Champion Ford Mazda and Championship 54 Auto Sales are facing a long road to recovery after a powerful storm early Saturday morning caused widespread damage to nearly every vehicle on their lots.
Owner Tyler Brubaker said both the new and used inventory at Champion Ford Mazda and Championship 54 were impacted.
“If it’s not 100%, it’s 99% of what we have in inventory,” Brubaker said. “Any car that was on the surface of the parking lot is damaged.”
The extent of the damage is still being assessed, but Brubaker noted that severity varied depending on where vehicles were parked. Some areas of the lot were hit harder than others, with the storm seemingly moving through in waves.
“It’s going to be tough on us,” he said. “We were in the middle of a great month, and all of a sudden, it feels like a bad day.”
Still, Brubaker said his top priority Saturday morning was to be with his employees and help keep morale up. He spent time at both stores, talking with staff and encouraging a positive outlook despite the challenges ahead.
“I just want to make sure everybody stays positive,” he said. “We’ve been through this before, about 20 to 25 years ago, and we’ll get through it again.”
Both dealerships remain open, and Brubaker said customers can still shop for vehicles “as-is,” often at deep discounts. He added that plans for their “Hail of a Sale” event will be announced soon, once insurance claims are processed and inventory assessments are complete.
Meanwhile, Champion Ford’s collision center will begin offering services as soon as Monday. Brubaker encouraged those with hail damage to reach out for repair estimates, noting that their team works closely with several paintless dent repair companies.
“If you’re working through your insurance company, you have a choice where you want to take your vehicle,” he said. “If you want to have us work on it, we’d love to do that for you.”
Though the damage was substantial, Brubaker said the business remains committed to serving customers and working through the challenge one step at a time.
“We’ve done it before,” he said. “We’ll do it again.”
