Marysville Ford’s new lot to open at Smokey Point

“If I had a dollar for every time an employee or customer has asked me when we’d be opening I’d be a billionaire now,” said a smiling, excited Victor Fernandez, owner of the Marysville Ford dealership’s new Smokey Point sales and service headquarters.

The excitement comes from the reality that he’ll be moving his business with its rapidly growing sales from a much smaller building several miles to the south into a state-of-the-art facility off I-5 at Exit 206. His new dealership is expected to open sometime in April.

Sales growth is driving the new lot, Fernandez said.

“When I bought Marysville Ford 10 years ago, it was only selling about 15 cars a month,” he said. “Today we’re selling 200 cars a month.”

The new facility outclasses the present location at 3520 136th St. NE in every way, offering 27 service bays instead of 13 and a Quick Lane service for oil changes without waiting, a drive-through car wash for customers and delivery of new cars to customers inside, out of the rain, as well as dropping cars off inside for service appointments.

“We’ll have a comfortable, enlarged lounge for our customers, including a barista service and pastries,” Fernandez said, “plus a kids’ room with video games while parents are waiting for auto service.”

The new dealership also is designed to minimize environmental impact, providing energy efficient lighting throughout the building and a recycled water system in the car wash.

When the new dealership opens, Fernandez said he plans to add 10 to 15 new employees to his present staff of 75. The site also has room to upgrade as it continues to grow.

His vehicle inventory of new and used cars will increase dramatically at the new site. The older facility at 136th Street NE will continue to operate, re-branded as the Marysville Auto Center, selling only used cars.

Fernandez’s success comes after humble beginnings. He grew up in Colombia and moved to the United States at the age of 18 after graduating from high school. He only had $200 in his wallet.

“I believed what I heard in Colombia, that if I came to America and worked hard I could accomplish anything,” he said.

After arriving, he lived in Florida, New York, California and then Oregon, where he studied business at Salem’s Chemeketa Community College and found a job building cabinets.

One day he was visiting a car dealership and noticed the sales people were ignoring a Hispanic customer who spoke no English but wanted to buy a car.

Fernandez stepped in as a translator for the man, then offered to go with him for a test drive in one of the dealer’s vehicles and ended up making the sale, prompting the dealership to hire him for its sales staff.

For seven years in a row he ranked as the dealership’s top salesman, then moved into management positions with a Chrysler Dodge Mazda dealership for seven years and a Ford Nissan dealership for two years.

He bough Marysville Ford in 2004, becoming the first Washington state auto dealership owned by a first-generation Hispanic.

Fernandez and his wife, Sarah, who provides accounting services have two boys, Anthony and Ethan.

Fernandez also has two daughters from his first marriage, Abigayl and Kylee.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.