You Need To Know
YOU NEED TO KNOW WAS CREATED BY COLLAGE TRAVEL MEDIA NETWORK TO BRING YOU INFORMATION THAT MAY NOT BE OBVIOUS.
TO GET YOU IN THE KNOW ABOUT SUBJECTS LIKE MEDICAL
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LIKE THINGS YOU MAY HAVE BEEN AFRAID TO ASK.
You Need To Know
Family Legacy and Modern Service at Headquarter Automotive
Discover the secrets behind a smooth car buying experience and the rich heritage of a family-owned dealership in our latest episode featuring special guests Gail Tomasini and Martin Demerick from Headquarters Automotive. Learn how the Esteve family's automotive journey, which began in Cuba four generations ago, has led to trusted and customer-centric Mazda and Honda dealerships in Clermont, Florida. Martin shares his unique transition from aspiring law enforcement officer to car salesman, shedding light on their customer-first approach that ensures every step of the car buying process, from initial greeting to financing, is both relaxed and friendly.
But that's not all—we also dive into the comprehensive services their dealerships offer, from complimentary loaner cars and service appointments to transparent video updates from technicians. Discover the importance of routine maintenance and the ins and outs of trading in vehicles, including legal requirements for pre-owned inspections. Plus, get to know the advanced safety features and technology in the latest car models, making your drive safer and more convenient. And if you're in the Clermont area, we provide crystal-clear directions to their Honda and Mazda dealerships so you can experience their exceptional service firsthand. Tune in for an enriching conversation about all things automotive!
Hi and welcome to you Need to Know. This is Jay Lawrence, your host. You Need to Know was created by Collage Travel Media Network to bring you information that may not be obvious, to get you in the know about the subjects like medical topics, topics like legal information, something that everybody wants, odds about politics, and that should make the show a little interesting and fun. And there's so much more like things you may have been afraid to ask. Well, here we are. This is you Need to Know. Boy, am I excited about today's program. I am glad you're with us because you need to know. One of the biggest questions in life is oh, I got to go buy a new car and what am I going to do? So we have guests from Headquarters Automotive in the studio with us, and Z I'm my producer. Who are the guests?
Speaker 2:Well, we have two fabulous associates. We have Gail Tomasini and Martin Demerick.
Speaker 1:Well, welcome to you, need to Know. Thank you very much.
Speaker 4:Thank you.
Speaker 1:And Gail tell me a little bit about Headquarters Automotive.
Speaker 4:Well, they actually. Our current vice president of the group, which is Headquarters Automotive, is fourth generation. His great grandfather started in Cuba with a Chrysler dealership.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 4:After the revolution his grandfather went to Puerto Rico, tried to sell, tried to get a Honda dealership. Oh my goodness. After the revolution his grandfather went to Puerto Rico, tried to sell, tried to get a Honda dealership. They laughed at him. So he sold everything he could get his little paws on. And then eventually a friend of his had a Honda dealership in the Dominican. He bought the cars, brought them over to the island to the island in Puerto Rico and he was selling cars there.
Speaker 4:Wow, in 1965, he got the Honda dealership. So anything that's Honda in Puerto Rico you buy from the Esteve family.
Speaker 1:Okay, we're not in Puerto Rico now so where are we?
Speaker 4:So we are in the United States. So then in the late 1980s into 90, mr Esteve, geronimo Esteve III, went to Miami and worked in a bunch of dealerships, bought in interest, sold those off, bought Rainbow Toyota down in Hialeah Miami and started Headquarter Toyota like buying from the factory. And then Geronimo Esteve IV, who is our general manager of the Honda store and was at the Mazda store until Nathan came in Clemens. He worked in that dealership and did everything he can do, all of our jobs. So he knows what he's doing and that's how the family so how many dealerships are in the United States?
Speaker 1:now, four, four, and they're in Central Florida and South Florida. Right, correct, okay, all right. Well, we've got Martin with us. And Martin, what is the brand you're with?
Speaker 3:I'm with Mazda over in Claremont Florida.
Speaker 1:And how did you get into the buying business, selling business?
Speaker 3:When I moved to Florida, Rizzi came to pursue my career in law enforcement. But then my wife was not big on law enforcement. So she said why don't you sell cars? I said what? I'm not a big car guy, you know. Everybody has this. You know, think that all car guys are just pushy, they're going to sell you, they're trying to sell you something. But when I came to Mazda it was a different story. Family-owned, non-pushy dealership. We take care of our guests and associates. Uh, that's why we have such a great reputation at the mazda store. When I first started at the mazda store we were only doing 50 60 cars a month. Last month we did 215 cars wow, new cars on the road yep new cars and used combined total 215 okay.
