Chuck Tator on national tv
- Thread starter Chuck 98 RT/10
- Start date
I'm a new guy here. But when I bought my 95 RT/10 last October I had a small problem and called Chuck. UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!
This guy is what SERVICE is all about. I ordered a few small parts and he sent me the entire history on my car (which HE serviced) and gave me some PRICELESS tips for a new Viper owner!!
I read somewhere that a Chrysler dealer in Georgia sent a check for $4000 to a Law firm to be included in a class action lawsuit that the firm is handling for Chrysler/Dodge dealers thrown out of business.
When I ordered my parts from Chuck he SENT them to me BEFORE I paid for them!! With the parts, he sent along a stamped, self adressed envelope, and asked me to send him a check for the payment!! UNBELIEVEABLE!!
Well.....I'm sending Chuck another check TODAY... This one's for $100 to be used anyway he see's fit!!!!! Legal Defense Fund, Help, Hope, Whatever...It's not a lot of money but if others decide to do something similar, it certainly wouldn't hurt Chuck. Hell, the ADVICE he gave me was worth the $100!! Chuck is NOT going to ask for us for MONEY...That's not how he works....But MONEY is exactly what it will take to launch any type of effective battle.
Thanks Chuck...You are the definition of a CLASS ACT. My check is on the way!!
Pete A. from RI
This guy is what SERVICE is all about. I ordered a few small parts and he sent me the entire history on my car (which HE serviced) and gave me some PRICELESS tips for a new Viper owner!!
I read somewhere that a Chrysler dealer in Georgia sent a check for $4000 to a Law firm to be included in a class action lawsuit that the firm is handling for Chrysler/Dodge dealers thrown out of business.
When I ordered my parts from Chuck he SENT them to me BEFORE I paid for them!! With the parts, he sent along a stamped, self adressed envelope, and asked me to send him a check for the payment!! UNBELIEVEABLE!!
Well.....I'm sending Chuck another check TODAY... This one's for $100 to be used anyway he see's fit!!!!! Legal Defense Fund, Help, Hope, Whatever...It's not a lot of money but if others decide to do something similar, it certainly wouldn't hurt Chuck. Hell, the ADVICE he gave me was worth the $100!! Chuck is NOT going to ask for us for MONEY...That's not how he works....But MONEY is exactly what it will take to launch any type of effective battle.
Thanks Chuck...You are the definition of a CLASS ACT. My check is on the way!!
Pete A. from RI
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mike & juli
Enthusiast
NY TIMES: Our Towns
A New York Dodge Dealer and His Legacy
Chuck Tator at work at his Dodge dealership in South Salem, N.Y., a business his grandfather started in 1914.
By PETER APPLEBOME
Published: May 16, 2009
SOUTH SALEM, N.Y.
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Tator's Dodge Web Site
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The dealership in 1919.
On Nov. 14, 1914, John and Horace Dodge, two bicycle makers turned automotive pioneers, began selling their first cars as the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company.
The Dodge reputation was so great that thousands of people applied for the first dealerships. Twenty-five were chosen. No. 3 on the list was George T. Tator, an automobile mechanic in a rural slice of Westchester County, who managed to scrape together $800 and a horse to buy four and a half acres with a house and a barn outside South Salem.
In his first year he sold seven of the very first crop of $785 Dodges, using the barn as his garage and office and three horse stalls as bays for the cars. The next year he sold 12, and the year after that 20. Three years after it started, Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company was the fourth-largest automobile manufacturer in the country, and by the late 1920s, Mr. Tator and the five associate dealers now working under him were selling 250 cars a year.
Even then, the auto business could be a tumultuous one. Sales plummeted with the Depression and never surpassed their peaks in the 1920s. The Dodge brothers both died of flu in 1920. Five years later, their widows sold the company to the New York investment firm of Dillon Read & Company for the astonishing sum of $146 million. Walter Chrysler bought the company in 1928 for $170 million and since then it’s lived on as a Chrysler brand, its origins, for 99 percent of consumers, lost in the mists of time.
