ABQ Dodge Dealer.... closes because of economy!

Not really off topic. Very relavent to all Mopar lovers. Just a sign of our times unfortunatly!!

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The struggling economy has taken its toll on one of New Mexico's largest auto dealers.

Zangara Dodge closed its doors Tuesday night, at least for now. Ken Zangara told his employees they had just worked their last day.

"I thought it was just another meeting to say we are still open and this and that. Ken came downstairs to say with a sad face that I'm going to have to let you guys go," said former employee Brandon Banas.

Zangara issued a statement reading: "All employees will receive all earned pay, 401k investments and all entitled benefits. I am still fighting to save this store but will help them in finding another job."

Zangara formed the dealership in 1991. It quickly became one of the state's largest volume Dodge dealerships. Over the past year, business has slowed significantly. In fact, Zangara went to Washington earlier this year to lobby Congress for a rescue package for U.S. automakers.

In a phone conversation Tuesday night, Zangara told Action 7 that a deal is in the works to sell the dealership but he wouldn't explain further.

Crap!! I wonder if this is the same dealer who was giving people a new Caliber if they bought a new truck several months ago. Someone on another forum that lives in Albuquerque had posted that.

chuzz wrote:Crap!! I wonder if this is the same dealer who was giving people a new Caliber if they bought a new truck several months ago. Someone on another forum that lives in Albuquerque had posted that.

I didn't hear about that. But they were giving $10-$15K rebates on trucks so you could almost buy a Caliber. I had a rental Caliber, I liked it.

I've owned an 08 Caliber SE with the 2.0 engine and CVT transmission. I really like it. It gets a little better than 30 mpg. The only thing I miss about my Santa Fe is the cargo room. Not nearly as much in the Caliber, but for the nine miles to the gallon inprovement, I can live with it.

I'm not suprised, we've has quite a few close up around here due to lack of sales. One of our customers at work just picked up a brand new "stripper" Challenger R/T in Tor-Red for less than $20k because the dealer was trying to get atleast one sale that day!