Speaker 1:So one of the one of the hard things in my life is I have to walk into this dealership. I'm kind of nervous because I know you're going to pull my chain, yes. So what is the difference?
Speaker 3:so the difference is when you come to our dealership you're going to be greeted by one of our associates. They're going to come, welcome you to the store, offer you some water, coffee complimentary, Then also bring you to the desk and get to know. You, Find out what kind of vehicle you're looking for. We're not going to push you into a car that you don't want. We want to make sure we say the right car that fits your budget and also for the family.
Speaker 1:A Mazda. Where do they come from?
Speaker 3:Originally, mazda comes from Japan, hiroshima, japan. They're imported from there. Now we do have some other plants in Mexico and also we just partnered with Toyota. We do have one in Birmingham excuse me, Birmingham, alabama where we do produce our new vehicles like the CX-70, the 90.
Speaker 1:So when I say I want a four-door sedan, what happens next?
Speaker 3:So you look for a four-door sedan. We'll ask you what kind of trim level, what's the budget? Then my associates will bring the car up to you while you're waiting inside, because it's hot here in Florida. You'll wait inside, they'll bring the car up, show you the car, do a walk around. Then we will take you on a test drive and then, once we come back from the test drive, we will follow up with you and say how did you like the car? Is this the right vehicle? Then we would work out a budget that would be friendly, that works with you.
Speaker 1:And so do you turn me over to another person, or do you take care of that for me.
Speaker 3:I will take care of that with you the whole time. The sales associate will be with you the whole time. That's what makes us different from a lot of other dealerships. You will be with the same associates the whole time until you go into finance. They will walk you into the finance and finance will finish the process with you. Once you get out of finance, then the sales associates will go over the car, set up your bluetooth, the my mazda app, and make sure everything's good before you take off.
Speaker 1:Now, is this part of the service process that you do, or is this and I'm talking about service is that before or after you purchase the automobile?
Speaker 3:It's actually during and before, so we do a little bit of both. We also introduce you to the service department so you know when you come in for your first oil change you get to meet this uh service advisors and they set you up with your appointment for there. They will follow up with you for your next first oil change and keep uh following up with you now, I know I hear this and and I don't.
Speaker 1:we're not really selling cars. We want to talk about the process, but do you offer free oil changes throughout the process? You know how long does that work?
Speaker 3:So your first oil change when you buy a new car, you do get a complimentary oil change. On us Now we do offer maintenance packages that do save you money through finance department. Now we'll go over different packages how long you want to keep the car for. We don't push the packages and we don't offer. We don't put it down your throat. We give you options. That's why a lot of people like that we give options on different maintenance packages. We also offer gap warranty. We know today everything's expensive, so we offer packages that's going to protect you, so you can keep your car long and running.
Speaker 2:Hi, Hi Martin. This is Z Michelson. I have a question regarding the warranties. What kind of warranties are given with brand-new vehicles?
Speaker 3:So brand-new warranties with the Mazdas is three years 36,. Bumper-to-bumper, five years 60. Now, with the finance department, depending on how long you're going to keep your vehicle, we do offer longer terms on how long you want to keep the vehicle. So make it easy. We can do 36., we can do 60. We can do 10 years, 100,000, whatever how long you're going to keep this car for, because, no, it's a big investment.
Speaker 4:I know that Gail has something to say and so with the finance department, if you buy a package we call the car care package as associates we buy that for ourselves because it's your prepaid oil change and your tire rotations and you go why wouldn't an associate buy that for their own car? You're an associate, you can get cheaper pricing. That's actually cheaper than our employee pricing.
Speaker 4:So, that's an insider scoop. Second insider scoop on that once a year you can get a key fob. So if you want to get a third key fob you have to prepay it up front.
Speaker 1:Those things are expensive.
Speaker 4:Yes, they are, and you take your receipt and your RO and you can bring it to myself or to Martin and we'll submit it to Fidelity and you'll get reimbursed for that. That's the only time you have to put out of pocket under that policy. Wow, so that's a scoop and how you can get it to pay for itself.
Speaker 1:I love inside scoops because you need to know yeah, that's why we're doing. You need to know about the car buying process. I believe this is really what we're talking about the car buying process. Now, what are some of the other products other than the warranty that you offer when you purchase a mazda at the mazda dealership?
