Car dealerships are having great difficulty nowadays, but I always expect Subaru dealerships in this area to pull through. It’s the unofficial car of the Pacific Northwest and Subaru actually made a profit in 2008. But when we drove past Eastside Subaru this weekend, both their used and new car lots were empty. What happened? Apparently the manufacturers have seized the cars from the Rainier Automotive Group (don’t click, loud music!). So Burien Nissan, Eastside Subaru, and others are operating with no cars to sell on the lot. Service departments remain open, but without cars and financing, the dealers have nothing to bring money in. On the flip side, the owner and execs of a Toyota dealership in Nebraska spirited away 81 of their new cars to sell fraudulently at auction and elsewhere. I can see how manufacturers may be spooked about getting paid for their valuable property.