PORT ANGELES — Mark Murray is so disgruntled with Chrysler Group LLC right now he isn’t sure he’d renew his franchise with the automaker if he could.
“To me, it’s like remarrying your ex-wife,” said Murray, who owns Murray Motors on First Street in Port Angeles.
“Most of us don’t want to do it.”
Murray Motors was among the 15 dealers in the state — and 789 nationally — that Chrysler cut ties with amid bankruptcy reorganization last summer.
Chrysler has offered reinstatement to 36 of those 789 dealers and notified 50 more last week they could apply for reinstatement.
Murray Motors was not among them.
“It’s pretty well past the point of no return,” Murray said Monday.
“I got rid of all the [Chrysler] cars and a lot of the parts.”
Oldest dealership
Murray, the third-generation owner of the North Olympic Peninsula’s oldest car dealership, said used car sales have been quiet — there are five vehicles on the lot — but the service department is humming along.
“My service department is always busy because we have an excellent reputation of doing the right thing for people,” Murray said.
Murray Motors repairs all makes and models at its service shop at 302 E. First St.
Chrysler announced last May that Murray Motors was among the quarter of its U.S. dealerships it was eliminating.
Murray had 23 days to sell about two dozen new cars, two of which were not sold and acquired by other dealers.
Murray Motors lost its franchise to sell new Chryslers in early June.
Murray was forced to cut three of his 15 employees. There are now 11 employees on staff.
“We’re just poking along,” Murray said.
“It was sure different a year-and-a-half ago. That’s for sure.”
Murray’s grandfather, Bart Murray Sr., started Murray Motors in Clallam Bay in 1934. The business moved to Port Angeles in 1944.
Bart Murray Jr. took over the company in the early 1980s.
Limited impacts
In a statement, Chrysler said the 50 dealers that were offered reinstatements are in areas that offer customer service benefits and would have limited impacts on existing dealers.
The offers arrived as nearly 400 of the former dealers prepared to fight Chrysler’s decisions in an arbitration process created by Congress.
Murray Motors did not join in that campaign, Murray said, because of the expense and its irreconcilable differences with Chrysler.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
