How to Hire and Retain Quality Employees at the Dealership

One of the biggest challenges for dealerships recently has been keeping the dealership staff. In 2023, 55% of dealers say they are still struggling with staffing. With proper staffing, it can be easier to provide the high level of service customers expect from your dealership.

While hiring new employees and retaining existing ones may be difficult, there are some strategies that can be implemented within the dealership to help attract and retain more employees.

How to Compete for Employees at the Dealership

Currently, the national unemployment rate is low. This means that employees have many options when it comes to finding work, and employers need to be more competitive with their hiring strategies.

Many employees with trade skills are taking up jobs with higher pay, while many older employees with years of experience in the industry are entering retirement and leaving the workforce altogether. So what can you do to hire new employees, and what can you do to ensure they stick with you?

Finding New Employees

How is your dealership finding new employees? If people don’t know that your dealership is hiring or what roles they are hiring for, it will be very difficult to fill open positions.

Some excellent platforms to help find new employees include:

Job Boards/Websites: Websites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Monster, and SimplyHired are some of the most popular places candidates look for jobs. You can also post open positions through AutoNews.

Social Media: 82% of the US population is on social media platforms like Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter, making them a great place to advertise open positions.

Employee Referrals: Offer your employees a reward or bonus for referring people they know to open positions. For example, if an employee refers a candidate that gets hired and stays with the dealership for three months, you can reward that employee with $500. This incentives employees to refer people they know will work hard and not quit.

Career Page: Your dealership website should have a place where candidates can find open positions and learn more about the company and the job. They should also be able to submit an online application. With SEO best practices, you can even market your careers page to make it easy for candidates to find you.

Hiring and Retaining Employees

Your dealership needs an employee with the right skills, relevant experience, and a willingness to learn. But how do you get those employees to apply at your dealership, aside from offering a great place to work? And how do you ensure the ones you have don’t leave you for another dealership?

Here are some things you should consider:

Better Pay: There is a lot of competition out there, and let’s face it, pay matters.

Good Benefits: Incentives such as health insurance, wellness benefits, vacation time, and sick time mean a lot to employees.

Employee Rewards Programs: Employee of the month, bonuses, and company culture events.

Quality Training: Help employees grow their skills and show you’re invested in their success.

Company Culture: Establish a positive place to work by bringing people together through a shared sense of goals and ideas.

Company Perks: Providing job perks and incentives can help encourage employees to stay with your department.

Post-Hiring Tips

Once you find a candidate that is a good fit for your dealership, don’t wait! Not only should you stay in contact with the candidate after an interview, but once you’ve decided to hire, you need to act fast. Because you’re competing with other businesses for candidates, time is limited, and they could accept another offer at any time.

Once you've given your offer, make sure your onboarding process is smooth. A good onboarding process can improve retention. Here are some additional tips for a successful onboarding process:

Hold a new employee orientation
Assign a mentor
Give clear expectations and relevant training
Give one-on-one time with their direct manager for scheduled check-ins

Combatting Staffing at the Dealership

A dealership that is properly staffed is able to provide more for its customers. However, if your dealership is facing a staffing shortage, there are many things you can do to help alleviate some of the difficulties. Hiring more employees may mean changing your hiring and retention tactics.

Want to be able to do more with less staff? Download the RevolutionParts guide on how to Combat Staffing in the Parts Department. By focusing on the parts department, your dealership can generate new revenue streams, increase profitability, and provide a better customer experience with less staff.

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And it's not hard to see how that happens.

A special order nobody picks up. A repair that gets canceled. A part that used to sell but hasn't moved in months. Suddenly, you've got money sitting on a shelf, and your manufacturer isn't necessarily taking it back.

Just because nobody in your area needs that part doesn't mean nobody needs it.

AAPEX reports a record 12.94-year vehicle age. That's a lot of replacement parts

According to AAPEX, the average vehicle on the road is now 12.94 years old, and nearly 30% of vehicles are at least 16 years old.

For Parts Departments, that's good news. Older vehicles need more repairs and replacement parts, which means more potential parts sales. It's one reason the automotive aftermarket keeps growing.

Here’s the catch: Plenty of those vehicles aren't showing up in your service drive anymore. Their owners are going to independent shops, fixing things themselves, or shopping online for parts.

That business hasn't disappeared. It's just going somewhere else. Somebody's still selling those customers brakes, sensors, belts, and everything else that wears out. Why not your department?

Independent shops are winning more service business. They still need parts.

An April study from Cox Automotive found that dealership service and parts revenue has grown 33% since 2018, but dealerships' share of service visits dropped from 33% to 29%.

Meanwhile, the number of independent auto repair businesses grew 12%, reaching nearly 299,000.

Dealer fixed ops revenue +33% Since 2018

Dealer share of service visits 33% 29% 2018 to study period

Independent auto repair businesses Nearly 299,000 Up 12% since 2018

For your service department, that's not great news. For your parts department? That's a whole lot of potential wholesale customers.

Those shops have plenty of suppliers to choose from. Competitive pricing, accurate availability, and reliable delivery are what keep them coming back. Nobody wants to chase down a parts order when they've got a car sitting on a lift.

ACA's aftermarket forecast shows there's more parts business to win

According to the Auto Care Association and MEMA, the U.S. light-duty automotive aftermarket was projected to grow 5.2% in 2026.

And a whole lot of that business is happening online. The Auto Care Association projected approximately $44.6 billion in online aftermarket parts sales in 2025, including third-party marketplaces, with continued growth expected through 2030.

5.2% in 2026

$44.6B in online aftermarket parts sales in 2025

Online aftermarket parts sales (billions)

$32.2B

$37.8B

$44.6B

Continued Growth

2023202420252030

That's billions in parts business happening beyond the traditional parts counter.

Your department already has access to genuine OEM parts, supplier relationships, and the expertise to help customers find what they need. The question is whether you're reaching the people shopping for those parts.

A 2026 shopping report shows how parts customers are changing

According to Mintel's 2026 automotive shopping report, nearly half of recent automotive-product buyers have purchased online and would do it again.

And they're not just browsing. They expect accurate fitment, competitive pricing, clear availability, and reliable delivery.

Sound familiar? That's what a good Parts Department already does. The difference is that customers increasingly expect to get it without walking through your doors.

Your dealership has the OEM parts and expertise they're looking for. But if they can't find you online, they're probably buying from someone else.

The biggest story of 2026: There's more parts business out there, but you have to go after it.

Older vehicles, a growing aftermarket, more online shoppers. The demand for parts isn't slowing down.

You already know how to sell parts. The opportunity in 2027 is reaching more customers, keeping more orders, and putting more gross profit on the books.

And you don't have to reinvent your department to do it.

Want to see what's possible? Read how dealerships of all sizes are building profitable online parts operations, and what they've learned along the way.

5 Different Parts Departments. 5 Online Success Stories

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