Laredo-based group buys the entire Valley package

By Gregg Wendorf
Advance News Journal

It can’t be, can it?

Boggus Ford, a name that’s been around the RGV for approximately 90 years, is no longer in business?

Well, actually it is, but the name has changed on the front of the Boggus dealerships in McAllen and Harlingen. It now reads the Sames Auto Group, which is actually Texas’s oldest dealership, based in Laredo.

The dealership rumors started swirling last summer — Boggus Ford was going to sell to some corporate outfit.

The Advance called company CEO Bob Boggus this past August, but he didn’t want to go on the record because all of the paperwork, legal documents, etc., hadn’t yet been finalized, he said. But as far as selling to a national corporation, that rumor wasn’t true, he promised. Instead, Boggus was being sold to another family-owned dealership, one with whom he and his family had had a good working relationship for too many years to count.

Instead, the Boggus Group, with its Ford dealerships in McAllen and Harlingen, and its Lincoln dealership in McAllen, was being sold to the Laredo-based Sames Auto Group, said Bob Boggus, which had had a great working relationship with Boggus Ford for decades.

For its part, Boggus dates back to the 1930s when Henry Ford’s most popular car was the Model B, a two-door sedan that sold new for a whopping $450.

With its latest RGV acquisitions, made official this month, the Sames Auto Group now includes 18 dealerships across the Lone Star State.

In a statement made to the Laredo Morning Times (LMTonline.com) Oct. 14, Henry “Hank” Sames, the Dealer Principal and fourth-generation owner of the group, said, when speaking about the acquisition: “The Boggus and Sames families had been friends for many years. We saw that acquisition as a chance to continue Boggus’ tradition of taking care of customers and employees and being involved in and supporting the local community. We firmly believe in the importance of keeping local businesses under local ownership. Strategic and sustained growth is vital for our organization. We knew it was the right fit when the opportunity arose to acquire this cherished, four-generation, family-owned auto group.”

According to the LMT story, grand opening festivities at the Boggus, now Sames, locations are scheduled to ring in the new year, 2024.

At press time, Bob Boggus was unavailable for comment.