Park Place Dealerships Named a 2013 National Top Workplace

Luxury automobile dealership group ranked #4 in the U.S. in the largest survey of American workers of its kind

DALLAS (January 31, 2013) — Dallas-based Park Place Dealerships has been named one of America’s Top Workplaces by WorkplaceDynamics. Park Place was ranked #4 nationwide among 872 organizations with more than 1,000 employees that participated in regional top workplaces programs.

“It is an honor to be recognized as one of America’s top workplaces,” said Ken Schnitzer, Chairman of Park Place Dealerships. “We have invested in hiring the best team to take great care of our clients and they do an incredible job. We value our team and we do everything we can to create an exceptional work environment.”

The National Top Workplaces list was determined solely by feedback gathered through an objective employee survey. The survey was conducted by WorkplaceDynamics, LLP, the leading on-demand employee survey provider, in conjunction with 30 leading regional newspapers. Park Place Dealerships participated in The Dallas Morning News’ Top Workplaces 2012 program.

The survey uses a proprietary set of 22 questions to rank companies. The survey data showed that employees most want to work at companies with high levels of organizational health. Companies that set a clear direction for their future; execute well; and bring real meaning to work are the healthiest.

“We have the support of the leadership team at all levels of our organization,” said Sherry Miller, vice president of human resources at Park Place Dealerships. “This enables us to implement workplace initiatives that create an environment where our employees are recognized and rewarded for their knowledge and skills, where their opinions are heard and valued, and where they can learn and further develop in their careers at Park Place.”

The Top Workplaces program accurately reflects the opinions of employees through measurement of engagement, organizational health and employee satisfaction. The survey is utilized year after year by human resource professionals and C-suite executives nationwide as the gold standard in internal measurement of organizational health and employee satisfaction.

Founded in 2006, WorkplaceDynamics is the fastest-growing employee survey provider in the United States. Based on their “on-demand” employee survey, last year they surveyed more than 5,000 organizations, polled 1.7 million people and handled over a million employee responses.

Details about the National Top Workplaces, a full list of the Top 150 companies, the survey methodology, and factors that drive organizational health are available at www.topworkplaces.com.

Park Place Dealerships was founded in 1987 by Ken Schnitzer with a single Mercedes-Benz dealership on Oak Lawn. Park Place currently operates 15 full-service dealerships representing Bentley, Jaguar, Lexus, Lotus, Maserati, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, smart, Volvo and Rolls-Royce. In addition, the dealership group includes two Park Place Bodywerks locations. For more information about Park Place Dealerships, visit parkplace.com.

Tags: Park Place Awards, Top Workplaces

Park Place Dealerships Named In Dallas Morning News’ Top 100 Places To Work 2012

For the third consecutive year, Park Place Dealerships is honored to be named in the Dallas Morning News’ Top 100 Places To Work. With more than 1400 members, Park Place took the number 4 spot in the large company category for the second year in a row, up from the number 5 spot in 2010.

This year’s field included 276 companies who agreed to participate, with surveys being sent to more than 120,000 employees. The results of those surveys make up the scoring system for the Top 100 list, and give great insight as to what it is like to work for each company on the list.

Park Place Dealerships is built upon a foundation of dedicated and talented members, who strive every day to work as a team, serving our clients and helping the organization grow as a whole.

If you are looking for an exciting career with a great team of devoted individuals in one of the top companies to work for in the DFW area, browse our current job listings on our careers site at Jobs.ParkPlaceTexas.com!

See the rest of the Top 100 list at DallasNews.com

Tags: Best Places To Work Dallas, Top Companies Dallas, Top Employers Dallas

2012 Texas Rangers – Park Place Dealerships – Triple Play Event

Park Place Dealerships is proud to once again be the title presenter of the Texas Rangers Triple Play event set for May 27th at the Hilton Anatole Dallas.  The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of children in need within our community, and provides funding for youth in crisis, youth health initiatives, youth baseball programs, and youth education.  This event serves as their largest fundraiser each year. The theme this year is “Escape to the Hamptons.”  The reception begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner, the program, and then ‘game shows.’  The entire Texas Rangers team will be in attendance and there will be silent and live auctions. Ian and Tess Kinsler and Michael Young and Cristina-Barbosa Young are the hosts for the evening and Fox Sports Southwest’s Emily Jones will be the Mistress of Ceremonies.