Speaker 3:uh, we offer gap, gap protection total loss GAP protection total loss. Now, what is GAP? It's total loss protection. So if anything happens, like the way people drive in Florida, as you noticed, GAP is 100% definitely needed to protect you, so you don't have to pay out of pocket.
Speaker 1:Do you also offer complimentary car?
Speaker 3:washes? Yes, we do at both stores, honda or Mazda. Wherever you service that Monday through Sunday. As long as one of our sales associates is available, you will be able to take your car to the car wash.
Speaker 1:I want to make sure I understand this. I'm going to go back to walking in the dealership, because that's my fear. You can see it in my eyes, I'm sure Do you see that. Yes, oh yes, all right. You can see it in my eyes, I'm sure Do you see that yes.
Speaker 4:Oh yes, all right, what I tell everybody. When you're going to buy a car, write down everything you love about your current baby, everything, all the features you like. Write down something, all the things you don't like, even if it's something you think is silly like I wish that cup holder was a half inch closer to me Write it down. Write what you want your future baby to have. Know what you can put down for a down payment.
Speaker 4:If you can only put $5,000 down when you come in, disclose that up front to your sales associate, because he's going to land you in or she will land you on the right car. But we might not need that $5,000 for down payment because we'll know what you're looking for. Are you more concerned with out-the-door price? Are you looking for your monthly budget? Are you more concerned about your trade? If you tell us and are honest up front with that, we only have to go once to the sales desk because we're working with many banks and there's different programs within those banks. So if you say I can put $5,000 down and Martin comes back and says you know, we can get you at $415 a month and we only need $2,000 down.
Speaker 1:Wow, I would feel more comfortable, I guess.
Speaker 3:See, it's what you know. It's what you know.
Speaker 2:So, speaking of all of that, I'm going to go back to the service department Now. When I bring my vehicles in to be serviced, sometimes I can't stay Do you have complimentary cars.
Speaker 3:Correct. Yes, we do when you come into service, as long as you make an appointment ahead of time to let them know, hey, I need a vehicle, that I have to either go to work or have errands. I got things. A lot of people don't want to sit at a dealership for two, three hours. Average old change with us takes about an hour, almost two hours depending on the day, because we get a lot of walk-ins. But people that make appointments and we do offer complimentary loaners that you can take off.
Speaker 3:And a nice thing with us, too, is service. We also send you a video. Our techs will text you and send you a video of how your car is doing, tell you if you need anything done or future like you might need tires the next visit or they might have spotted a leak, because a lot of people think, oh, service is just going to take advantage. No, we show you the video, my techs will show you the video, my text will show you video of your car. Do a walk around, show you the tires, show you the engine, show you what they did and you're aware of everything. And then, a good way, they text you hey, would you like to get a cabin filter done. They let you know ahead of time without them, just doing it without your permission that's good.
Speaker 2:You like to know that a cabin filter.
Speaker 1:What is that?
Speaker 3:cabin filters inside your car obviously he's never had one time.
Speaker 3:Well, come see me, I'll get you hooked up. But definitely, a cabin filter is inside your car that people sometimes say, oh, it's got a rough smell inside my car. You might not have a filter changed in a long time. Our service advisors will advise you, hey, when they check they do a full inspection of your vehicle 160 point inspection to tell you, hey, we found the filters dirty, might be a little leak, your tires are starting off, the out balance might need alignment. They give you full awareness of your vehicle, which is great that's great, because I was thinking of tires.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you, gail, had mentioned you get a tire rotation. Yeah, why do you want to rotate tires?
Speaker 3:to make them last longer, so we evenly rotate them. Every oil change I do mine, every oil change. I just have my tires done actually have my with my truck, as you saw outside. And the good news we service all vehicles, not just Mazdas. We service all kinds of vehicles. We can get parts, like I have a Dodge and a Mazda and a Mazda and a Mazda. My wife drives the Mazda so she can't drive my truck, but we service all makes and models. We take trade-ins all makes and models so we definitely can take care of everybody.
Speaker 4:And have you guys ever wondered? And in the know about pre-owned vehicles?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:All right, when we take in a trade, you actually get a little more for your car if you have the second key. When you come in for it, we don't need your title because the state of Florida since 2010,. It's electronic, so you don't have to worry about that. So you can save yourself 87 and 50 cents. If you get it and you lose it, we're going to charge you for it.
Speaker 4:Now, the cool thing with pre-owns we have to do an inspection on it. We are required by law to do the five s's. We have to make sure their site. You can see outside the windshield. We have to make sure it starts, or you can see outside the windshield. We have to make sure it starts, or turn on the engine, that the engine stops, that the brakes work that's the other stop that we have sound you can hear in it, and then we have the safety or all the safety features working and that's the minimum requirement we do. However, we do more and fix the vehicles.
