For nearly 60 years, Grieger’s Motor Sales has served Valparaiso and Northwest Indiana at-large as one of the nation’s top Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and RAM dealerships. Grieger’s is family-owned and operated and committed to doing right by the community and its residents.
“Dave Rodgers has owned the store for over 20 years and has worked here for closer to 40,” Brad Hallal, general manager of Grieger’s, said. “The family grew up going to Valpo schools, grandkids go there now. There are a lot of businesses that say they’re family or locally owned, but this is truly our business. It’s what we do – a single dealership, and it’s our livelihood. We depend on making our customers happy.”
Grieger’s is a comprehensive dealership, offering a large inventory of the latest new Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and RAM vehicles, as well as an extensive pre-owned inventory that includes all makes and models. Its service and parts department, staffed by a team of expert technicians, is also equipped to handle any vehicle that rolls into the shop. It’s a team that has earned Grieger’s the FCA Customer 1st Award for Excellence four times over.
“We want people to feel like they’re being treated as family or as neighbors,” Hallal said. “We’ve gone through different slogans over the years like ‘Griegerville,’ ‘Do Right,’ and ‘Family Owned, Community Focused,’ and all of them were centered on that idea.”
Hallal noted that one of the key difference makers for Grieger’s is how it handles disappointed customers – the times when something goes wrong.
“I tell customers all the time, ‘We’re not perfect, there’ll be times where we make a mistake,’” he said. “If a customer gives us the opportunity – if they tell us something like that happened – we will always make it right. It’s how we act in those situations that sets us apart. You won’t find another dealer that does more to make things right for a customer when given the chance.”
One reason that Grieger’s can take such a customer-focused approach is thanks to the character of the staff it hires.
“Our staff understands customers’ struggles and concerns,” Hallal said. “They’re not going to push some sort of corporate demand on a customer and try to aggressively push a sale; they just want to help. We empower employees to make decisions that’ll make things right for a customer. They don’t need to come to me to get approval, if the service desk needs to spend some extra money to fix a customer’s car, they can do it.”
Grieger’s boasts one of the most experienced teams in the area. The average length of employment at the dealership is 13 years for the sales department and 12 years for service and parts. Some people, such as Service Manager Joe Luciano, have been with the team for close to three decades.
“Once we find good people, we want to keep them,” Hallal said. “This is usually a pretty high turnover business, so I think it says something about how we treat our employees that they’ve stayed here with us for that long.”
Valparaiso is home to those longtime employees and customers who have helped Grieger’s stand tall in the community for close to six decades. The dealership strives to return the favor by giving back to local organizations and events that make the community a better place.
“We dont just want to give away money – we want to be involved,” Hallal said. “We’ve recently started doing adoption events for Lakeshore PAWs, we contribute to nonprofits all over the area, and we’re heavily involved in high school athletics. We don’t just pay for the largest spot on their gym’s advertising boards; we try to help the schools directly in any way possible.”
One event that Grieger’s is heavily involved in is Leon’s Triathlon. Hosted every year at Hammond’s Wolf Lake, the event honors and supports U.S. Veterans and first responders.
“I’m not going to sell 15 cars because I’m helping out at Leon’s Triathlon, but maybe somewhere down the road, someone involved with that event will remember that we were there handing out water,” Hallal said. “We just want to get involved, help out where we can, and hope that someone might think of us in the future.”
Grieger’s Motor Sales is open from 9 a.m to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. To learn more, visit griegermotors.com or call 219-312-2335.