Prestige Auto Corporation marks 36 years and keeps on cruising

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

August 19, 2024

EAU CLAIRE – Dan Mattoon said Prestige Auto Corporation’s spacious 40,000-square-foot property is a far cry from the days he fixed and sold pre-owned automobiles as a college student.

The dealership got its start with a few used cars and a small rented lot.

Business, Mattoon said, has accelerated in the decades since, paving a road to success for Prestige Auto’s franchised Kia and Mitsubishi dealership in Eau Claire.

Prestige has called its current location at 3525 U.S. Hwy. 93 in Eau Claire home since 2013. 

How things started

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student said he juggled fixing cars with school and an avid ski jumping career throughout his college years.

Mattoon said his first few vehicles were run-of-the-mill cars until he realized that “prestigious” cars – like a ’66 Ford Mustang – meant more money for the bottom line.

Given he could only work summers at his part-time job at Menards because of ski training and ski jumping, Mattoon said every dollar earned by fixing and selling cars made a difference.

“I was selling these vehicles and making considerably more than I made working at Menards for $3.93 an hour,” he said. “And I was good at cleaning them, fixing them, all of that.”

Mattoon said he opened his first dealership on Menomonie Street in Eau Claire in 1988, moving and expanding in a new location in a “ramshackle building in the middle of Car Central” in 1990 in Lake Hallie.

It was then, Mattoon said, that he acquired the Kia franchise and began selling new vehicles as well.

Simultaneously, he said his focus in school shifted – transitioning from aspirations of becoming a commercial pilot to pursuing a degree in business management.

Mattoon said his wife, Lisa, has been along for the entire journey, initially working part-time for the business and becoming its full-time controller in 1998.

In 1999, the dealership moved to a location on Highway 93, and in 2000, added a Mitsubishi franchise to the mix.

Mattoon said he moved the dealership to its current location on Highway 93 in 2013. 

“I never thought I’d work in such a beautiful building,” he said. “Every time I enter the building, I can’t believe I work here.”

Prestige Auto employs about 50 full-time employees and four or five part-timers, and Mattoon said the location has proven to be a great spot, right next to the Subaru dealership in town.

Today, Mattoon said business is pretty evenly split between vehicle sales and parts and service.

Sales used to dominate parts and service, but he said the world has changed, and people are keeping their vehicles longer.

“The average age of a car is now 13 years – it’s crept way up there, and that requires more maintenance and upkeep,” the dealer principal and owner said. “It’s educating customers to do the maintenance so they don’t have the big repairs or breakdowns that come when you don’t take care of a car properly.”

Rolling with the times

Many other things have evolved in the industry over the past 36 years as well, and Mattoon said Prestige Auto has stepped up to face or embrace the challenges.

Pre-COVID, he said the dealership usually had about 350-400 vehicles on its property (250 of those pre-owned, and a mix of new Kias and Mitsubishis).

Mattoon said the dealership sold down its new vehicle inventory, which at the time was a struggle to replace due to supply chain issues and other challenges.

That, in turn, he said, amped up the cost of used cars on the market.

“They became priced so high that buying a two-year-old Kia Forte was more money at auction than a new one,” he said. “But it was about inventory.”

Fortunately, Mattoon said production has picked up and Prestige Auto has an increased number of new Mitsubishis and Kias on the ground – with about 100 new cars and 100 pre-owned cars on the lot at any given time.

“It’s definitely picking back up, but it’s still far from what we used to stock,” he said.

The technology in vehicles, Mattoon said, has evolved significantly as well, and manufacturers are producing vehicles that can go 200,000-300,000 miles “without too much of a headache.”

“These automobiles are like driving computers,” he said. “Manufacturers have done a great job of building a superior product.” 

And then there are electric vehicles, something Mattoon said he was first exposed to in 2013 when Mitsubishi predicted electric cars would be the future.

At the time, he said reality proved to hold that back, as the first electric vehicles the dealership secured that were estimated to go 80 miles in one charge didn’t even make it the 12 miles from the dealership to an employee’s home in Chippewa Falls.

“It was the first one, and it was winter(time),” he said. “We were advised not to turn on the heat – only the heated seats – which is a challenge when it’s frigid out there,” he said. “Being up north, it’s harder to run electric cars in the winter.”