Speaker 4:But when you buy, always look on a pre-owned vehicle. There'll be a buyer's guide and it'll tell you are you buying it as is or is there factory warranty? Because even if you buy it, you know a Toyota on one of our lots, it will still have whatever the warranty is. We know what it is. If you buy a car as is, you buy it as is. You can't come back later and say, hey, you guys owe me this and that. No, you bought it as is. That's what that means.
Speaker 2:Right, the as is is a big factor and people need to realize that.
Speaker 1:Now in the safety issues, these newer models, tell me about all this electronics. I mean you don't really. Yeah, tell me about all this electronics. That I mean you don't really. Yeah, tell me about them.
Speaker 3:So either brand you go with either Mazda or Honda. A lot of safety features are standard now Blind spot, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise, smart city brake support system, rear cross traffic alert. If you're backing out of a parking spot and some lovely person crosses over while you're backing up, it will alert you. Some of the cars have sensors front and back, or we. Also, if you go to higher trim levels, they have the 360 camera that shows your bird's eye view of the hole around you.
Speaker 1:Is that on all the time, or do you have to punch that up?
Speaker 3:No, it comes up when you put it in reverse or forward. Some of them it's dependent on the trim level. It's higher trim level, Like with Mazda, you're going to have the signature model that has all the safety features. Now with Honda, I think it's the EX Touring Touring Touring model will have all that safety features, but Mazda's standard, no matter which room level, you get all those standard. Also, CarPlay and Jordan Auto is standard. Everyone wants CarPlay. Yes.
Speaker 1:You mentioned that the other day, didn't you? That 60% of the people want that.
Speaker 4:Yes, they do.
Speaker 1:I mean it's got to be in a car.
Speaker 4:Well, you can use that in place of getting the built-in navigation system. You can put Waze right up or Google Maps right up on the screen. So that's the beauty of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And just for you, ladies if you go into the stores and you ask for the princess trim that's known as my trim, that means top of the line.
Speaker 3:The guys will know and the girls will know. Oh, princess trim. I call it the bougie trim.
Speaker 1:Oh bougie bougie, now tell me about this. I understand when you're driving down the highway, the car is really going to be driving itself almost. Is that possible? I mean going around corners, the steering how does that work?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so certain trims will have that feature, like on the new 90s and 70s that we have. If you set like the auto adaptive cruise autopilot thing, it will keep in the lane. Now, mindful, you have to still pay attention to the road, right? Uh, it's not. You know autopilot yet we're getting there, but you still have to keep it. Help you keep in the lane. Without it'll either vibrate the no-transcript, sometimes vibrate the seat, depending on which room I know Honda and other brands they have the seat vibrates. With ours it's the steering wheel that's going to vibrate and alert you.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, to stay in lane yeah.
Speaker 4:And they have a new feature Florida drivers. It doesn't work automatically, but it's called an indicator, a turn signal indicator. It's an amazing new device that they've installed in cars. When did they start that? Martin? Probably like what? 40, 50 years?
Speaker 3:ago.
Speaker 4:Yes, but it's all the rage now.
Speaker 1:Everybody wants them it's not a turns. Oh, I might right, right you got that little thing.
Speaker 2:It's a thing you just push it on and it tells you which way you're going remember it's not blinker fluid my, my problem is I'm going down the road and my wife says your blinker's still on now.
Speaker 1:That's the, that's the worst case. It won't turn off. You know, you don't turn fire enough to crank the thing back. Okay, I'm gonna. This is this program is called. You need to know. And mazda is making uh, engines that are still gas-powered.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:What is happening with automobiles that are called electric? Do you have electric vehicles?
Speaker 3:I do not. Ours is called hybrids, so we have both. We have the engine and electric. So our new 70s and 90s combined they can get 56 miles to a gallon. So good news with the hybrid you're not stranded. If you run out of electric, like tesla, and you don't have any power, guess what, you're stranded. You're gonna need a tow or somebody to come charge your car. With mazda, it's hybrid, you have bolts. If you run out of electric, you still have gas. You can still get to point A and B.
Speaker 1:So does this electric part of the car run off of that 12-volt battery that's in the car?
Speaker 3:No, we have batteries that. We have two engines. So you have a hybrid engine and you have the gas. So with the 70s and 90s you have a four-cylinder engine. Plus you have the hybrid engine that you charge every night while you plug in. If you do it full electric with the hybrids, it's 26 miles on one charge with us, but, like I said, when you combine both the gas and the hybrid you have 56 miles a gallon.