To reserve tables or individual tickets, contact the Foundation at (817) 436-5933 or tripleplay@texasrangers.com. Click here fore the full press release on Texas Rangers.com.

Tags: Charity, Community, Events, Park Place Dealerships, Texas Rangers, Triple Play Event

Park Place Service Using RFID Tags and Technology to Enhance Client Experience

By Terry Box, Dallas News

Few cars go unnoticed on the busy service drive at Park Place Motorcars.

A couple of years ago, the Dallas Mercedes-Benz and Porsche dealership began attaching RFID tags, similar to TollTags, to new and used vehicles. Monitors on the service drive read the tags as customers pull in.

“When you arrive, it alerts your service adviser that you are here, tells the adviser what service you’re scheduled for and brings up your service history — all in a few seconds,” said Tony Carimi, director of operations at Park Place Dealerships.

The technology revolution that blew through showrooms more than a decade ago — ushering in Internet car sales — is now roaring through service department back shops.

Service advisors are trading pens and clipboards for iPads, while technicians tune cars with laptops. Devices embedded in service drives check tires on cars entering the dealership for wear and alignment.

Meanwhile, technicians use iPads to photograph worn parts on a vehicle, emailing the pictures to customers so they can decide whether to fix them.

Read the full article on DallasNews.com

Tags: Client Experience, Processes, Service, Technology

Park Place Dealerships Honors Extraordinary Members With Annual Celebration

Park Place Motorcars in Dallas, Motorcars Grapevine and Motorcars Ft. Worth, as well as Park Place Porsche in Dallas recognized outstanding members including “Member of the Year” in several departments as well as “Coach of the Year”, “Dealership Support Member of the Year” and other awards and recognition a couple of weeks ago at a celebration at Medieval Times in Dallas. Members and Award recipients were treated to an exclusive dinner and night of jousting and chivalry as General Managers and President Neil Grossman honored attendees and spotlight members recognized for outstanding performance during 2011 at this annual celebration of ongoing excellence. Congratulations, winners!

Tags: Careers, Community, Events, Honor, Park Place Events, Park Place Members, Recognition

A smart Truck – Electric smart car SUV Debuts at North American International Auto Show

smart car, a part of Mercedes-Benz (Daimler) will debut the smart ‘SUV’, or truck-ish concept – the ‘For-Us’ at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.

Certainly, this is not your typical pickup truck or SUV. It’s still smart – so it’ll still be unbig (as their current  marketing campaign confirms).  It might not  hold much – but it’ll be handy: sporting a cargo floor large enough to carry two bikes (or perhaps, more specifically – two smart eBikes, also a product of Daimler).

But what’s great, is that it’ll be efficient: including the ability to dock and charge the eBikes at the same time it charges the car.

Tags: electric car, North American International Auto Show, smart, smart car, smart SUV

Park Place Motorcars Contributes To Parallel Parking Contest WFAA Dallas

Tags: Mercedes-Benz, Parallel Parking, smart, WFAA

Auto Repair Shops Versus Insurance Companies

Auto repair facilities and body/collision repair shops all over the United States are working hard to to end insurance-controlled prices and preferred business requirements through legislature in Massachusetts and Iowa – and allow customers more of a choice in where they receive repairs.

Who should decide prices for auto body repair? Is it the facility itself – who receives training in how to properly restore a car that’s been victim of a collision? Who truly understands the time it takes to perform repairs and the cost and importance of genuine OEM parts? Or, is it the insurance company’s job to police these fees and make sure that these repair facilities receive a specific set amount? Insurance companies feel they have enough experience with auto repair facilities that they know who does the best repairs for the best price.