But if the corporate history got complicated, the Tator history became part of the fabric of local life and American myth. Mr. Tator took a damaged Dodge truck and added two 30-gallon soda and acid tanks to it, and it became the town’s first fire truck. The Fire Department kept its equipment at the dealership until 1953, mechanics dropping wrenches and jumping on the truck when there was a call.
Under George Tator, his son Charles and now Charles’s son, Chuck, it became a local institution the way car dealerships became part of the landscape in towns across the country.
Annual sales climbed to about 100 in the late 1940s and 1950s and then steadily declined as newer dealerships were established, and as buyers began moving away from American cars. Now 30 is a good year. But Tator’s managed to survive not just as a local institution but, improbably, as an international one. Chuck Tator, who still lives above the dealership, became known as one of the most proficient service people for Dodge Vipers, the $90,000 10-cylinder sports cars lusted after by car aficionados.
“He’s one of the absolute masters, the guy to go to on the whole Eastern seaboard, Canada or Europe,” said Scott Grayson, former president of the Viper owners club for New York and Connecticut. “And he’s old-school in the best way, like a doctor who makes house calls.”
Of those 25 original Dodge dealers, all but a handful are gone. Only one, Tator’s Dodge, is still owned by the original family. It’s like an automotive museum, decades of parts filed away, the vintage Coke machine, the original cash register, the ancient Sealed Power Piston Rings clock and the red neon Red Ram V8 neon sign, the emerald green 1953 Windsor Deluxe sedan that hasn’t been driven for five years.
But history gets you only so far. Chrysler’s financial arm tried to cut off Mr. Tator’s ability to buy and sell cars two years ago and backed down when Viper owners went ballistic. And last week, when the list of the dealerships that would be terminated was released, Tator’s was on it. A company spokeswoman said it was an unpleasant situation for everyone, but with sales plummeting there had to be a consistent standard.
“It was a data-driven matrix that took in eight or nine different things,” said the spokeswoman, Kathy Graham.
Mr. Tator is still flummoxed. He figures 95 years of history should count for something, and cutting off his dealership, and its ability to service cars under warranty, will not help anyone. “They won’t save money by cutting me off; they’ll lose money,” he said. “I’ll bet you 90 percent of my customers would go to a different brand if they couldn’t buy from me. I think the company has lost sight of what the customer wants.”
He plans to make his case to the judge handling Chrysler’s bankruptcy and figures he’ll stay in business as a repair garage, almost certainly keeping most of the Viper business no matter what.
You can look at the 95 years and see this as one more, particularly wrenching, bit of automotive tumult. You can look at the 95 years and see this as the end of an era. But you can’t look at it and think Dodge or Chrysler or whatever name ends up on whatever cars gains anything by cutting its ties to Tator’s Dodge and one last link to the days when Americans were good at making and selling things made of chrome and steel, not securitized bundles of numbers and nonsense.
A New York Dodge Dealer and His Legacy
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Librado Romero/The New York TimesChuck Tator at work at his Dodge dealership in South Salem, N.Y., a business his grandfather started in 1914.
By PETER APPLEBOME
Published: May 16, 2009
SOUTH SALEM, N.Y.
Skip to next paragraph Related
Tator's Dodge Web Site
Enlarge This Image
You must be registered for see images attach
The dealership in 1919.
On Nov. 14, 1914, John and Horace Dodge, two bicycle makers turned automotive pioneers, began selling their first cars as the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company.
The Dodge reputation was so great that thousands of people applied for the first dealerships. Twenty-five were chosen. No. 3 on the list was George T. Tator, an automobile mechanic in a rural slice of Westchester County, who managed to scrape together $800 and a horse to buy four and a half acres with a house and a barn outside South Salem.
