FERMAN NISSAN, New Port Richey Fl [It's all about the People]

 I just love this big flag

that flies in front of the 

Ferman Nissan Dealership on

US 19 in New Port Richey 

here in Florida!

It is HUGE!

And oh my when it catches the breezes of here on a sunny day;

it can truly catch one's breath and even bring a tear to the eye!

And,

after my day yesterday,

I realized something.

What happens 

INSIDE the building

of

that place called

Ferman NISSAN

is representative of all that is good

and also took my breath away in all the right ways

and I stand amazed at the people

who have chosen to be their best selves while holding up my faith in the best of people!

I have the honor of meeting some

of

Mr Ferman's best employees who surely represent all the best of that place and I thank him for having them to work there!

I do believe that yesterday might have been the first time I've not written in over a year!

I hope you weren't worried about me!

I believe in letting folks know about customer service; about when others step up, STAND UP,

or 

choose to not do either!

We as consumers and as people have choices, and we also have responsibilities in the way we treat others as well.

I have been a loyal customer to this

Nissan Dealer since moving to Florida for service to my most awesome Nissan Murano!

Which I might add

I LOVE... and

those who know Mom/Dot/Cob

also drives!

When asked what will be my next car

I simply reply;

A Black tricked out Murano!

haha

Now my best friend of my life

known here as DLB

has been for three weeks having horrid car troubles;

her car deciding on hot Saturdays after she works 12 hours to just 

"quit" running as she is on her way home in usually 90 degree weather;

leaving other motorists to yell, gesture and otherwise stand on her nerve; finally nursing this car to home only to be exhausted, hot and worried about the next time not being so lucky.

It has been scary, frustrating and just about as stressful as stressful can get.

Now to make the story even more grueling is that ole' DLB is one who cannot entertain a conversation on a car without getting attitude as she does not think dealing about a car is something that should require anything but a steering wheel, a/c and four tires and approximately 7,000.oo and it should run for 30 years with little effort.

You remember like days of old?

She is not one to haggle, does not understand the importance of "looks/swag/rims/trim"

...

Oh I do not know how I've sustained a 40 year relationship/kinship with one so out of the loop on things of such importance!!!

...

So being the best friend/family I am,

I informed her, I would be taking this over, she would drive my most beautiful Murano and I would take care of finding her a cadillac of the 50's with crank windows and a box fan to sit in the window to drive.

...

My search on the internet began.

Oh lawd all the choices, pre-owned, pre-certified, Carmax, CarFOX, kia, hyundai, honda, lexus, cubes, souls, and so it went.

and then it happened.

My emails started flooding me; my phone (which is attached to my fax machine) started blowing up!

I had forgotten how all are connected in the great cyberspace of life!

"Do I have a deal for you" became the refrain..."

So yesterday,

I took off

to Nissan in New Port Richey after getting an email from

ANTHONY SERRANO (Tony)

after getting an email reply from him saying he had a Nissan Sentra for me, and that it fit my budget and he would "make it happen";

he looked forward to seeing me!

He acknowledged me as one who came there regularly to get my car serviced, there was something "genuine" I just felt in his email;

and let me just mention

yesterday it was HOT here.

So after getting up at 630am

to take DLB to Tampa as that is where the car was from the last break down and to retrieve it; to take her to work, and to talk to that car; tellin it we are going to drive together car all the way one hour to Nissan... and YOU had best behave!

I pull into the dealership finally

and lo and behold I see I have an email on my phone... it is from Nissan. So in thinking it is from Tony, I reply "I've just pulled into your parking lot, you must have been reading my mind." And then I hit send. As I get out of the car I decide to look around at a few cars and then turn to see a young man greet me;

JONATHAN WIDING (JW) or more lovingly known as [J-DUB]

and we go inside with him offering me a bottle of COLD water!

Ahhh it was nice inside.

I let him know I was there to see 

   TONY SERRANO

and he promptly gets him for me.

We have a lovely chat; Tony hands me back to JW

and the fun begins.

I was treated with such great respect and mutual kindness there.

We look at the Nissan Sentra;

one that had just been traded and had 5,000 miles on it;

we test drive a brand new one,

and ohhhh what a great ride it was.

We get back in the showroom

and sit down together.

I then have the pleasure of meeting

DAVID LEE, sales manager

after I have let both JW and Tony know why I'm doing this and for whom.

We talk at length about the very real purpose of

PAYING IT FORWARD IN LIFE

and those rare people who give fully without conditions and never ever expect returns.

They are both rather stunned by all this; and at times I see tears in their eyes as we talk, and feel a kinship that is indeed the best of what this dealership is about.

I then meet

MARK GOODE

the business Manager

and he does the trade appraisal

and he has a smile that at first I thought I couldn't quite assess and I am really good at assessments!

When it comes time to talk numbers,

JW goes to the glass room next to ours to meet with Mr Lee.

I can't see him because a HUGE POSTER is blocking our view.

the poster?

It is of a car of course!

And words under it that say

DATSun

which have me laughing to myself!

      JW comes back and we look at the numbers

and I still am shaking my head.

He asks why?

I then start laughing and want to cry at the same time.

I tell him JW the numbers won't work;

and then I say,

see that poster where the magic man lives and I can't see him?

