“We want to make you a deal on an automobile.”

Anyone watching local TV or listening to Lansing-area radio knows that slogan and the distinct style of Terry Hanks. Originally from Lansing’s south side, he discovered a love for horses as a teenager, while working at the former Rowe Ranch Riding Stables in Dimondale. Hanks got his start in car sales in California before heading back home to work at various local dealerships, including the former Jack Dykstra Ford. Hanks currently has one dealership in Grand Ledge and another in St. Johns and employs about 270 people between the two.

So how did the commercials come about?

I started doing our own marketing at Jack Dykstra Ford. At the time, the dealership was short funds and couldn’t afford to put somebody out there, and we couldn’t be spontaneous [otherwise]. So I thought, well, what the heck…you’ve got to be real good or real bad, and I’ve got real bad down pat. One thing you’ve got to be is recognizable …. You get the people who really like you or who can’t stand you … but the kids always like to meet in person the cartoon they’ve seen on [TV] after I’ve ruined their dinners for so long …. But if you can’t make it fun, you oughtn’t do it.

How did you end up with your own dealership?

Before I did this, I was just farming. I’d worked for Jack Dykstra Ford, and then I went into the agricultural end of it for about a year and a half. Then this place came available [in 1981]. It was a small car dealership and I thought that would be nice. Jack Dykstra was a big operation at that time. I thought, I’ll just keep the ag operation going and get in the car business in a smaller deal. It would be more fun without all the grief and aggravation.

That obviously didn’t work. Why do you think the business grew?

I would suspect that having a good selection of cars is important, having good personnel is vitally important, and being able to keep your costs down so you’re price competitive, so the customer gets a little bit of an edge, or hopefully, a sizable edge.

How is the business faring in the current economy?

On new cars, it has come back to buying because of need, not so much on greed. When there were tremendous buys [with the incentives], a lot of people bought cars when it wasn’t really necessary. Now that it’s cooled down a bit, people are buying because of need, and they’re shopping harder, and it’s taking more effort to sell and captivate a new car customer.

One thing about Lansing is it’s very highly competitive because there are so many GM dealers here. [GM] was established here with around a 45 percent market share and the cars being manufactured here. But now that they’re not, and the [market] share has gone down, it’s a highly competitive market for GM, and it makes it a little more difficult…to be able to offer opportunities.

How are you addressing that?

When the market takes a dip, you either get better at what you’re doing or somebody else is liable to be doing it. When the lows hit and some of the dealers haven’t invested their money properly or trained personnel properly, that’s really going to show then….It offers an opportunity for the salesmen who get better at what they’re doing, and they also appreciate customers a little more than they did.

Why are you devoted to GM products?

I ran some ads trying to get the loyalty at least being looked at in Lansing to General Motors because GM is a real sponsor of Lansing, and I think the people buying new cars, now that our quality is, gosh, within inches of anything else on the market [should consider that]. Now I don’t get these cars back for service like I used to. I think people ought to take a good look at GM cars.

But you do sell used imports?

[People were] trading these foreign import cars in here, so we started selling those. … These used cars were selling fast, and, holy smoke, now we’re merchandising quite a few of them used.

Is there an advantage to selling used cars over new vehicles?

There are greater opportunities to sell used cars because there are more of them, but you have to average it out. I’ll sell like 125 to sometimes 200 new [in a month], but, I’ll run 400 to 500 used …. I think we’re the largest used car dealer in the state of Michigan. I think the next guy is about 200 cars behind me [for the month].

What the biggest difference between running the dealerships and your agricultural operations?

It’s the flip side of the coin. You come in here and everybody is talking about so many dollars, and cars cost so much. Yet, in the ag business, you’re talking pennies, or at the most, nickels. Corn just went up six cents or lima beans went up, and it gives you a perspective.

Why do you have the riding stables?

Hopefully it will do for some folks what [Rowe Ranch] did for me. I get all these little cards from people thanking me for having it available, and we get Christmas cards to the horses …. I think it’s really good to see the families get together … and it pays for itself.

So do you really have to go through your barn to get to your house?

I took that property in on a trade [more than 30 years ago] on a car deal at Jack Dykstra …. I built [the barn] for observation. I used to work horses for people, so they could get out of the cold and look out the window and watch their horses being worked, and I ended up moving into it. You can’t get to my house unless you drive through my barn. It’s one of the few places where you wipe your feet off when you leave.