Montana Dealership purchases Ray Schultens Motors
By Tom Peterson
A Montana-based car dealership with holdings in Klamath Falls and Walla Walla purchased Ray Schultens Motors, Tuesday, Feb. 28th.
Jennifer Dewey of Schultens confirmed the sale on Tuesday evening.
The deal had been in the works since last fall.
Blake Underriner of Underriner Motors
Blake Underriner of Underriner Motors in Billings, Montana traveled to The Dalles several days ago to finish the agreement.
Underriner purchased the dealership which contains showrooms and service departments for Ford and Nissan. The combined car lots at 2400 W. Sixth Street sit on 6.44 acres.
“We’re really, really excited about joining this great community and becoming a part of The Ford and Nissan families,” Blake Underriner said in a brief phone call this morning.
He said no changes were planned for the dealership, except for the addition of lifetime powertrain warranties on all new and used cars.
“We’re here to enrich people’s lives and take care of our associates so we can take care of our customers,” he said. “We look forward to learning more about The Dalles and seeing how we can be a strong community partner.”
Underriner first began speaking with the Schultens family last fall and came to an agreement on price.
Underriner Motors is a family-owned dealership with 78 years in the business. It started in Billings in 1944 by Floyd Whitaker, and it is now currently owned by Blake’s father, William.
The recent purchase is part of an overall expansion of Underriner Motors as the dealership has added multiple dealerships in two other states during the past 9 years.
Underriner bought Gilbert Honda in Walla Walla after it entered bankruptcy in 2014 and rebranded it Walla Walla Valley Honda.
The rebranding and elimination of commissions for sales staff took the dealership from “You-Suck reviews” to Honda’s President’s Award, according to a story in Wardsauto.
In 2015, Underriner bought Cascade Honda and Cascade Subaru in Klamath Falls.
The dealerships had some 50 employees in total. The businesses were renamed Klamath Falls Honda and Klamath Falls Subaru.
“We’re looking to expand anywhere as deals come along,” William Underriner was quoted in the Billings Gazette at the time.
That expansion came on the heels of Underriner’s completion in summer 2014 of its new dealership on the Billings West End, The Gazette reported. The dealership sells Buick, Hyundai and Volvo vehicles.
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Ray Schultens Motors has been a fixture in The Dalles for more than 58 years. It was purchased from the Eddins family on April 17th, 1964, the year The Beatles came to the U.S. Ray purchased the franchise when it was still operating downtown at the current Dalles Police station, 401 Court Street.
CCCNews will publish a much more detailed story on the purchase later this week. Thanks for your patience.
