PRESTON LOOKS AFTER ITS ASSOCIATES AS WELL AS CUSTOMERS

It takes more than a customer to conclude a car sale or complete a service request. There must also be a sales or service associate. With that in mind, Preston Auto Group makes it a priority not only to build relationships with its customers and its community, but also to ensure that its employees are just as satisfied with the Preston experience.

Preston employs more than 400 associates — including 300 full-timers — at its nine dealerships in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, and president Bobby Preston wants them to have the best possible place to work. “We’ve always offered the area’s top pay, we’re now doing some things to really invest in our associates to make Preston a great place to work,” Preston said. “Twice a year we do our Family Days. We rent out the Preston-Chambers YMCA Y Zone and have inflatables and things like that for all our associates’ families. We also went to Irons Mill in the fall for hayrides, get a pumpkin and all that stuff up there. “We also recently opened a full gym (right next to the Preston Budget Lot on Wilmington Road) that our associates can use 24/7, just so they don’t have to pay for a gym membership on top of all the other expenses I’m sure they have in life.”

Preston associates also are offered various classes, such as leadership training and Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, which provides lessons on managing money. It’s all part of Preston’s commitment to build relationships with its customers, give its associates the best place to work and to give back to the community. “That’s our purpose, that’s why we’re here,” Preston said. “It’s not just to be a business, not just to sell cars. It’s to help add value to people’s lives.”

For customers, the Preston Budget Lot — opened just over a year go — is another way to do that. “The nice thing there is that for people who have less than perfect credit, it’s a great place to get a vehicle,” Preston said. “We have a company that we partner with that really allows to get anyone approved on a vehicle. “And what’s nice, too, is that all of our vehicles there are PA state inspected. A lot of used car lots you go to around the area, a lot of those cars haven’t been serviced, most of them haven’t been state inspected. You buy them and then you find out you have to invest $1,500 more into this car. All the cars on the Preston Budget Lot have been PA state inspected and safety checked, so you have a lot more confidence buying a car from the Preston Budget Lot.” And most of the vehicles at the Budget Lot have been locally owned. “A lot of dealerships buy rental cars and stuff like that, ridden really rough,” Preston said. “All the cars in the Preston Budget lot come from the GM Superstore, they come from Toyota, they come from Honda, they come from Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store. “So these are trade-ins that generally are a little bit older or have higher miles, but most trade-ins have been taken care of a lot better than a rental car or something like that.”