Why in a Nissan dealer is a datsun picture hanging? He smiles.

I said, "I'm laughing because it reminds me of my Mom once saying I should have been a boy when those cars were popular, cos' then she could tell everyone, "Meet Datsun"!!!

JW CRACKED UP

...

Then we get back to the number thing.

At some point I go outside; and decide to check my emails. I looked at that one again I had recieved when I pulled into the lot, you know the one I had replied to thinking it was from Tony?

Well the funny thing was this! That email was from a salesman of Nissan that was actually a competitor and not even this Nissan! I wonder if they ran out into their lot and was looking for me... Oh I just couldn't wait to tell Tony that one, and I look up  and see Tony coming from across the way; the other building and he asked how was it going.

I smiled and said, "I don't think it's going to happen with the numbers".

I then tell him about the email and he was just cracking up about that one!

He smiled and put his arm around me, and we went inside again.

I sat again in JW office and he returned again;

what a wonderful young man he was.

I had to tell him that Kamryn's best friend is named JW and now I will tell him I got to become friends with a grown up JW myself!

...

But then I said,

"JW, I have only this budget."

And he smiles and says,

that is why you have me!"

In the meantime, I've been on the phone with Dot/Mom/Cob with updates, and letting her know of what was happening; cos' it is the two of us that have been in this great plan of surprise of all surprises!

Oh my the coordination, the whispers, the updates,

as we attempted to pull off the biggest surprise of all surprises for the most generous and lovely and most giving woman in the world here!

So my new friends JW and Tony

come in and turn the numbers page over and 

JW writes these words on a piece of paper;

"I, will pay _____ for this car today and drive it off the lot. signed _____"

They both look at me with a smile

and hand me the pen.

IT IS THE EXACT NUMBER I HAD SAID IN THE EMAIL TO

TO TONY SERRANO 

...

and I got tears in my eyes as I looked at them,

as I signed they took it to David Lee and waited.

They returned and both extended their hands to me and said,

"congratulations you have a 

2012 Nissan Sentra for your friend"

...

  JONATHAN WIDING (JW)

Sales Associate

and

ANTHONY (TONY) SERRANO, 

Sales Mgr

...

Two of the finest at

Ferman Nissan

3939 U.S. 19

New Port Richey FL 

(727)847-5555 

 

 DAVID LEE

Sales Manager

(the man behind the poster)

who I finally met and visited with!

haha

...

 Hello beautiful New Sentra

may you always keep DLB

safe on the roads!

Oh what a day!

What a joyous and most remarkable day!

AND

the look on the face of my kindred spirits face says it all;

to me, to those at 

NISSAN, to Mr Ferman himself!

WE DID AWESOME!

She has shook her head and grinned and then we went for a ride...

We went to dinner,

she drove,

we rode,

we passed at least 40 restaurants,

she drove

we rode,

she grinnned

I don't believe she tasted anything!

We had to eat where we could be outside, so she could

LOOK AT HER NEW CAR!

And did I mention she 

GRINNED

and when she did speak;

the things she kept saying is;

"things like this just don't happen, and why/how/but/oh my gosh/

ohhhhh look at it"

...

I do believe that

"we got her"

and 

I do thank you all 

there at 

NISSAN for making magic happen.

...

So folks,

wherever you are, whatever you are doing, if and when you are lookin for a car;

give my pals a call!

I sat with Tony as he was on a search for a customer

(they call us guests)

and he was looking as far as a thousand miles away for someone!

...

Customer service?

What can I tell you more than these pictures and this story tells you?

Now if you ever wonder about the power of 

Paying it forward,

the magic you can create by doing with a little less

I do so hope that this story has helped you with that!

...

I sat with a woman there for just a few minutes who was I think buying a car; she was just yakking about the slowness of the process, the heat, the inconvenience of the whole thing, the price of vehicles, the this and the that.

I was looking for the side door, and escape route with each word she uttered, with the energy she attempted to suck from my moments of watching and absorbing each beautiful color of the cars, and the men I was spending time with, the joys that were soon to be lived over and again!

At one point when she talked about all the time she was spending there, I replied,

"well aren't we blessed that is air conditioned here? That we have all these beautiful cars to gaze upon and these fine men to enjoy as their energy is like light on a dark day?"

In a hot minute she got up from her seat and made a "hurrumph" and made her way away from me!

My work with her was done!

Yay me!

 Thank you

Mr Ferman

for your staff, your leadership

Thank you

for your work, your commitment

to habitat for humanity

and

for bringing out the best in others

so that I could have the best

of YOUR best

in

Tony, JW, David, and Mark.

I look forward to a long and lovely relationship

with all along with the service department who has always treated me well!

...

Now of course Mr Ferman, all I want for Christmas is my new Murano under the tree,

unless you would like to gift me with that little cherry of a car I saw in the show room with this taped to the window...

  Yep you read it right!

Look to the left of the annual fuel cost!

Oh life is such a sweet ride!

ok,

see you all at 

Ferman Nissan

where I think me and Tony and JW might just have to hook up

at our local watering hole

Captain Jacks for a cold one or a boat ride to the Anclote Island to find a dolphin!

Walk in Beauty

DRSES

www.sherryeshowalter.com