PARKS MOTOR SALES KEEPS ON ROLLING — AUTOMOTIVE EXCELLENCE DRIVEN BY COUSINS WHO CARE FOR THEIR COMMUNITY

By William Harwood

Since 1958, a lot has changed under the hood of a GMC pickup truck. Back then, the only chips to be found anywhere in the vehicle may have been a big tin of Charles Chips riding shotgun next to the clutch. But, ever since that year, one thing is certain: if that truck were rolling off the lot of Parks Motor Sales in Maury County, then one quality would have remained consistent to this very day, regardless of the vehicle’s year, make or model, and that quality is service. Opened in 1958 by Bobby Parks, who remains the sole owner, Parks Motor Sales is now run by his grandsons, cousins Michael Parks Lawrence and Robert Rogers, making the family-driven car dealership the oldest in Maury County and a local landmark on Nashville Hwy since the dealership relocated there in 1968.

JOSEPH CUMPSTON, SERVICE TECHNICIAN

When the elder Parks first opened in 1958, the dealership sold and serviced AMC, Buick, GMC, Jeep, Pontiac, Opal, and Renault. These days, of course, not all those makes are even made. Now Parks Motor is all GMC and Buick, albeit with an extraordinarily diverse inventory backed by their decades-long track record of unmatched service, the well-oiled engine that keeps customer satisfaction with Parks Motor Sales firing on all cylinders. The key to generating that legacy of customer satisfaction, year after year, has to do with Parks Motor’s family-owned, family-friendly employees, and car-buying environment, which creates a fast, reliable, and transparent carbuying experience. This has kept their loyal customers coming back for generations.

“As a family-owned business, we pride ourselves in having a place where we think people can work here and retire,” says Rogers, the general manager. “A lot of businesses are not like that, in my opinion. Here, you can work and make a good living, and have a good work-family life balance.”

While the family-friendly work culture has been a constant at Parks Motor Sales since its inception, the changes to the vehicles themselves have been nothing short of electrifying, literally. For example, Parks Motor recently sold a Hummer EV, the first of its kind in Maury County and definitely not the last. By 2030, Buick will go all-electric, and GMC will have a large portion of its vehicles electric as well. To keep current with these electric changes, Parks Motor is already plugged in, using electric vehicles for their service loaner and service runner needs. “We want to help our customers get ready for the change and educate them,” says Rogers. “So we use electric as our company runner car, the vehicle that transports parts around, to get used to what it’s like to own an electric vehicle and what our customers are going to go through.”

Regardless of what drives a Parks Motor vehicle’s engine, the commitment to the expert servicing of that vehicle remains unchanged. The accolades that the dealership consistently earns attest to that commitment to excellence, most recently winning 2022’s Best of the Best from the Daily Herald: Best Oil Change Service, Best Auto Dealer Service Department, Best New Car Dealership, and Best Used Car Dealership. The key to that decades-long road map of success is all about treating customers as family. “I'll tell you what I've said a million times around here,” says Marty Gulley, the Service Director at Parks Motors for the past nine years. “First, we are making the best and safest decision on the repair just like each customer was our mother, father, brother, or sister. Second, we ask our service department to do the job they were hired to do. It’s that simple. We give everyone the same answer we would give our family, the right answer.”

MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, SALES MANAGER

But Parks Motor’s commitment to the community isn’t just confined to its own lot; the dealership gives back to others in multiple ways. “We can’t say yes to everything,” acknowledges Rogers, “but we try to say yes to any worthy causes that we can.” His cousin, Assistant General Manager Michael Parks Lawrence, agrees. “This community is just so special,” he observes. “It's helped my granddad; it's helped our parents; it's helped our business.” To give back and strengthen the community, Rogers sits on the board of the Columbia State Foundation and Lawrence is on the board of the Youth Education Foundation, Inc., an organization assisting with the costs of books and fees for Maury County students utilizing Tennessee Promise. “Our granddad was a veteran,” Lawrence says, “so that is important to our family to support veterans in the community as well as nationally. Recently we partnered with GM, who matched the donations, and donated to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation (T2T), which provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children. T2T is also committed to eradicating veteran homelessness and aiding victims of major U.S. disasters.”

Clearly, the cousins continue to steer Parks Motor Sales in the right direction, the one first laid out by their grandfather some 60-plus years ago. It’s hard to say what the next 60plus years will bring but if the past is prologue, folks in the future at Parks Motor will continue to find unparalleled expertise in service and an unwavering commitment to the community. It’s a family thing after all.

For additional information on Parks Motor Sales, visit parksmotorsales.com or call (931) 548-1361 for Sales and (931) 548-1373 for Service & Parts. Follow them on social media at @parksmotorsales n