PORT ANGELES — Much like the troubled automaker Chrysler, Murray Motors is trying to figure out how it can restructure itself to stay in business after its franchise agreement is terminated June 9.
The owner of the only Dodge and Chrysler dealership on the North Olympic Peninsula, Mark Murray, said he hopes to stay in business by continuing to operate his used car lot and auto service, although he won’t be able to honor warranties after that date.
Hopes to continue
“Hopefully we will be able to continue in Port Angeles, and possibly in some sort of capacity, in the service or related fields of cars,” he said.
Murray Motors is one of 15 Chrysler dealers in the state and 789 nationwide that the automaker plans to cut. The cuts affect about one in every four Chrysler dealers.
Murray received a letter from Chrysler on Thursday telling him that Murray Motors, the oldest car dealership in Clallam County, located at 302 E. First St. in Port Angeles, will have its franchise agreement terminated next month, pending approval from a federal bankruptcy court judge.
“Having spent 75 years as a very supportive and loyal customer of Chrysler Corporation, I felt as if they turned their back on me,” Murray said.
But “it doesn’t do any good to get mad,” he added.
Family business
Murray Motors was started by his grandfather, Bart Murray Sr. in Clallam Bay in 1934.
Dan Wilder, owner of Wilder Auto in Port Angeles, said his agreement with Chrysler to sell its Jeep-brand vehicles remains intact.
“We, like all dealers, are disappoint that they are eliminating some of the dealers — especially Murray Motors,” he said.
“We will be part of the new Jeep program, whatever that is. At this point no one really knows what is going to happen.”
Murray said he wouldn’t have thought that this would have been possible last year.
“If you asked me a year ago, I’d say no,” he said. “I don’t foresee anything like that in my future.
“At some standpoint, there was some mismanagement by them,” he added
“The long and short of it is, yeah, I’m going to have to pay for part of that.”
Murray said he had thought his business would survive the cuts since it is the only Chrysler dealer on the Peninsula.
“I thought my geographic location just might exempt me from the list, but evidently not,” he said.
Sell by June 9
While trying to figure out what to do with his business, Murray has to also sell 19 new cars, both Chrysler and Dodge vehicles, on his lot by June 9.
Murray said he will offer “rock bottom” pricing to any interested customer, and doesn’t expect to make a profit.
Chrysler told Murray that they will help him off-load the cars with other surviving dealers, but he’s not certain that he will break even on those sales.
“Because of bankruptcy laws, they are not going to allocate them any money to purchase back inventory,” he said.
“So they’re going to try to help me out to get them to other dealers.”
A bankruptcy judge in New York will consider the closure of the dealers on June 3.
Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection on April 30 and plans to sell most of its assets to Fiat Group SpA.
Affected dealers can appeal the decision in bankruptcy court, but Murray said he isn’t planning to challenge the decision.
The appeals process, he said, is not “realistic.”
“I think it would be too expensive and too time-consuming, and I don’t think it would do any good,” he said.
15 employees
Murray said he doesn’t know what he will do with his new car lot or how many of his 15 employees he is going to have to let go.
“I had a meeting with them this morning,” he said Friday. “I discussed the situation and told them what I know and what I’ve been told is going to happen.
“From here on out, it’s still a bit of a day-by-day kind of thing.”
Murray, the third generation owner of the business, took over from his father, Bart Murray Jr., in the early 1980s, he said.
The business moved to Port Angeles in 1944.
While Murray tries to develop a plan to keep Murray Motors in business, he said he is trying to remain positive.
“It’s not the end of the world. The sun is still going to rise tomorrow,”
“We are going to do the best we can to get by with what we can.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
