Even in Vegas, thou shalt not buy new cars on Sunday

On any given Sunday, you can belly up to a Las Vegas bar and down a few shots of Jägermeister. Or stuff 500 dollar bills into the G-string of a stripper. Or place a $1,000 bet on the Saints to win the Super Bowl.

But what if you’re longing to test drive that powerful 2010 Cadillac CTS or Dodge Ram or to sit in a new Chrysler and feel that smooth Corinthian leather? (I know Chrysler hasn’t built the Cordobas with the mythical “fine Corinthian leather” since the ’80s, but Ricardo Montalban made it sound so luxurious that the image sticks with me.)

Anyway, you can’t get into that new car.

If your plans are to buy yourself a new vehicle, sorry, not today. Not here in Sin City. Kick some tires. Mill around the lot. Check the stickers. Dream. But don’t buy.

You can’t. Never on Sunday.

This is nothing new to those of us who have lived in Southern Nevada for any period of time. But a friend of mine from South Carolina, where last call comes early on Saturday night and the supermarkets’ beer-and-wine sections are roped off like a crime scene on Sundays, was genuinely shocked that a city known for sin has a “blue law.”

We do, and I believe it’s the only one: Dealerships that sell only new cars cannot open for business on Sunday.

What’s the point? he asked. Good question and interesting answer.

Traditionally, blue laws prohibit certain activities on a particular day, typically Sunday, so that families can attend church or simply spend time together. That is part of the reasoning behind county and city ordinances that address car dealers.

For years, there was an unwritten rule among longtime dealerships in the Las Vegas Valley that they wouldn’t sell cars on Sundays. Nobody opened, nobody worried about the competition getting a leg up, and everyone spent time with their families.

Around the turn of the century, new dealerships converged on the state to feast on the city’s booming population, and some of them didn’t give a hoot about the handshake agreement. In 2001, the Clark County Commission passed an ordinance prohibiting dealerships that sell new cars from opening on Sunday. The law doesn’t apply to dealerships that strictly sell used cars, such as CarMax.

One might believe that with the state’s taxable sales on new cars down 36 percent last year, dealers affected by the ordinance might support repealing it to gain another day of potential sales.

Not so, says Wayne Frediani, executive director of Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers.

“Employees have a day off with their families at least once a week,” Frediani said. “It is also good for customers; they can go look at cars (on Sunday) and spend whatever time they want on the lots.”

Neighbors of dealerships, such as the residents who live by the Sahara Avenue lots, appreciate the quiet day without test drives as well, he said.

Frediani said the law was passed when business was “rockin’ and rollin,'” but no one has suggested that opening on Sunday would help the industry during this economic downturn.

“People will go back Monday and buy the car they saw on Sunday,” he said. “Our strong days turn out to be Mondays. We haven’t noticed any drop-off. Taxable sales are down because of the economy.”

In fact, Frediani said, it would cost dealerships more to be open seven days a week.

Frediani at first seemed offended I would even ask about the so-called blue law, insinuating I was pushing for dealers to ditch their families, skip church and sell cars on Sunday. That is certainly not the case.

It’s the irony that in this state, on Sunday, you can go out and test drive your luck and feel whatever you want to feel as long as it’s not the fine Corinthian leather.

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call Adrienne Packer at 702-387-2904, or send an e-mail to roadwarrior@reviewjournal .com. Please include your phone number.