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D2 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, April 18, 2001 If you have a news tip or story idea, call the Oakville Beaver at 845-3824. O 111 S O O O f i F I V E STAR C E R T IF IE D d O O O d F I V E STAR CERTIFIED © © FIVE STAR CERTIFIED ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ GLENLEVEN flHTlYST FTC / ^ FIVE STAR © © CERTIFIED © ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ < 2 0 0 1 IEEP GR CHEROKEE $0 DO W N $2500 DO W N $3500 DO W N ·641"* PER M O N T H H 5 8 4 04 PER M O N T H 80 *5 6 1 PER M O N T H V8, power sunroof, leather, 17' chrome wheels and much more 60th Anniversary badging & floor mats Plus freight, taxes & license. Leases based o n 20 ,4 00km s/yr,, 48 m onths. · · · · · m o © © © © © Photo by Riziero Vertolli < 2 0 0 1 JEEP TJ $0 DOWN $2500 DOWN $3500 DOWN ' 4 I 9 89 PER MONTH ' 3 5 8 s* PER MONTH * 3 3 4 * PER MONTH m Bob Kerr and his son Graham in front of their Kerr Cadillac Pontiac Buick Inc. dealership on South Service Road. < /> 30 O 2 Dual tops, 30" wheel pkg., ., CD player, air, security system. 30 glass & more. 60th Anniversary badging & floor mats H Plus freight, taxes & license. Leases based o n 20 .4 00km s/yr,, 48 m onths m DODGE CARAVAN S E 83 4 8 0T PER MONTH * 2 9 2 03 PER MONTH * 2 6 9 * ' PER MONTH 3.3L V6, 4-spd., a u to ., p. w in d o w & locks, tilt, cruise, cassette, air, sunscreen glass & m ore. P lu s fr e ig h t , ta x e s & lic e n s e . L e a s e s b a s e d o n 2 0 ,4 0 0 k m s /y r ,, 4 8 m o n th s . m o Kerr Cadillac celebrates 30 years ofserving Oakville By Kym Funneil A D V E R T IS IN G F E A T U R E $0 DOWN $2500 DOWN $3500 DOWN © © © © © n < m A 2 0 0 1 CHRYSLER 3 0 0 M * 5 4 5 " PER M O NTH ` 4 9 0 44 PER M O NTH * 4 6 8 " PER M O NTH Loaded, pow er sunroof, leather, 4 disc CD in dash, cnrom e wheels, perform ance handling & much more. $0 DOWN $2500 DOWN $3500 DOWN < /> *2 o m H 2 a i/ 30 P lus fr e ig h t, ta x e s & lic e n s e . L ea ses b a s e d o n 2 0 ,4 0 0 k m s /y r ., 4 8 m o n th s . 2 0 0 1 SEBR1NG SEDAN $3 8 2 18 PER M O N TH * 3 2 5 " PER M O N TH * 3 0 2 " PER M O N TH Loaded w ith p o w e r w in d o w s & locks, tilt, cruise, CD, a ir a n d m o re Plus fr e ig h t, ta x e s & lic e n s e . L ea ses b a s e d o n 2 0 ,4 0 0 k m s /y r ., 4 8 m o n th s . m a $0 DOWN $2500 DOWN $3500 DOWN © © © © © n < 2 0 0 1 CHRYSLER NEON m w Vo purchase financing fo r 4 8 m o n th s o n 2001 N e o n s Plus freight, taxes & license. > 30 O m 30 H The place to lease or rn 5 G lenleven C hrysler Montreal native, Bob Kerr's passion for cars was sparked many years before he learned how to drive, let alone realize he could make a profitable career out of it. Growing up he spent many hours with a friend who's father owned an auto shop, washing cars, filling them up; he never got bored when in the company of cars. He bought his first car (what we would recognize as a `hot rod') before he got his driver's license, eagerly working on it and fixing it up to keep him busy until he could drive it. Putting aside his love of cars, he went to work as a draftsman for an engineering company after graduating from high school, although it didn't take him long to decide he didn't like where his future was headed. While he always loved tinkering with cars, he still didn't recognize the potential of a career, so he decided to attend Mount Allison University on a football schol arship, graduating five years later with a BA in psychology, in addition to his engineering diploma. Fellow students recognized his potential though, as he was known around school as the `cam pus mechanic', constantly repairing other people's cars. Upon graduation in 1963, he started working for Shell as an engineer, although his free time found him fixing up used cars and selling them from his driveway. As hard as he tried, he could- 00th Anniversary a Now is the tim e to buy. f t Sole ends April 00th. KERRI C A O iL J L A C P W T1 4 C I I . B O t t K L td 1 4 1 0 S O U T H S E R V IC E RD. W. (JU S T W E S T O F DORVAL) 9 0 5 - 845-1681 CADILLAC s Si PONTIAC BUICK INC. S. SERVICE RD WYECR0FTRD. Kerr Cadillac Pontiac n't extinguish his passion for cars. By 1967, a close friend and golfing