PORT TOWNSEND — The last new-car dealership in Jefferson County closed in 2008, but for the next five days, it will seem like old times.
On Tuesday, the empty Courtesy Ford dealership lot at the corner of state Highways 19 and 20 was suddenly full of new and used cars brought over from Ruddell Auto Mall in Port Angeles for a special sale that begins today.
Hours are from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. today through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Howie Ruddell, the dealership’s owner and president, said more than 100 cars from Port Angeles were brought over to Port Townsend for the sale, with a portion of the profits donated to United Good Neighbors.
United Good Neighbors collects donations and disburses them to some three-dozen agencies that provide emergency, senior, youth and community services in Port Townsend, Port Hadlock, Chimacum, Port Ludlow and the surrounding areas.
This is the second year the dealership has held the sale, which raised about $2,000 for United Good Neighbors last year, said the nonprofit agency’s executive director, Carla Caldwell.
“Everybody wins here,” Caldwell said.
“The dealership gets new customers, and the local nonprofit gets support for its programs.”
Last year, the sale also sparked a spike in sales tax revenue, said Jefferson County Treasurer Judi Morris, who did not have exact numbers.
Jefferson County assesses a 9 percent sales tax, while Clallam County charges 8.4 percent, except in the city of Sequim, which has an 8.6 percent sales tax rate.
Of the 100 cars on the lot, several are priced under $10,000, while some luxury models cost as much as $60,000, Ruddell said.
The sales force is from the North Olympic Peninsula, with some from the Port Angeles dealership and others being Port Townsend residents brought “out of retirement” Ruddell said.
The dealership also is bringing along its financing personnel in order to facilitate the sales, he said.
The dealership has blanketed the area with fliers promoting the event, but Ruddell hopes people don’t discard them as junk mail since one flier has a number that will win the recipient a new Hyundai Elantra.
Raffle tickets will be sold for a big-screen TV, with the winner to be announced Sunday, the final day of the car sale.
The fliers will also contain other prizes “where everyone will win something,” Ruddell said.
Ruddell does not see his dealership — or any other — opening a Jefferson County location anytime soon.
“Jefferson County has been hit pretty hard and has not rebounded in the same way that Kitsap and Clallam have,” he said.
“Anyone selling cars in Jefferson County still faces a real challenge.”
Courtesy Ford, which is selling its Port Townsend property, closed its Poulsbo dealership this week after the retirement of owner John Hern, the Kitsap Sun reported Monday.
For more information on United Good Neighbors, visit www.weareugn.org.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
