Jack Holt Truck and Auto closed its Redmond location Tuesday, after just three-and-a-half years of operation, according to its owner Jack Holt.

”It just wasn’t worth the effort,” Holt said. ”There was not enough return to justify it. It took away from one at the expense of the other (dealership).”

Holt said he doesn’t know what will happen with the 16,000 square-foot building he leased at 3399 South Highway 97.

Holt owns another dealership, Murray and Holt Motors on Franklin Avenue in Bend, which had its second best year in sales this year. The Redmond business sold used cars. The Bend business sells new cars such as Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile and GMC.

Holt’s record year was in 2001 when General Motors initiated an incentive campaign that included offers of interest-free financing with its ”Keep America Rolling” advertising campaign. The Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Group, a unit of DaimlerChrysler, quickly followed with their own interest-free financing, making October 2001 the best month in industry history.

The zero-percent financing deals and aggressive ad campaigns offering cash back has changed the car business, Holt said. Established in 1958, Murray and Holt Motors sold more used cars for the majority of years it has been in business, he said. Only recently, has there been a string of exceptionally good sales years in new cars.

”The new car business has been the best ever,” Holt said. ”But our used-car business has suffered, and now that’s difficult.”

A mile north of Holt’s Redmond location is Wright Ford, which has been around for 40 years and has not fared well this year. Its sales are 10 percent down from last year, said David Wright, salesman at Wright Ford. Sales in 2001 were already off 5-10 percent from its ”normal year” in 2000, he said.

”It’s up and down, month to month and still sporadic since 9/11,” Wright said. Wright Ford sells new and used trucks, he said. ”I think it’ll remain spotty for the next year on.”

Nationally, October 2002 was the industry’s worst sales month in more than four years. Though sales recovered somewhat in November, they were still off 13 percent from robust levels of November 2001.

”In bad times, people fix their cars and buy used cars,” said Scott Adkisson, who recently purchased Ron McDonald Chevrolet in October. ”Our sales reflect that. We’re selling more used cars than new cars, about 20 percent new and 80 percent used.”

Adkisson said his business is up about 3 percent so far in 2002 compared with last year. ”There’s a lot of people getting laid off,” he said. ”They’re not buying cars.”

Monica Lee can be reached mlee@bendbulletin.com.