Chase “caught me at a weak moment,” as Dave puts it, “he pulled in with a brand new Monte Carlo and said ‘Oh, by the way, this could be your demo if you come to work.’” Dave started selling Chevy’s for him on May 17th, 1978. Six months later, the dealership was sold to Ivan Gandrud out of Grand Forks. Being that Dave had already become the leading salesman, selling thirty out of the dealership’s average of sixty cars per month sold by a sales team of four, he was kept on. “Things didn't get anything but better,” says Dave. “He just improved on our processes.” Six years later, Mr. Gandrud made Dave an offer that changed his life: “He walked in one morning and said ‘come into my office. Let’s talk.’ I thought ok, because I’m usually getting into a little bit of trouble, right? I said, ‘What’s the deal?’ And he said, ‘How old was your father when he passed?’ And I said, ‘fiftytwo.’ And he goes, ‘You’ve always made that comment that when Mr. Chase retired your father probably would have had a shot to be the dealer.’ And I said, ‘I believe that.’ He says, ‘Well, you’ve always made the comment that your desire is to become a dealer as well.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but I’m twenty-seven-years old, pretty young.’ And he says, ‘No you’re not.’ And then he literally handed me the key to the front door. I said, ‘Do I have a year or so to work this through?’ And he said, ‘No. I’m out the door in two weeks.’” Having recently acquired two new dealerships in Wisconsin, Mr. Gandrud, needed to move on to his new ventures, and worked out a plan in which Dave would pay off the Mandan dealership in a period of 5-7 years. “On the eighteenth month, I wrote him the last check,” Dave told me. It was in 1999 that Dave started his Bozeman dealership. While on buying visits to Billings to pick up used vehicles being auctioned off by GM and Ford for his dealership back in Mandan, Dave bumped into Pat Connell. “I just knew he was kind of miserable,” Dave says, “and I thought if he got enough money, he’d probably retire. Dave came out and visited the store and saw a great opportunity. It was the same deal I’d went through. He was selling 80-90 cars a month. He was not hands-on, and I saw the opportunity. So I sat down with him and brought my investors in again who helped me out in Mandan, and they looked at the market and said, ‘It’s huge. It could be a big Toyota-Chevy market.’ And so I said ‘I’m ready.’ That was in ‘99. So I jumped into that deal.” The result became Ressler Chevrolet and Toyota. Seventeen years later, it is the success you see today on Huffine Lane. Following in the
footsteps of his own mentor, Ivan Gandrud, Dave turned the keys of his Mandan dealership over to Bob Kupper. “I really felt it’d be tough to be in both places and do an outstanding job,” says Ressler, “So I asked Bob if he’d be interested and he jumped on it whole-heartedly. It took him about ten years, but he now owns the Chevy store in Mandan.” With the success of Ressler on Huffine, Dave has been able to move on to Gallatin Motors (formerly The Montana Import Group), which he claims will be his last business venture. “We call them ‘tours’,” says Dave. “I was on my first tour in Mandan; second tour was the Connell evolution, and then the third tour is now my Subaru deal. But at sixtyyears old--I'm gonna make the announcement right here--I’m done!
In this town is the only way I’ll go. A lot of dealers, when they take on a second store, they’ll go to another location like I did coming from Mandan out to Bozeman. But I’ve got grandkids now. I have four of them. One little guy and three daughters. My downtime is spent with them. I don’t go to too many car auctions anymore. And now that I’m back to work on a day-to-day at the Subaru store I’m havin’ a hoot. I wake up wanting to go to work. There are not many people who like to go to work, but I love going to work.” And it all must be working. Gallatin Motors is now the fastest growing Subaru dealership in the country, Dave tells me, his dealership having exceeded Subaru’s sales objectives by 35% in 2015. After only getting to know Dave for a matter of hours, it became evident to me that he is man motivated by his passions. Looking around, it is clear to me that cars--and especially the Corvette--have occupied a special place in the heart of Dave Ressler, and his passion and focus have benefitted many, from the thousands of pleased customers who have had their automotive needs met at one of Dave’s dealerships to the myriad people who have benefitted from the work of the many charities which Dave has supported throughout his life
Gallatin Valley Life 2016/2017
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