Turner Family Dealerships History

In November 1926, Dean Chaffin founded the Northern Automobile Company in Bozeman, Montana selling new Chevrolet and Buick automobiles, and in doing so launched the Turner family dealerships. With a high school diploma and no automotive experience, Dean's humble beginnings started in a pharmacy working as an assistant to his brother. Dean later began selling Ford automobiles for a local dealer and eventually took a position as a factory representative for Ford Motor Company in North Dakota. When the opportunity for a dealership of his own arose in his native Montana, he jumped at the chance. After World War II, Dean acquired two additional dealerships in Bozeman selling Pontiac, Cadillac and Oldsmobile, and J. I. Case construction equipment. Each of Dean's three sons-in-law was offered an ownership opportunity in his dealership. In the early 1950's, Dean liquidated two of the dealerships but retained Northern Automobile until 1969, when he sold it and retired.

Upon returning from World War II as an Army Air Corps Pilot, Charles Turner was one of the sons-in-law who procured a dealership, Northern Automobile Company from Dean. Charles left the family business in 1954 and moved to Great Falls, Montana to work for a dealership that sold Cadillacs at retail as well as distributing them to other Cadillac dealers. In 1957, he formed a partner ship in an Edsel and Triumph dealership in York, Pennsylvania with a friend and Chevrolet dealer he met in GM Dealer School. Although Edsel was a failure, Charles stayed in Pennsylvania and started a leasing business with his partner. In 1968, he joined with Jim Royer to purchase the Buick dealership in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The dealership became the largest volume Buick dealership in Pennsylvania in the 1990's.

Charles' oldest son Richard Turner purchased a Chevrolet Oldsmobile Cadillac dealership in Montrose, Colorado in 1974 after working for the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors for 10 years. He later added Toyota to the location and today, this dealership is owned and operated by his son Ross Turner.

Charles' youngest son Lee Turner began work at the Buick dealership in Harrisburg in 1982.  He attended NADA Dealer Academy and spent most of his years working in sales of used vehicles.

In 1999, brothers Richard and Lee purchased the Harrisburg Buick dealership and Lee became the Dealer. Then in 2007, Lee purchased the Buick Pontiac GMC dealership in New Holland, Pennsylvania. That same year, Lee sold the Buick dealership in Harrisburg to the Faulkner Family as part of a General Motors realignment initiative. At that time, Lee acquired the Kia Motors Dealership for Harrisburg, located at the former Buick location on Chambers Hill Road,

In 2018, Lee negotiated the purchase of Sutliff Chevrolet from Greg Sutliff who wished to retire. The Turner family was proud to add the well-regarded Chevrolet dealership to its holdings in the Harrisburg area.

Now the "Eastern" Turner family has 3 locations in South Central Pennsylvania offering new Chevrolet cars and trucks, medium-duty Chevrolet trucks, GMC trucks, Buick and Kia automobiles. Four service locations perform all mechanical service as well as heavy-duty truck repairs. There are also two collision repair centers and a paint location that perform complete body and frame repairs.

Throughout its rich, varied history, the Turner family and its nearly 180 employees have been proud to serve their loyal customers and the transportation needs of Central Pennsylvania.