In his first year he sold seven of the very first crop of $785 Dodges, using the barn as his garage and office and three horse stalls as bays for the cars. The next year he sold 12, and the year after that 20. Three years after it started, Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company was the fourth-largest automobile manufacturer in the country, and by the late 1920s, Mr. Tator and the five associate dealers now working under him were selling 250 cars a year.
Even then, the auto business could be a tumultuous one. Sales plummeted with the Depression and never surpassed their peaks in the 1920s. The Dodge brothers both died of flu in 1920. Five years later, their widows sold the company to the New York investment firm of Dillon Read & Company for the astonishing sum of $146 million. Walter Chrysler bought the company in 1928 for $170 million and since then it’s lived on as a Chrysler brand, its origins, for 99 percent of consumers, lost in the mists of time.
But if the corporate history got complicated, the Tator history became part of the fabric of local life and American myth. Mr. Tator took a damaged Dodge truck and added two 30-gallon soda and acid tanks to it, and it became the town’s first fire truck. The Fire Department kept its equipment at the dealership until 1953, mechanics dropping wrenches and jumping on the truck when there was a call.
Under George Tator, his son Charles and now Charles’s son, Chuck, it became a local institution the way car dealerships became part of the landscape in towns across the country.
Annual sales climbed to about 100 in the late 1940s and 1950s and then steadily declined as newer dealerships were established, and as buyers began moving away from American cars. Now 30 is a good year. But Tator’s managed to survive not just as a local institution but, improbably, as an international one. Chuck Tator, who still lives above the dealership, became known as one of the most proficient service people for Dodge Vipers, the $90,000 10-cylinder sports cars lusted after by car aficionados.
“He’s one of the absolute masters, the guy to go to on the whole Eastern seaboard, Canada or Europe,” said Scott Grayson, former president of the Viper owners club for New York and Connecticut. “And he’s old-school in the best way, like a doctor who makes house calls.”
Of those 25 original Dodge dealers, all but a handful are gone. Only one, Tator’s Dodge, is still owned by the original family. It’s like an automotive museum, decades of parts filed away, the vintage Coke machine, the original cash register, the ancient Sealed Power Piston Rings clock and the red neon Red Ram V8 neon sign, the emerald green 1953 Windsor Deluxe sedan that hasn’t been driven for five years.
But history gets you only so far. Chrysler’s financial arm tried to cut off Mr. Tator’s ability to buy and sell cars two years ago and backed down when Viper owners went ballistic. And last week, when the list of the dealerships that would be terminated was released, Tator’s was on it. A company spokeswoman said it was an unpleasant situation for everyone, but with sales plummeting there had to be a consistent standard.
“It was a data-driven matrix that took in eight or nine different things,” said the spokeswoman, Kathy Graham.
Mr. Tator is still flummoxed. He figures 95 years of history should count for something, and cutting off his dealership, and its ability to service cars under warranty, will not help anyone. “They won’t save money by cutting me off; they’ll lose money,” he said. “I’ll bet you 90 percent of my customers would go to a different brand if they couldn’t buy from me. I think the company has lost sight of what the customer wants.”
He plans to make his case to the judge handling Chrysler’s bankruptcy and figures he’ll stay in business as a repair garage, almost certainly keeping most of the Viper business no matter what.
You can look at the 95 years and see this as one more, particularly wrenching, bit of automotive tumult. You can look at the 95 years and see this as the end of an era. But you can’t look at it and think Dodge or Chrysler or whatever name ends up on whatever cars gains anything by cutting its ties to Tator’s Dodge and one last link to the days when Americans were good at making and selling things made of chrome and steel, not securitized bundles of numbers and nonsense.
Chuck's knowledge and service are legendary indeed. I have no idea what the economics of his dealership are, but if in the unfortunate event he loses the dealership rights, if we pull together as a Viper community to support him for service and parts, could that additional business supplement what he would be losing in new car sales?
I imagine parts availability (at dealer prices) would be a challenge, but perhaps that's something that could be negotiated in a settlement as well. Not trying to be presumptuous here, just looking for options that we in the Viper Community can help Chuck with....