Speaker 1:So does the gas engine help recharge while you're driving down the road?
Speaker 3:Yes, so if you put it in a certain mode, like EV mode drive mode, as long as you're driving down the road? Yes, so if you put in a certain mode, like ev mode drive mode, as long as you're 50 and above, it will regenerate and charge the car when you go a long distance. Now, if you're doing short distance it's not going to really charge that much because you're using it, but if you're going long distance, like when I my family lives in atlanta, so when I go to atlanta I put that in an EV charge, it charges itself while I'm driving.
Speaker 2:But you'll never stop. No Like with electric cars. If you run out of electric, you're there on the side of the road, You're on the side of the road. You remember like Generator with you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, Like you, remember that snowstorm in Chicago, all those electric cars, evs they were stranded, they were frozen. Electric cars, evs they were stranded, they were frozen, you couldn't even charge the car. So they had to send all these trucks with generators to charge these cars. Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1:So, Gail, what is your assessment of electric cars? What's happening in the industry?
Speaker 4:In the industry. They've seen a change where it's kind of people that bought EVs are going back to the hybrids.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 4:Americans and Europeans want their gas cars. Yeah, because unfortunately, america and Europe do not have the infrastructure.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah.
Speaker 4:So that's still a ways off to happen. When it happens, if that's what it is, it'll be great. You know Toyota's working on a hydrogen cell. Um, that's still some time off. That'd probably be the cleanest way to do it versus an electric car. So it's coming. We're going to be more efficient. Will we get totally away from fossil fuel?
Speaker 1:I don't think so I don't think so either. You've heard it here. I've made that prediction. All right, why, um? Do your guests be so loyal to headquarters automotive?
Speaker 3:so the reason why, uh, first of all starts with our associates. A lot of our associates at our dealerships been there four, five, six, seven years and on gail's been with the company I think about 14 years 14 years. She started with honda and everything, so she's been loyal. I've been with the company I think about 14 years 14 years. She started with honda and everything, so she's been loyal. I've been with the company, I think, over six, seven years now. We're not revolving door, we're a family-owned dealership that we take care of our customers first. We do everything. It doesn't stop our sales associate too. We give them. Uh, we work with all our sales associates. They love to come to work. Nobody's complaining, they're not leaving, they're staying. They see this as a career, not just a job.
Speaker 4:And years ago Mr Esteve, who owns the dealerships in the States, worked with Ritz-Carlton. So we do a, we Are For program and it's more important how we treat our associates and each other, because if we're fake with each other it's going to show to our guests. So it's how we treat each other. So when we look at those cards and it says you know, you're supposed to provide exceptional customer service, it means I give Martin the best service he can get. He gives me the best service. So it's a no-brainer. When our guests walk through the door, we know our guests, we know their cars. They come to us, uh, when they have family situations and they talk to us. We have people that come in just to have coffee with us oh, what kind of coffee you offer.
Speaker 2:I may be jay loves his coffee.
Speaker 3:I love my coffee we got a cool coffee machine at mazda's. Come check it out.
Speaker 4:It's almost like starbucks it's way better than the honda store, yeah so definitely come see me at maza.
Speaker 3:It's definitely nice if you got frappuccino mocha, I don't drink any of it we have a little coffee competition going between the stores we love it. They win maza wins, I'd say now.
Speaker 2:Now we can't believe how fast this half hour went um. Tell us where exactly, if somebody wants a honda or somebody wants a Mazda, where are you located?
Speaker 3:Good news. We're right here in Claremont Florida, right off the Turnpike, off of exit 272. You'll see Honda first and then Mazda, right after the Kia dealership.
Speaker 1:You're on the south side of the street, right.
Speaker 3:Yes, also known as Highway 50. Highway 50, right off of Highway 50, yes, correct Is that a hard question.
Speaker 4:So our addresses are our Mazda store is 17500 State Road 50 in Claremont. So if you're heading out to go to the Turnpike, you'll cross them first, then you'll see the other store and then you'll see our Honda store which is 17700 State Road 50. And if you're on our lot and you're in our pre-owned lot and you sneeze, you just blew yourself into Orange County. We are the last absolute thing in Claremont.
Speaker 1:Exactly Well. Thank you very, very much for being with us today on you Need to Know. I hope we've enlightened some about you need to know about the automobile industry, Gail, thank you.
Speaker 4:You're welcome. Thank you, martin.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much for having me.