buddy noticed his potential in the automo tive industry, and asked him to work with him at a Chevrolet Oldsmobile deal ership. Accepting the offer, this car connoisseur became the General Sales Manager at the dealership in Montreal. After realizing this was a career he could excel in, he began looking for an oppor tunity to open his own deal ership. He looked at poten tial locations from Charlottetown, P.E.I. across Canada to Kelowna. B.C. "I looked at numerous locations," explains Kerr, owner of Kerr Cadillac Pontiac Buick Inc., "but my limited funds really limited the size of operation I could afford to buy." In 19 7 1 General Motors stepped in, and called to notify him that there was an opening coming up in Oakville, Ontario. "I left Montreal at three in the morning and drove in to meet with the manager of General M otors," recalls Kerr. "He directed me to go west on the QEW, and that I'd know where to get off." While Kerr didn't under stand it at the time, the directions became clear upon entering Oakville and seeing the exit for Kerr Street. The original dealership in downtown Oakville was a two-car showroom with 14 employees. Outgrowing that location quickly, in 1974 they moved to their current location at 410 South Service Road. Numerous renovations and additions have taken place since then, resulting in the modernized, expansive showroom and service department you see today. "The business has changed a great deal since then," comments Kerr on the automotive industry, "but our dealership is accel erating right along with technology." All the depart ments at Kerr Cadillac are computerized, offering top of the line service. Kerr Cadillac now employs over 70 people, all whom pride themselves on exceptional customer ser vice and selling to repeat customers. "The customers are always #1 here," says Kerr, "they are treated very, very well. If not, they simply wouldn't come back." Many customers have found their way to Kerr Cadillac, as in the last 30 years they have sold and delivered in excess of 45,000 new cars and trucks, Buick Inc. circa 1971. and over 18,000 used cars and trucks. But it isn't just the knowledgeable, friendly staff and quality products that made this dealership a household name in Oakville, they are also actively involved in the community. Kerr Cadillac sponsors many youth sports teams including minor baseball, hockey, and soccer teams. They also sponsor many events around town, (Oakville Waterfront Festival, fundraising for OTMH, Kinsmen, Lion's Foundation, Halton Police Department), and donate cars for fundraising initia tives. While the requests are never-ending, there is a limit to how much they can do, but they spread themselves as far as possible. Celebrating 30 successful years this month, Kerr com ments that one of his biggest successes in the business was attracting good, reliable, honest, hard-working people to work for him. Kerr comments, "I never could have run this opera tion alone." And while you won't see a lot of him around the deal ership these days, the opera tion is in the capable hands of his son, Graham, and General Manager Rick Lee. "Even though I'm semi retired, I'm in constant con tact with the dealership. Whether via phone, fax or in person, I am in daily com munication," says Kerr. "But the goal is for my son Graham to take over in the next five years." Currently the New Car Sales Manager, Graham has moved through all the departments over the last 10 years, learning all the facets of the dealership. Also shar ing the automotive gene is his sister Brenda, who came on board last year as the Portfolio Manager. Kerr has one other daughter, Beverley, who resides up north in Muskoka, married with a little boy. Between his three children, Bob and his wife Sandra now have six grandchildren, all little boys. It's probably a safe bet to say the dealership will remain in the family for many years to come. Although as a Montreal native, Bob has other thoughts, "we almost have enough boys to make our own hockey team!" Now, in 2001, 30 years after giving in to his passion for cars and opening his own dealership in Oakville, he facetiously concedes that "I guess I have been a bit of a car nut most o f my life", and this passion has served him well.