I imagine parts availability (at dealer prices) would be a challenge, but perhaps that's something that could be negotiated in a settlement as well. Not trying to be presumptuous here, just looking for options that we in the Viper Community can help Chuck with....
AviP
Enthusiast
While Chuck's business might seem like just another dealership, it's really his FAMILY business. And the emotional pride is arguably way more than the capitalist value. If he were to lose his dealership, becoming a Viper parts/mechanic might be his sole option.
CitySnake
Enthusiast
Well written article! When I spoke with the writer, Peter Applebome, I had my druthers since it's not unusual for reporters to ask for quotations to be used in a manner opposite what you would have thought. But I'm pleased to see that Peter is an honorable, class act. It's an articulate, great read.
Really makes you feel for the Tator family! I'm guessing the Dodge brothers are turning in their graves.
Really makes you feel for the Tator family! I'm guessing the Dodge brothers are turning in their graves.
Good article. I hope it hits home with all the number crunchers. If every dealership and even Chrysler itself handled their business like Chuck I am sure it would not be in this situation. It is not all a numbers game. There is a relationship between a person, a car and a dealer that is extremely important. It is not ALL about spitting out and moving cars.
AZTVR
Enthusiast
Perfectly stated !!!
The owners and managers of Chrysler and the bankruptcy judge need to know that by cutting the ties with the past, they are making a clear statement to us that they believe the brand names are worthless.
Perhaps that is the reality of the situation.
VENOMAHOLIC
Enthusiast
It was a better article than I expected.
VIPERUSA
Enthusiast
POWER IN NUMBERS,,and we are ALL behind you Chuck 
big-n-italian
Enthusiast
i support chuck too and i also wish him the best, but i have a bad feeling that this time it is out of our hands. no matter what happens, i know chuck will adapt and survive, and more than likely thrive. the winners in this world always do.
if just ONE of the "big wigs" had ever steped foot in tators dodge, they would see how much of an asset Chuck is to their entire corp.
This makes me SICK to my stomach.
these days finding an honest dealership (or as we have come to call them STEALERships) is like trying to find needle in 1000 haystacks, and WE have ours, now these morons want to take that way, leave Tators and close the CROOKS (trust me theirs more then enough of those)
If Chuck gives the word, ITS ON
This makes me SICK to my stomach.
these days finding an honest dealership (or as we have come to call them STEALERships) is like trying to find needle in 1000 haystacks, and WE have ours, now these morons want to take that way, leave Tators and close the CROOKS (trust me theirs more then enough of those)
If Chuck gives the word, ITS ON
Rollin4
Enthusiast
Thanks Juli for posting the article. Chuck we are behind all the way.
mike & juli
Enthusiast
You are very welcome. We had a nice day today at Chuck's TatorToga in Saratoga Springs, NY. He has his guest staying with him, thankfully...and that is BAZ from the UK. It's a tough time for Chuck right now, and he will let us know what we can do to help. A great day, hope Chuck got to relax and laugh a bit today, some tough days ahead for him...but he has so much support. ~juli
bluequadcab
Enthusiast
Many well put posts here and the times writer did Chuck justice and some great words from Scott in the article. It was good to see Chuck have some laughs this weekend and close the Log Jam. He knows the Viper community is behind him and he'll continue his business in one way or another, and it's good to see the fight still in him. Goooooo Chuck! 
When the time is right he'll let us know what we can do, for now lets keep our fingers crossed and those who are religious know what to do. Let's see Tators Dodge make 100 years and beyond.
When the time is right he'll let us know what we can do, for now lets keep our fingers crossed and those who are religious know what to do. Let's see Tators Dodge make 100 years and beyond.Purdue_Boiler_Viper
Enthusiast
I'm a big Wizard fan as well. What I don't understand is why Chrysler would want to end their relationship with Tator? Does Chrysler pay Chuck to sell their cars? If not, how does cutting dealers result in a net win for Chrysler? Same for GM. Does anyone know the answer? The clueless networks never explain why dealers are being dropped.
