Barry Grouby Motors had a few cars left to sell before it closed.<\/p>\n
But back in the heyday of used car yards, business was cooking for Grouby and more than 40 other similar businesses operating in Rotorua.<\/p>\n
Those were the days when if you wanted to buy a car, you\u2019d shoot down the likes of Lake Rd, Old Taup\u014d Rd or Fairy Springs Rd and go window shopping among the packed car yards.<\/p>\n
The dealer would wander out and have a nice yarn with you about what you\u2019re after, and if you liked the dealer, chances are you\u2019d feel happy signing on the dotted line and buying one of their cars.<\/p>\n
Grouby\u2019s vivacious personality and top-notch chinwagging skills meant he was made for the job.<\/p>\n
Barry Grouby snr (left) does a deal back in the day with Brett Aitken in 1988.<\/p>\n
But he also inherited those skills. His father, Barry Grouby snr, owned the first Barry Grouby Motors on Pukaki St from 1963 to the early 1970s.<\/p>\n
When his marriage ended, he had to sell. Grouby said he and his two young siblings initially went with their mother to Auckland, but she fell on hard times, and the children were at risk of being placed in state care.<\/p>\n
Grouby snr wasn\u2019t having that, so turned around his plans to move to Britain, took his young children back and became a solo father on a benefit \u2013 something that was unusual for men in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI give him credit for that, a guy in that era taking on three kids and going on a benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n
He \u201cscrimped and saved\u201d and sold the odd car from home before heading back to work for Ken Cumner Motors on Fairy Springs Rd.<\/p>\n
Barry Grouby jnr with Barry Grouby snr.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, his son carved out his own career as a car salesman.<\/p>\n
Grouby said he spent 18 years working for fellow long-standing car salesman Geoff Kenny \u2013 including a stint running a caryard for him in Europe.<\/p>\n
He credits Kenny for teaching him a lot about the car-selling game.<\/p>\n
In 2005, Grouby opened his own Barry Grouby Motors on Clayton Rd at Koutu Corner.<\/p>\n
In 20 years, he reckons he\u2019s sold about 5000 cars. While there\u2019s been plenty of happy customers, admittedly, it wasn\u2019t always plain sailing, and he inadvertently sold the odd \u201clemon\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always wanted to do good, honest business, and most of my business was repeat, but cars are mechanical, and you can\u2019t always get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n
He rattled off a few stories about when people had come storming back claiming this and that, some with the common \u201cbuyer\u2019s remorse\u201d. One ended in a punch-up, and another threatened to drive the car through his office.<\/p>\n
He said he had always run his business with his wife, Sharryn, the mother of their three children.<\/p>\n
He recalled one funny story of when a brunette woman wanted to buy a car at the yard.<\/p>\n
She asked who the \u201cblonde\u201d was in the office. When Grouby said it was his wife, the woman went away and came back the next day with blonde hair.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome get the wrong end of the stick … Just because you\u2019re being nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Selling cars was always a good time \u2013 and he loved the adrenaline rush of a sale.<\/p>\n
Grouby said it always made him laugh to sell teenagers their first car.<\/p>\n
The former Ken Cumner Motors in Rotorua, where Barry Grouby’s father, Barry Grouby snr, used to work.<\/p>\n
He reckoned that in most cases the mum and dad were eyeing up the safe and sturdy four-door car on the lot, saying, \u201cLook, Simon, this looks great\u201d, while \u201cSimon\u201d wasn\u2019t really listening and had his eyes fixed on a WRX or a Skyline a couple of cars over.<\/p>\n
Grouby said making a buck in recent years had become too hard, especially trying to import cars from the likes of Japan.<\/p>\n
He said the new \u201dclean car tax”, which applied fees to certain vehicles based on their CO2 emissions to encourage the import of low-emission vehicles in New Zealand, had ended many used-car dealerships.<\/p>\n
Unregulated dealers also hampered businesspeople who did things by the book.<\/p>\n
Barry Grouby volunteering his time for the Rotorua Lakes Coastguard in 2020. Photo \/ Ben Fraser<\/p>\n
Grouby<\/a> spent many years as a Rotorua Lakes Coastguard<\/a> volunteer and president, retiring a few years ago.<\/p>\n Since winding up the car yard just over a month ago, Grouby has made his health a priority. He has turned a favourite pastime \u2013 being on the water \u2013 into a part-time job by working for Solitaire Lodge as a fishing guide.<\/p>\n As he looked back on his career, he said he wouldn\u2019t change a thing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s done me, and Sharryn, really well, raising three boys and paying a mortgage. I\u2019ve really enjoyed dealing with the Rotorua public.\u201d<\/p>\nFormer car salesman Barry Grouby is now making his fishing hobby his job.<\/p>\n