About Gerry's Used Cars

A Little of Our History

Gerry’s Used Cars was started by Gerald and Barbara Marshall in 1989 on a back road in Palmyra, Maine. They opened the business as a way to support their own family, with a goal to help the hard working people who could not afford a new vehicle. Initially, it was just the two of them. They started on a shoestring budget purchasing vehicles, repairing them for sale, and selling them for a small down payment with weekly payments. Gerry focused on sales, while Barbara did the paperwork. It was not long before they needed to add a mechanic, and then another. There are now four full time mechanics on site. They found their business taking off and they hired their oldest daughter, Cheryl, to help with the paperwork. In early 1992, they opened their second location in Veazie, Maine. Gerry’s brother, Larry, and his wife, Faye, would run the location for them. When Larry and Faye decided to move to Georgia, Gerry’s daughter, Alisha, took over that location. Shortly thereafter, they opened a third location in Oakland, Maine. They hired their daughter, Shelley, to run that location. As they continued to grow, another location was added in Hancock. The Hancock location was closed due to the distance from the main location and being able to service their customers properly. Their son, Skip, while living out of state would come home and do the repossessing, when necessary, for them.

In 1996, Gerry’s Used Cars had outgrown its location at their home in Palmyra, so they purchased the current location in Corinna. This move allowed them to expand and improve their services. Over the years Gerry’s has looked for ways to improve their ability to finance customers while still keeping their down-payments and weekly payments at a minimum. In January 2003, Gerry’s Used Cars moved to the current location on Pleasant Street in Oakland. In 2007 they were looking to slow down a bit. But, That was until their daughter, Tiffany, asked to come into the business. They looked around and settled on Madison Avenue in Skowhegan. The newest location opened in October 2007. In January 2008, Gerry came up with the idea of an extended in-house warranty. This idea was one that helped set his business apart from others of a similar nature.

At some point all 5 of their children, many grandchildren, and other family members have worked in the business. Gerry’s Used Cars currently has four mechanics, a niece Rose (Veazie manager), a granddaughter Kalgari (Skowhegan Manager), a Grandson Justin (Oakland manager), and a Grandson Chad in Corinna. As you can see we have lots of family still in the business.

In 2015, we unexpectedly lost Gerry, our anchor and mentor. Since then we’ve had a whole lot of learning to do, and hopefully we are now on the right road.

As of March 2018 Barbara sold the business to their oldest daughter, Cheryl, and her husband, Kim. Cheryl, who has spent many years learning from them, had also left the family business for a while to work at another dealership. Gerry always said that it was the best thing she could have done and it was a really good way to learn about the car business. So now she has over 25 years in the car business. Joining her in this adventure is her husband, Kim, who has been in the used parts business for 30 years. Together they hope they can grow and be around another 30 years.

So with a few changes (hopefully for the better), they expect to keep things running the same. Our goal is to help people get into a vehicle they can afford. Gerry always said "we wouldn't put you in a vehicle we wouldn’t put our own family in." Cheryl and Kim will always strive for that.