PHOTO / TINA FISCHER
Adam Arens is the owner of the Patriot Acura dealership in Scarborough.
July 2, 2025
New Patriot Acura dealership in Scarborough built on relationships — and persistence
COURTESY PATRIOT ACURA
The new Patriot Acura dealership in Scarborough is 22,000 square feet.
Due in large part to the pandemic, Maine’s first Acura dealership, now open in Scarborough, took close to six years to bring to fruition, at a cost of $15 million.
But it’s now a fully operational facility and, at 22,000 square feet, is one of the largest Acura dealerships in the U.S.
Patriot Acura owner Adam Arens, who also owns Patriot Subaru in Saco, began searching for property for the new facility in 2018, with a focus on the U.S. Route 1 corridor, from Falmouth south, as well as the Westbrook area.
“Large parcels of undeveloped land are hard to find,” Arens told Mainebiz when we toured the new Scarborough facility recently. “And most are owned generationally, so there’s often little interest in selling.”
The 15-acre property at 101 Haigis Parkway that Arens finally purchased in 2019 was owned by a customer at his Saco Subaru dealership, a fortunate coincidence.
The search for land turned out to be the easy part of the process, however. The project required a zoning change to allow for “outdoor sales” and the land needed specialized fill to create a stable building platform, necessitating a costly and time-consuming fix. Then COVID hit and construction slowed.
But because Arens believes that “almost nothing is impossible,” the project finally came together and the showroom opened last fall — to the challenge of procuring inventory following post-pandemic production lags.
“We flourish in crisis,” he said. “You learn to pivot, and we figured it out.”
The chaos of COVID in fact eventually had an upside for Arens’ businesses, in that some of the tens of thousands of new residents who moved here were carless city dwellers who now needed an automobile.
His new dealership feels expansive with its modern design and soaring ceilings. But Arens' team has focused on making it feel inviting and comfortable for customers.
Hi-tech features
There is a living-room style waiting area, two enormous flat screen television panels for entertainment — one covering an entire wall — a large computer desk to accommodate multiple guests, and a host of offices for private sales conversations.
One of the most impressive features of the building though, beyond the remarkably expansive and almost gleaming service area, might be the state-of-the-art, floor-to-ceiling scanning device at the service entrance.
The UVeye scanning tool, developed in 2016 and now used by 500 dealerships, can within minutes detect every detail of a vehicle that drives through it, so that both technicians and customers can determine necessary repairs as well as issues that could affect trade-in value.
COURTESY PATRIOT ACURA
The UVeye scanning tool detects all imperfections in a vehicle.
Arens said the technology was developed for use at border crossings in Israel.
A full report of the scan is sent directly to a customer’s phone and to six-by-two-foot portable display screens in the showroom.
This reporter could not help but be awed, if dismayed, at the 63 issues identified in the scan of her car. Ouch.
Beyond the impressive amenities of the building, Arens and manager David Shoemaker say customers can expect a very different sales experience than they may have had at other dealerships. Staff are trained to not push a purchase, but instead to create a relationship that serves the customer in the long-term.
“Our mission statement is ‘to serve’,” Arens explained. “And that is a beacon for us. It’s simple and every member of our team knows it.”
Arens said he hires for "aptitude and attitude,” and prefers to train rather than bring in staff whose skills were bred at other dealerships. “We look for energy, enthusiasm, trustworthiness, friendliness and a motor that runs higher than usual.”
More than half of the team members at his three properties, which include a Patriot Subaru in North Attleboro, Mass., have been with Arens for 10 years or longer.
Acura is Honda’s higher-end, “near-luxury line,” as Arens describes it. The cars are made in the U.S., at four Ohio plants, using some imported Japanese components.
Tariffs have not yet caused price increases for Acura customers, Arens said, at least for 2025 models. Fear of price jumps in fact boosted sales in the month of April, to 60 to 65 vehicles. Since then Arens has seen fairly steady monthly sales of 45 to 55 cars, though June sales were a bit softer.
The new dealership draws from all over the state. The nearest Acura dealer is in Portsmouth, N.H.
Despite the extended process of getting the project completed, Arens is delighted with the building and the high visibility location. The dealership sits on the intersection of Haigis Parkway and Payne Road, just off the turnpike and near the Downs development and a number of destination retail businesses, including Costco.
The car business is good enough that Arens foresees expanding his Patriot Subaru dealership on U.S. Route 1 in Saco, for what would be the fifth time. That shop sells more Subarus than any other dealership in New England, Arens said, about 2000 new and 2000 used cars (a mix of brands) annually, and registers in the top 25 Subaru dealerships across the country for sales and service numbers.
The construction team on the Acura dealership included site work by Gorham-based R.J. Grondin & Sons, and the build was orchestrated by Jewett Construction Co.’s Fremont, N.H., office.
Mainebiz web partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments