disrupt their routines. Back before the fall in late 2000 I had a store that was open 7 days and until midnight. That's because we had business taken for granted and it was everywhere we looked. Your stores should do a better job maximizing their opportunities during normal working hours. Dealerships lean to hard on trying to please customers. But your most important assets is your employees. Family time you ask them to sacrifice in order to make the work is just wrong. Not a good business model.

Great concept and one that should be taken seriously by most dealerships. Fixed ops lives and dies by customer service, perception, and ultimately retention. Also to add to your point, when calculating a service departments facility utilization potential, the more hours you are open, the more units can be serviced, and the more revenue can be driven. Of course, this is also where service advisors will have to play a big role in driving that business. Disrupting the business model of fixed operations will be the way some dealerships can take a huge step forward against their competition. For far too many, "we have always done it that way" is a culture that will doom their business.