Washington, D.C.-area franchise dealers’ service calls almost instantly froze after a federal government shutdown was announced at the beginning of October.
43 days later and the government is reopened and funded, at least until January 30, 2026.
The problem: Weeks without paychecks pushed federal employees to forego car purchases, delay service, decline maintenance, and approve only bare-minimum repairs. Confidence dropped, visits stretched out, and dealers across the region felt the pressure.
That’s why Koons Motor CEO Alex Perdikis launched a response program to assist the impacted employees, defense contractors, government vendors, and their families.
Driving the news: “Anybody that owns a Ford, Lincoln, or Mazda… that was either furloughed or laid off… we will provide you with the free in-home mobile service that includes an oil change and a tire rotation,” Perdikis told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D’Arc and Uli de’ Martino. “They do not have to have bought a car from us.”
Koons’ mobile service vans started showing up in driveways across the D.C., Maryland, Virginia metro area to assist customers (many of whom were brand new to Koons).
And the group also stepped in with flexible monthly payments for shutdown-affected customers who had no choice but to replace a failing vehicle.
"CarMax ain't doing this. Carvana ain't doing that. Asbury ain't doing it. AutoNation ain't doing it," he said. "Their bureaucracy would never let them get it done in time. We're the ones that are sponsoring your local youth club. We're going to hand out 2,000 pies Friday night at this Thanksgiving dinner. The local dealers do these types of things."
The response: Koons completed over 50 mobile oil changes with another dozen-plus scheduled. And any appointment made before the government reopened will still be honored.
"I think keeping the message simple resonates well with the customers," he said. "There's other industries in our area, like at a couple of the local burger joints, they're giving away free cheeseburgers to government employees. You just keep it simple."
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But between the lines: The risk in any shutdown promotion is appearing predatory or tone-deaf. Perdikis avoided that by eliminating all qualifying requirements.
"I think the key is don't tie it into any sort of a payment," he said. "We're not qualifying it with anything. We had those ideas to give everyone a $500 credit, but then that means you got to spend something. As long as you don't qualify it with you got to do this to get that, you actually keep it simple and you got to be pure. Goodwill."
Looking ahead: Perdikis is already planning for the next shutdown if the stopgap funding expiring on January 30, 2026 doesn’t reach a broader resolution.
"If this went on for a year, we could continue to do it," Perdikis said. "I'm already thinking about the next time the next shutdown happens."
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