For nearly 40 years BBC Auto in Burien has been known as BBC Dodge, until last month when they terminated the Dodge franchise. BBC Auto remains open for business with a wide variety of used cars.

The agreement to terminate the Dodge franchise by Sept. 28 stated that the Chrysler corporation would take back all of the new 2008 cars on the property, a process that should be completed by late November or early December.

BBC Auto, on Burien's "Auto Row" at First Avenue South and South 148th Street is now operating with a variety of used cars on hand including many well-known domestic and foreign cars. General manager Steve Carlson calls BBC Auto a used car superstore. There are no new cars on site for sale, but there are more used cars on site than ever before with an even greater selection, according to Carlson.

The Dodge termination was the third Seattle area Dodge dealer to be phased out recently, the others being dealerships in Kirkland and Lynnwood, which merged with other local dealers.

Carlson says that BBC Auto is trying to offer many cars between $6,000 and $7,000, mostly fuel economy cars.

He added that a benefit to phasing out Dodge was that the dealership has a relationship with lenders because of their previous experience selling new cars. He says that sets them apart from other dealers because they are able to offer new car financing on used cars.

The decision to terminate Dodge was a business decision that had to do mostly with a struggling economy.

"The economy for new car dealers is very tough," Carlson said.

BBC Dodge was incurring too high of a flooring cost for having the new Dodge's on site. Terminating Dodge means that BBC has reduced their overhead by nearly 60 percent and can sell their used cars for less money, he noted.

The Dodge termination however did mean that nearly 30 employees lost their jobs, the staff was reduced from nearly 40 employees to around 10.

Carlson hopes to see better numbers in business, saying that they are able to take less profit on the cars because they own all their used cars outright.

Right now the market is calling for cars with better gas mileage because of the higher gas prices. Carlson said BBC Auto can better accommodate the needs of the consumer, and do what it takes to get the car they are looking for.

"It's so much easier with used cars because you can follow the trends," Carlson said.