Mattoon said he’s watched electric vehicles take several strides forward since then, though he’s not sure most people in the Northwoods are on board with it.

“People still have anxiety and road anxiety about whether they will get stuck somewhere,” he said. “It’s a great idea, but I don’t know if we’re quite ready for it.”

Mattoon said he’s finding the hybrid electric/internal combustion engine (ICE) to be an appealing option for customers.

“It’s a great option right now to move down the path to eliminating our carbon footprint,” he said.

Loyal customer base

Between sales and service/parts, Mattoon said Prestige Auto has a great following of people who keep coming back.

He said folks come from La Crosse, Wausau and Minneapolis – with most customers from about a 100-mile radius of the dealership. 

“We have customers who have bought every car for the last 25 years from us,” he said. 

Mattoon said he credits their honesty, work ethic and fairness with Prestige Auto’s loyal customer base.

“We have a good quality product, and we don’t take shortcuts,” he said. “Plus, we have a great team, with many of the people here for more than 20 years. They know what they need to do – I don’t have to look over their shoulders all the time.”

Mattoon said he attributes growing up on and working on a dairy farm to his strong work ethic and acquiring the tenacity to keep pursuing and growing the business through the years.

Always self-employed, he said he jokes he never had the chance to acquire bad traits from others.

“I just have my honesty and my farmer attitude focused on hard work and keeping my nose to the grindstone while keeping things simple and being fair,” he said.

In the early days, Mattoon said he had to rely on word of mouth and maybe a few ads in the local paper or ad publication.

Over time, he said he began placing print ads in the newspaper, Auto Trader publications and ran a bit of radio.

Mattoon said that shifted to a focus on radio and TV ads.

Today, he said Prestige Auto continues to do radio advertising, but there’s been a big shift to websites and social media to reach customers and potential customers and create top-of-mind brand awareness.

“Everything now is online – from Facebook marketing to Kelley Blue Book – all these digital things,” he said. “For most dealers, that’s what it is and not a lot of TV and radio.” 

Mattoon said customers will find more of his son, Nick, on Prestige Auto’s social media – the only one of the four Mattoon children to follow in their parents’ footsteps.

Mattoon said the plan is for Nick to continue helping to grow the business with an anticipated move into the general manager role in the next five years or so.

A part of the community

Mattoon said Nick – as well as his siblings, Natasha, Nathan and Natalia – are involved when it comes to the Mattoon Family Foundation.

Mattoon said he and Lisa established the foundation about 10 years ago and have continued to contribute dollars to it every year.

 “We’re working with our kids to (be involved in designating the funds in the community) – which will happen in the next year or two,” he said. “We are proud of that and happy to help others because this community built our store and built us up.”

Though the foundation was only created about 10 years ago, Mattoon said his family has been giving back for years – including contributions to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Greater Chippewa Valley, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin and Flying Eagle Ski Club. 

“I try to support most anything that has to do with kids,” he said.

Veterans are also on the receiving end of Prestige Auto’s generosity.

Mattoon said each summer, the dealership commits to donating $100 for every car sold in July to veteran-focused organizations.

This past July, he said the dealership sold 98 cars, so the Mattoons rounded that up to $10,000 to benefit veteran charities.

Since starting the initiative, Mattoon said Prestige Auto has given $154,700 to veteran charities and organizations.

In addition, the dealership’s Mitsubishi showroom floor doubles as an events space for hosting annual events, including its annual Grad’s Good Choice Care Giveaway, Customer Appreciation Party with Veteran Tribute and the Prestige of Art & Community art contest. 

Though Mattoon said he plans to start slowing down regarding the operation of Prestige Auto eventually – he and Lisa aren’t slowing down anytime soon.

The duo manages several Airbnb properties in the Menomonie area, as well as some in Florida.

Mattoon said they also have a big endeavor in Chippewa Valley Outdoors, a recreational vehicle (RV) store off Melby Road in Eau Claire.

In addition, Mattoon said they maintain a huge garden with produce from it often making its way into the service area for guests and employees alike.

And, Mattoon said he continues to officiate ski jumping events all over the world. 

Looking back, Mattoon said it makes him proud to have Prestige Auto in such a great place and in great hands.

“It’s been a great business for us for sure,” he said. “We have been blessed 100%.”