How long has it been illegal to sell vehicles at a dealership on Sunday in Illinois?
I recall some larger dealers wanting a day off but did not want smaller dealers to remain open selling cars while they closed on Sunday.
Apparently the Big Boys got their chums in Springfield to force all car dealers to take Sunday off.
This must have been before free market capitalism was invented.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/062500050K5-106.htm
Here’s a previous thread on your question: When did blue laws regarding car sales begin in Illinois? (According to that thread, the current law dates back to 1982.)
It isn’t just Illinois; other states have laws against vehicle sales on Sundays. See this Wall Street Journal online article or the Wikipedia page on blue laws.
Why would such a law specifically favor larger dealers over smaller ones?
Sunday car sales are still illegal here in Rhode Island. It is especially vexing, because no part of Rhode Island is very far from another state where cars are sold on Sunday. And those dealers are all set up to handle Rhode Island inspection and registration. So who supports this law? The Rhode Island car dealers, who argue that they need a day off!
http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB122592581001202837.html
As I remember it smaller dealers wanted to remain open Sundays to sell more cars. The larger dealers in a certain big city market wanted to close Sunday so all their employees could take off. The larger car dealers did not want to loose sales to competitors open 7 days a week so they lobbied Springfield to force all dealerships closed on Sundays.
Your State government at work! (for some)
Capitalists whine about big government regulation. Unless it gives them the day off!
Good one!
Can you imagine Wal-Mart, Home Depot and MacDonald’s lobbying for Sunday closing?
Saturday and Sunday have to be the best days for people to shop for cars. It’s absurd that car dealers are closed on Sunday. Close on Monday or Tuesday if you want a day off. I’ve never understood this.
A good effect of this law is one can look at as many cars as one wants in peace on a Sunday. You can get a lot more looking done faster if you’re not constantly hassled by high-pressure salesmen. Note the car(s) you’re interested in, and come back later. This works really well in dealer-dense areas. It’s not quite as helpful for used car lots, since used cars don’t usually have prices stuck in the windows.
Do you really, really believe that? What if a potential customer has a question? What if the customer works six days a week and Sunday is their day off? What if the customer decides they want the car they see and they have to work on Monday? Or, on Monday they decide they really don’t want that car and will wait. How is that good for the dealer?
I think it’s actually the reverse- I think the smaller dealers might benefit more. The smaller ones are the ones more likely to have the owner acting as the manager , and if dealerships are permitted to be open seven days, he’ll have to work all seven. Home Depot will never lobby for Sunday closing, but I’ll bet the local hardware store owner with three counter people would love it if both he and Home Depot had to close on Sunday. He gets a day off, and doesn’t lose business to Home Depot.
The smaller dealer will not HAVE to work 7 days a week.
He will have the option of doing so or hiring his cousin Happy Harry to work for him.
No sales on Sunday laws for anything in the USA are anti free market, anti capitalist, anti consumer and pro stupidity.
They usually favor one group over another so someone is always getting screwed.
Wait! What am I saying? Isn’t this the American way?
R. P. McMurphy- It’s good for me if I feel like doing a little hassle-free window shopping. I couldn’t care less if it’s good for a stealership or not-
I’m not saying I’m in favor of no Sunday sales- I just think it benefits the smaller dealers, not the bigger ones.
Welcome to the 21st Century. You can do your hassle free shopping over the internet. There are all kinds of resources out there with, a little bit of research, can get you the car you want at a fair price. Sorry you don’t have the balls to resist a high pressure salesman.
These days, lack of Sunday sales is an inconvenience to the consumer, not a benefit.
All I said was it was a benefit to me to freely look around at the cars. If you can’t understand how someone might enjoy just browsing the lots unaccosted, oh well. I can deal with the salesmen quite well, but why bother if I don’t have to? Also, a lot can be learned by looking at a real car that you can’t see from pictures on the internet.
Fess up now- you’re a car dealer or salesman, aren’t you?
I served on a Legislative Committee in Minnesota that was reviewing state laws. This was a ‘blue law’ that we tagged for deletion.
Boy, did we get resistance on that! (It eventually got dropped from our recommendations.)
- fundamentalist religious community was opposed, because it was Sunday.
- Employees & unions of automotive workers were opposed, because it was the only day they for sure had off.
- Big auto dealers were opposed, because it would cost them more to be open on Sunday, and they would have to do so because their competitors would be open.
- Small auto dealers were opposed, because the big dealers were sure to be open, so they would have to open also. And it would hurt them more, because they were small, family operations, unlike the big dealers with herds of salespeople.
So pretty much everybody was opposed to this! All for their own free-market capitalism ideas.
I asked this question years ago and the answer came back like this
Car dealers LIKE IT.
As the people on this board told me, car dealers don’t want you to look around a leisurely look at the cars when you’re all rested and calm
They want you to be tired from the day and say “OK enough of this looking crap, I’ll just buy this one.”
It is to a dealer advantage when it comes to negotiations to catch you off guard. Sunday is a relaxing day when you’ll be less apt to fall for “pressure” techniques.
Now whether or not this is so, I don’t know, but that is what was said, to me, when I asked 
I wonder what free market capitalism would be like if anyone practiced it. I have certainly never seen it in action. “Capitalists” only want themselves unregulated; they want their competition fettered. Ever heard of “fair trade” laws and practices. Try to get a discount on an Apple product. Even Costco can’t give that.
I think Sunday laws are asinine to say the least, including this law. I feel that there should be no laws on hours or days of selling anything. To me, Sunday is just another day. I wish the stupid bank was open on Sunday.
What’s wrong with being open 7 days a week? Hire enough staff to cover a 7 day operation. Have part timers to come in on Sunday. Car dealers work on commission. It doesn’t cost the car dealership that much money for extra people.
In Rankin County, Mississippi, all the barber shops are closed on Mondays so that they can have the day off. So don’t go there on Sunday to get your hair cut.
Of course it costs the dealers more to stay open on Sunday. And they wouldn’t make any extra money by staying open on Sunday if nobody else did so either.
Cars aren’t usually an impulse buy. Once a person has decided they need or want to buy a new car, they’re going to buy one whether they can shop for it on Sunday or not. If all the dealerships are open on Sunday, each one probably isn’t going to sell appreciably more cars than if all the dealerships are closed on Sunday, but they’ll have appreciably higher operating costs. So of course such a law is going to be good for the dealers.
You could analyze the situation in terms of Game Theory (see here).
To Capt. Midnight,
Several light years ago, before ATMs and cash back on yer debit card, the University Mall here in Sleepytown had a branch of a local bank that was open on Sunday.
Real tellers and even a manager on site.
Today the local Schnucks Market houses a branch of The Old National Bank open on Sunday.
To me the point of all this is that government should not dictate business hours unless it is a matter of public safety or some other compelling reason.