Chuck 98 RT/10
Enthusiast
So how many Vipers can we park on the courthouse steps? That would make quite a sight and show any potential buyers the dedication of Viper owners.
When and where is this courthouse meeting?
mike & juli
Enthusiast
Chuck98: Chuck is doing this on his own, as that's his preference right now. He will let us know when he needs our help, and he will get it. He certainly knows we all support him and humbly appreciates it. We'll wait to hear from the man himself what he wants/needs us to do. ~juli
Chuck 98 RT/10
Enthusiast
I'm sure Chuck has been following these threads so for Chuck - There is support in numbers. Don't go it alone. Put the word out and we will be there.
slaughterj
Enthusiast
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Chuck doesn't want a show of force at the court house. I think that while it would be awesome to have Vipers over take a Manhattan courthouse it sends the wrong message to the bankruptcy judge: Streets filled with what's perceived to be the demon seed to what Obama is trying do to the auto industry: build green, hybrid, fuel-efficient sardine cans. Sadly, I think having the streets filled with FIAT's would work much better in this case.
Chuck has a plan to address this head-on with the BK court himself. However, he suggested that we could write letters of support to the judge and he's trying to find out a mailing address/contact information for us.
Chuck has a plan to address this head-on with the BK court himself. However, he suggested that we could write letters of support to the judge and he's trying to find out a mailing address/contact information for us.
2001 GTS
Enthusiast
Chuck has been through damn enough in the past year, cut a hard working man a break!!!!
I'm a newby here, but Chuck was one of the first people to reply to my original thread and that says a lot about customer service.
I'm also in a family business, furniture business, been at it for almost 50 years, and I've seen a lot of people come and go, both factories and retailers. The ones that fail often have the same problem. They get big and they forget where they came from and how they got there. When sales are off, you've got to go back to the basics and that means treating EVERY customer like they are king. You can bet that "back in the day" the Dodge boys were thrilled with every new customer, but somewhere along the line the customer falls into the same column as profits and losses and are just another number. If Chrysler is serious, they'll get their CEO's and managers out of the office and down on the floor and in the shop where they can see what really drives their business.
Hang in there Chuck!
Brentt
I'm also in a family business, furniture business, been at it for almost 50 years, and I've seen a lot of people come and go, both factories and retailers. The ones that fail often have the same problem. They get big and they forget where they came from and how they got there. When sales are off, you've got to go back to the basics and that means treating EVERY customer like they are king. You can bet that "back in the day" the Dodge boys were thrilled with every new customer, but somewhere along the line the customer falls into the same column as profits and losses and are just another number. If Chrysler is serious, they'll get their CEO's and managers out of the office and down on the floor and in the shop where they can see what really drives their business.
Hang in there Chuck!
Brentt
VIPER BAZ UK
Enthusiast
Chuck doesn't know i'm writing this.......Hes working so i Hi-jacked his PC
But he is overwelmed by all the suport with what i have repeated to him from the VCA + phone calls and the weekend...
He is so far behind right now with what went on last week he has not got a chance to eat never mind get to the board..
He is still about ,but flat out working still putting his customers first even at a time like this.....
But he is overwelmed by all the suport with what i have repeated to him from the VCA + phone calls and the weekend...
He is so far behind right now with what went on last week he has not got a chance to eat never mind get to the board..
He is still about ,but flat out working still putting his customers first even at a time like this.....
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VIPERUSA
Enthusiast
Hey,, Any one have OBAMA'S phone # ?? my suggestion is to have the ENTIRE VIPER NATION call and 'SPLAIN" to our new leader what "BUILT" this country. He should personally go to Tator's Dodge and thank the Tator family for helping build the best country in the world !!!
we are ALL behind you Chuck,,,please ask if we can help
we are ALL behind you Chuck,,,please ask if we can help
