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A longtime Rochester car dealership has been acquired by a Buffalo firm.
West Herr Automotive Group has purchased Vanderstyne Toyota. The Greece dealership will be renamed West Herr Toyota of Rochester effective May 3. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We are especially excited about the acquisition of Vanderstyne Toyota because of the manner in which this store was operated. The Vanderstyne Family is known throughout the Rochester area as people of integrity, with true compassion for their customers, employees and community,” Scott Bieler, president and CEO of the West Herr Automotive Group, said in a statement. “Our mission will be to carry on the tradition they established. Additionally, we believe in the quality, design and innovation of the future Toyota products.”
Vanderstyne Toyota has operated the dealership for 29 years. This will be the 29th location for West Herr, as well as its fourth Toyota store. The updated, state-of-the-art facility is adjacent to the company’s Ford and Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat stores with several other dealer groups represented in the area as well.
The Toyota dealership was founded by Gerald Vanderstyne Sr., Jay Vanderstyne’s father. The elder Vanderstyne had previously owned Transitowne Dodge in the Buffalo area, as well as Vanderstyne Ford in Rochester.
Jay Vanderstyne took over the dealership in the early 1990s when his father semi-retired. In 1992 he purchased Mt. Read Toyota Volkswagen and the following year moved the dealership to its current location on West Ridge Road.
West Herr has represented Toyota since 2001. With this acquisition, West Herr will have six dealership locations in the Rochester market. Jay Vanderstyne will continue as general manager of the store.
“Joining the West Herr family allows our customers and our team so many more opportunities,” said owner Jay Vanderstyne. “The West Herr family is very respected and shares so many of our philosophies and culture; that we are confident that our customers, employees and community will all greatly benefit from this acquisition. We are very excited about the future, and look forward to serving our very loyal customers and growing our business to include many more.”
West Herr was founded in 1950 and started as a single point Ford dealership in Hamburg, a suburb of Buffalo. It is the largest automotive group in New York state.
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