Car dealerships are like your favorite brother or sister — they let you play with their toys.

There are the cars, of course, but increasingly visiting a dealership for purchase or service is a multi-sensual, multimedia experience.

Espresso, laptop use and modem connections, soda shops, and children’s play areas are just the beginning. Valet parking? Not yet.

Such “perks” start to scratch the dust away from those 1992 copies of “Car and Driver” when waiting for the prognosis on the future of your ride. Customer service ideas like these show that the competition for car-buying dollars continues its fierce tradition and that “perks” are becoming standard.

“It’s hit or miss in a way,” said John Dionas, president and CEO of Peninsula Subaru in Gorst. “You try. There’s tons of ideas, you just have to figure out what’s right for your customers.”

Many of the ideas are more than candy. They mean savings of time, stress and money. Free oil changes for life, shuttle service, and car delivery have become standard operating procedure at Peninsula Subaru and other dealerships.

Dealerships are spending money to save customers’ money. Internet connections in some cases are being retrofitted throughout dealership buildings. With new buildings, they are as natural as doors.

The industry within the auto sales industry is one that examines the best ways to create repeat customers. It may start with price, but dealerships, if they do their jobs right, will deal with the health of the cars they sell for the lifetime of the vehicle.

“Time spent finding out what customers want is time spent creating loyalty,” said Michael Gould, with Haselwood Buick Pontiac GMC Truck. “We want people to feel that they are not wasting their time, and to get business done if they need to.”

Cars, SUVS and trucks are meant to get people from point A to point B. Buying a car shouldn’t be a pit stop.