Some Funeral Directors Have No Idea

I didn't want to high jack James's thread, so I thought I would start a new one.

I've always found it interesting how so many Funeral Directors have no idea what kind of hearse they have. a couple examples, at the Funeral Home i use to work at here in town, I was in the prep room with my boss one day which is out in the garage. He had pulled the hearse out so we could move a casket into the prep room from the garage, and it started thundering. A few minutes later when the thundering had started getting louder, I walked over to the door to look out and see what was going on. i turned around and said oh crap, you better move the Eagle, its hailing. He had no idea what I was talking about. Then a couple days later I realized he really didn't know what I was talking about when i heard him talking to a preacher about hearses, and telling him how they are built by coach companies, and he told the preacher that his 02 Eagle Cadillac, was built by Federal. I thought to myself, hmmm, last time I looked at it, it was a Eagle. Another example, the same guys brother was at the FH one evening, and we were sitting in the office talking, they were in the process of buying a FH just across the TN line, and I asked his brother what was the hearse at the new FH, and his response was, I don't know, its white, and starts when I need it to, and thats all that matters to me, but I think its a Cadillac. One more example.

A few years ago I was told about a guy in east TN that had bought a FH, and had a hearse he wanted to sell to make room in the garage for the one he used. So of course I called this guy up to see what it might be. we get to talking, and he starts to telling me about the hearse. He says its a 72 or 73, Cadillac, white with a black top, had no idea of coach builder, and hadn't been out of the garage or started in about 2 years. Of course I was very interested, and got even more interested when he gave a price and was telling me how great of shape it was in. So that weekend I made the 3 hour trip to go take a look at what I was hoping was going to be one of those once in a life time finds. We pull in the FH parking lot, and I can already see the garage, and the excitement is building up so much I thought I would bust. We talk for a few minutes till he finally says well, lets go take a look at what you came to see. He opens the garage door, and what was said to be a 72 or 73 Cadillac, turns out to be a white with a black tuxedo top, 82 Superior Regal Cadillac, with a little over 30,000 miles on it, and in amazing condition. I should have bought it anyway.

Josh

Some people see the cars as just a tool of the trade and others, like those funeral directors in the PCS, see them as part of the history of their firm. When I bought my Lincoln, I contacted the previous firms that owned it, and 2 of the 3 were interested in talking to me and were glad that the car had a good home. The first owner couldn't care & gave me the impression that I was bothering him.

Ricks post hot it dead on. I know alot of funeral homes that dont have a clue as to what they have, its just a tool to get the job done. i wouls say its just like a tractor to a farmer, but at least they know what they own.

It's even worse in the chain joints, because no one there has any "ownership" (figuratively, of course) of the vehicle. Someone at corporate bought the car (or transferred an older one from another location), so no one at the receiving end had anything to do with acquiring it.

The purchase of a car for your funeral home is like buying anything else. If you scrimp and save, research the products available, shop around for the best deal, and then order it yourself, you have a real appreciation for it - and know what year and make it is!

Unfortunately in todays world, the buyer and seller of products don't have the knowledge base that should be required for making an intelligent decision about the purchase. A couple of weeks ago, Sandy and I went shopping for a new refrigerator. The salesman didn't know anything about his product, and I knew more about it from doing a few minutes research on the Internet. He kept trying to find someone else that knew the product line, but all they knew was the price sticker on the door. Gave up on that dealer, and went to another dealer. That experience wasn't much better, with sales people that didn't know the product line either. The only saving grace was that the owner.
If the purchaser doesn't care enough to learn about the choices in the new equipment, and the sales person doesn't know much more about the item other than the price, and how much he can discount it.

I agree Josh... what I find even more interesting are dealers, who refer to "M & M's"... and mistakes like this photo below, identified by a dealer as a 1988 S & S "Masterpiece"...

Kent Dorsey said:

I agree Josh... what I find even more interesting are dealers, who refer to "M & M's"... and mistakes like this photo below, identified by a dealer as a 1988 S & S "Masterpiece"...

Click to expand...

Yeah way off on that one. That must have been the downsized Masterpiece prototype. lol At least they did get the S&S part right. The most commin mistake I see is confusion between S&S's, and Superior's.

Josh

Coaches today have so much less to offer than they did say 40 years ago. Today you have a choice of style, trim, back flooring, curtains and table. aside from standard or commercial glass, that's about it. forty years ago you dealt with the same dealer who usually knew how you wanted a car set up. your choice of landau or limo, plain, vinyl or crinkle roof, panels, air conditioning, curtains, 1 or 2 beacon rays and the model, spot lights and my favorite the type of siren, a model 28 or a model 28! You had three companies to choose from all making a top quality product. You could look and instantly tell what company made a particular coach. Not so much today. every car we ever had was sold to us by Jack Trusty from Butler Coach Co. up until he died. Funeral homes do not trade like they used to because we don't wear them down and destroy them running ambulance like we used to have to do. I still keep my fleet updated. I still use a commercial glass coach and I still match all my cars to one color. In todays market, all of that and $1.89 will get you a coke at McDonalds. By the way, I do know My two coaches and limo inside and out.

People who care about the coach manufacturer

I find those who care are multi-generational funeral home owners. I think they heard their dads talk about it enough to appreciate the difference...and the fact is there is a difference.

I think it has something to do with there not being a dimes worth of difference between any two of the modern cars. Regardless of who does the conversion if you put them all in a sack and shake them up and pour them out you can hardly tell the difference. I knew an old undertaker that swore by a Sayers & Scovill. Now days it seems that name plate is the only real difference. They just lack the personality of the older ones. I still prefer a good, clean, older one over a new one any time.

Regards,
James