Pocono News Section

Luxury Car Dealership Closes

Luxury Car Dealership Closes - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 4:01PM EST

Reported by: Kyla Campbell
Thursday, Aug 13, 2009 @ 04:01pm EST
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PLAINS TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY -- Bennett Jaguar and Land Rover was shipping cars off the lot Thursday. Employees tell us the cars are going to another Bennett dealership in Allentown. The location was open for more than a decade.

Without the dealership open, we wanted to know how it will affect local repair shops. Ted Jancuwicz has been working on British-made cars for more than 35 years. He had a close relationship with the Bennett dealership.

"I'm very saddened," said Jancuwicz. "I got the call yesterday from the parts fellow at Bennett's, and I've been doing business with them for the ten years they've been in business."

A similar situation led Jancuwicz to where he is today. He was a service manager for a Jaguar dealership in Wyoming. That business closed in 1982. He opened Cross Valley Auto a year later.

There are more than a dozen Jaguars and Land Rovers waiting to be fixed up on his lot. He says he's one of the few people who has benefited from this tough economy.

"People are holding onto their cars and investing their money in repairs," said Jancuwicz. "So it's really good. I've never been so busy."

Jancuwicz says this area was without a Jaguar dealership for 15 years. So, people bought them in Allentown, and brought them here for repairs. It turns out, the cars leaving Bennett's dealership Thursday are heading back to the Lehigh Valley.

"Quite frankly, I was surprised they lasted this long," added Jancuwicz. "It's tough in this area to have the two franchises they had."

It's especially tough when the economy is fighting back.