Driving to the top.

GALPIN FORD GOT TO BE NO. 1 IN U.S. BY EMPHASIZING SERVICE, LOW PRICES

With temperatures in the triple digits recently, Annie Catalano and her 13-year-old daughter were cooling off with sodas at the Horseless Carriage coffee shop in Noah Hills after driving up from San Diego.

But this wasn't just any coffee shop. It was the on-site eatery at Galpin Ford, and the sodas they were sipping were free - courtesy of a Galpin salesman who had guided them out of the blistering heat.

"It sounds funny, but they really make you feel at home here," said Catalano, who ended up signing a lease on a new Taurus SE Sport.

And, not incidentally, the lease price on the Taurus was the lowest she could find.

Chalk up one more deal to Galpin Ford, the nation's No. 1 auto dealership based on 1997 revenues of $380 million, according to Ward's Dealer Business. (Longo Toyota of El Monte is the No. 1 dealer in L.A. County, according to the Business Journal, but it does not participate in the Ward's survey).

It's not just a coffee shop that makes Galpin Motors Inc. so successful. It's the low-pressure approach that the dealership adopted years ago - and which is now widely favored in the industry. It's also the follow-through on each sale - and non-sale - to get the customer's view on what works and what doesn't work.

Galpin owner Bert Boeckmann also benefits from being a volume dealer, moving 1,600 to 2,000 cars a month. That means the overhead per car can be less than that of the competition. And since Galpin aims to win a customer for life, "we are oftentimes willing to take a deal with less profit than our competition, hoping then to have that customer's future business," Boeckmann said.

The amount of business generated for Ford's credit arm - as well as other financial institutions - also gives him extra room to negotiate better financing deals, especially for customers with shaky credit.

More than anything else, the company's success is credited to Boeckmann, who is legendary among car dealers for his ability to close a deal.

Fans say he has an uncanny ability to give his customers what they want. But he's also considered a tough executive. someone who is prepared to fire salespeople who don't measure up.

"He's nice and he's affable, but he's also a sharp and shrewd businessman who knows how to encourage management and staff to really move product," said consultant Chris Cedergren, managing director of the Thousand Oaks-based Nextrend. "That's what makes him a star in the business."

"You walk in and it's no different than any other dealer that you go to," said Tim Keenan, senior editor at Ward's Dealer Business. "So it must come down to the people. If people at Galpin are any reflection of the owner. then they will be really nice. thoughtful and caring about the customer."

The 67-year-old Boeckmann has become almost as much of a household word in the San Fernando Valley as Galpin. In addition to serving on the Los Angeles Police Commission, he is a major donor to the group pushing for a study of San Fernando Valley cityhood. Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment.

But first and foremost, he's a salesman - one who attributes his good fortune to an old-school sense of courtesy. Young salespeople today, he noted during an interview, often don't know how to behave properly - so Boeckmann employs two full-time training officers, and part of their job is to teach new recruits good manners.

"I know it's going to sound strange, but we have to train some people to say 'thank you.'" Boeckmann said. "A lot of your salesmen today are very young and they really haven't had training similar to what I used to get in school. We had one whole semester of manners (in high school)."

The dealership tries to poll all its customers - those who buy and those who don't - to find out what they liked and didn't like about the salesperson. "Often times a salesman thinks one thing, but the customer thinks something else," Boeckmann said.

To ensure that customers answer surveys, Galpin holds monthly drawings, offering those who fill out questionnaires a chance to win TVs or VCRs. The comments are then reviewed by management, and salespeople who are perceived to have a problem get retrained.

"We try to help that salesman become a better salesman, and if he can't, he shouldn't be in the business," said Boeckmann. noting that the company has about a 20 percent turnover rate each year.

That customer-is-always-right attitude may explain Galpin's spotless record with the state Department of Motor Vehicles, which investigates consumer complaints at auto dealerships. The DMV has no records of disciplinary action. or even any investigations, against Galpin for the past decade - which is as far back as records go, said Tom Novy, the DMV's chief of operational licensing.

"If there have been complaints, they've never been substantial enough for action," Novy said. "That's unusual considering how big a dealership they are."

Burbank-based corporate consultant Michael Hastings said Boeckmann has a reputation for being generous to his employees, but also for not tolerating anything that could jeopardize the dealer's reputation.

"He's a tough businessman," said Hastings. whose clients include three independent Valley General Motors dealers. "Boeckmann owns up if he makes a mistake, and he expects his employees to own up if they make a mistake. He knows that if two people have bad experiences, they'll tell 10 people and pretty soon your business is down."

When Christopher Gray walked in the Galpin Ford showroom a couple months back, shopping for a car for his parents, he had his guard up. But he was soon disarmed by the courtesy of the staff.

"Normally. you walk into an environment of. 'We want something from you,' "said Gray. Glendale's assistant fire chief, who ended up not buying that day. "At Galpin I was made to feel like it didn't matter if or when I bought a car. There was no pressure at all."

Boeckmann, who started selling Nash automobiles while a student at USC, never forgot the first car he sold. It was in 1952, and a man was trading in his 1933 Chevrolet.

"As this gentleman went to exit the driveway, he stopped his car. looked back at his trade-in, got out of his new vehicle and walked the full length of our service department to close the door (of his old car) that had been left open," Boeckmann recalled. "Even though he traded it in and was driving off in a brand-new car, he wasn't going to leave his old friend with its door standing open."

Boeckmann went to work for Galpin as a salesman in 1953 and quickly became the dealership's rising star. In 1959, owner Frank Galpin, who started the dealership on the lot next to his Pancake Heaven restaurant in San Fernando, offered Boeckmann a percentage of the profits with which he could buy stock in the dealership. Under this arrangement, Boeckmann completed his buyout in 1968.

The dealership moved to its current location on Roscoe Boulevard near the San Diego (405) Freeway in 1966. Galpin, who was accustomed to having his own restaurant next door, came up with the idea of building the Horseless Carriage.

Salespeople say they offer to pay for the meals of people buying cars, and also pick up the tab for more than a few customers who don't end up buying.

"We offer them to be our guests and then say if they have any other questions, we're right here to answer," Boeckmann said. "We leave them alone but when they're finished, typically they're going to speak to the salesman for questions and to resolve the deal."

RELATED ARTICLE: 'Auto Row' Dealers Launching Drive to Expand Size of Lots

Three auto dealerships along the stretch of Van Nuys Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley known as "Auto Row" are building larger lots.

The most ambitious of the Auto Row moves is at Keyes Toyota, where an $8 million expansion includes plans to double display space and add nearly twice the number of service bays. Keyes is constructing a two-story, 70,000-square-foot building to replace its current 25,000-square-foot facility.

Miller Honda is building out its dealership on land it already owns to include the corner property one block south of Burbank Boulevard on Van Nuys. The addition will house Miller's used-car lot, giving the retailer space for an additional 30 to 40 cars, said Mark Miller, chief operating officer of the dealership.

The $1.5 million expansion underway at Center BMW will make room for a used-car lot as well as a new-car dealership. The retailer acquired Van Nuys Chrysler/Plymouth and plans to combine it with its Jeep dealership under the name Center Chrysler/Plymouth/Jeep. Center has acquired the lease on a half-acre site adjacent to its current Jeep location to accommodate the new store.

- Shelly Garcia