Fisher buys Moedl dealership

A big change came to Car Dealer Row along 32nd Street Tuesday morning.

A new sign went up at Karl Moedl's dealership signaling the change in ownership.

The longtime dealership has been bought by Fisher Chevrolet, with the change effective Tuesday, said Joe Fisher Sr., who helped put the deal together on behalf of the Fisher family and is acting as the general manager at the former Karl Moedl Pontiac-Buick-GMC Truck-Hyundai dealership at 1125 E. 32nd St.

He said that Moedl, who has had a car dealership in Yuma for nearly 30 years, is retiring and plans to spend more time with family.

"We bought everything ... the land and the inventory," Fisher said. "It looked like a good opportunity. We've been friends with Karl for years and have a lot of respect for each other."

He said he had purchased the Jeep franchise from Moedl several years ago.

With the acquisition, the Moedl location will now be known as Fisher Hyundai and be dedicated to Hyundai and used cars. The Buicks and GMC trucks from Moedl's lot were being moved to Fisher Chevrolet Tuesday. Pontiac had been discontinued by General Motors as part of that automaker's reorganization.

The acquisition included the currently closed used car lot Moedl had in the Foothills. Fisher said plans are to reopen it in the near future.

Fisher said he brought in his own management team to the former Moedl dealership but that 80 percent of the employees have been retained.

"We want to give the same service Karl has over the years. We're proud to take over from him. He's been a very successful businessman and we intend to uphold his name and quality of service for his customers."

As a first step, Fisher said, all Karl Moedl customers over the years - "and there have been a bunch of them" - are being offered a free oil change at either Fisher Hyundai or Fisher Chevrolet.

According to a previous article in the Yuma Sun, Moedl, a native of Albuquerque, N.M., came to Yuma in late 1981 to open a dealership for Pontiac and Buick. It was originally located next door to the Yuma Sun on Arizona Avenue. Three years later, it moved to the lot on 32nd Street where it has since been located. Moedl added the Hyundai brand in the early 1990s.