Friday, December 30, 2011

Buckhannon Toyota/Scion

Buckhannon Auto Mall
Buckhannon Toyota/Scion formerly had Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep franchises prior to the dealership purge as a result of the Chrysler Corporation bankruptcy of 2009 and they also had a Subaru franchise.  Right now, there is only Toyota and Scion franchises as the location.  This dealership was formerly known as the Buckhannon Auto Mall having the slogan BAM33 that included the route the lot is located on.
This facility had been located in its current location since the early 2000s to a large location on U.S. Route 33 west of Buckhannon.  This dealership had been located in Buckhannon and the former building has since been subdivided into several businesses including a rent-to-own type of business.
It started out in this new location having Chrysler and Subaru franchises.  I am not sure what happened to the Subaru franchise as the nearest Subaru dealership is located in Bridgeport, more than 30 miles away.  There was a single showroom, then about 2005, Buckhannon Auto Mall acquired the Toyota franchise that was once Mountaineer Toyota/Chevrolet in Elkins, West Virginia.  At this point, Buckhannon Auto Mall had built an adjoining showroom to the main showroom that included an automated car wash that would feature Toyota automobiles.

Sign located along Rt. 33 notes time and temperature
They had the Chrysler Group franchises and I was surprised that they were part of the purge due to the relative new construction of the facility.  There is another Chrysler Group dealership in Weston, 15 miles to the west.  The name was formally changed to Buckhannon Toyota and they added the Scion brand, which is a smaller, hipper subbrand of Toyota.  Service facilities are located to the rear of the showroom with service reception bays.
It was then the opportunity for Toyota to be the only franchise in facility.  So in late 2010 into early 2011, the showrooms inside and out were renovated in the current Toyota image with the larger, older showroom being the Toyota showroom and the newer, smaller one featuring Scion automobiles.  The exterior walls of the showrooms light up at night.

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