Of course – everyone is in business to profit.  Auto repair facilities claim that in fact, insurance companies should NOT decide pricing. The argument is that insurance companies, in the effort to save money – are forcing body shops to do repairs at specific set amounts of time (even though one job might take longer than another – each project – at least for us – is subjective); and they are also often asked to use substandard, non-OEM and even used parts. Since reputable body shop or collision facilities generally refuse to do this, business is directed to shops that will use substandard parts and adhere to insurance guidelines. Certainly, laws and prices vary by state, but repair shops say if they don’t charge what insurance companies decide are fair prices, they lose business and that unless they are on the ‘preferred’ partner list of the insurance company, then the business goes elsewhere.

What does the consumer feel?  See below for an excerpt from USA Today:

Some consumers disagree. About a year ago, Kris Weaver hit a deer with her red pickup. She says she took the vehicle to O’Mara Auto Body in Martensdale, Iowa, a company she had used and trusted. The truck needed a new bumper, license plate mounting, grille and air conditioning condenser

Tom O’Mara, the body shop owner, estimated repairs would cost $1,330. When O’Mara sent the invoice to AAA, the company reimbursed him $1,187. That left Weaver with a $143 out-of-pocket bill.

“It was just a continual battle,” said Weaver, adding she fought until the difference between the total cost and the coverage plus deductible was $25. AAA is an association of clubs across the U.S., and policies vary by club, said Cindy Brough, a spokeswoman for AAA

For more on this debate and the legislature read the entire article on USA Today.

Tags: Auto Repair, Body Shop, Collision Repair, Insurance Claim

Choosing The Right Tire For Your Vehicle

If you go to one of our Mercedes-Benz new car showrooms and inspect the tires on the cars parked there, you will notice the letters “MO” on the sidewall positioned away from the other information about the tire brand, type, size, speed and load rating, etc. For us as a Mercedes-Benz full service dealer, this is probably one of the most important pieces of information on the tires for our cars because it signifies that these tires are the version of the tire that is engineered to exacting Mercedes-Benz specifications. And if you don’t have Mercedes-Benz – yes, there is a way to identify whether your tires are specifically designed for your car. Keep reading….

Both Mercedes-Benz and tire company engineers tell us that these differences in tire versions include tread design, rubber compound, number of plies in the tire’s “carcass” and the strength of the reinforcing elements in the sidewalls. All of these design attributes contribute to the sporty handling of our luxury riding vehicles.

These tires are typically NOT available from the big discount chain stores even though they may offer the same brand, type, size, speed and load rating. This is not to say the “MO” designated tires can’t be purchased at a national discount chain store but they won’t be cheap and they won’t be in stock.

Here’s a good explanation of this from eHow.com after a Google search:

After the “snowflake” icon, you should notice some more letters: These letters or a symbol indicate that this is the auto maker-specified version of a tire that came as a car’s original equipment. These tires can often be a very different blend of rubber compound compared with the off-the-shelf variety of the same tire even though the tread pattern is identical. Examples of OE markings include: General Motors – all have a TPC SPEC number; BMW – most have a five-pointed-star symbol; Mercedes are emblazoned with “MO”; Porsche have the letter “N” followed by a number, i.e., N1, N2, etc.

Read more: How to Read a Tire Sidewall | eHow.com

There’s no doubt about it – we’re the best place to get your tires – to make sure you’re getting the ones that were engineered for your vehicle.

Tags: Service, tires

Congratulations Park Place Dealerships – Second Year Top 100 Places To Work DFW

Congratulations are in order – once again – to Park Place Dealerships for ranking #4 in the category of Large Company on the Dallas Morning News’ Top 100 Places To Work for the Dallas/Ft. Worth area! We’re thrilled to have achieved this recognition for the second year in a row! We take great pride in how we do business, and we are growing and shining more each year. Find your new career at Park Place Dealerships!

Tags: Automotive Careers, Careers, Dallas Jobs, Park Place Dealerships