Ford gets new dealership in Plains

Country Ford-Mercury in Plains has been selling cars for a long time, but now, after two-and-a-half decades, the car dealership has finally outgrown their current location on East Railroad Street and moved last Thursday to their new spot, about a mile from Plains toward Thompson Falls.

The new facility will be about 10,500 square feet, doubling the dealership’s current space, which will be used to store a larger inventory of cars. The new building has space for five offices and six car lifts in back, compared with the three they have currently.

Wade Rehbein, current general manager and the future owner of the Ford franchise in Plains, said he was grateful to have the new place for him and his employees to work.

“I'm excited, we're going to have a new facility, a new seven bay shop, a new hoist, a new building and compared to what we had it's just unreal,” Rehbein said.

Rehbein and his family have been putting in long hours getting the facility ready for opening day.

“The family is putting in 10 to 16 hour days out here,” Rehbein said. “It will be nice to get it done and be in a nice new shop and be able to spend my weekends doing something else,” he added.

Anita Marsh, the office manager at Ford, said that even though the dealership will be a little farther from town, it will mean shorter waiting time and better customer service.

“With a new location comes new changes and that's one thing that will be a sacrifice but I think we'll make up for it in the long run with service and the selection of vehicles we can offer,” Marsh said.

Because the room for parts is about triple the size of the old facility, the dealership will be able to keep more parts in stock and let customers wait less time for their parts to arrive, she explained.

While the employees at Ford are excited about the move and look forward to having more room, they all agreed that they'll miss being so close to the downtown area of Plains. At their old location, the Ford mechanics could just walk over to Napa Auto Parts, their next-door neighbors and get supplies.

“With any move there's a little bit of apprehension, I'll just miss the comfort that was here but we'll get comfortable over there too,” Marsh said.

John Szafryk, who is selling the Ford franchise to Rehbein, said that Plains and Sanders County were very fortunate to have the dealership because of a new Ford company policy that prohibits building dealerships in cities that have less than 100,000 people. He also believes that the new place will be a significant step up for the dealership.

“A new facility will provide better service and is more attractive, and when you modernize everything, of course you're going to be better off,” Szafryk said.

The office and mechanical staff are both overjoyed about the new heating system in the new shop. The mechanics said that sometimes they have to wear two jackets while working in their current garage to stay warm. The office staff said that the cold from the outside crept into their offices as well.

“I definitely won't miss freezing my toes in the winter,” said office clerk Shirley Helterline.

Helterline explained that, for her, the most difficult part of everything would be simply the moving itself. “It's just getting everything organized again, finding a space for everything and getting everything in its place,” she said.

Clyde Terrell, a long-time salesman at Ford, said that he was reluctant to change things but that the move would be a huge step forward in expanding the business. “After 24 years here in one spot, it's kind of hard to move, but we've outgrown it so it's time to move on,” Terrell said.