Licari Motor Car expands

HERKIMER — Licari Motor Car, Inc. is making strides in 2012 — including a new service department and expanded service and showroom facility — that should boost business for the Herkimer–based auto dealer.

In early March, Licari opened a four-bay NAPA Auto Care Center at its facility on Route 28 in Herkimer and hired two new service technicians.

“It’s been going extremely well,” owner Samuel Licari says of the new service center. The center is part of a broader project that expanded the former 1,500-square-foot office and showroom facility to a new 4,000-square-foot facility with three offices, a back office/break room, service office, service waiting room, and four-bay service area. Licari, who declined to say how much the project cost, hired Little Falls Construction to build the facility, which took about 11 months from start to finish.

The expansion comes at a time when the number of auto dealers in southern Herkimer County continues to dwindle. The area was once home to a number of dealers, including Skinner Auto Sales in Herkimer, Bob Kavic Jeep in Herkimer, and Holt Bros. in Mohawk. Skinner has since consolidated operations in its Richfield Springs location. Kavic and Holt Bros. are no longer in business. 

Licari Motor Car’s major local competitors these days are Steet Ponte Chevrolet, Inc., also located on Route 28 in Herkimer, and Midtown Autoworld on West Albany Street in Herkimer.

As other dealers have retrenched, Licari has been steadily expanding his business, which he opened in 1989 with maybe a dozen cars on his lot. These days, Licari Motor Car averages about 65 to 70 cars on the lot, Harold Coffin, Jr., sales manager, says. In that time, the staff has grown from just two people to the current staff of six — Licari, Coffin, another sales person, an office manager, and two service technicians.

“It’s a great location, and it’s been extremely profitable,” Licari says. He expects it to be even more profitable this year with the boost in business from the service department. Between increased auto sales and growth from the service department, Licari expects his revenue to double this year. He declined to release revenue figures or specific projections.

Coffin says the dealership is successful for a number of reasons. First, people still want to do business locally, and Licari Motor Car provides that local option for people who don’t want to travel to neighboring Oneida County to shop for a car.

Licari Motor Car’s website (www.licarimotorcar.com) also helps drive sales, Coffin says. “We don’t hide anything,” he says of the auto listings on the site. “We do everything full disclosure.” That means listing the vehicle asking price, providing pictures, and offering a Carfax vehicle-history report right on the website for every vehicle. Purchased on its own, a Carfax report costs about $35 per vehicle or can be purchased in a bundle of five vehicle reports for about $45.

Offering the free Carfax is just another way of taking care of the customer, Coffin says. That kind of service has paid off for the dealership, Licari says. About 87 percent of his customers are repeat clients or those who were referred to Licari by a customer.

“I must be doing something right,” Licari says.

Licari, who opened the new service center in early March, is in the process of planning a grand-opening event with the Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce.