Car salesmen......Talk to me!!!

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: fisher83
The dealerships absolutely will try to short you on your commission. Your work friends will stab you in the back for a $100 commission. The finance office will sell your customers extra junk and then cut the sale price of the vehicle to get the loan financed and keep the stuff they sold your customer. It's a tough business.


Many years I was selling 8-10 cars a month and making 7500 a month. Start off with one customer who doesn't think he can buy...but can. Close him at 400 a month (20,000) on a high mile Jeep Cherokee you paid 10g for at the auction or a year old Taurus rental with a "like invoice" and you just did a 10,000 deal...$2500 on 1 car... but those days are long gone. If you do it now the dealer steals the money from you.

At Capitol a guy sold a GT40 way over sticker to his own customer at 160,000. I think invoice was 80,000. The owner/partner said I can't afford to pay you.... ahhhh.
Of course he could. He has a multi million dollar house.And boats.. He just wasn't going to.
They hate that...New car...no shop fees to hide profit...no trade to hide profit ("we gave too much on the trade")

I saw the exact same deal on a new Nissan GTR (when both were selling over sticker)

 

[Mr Nice]

clarkflower,

How much commission on that GT40 if he was properly paid ?

 

[clarkflower]

If I remember...Invoice was 80,000 and the guy paid 160,000
They paid 25% and 30% if you sold 18+ so 20G or 24G. He was not a big sales guy so I would guess 20G
I could see not paying if it was a house deal but it was a family friend of the salesman who bought the car

We of course had jokes about the 25 and 30%... 25% and 30% of zero is the same thing...why make it more complicated

The pay at that place went way down when Capitol bought it. Maybe cut in 1/2.
I did some numbers...if you hide 1500 in profit on each car ($300 in commission) and (then 06) that place was selling 200 cars a month its $60,000 a month--$720,000 a year in extra cash. That's a lot of money.

 

[Doc8404]

Originally Posted By: GrtArtiste
Originally Posted By: Linctex
I HATE HATE HATE sales jobs (especially cars)

There are ALWAYS way too many other sales folks to compete against...


Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I did it for a few years and was quite good at it. Be prepared to work long hours, weekends, and giving up a day off at the end of the month if you work in a high volume dealership and your boss is a [censored]. Keep good records because the more money you make the more likely they're going to try and screw you with packs, burns, bruises charge backs, etc.

F
Reminds me of:





I somehow thought that posting a video containing profanity wasn't allowed. Did I miss something?


If it bothers you, don’t watch it.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: clarkflower
Most states they are required to pay you minimum wage. Of course if you’re not selling your going to be gone


My state specifically excludes commissioned salespeople, parts people and flat-rate mechanics. Seems the house wins there.

I should sell cars when I'm semi-retired just so I could track the numbers and sue the owner. It would be a long-con troll.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: fisher83
I sold cars for a little over 2 years. My first year I was averaging 8-10 cars a month and only pulled in $27K. That was working 50-60 hours a week selling new Chevrolets. The next year and a half or so I sold used cars and made low $30's. I was young enough at the time that the hours didn't bother me and I didn't need much money to get by. I left that business when we decided to start a family and I wanted a steady income. We had a saying that 10% of the salesmen make 90% of the money and that was pretty much the case in my experience. I'm glad I got to see behind the scenes and learn a lot of the tricks of the trade but overall my impression was that it was a tough way to make a living. You spend countless wasted hours with people that aren't capable of financing the car or that you can't come to agreeable financing terms with. You deal with people with no concept of how financing works whatsoever and then get mad when you can't get them a $20,000 car for $200 a month with zero down and a 550 credit score. You come in on your days off to finish up a deal then get stood up by the customer. The dealerships absolutely will try to short you on your commission. Your work friends will stab you in the back for a $100 commission. The finance office will sell your customers extra junk and then cut the sale price of the vehicle to get the loan financed and keep the stuff they sold your customer. It's a tough business.


That's a nice summary. I remember a couple of times I'd have a customer come in, kick tires and have to come back with their husband or wife. No problem, I'd get a guest sheet give them a card and tell them not to come in on my day off. They'd agree and forget. I'd come in after my day off and see their name on the board, OK no problem I was supposed to get half the deal because I had the guest sheet. Several times the manager would tell me I had the most cars out for the month, so and so only has two so he's keeping the whole deal. I get [censored] off and tell him if so and so knew how to sell a car he wouldn't have only two cars out for the month. Sometimes that would work and I'd get half the deal other times I'd get screwed.

Many other times I'd get charged back 20% of a big repair because the used car I sold came back within 30 days of purchase. [A stupid rule they had for used cars.] They'd charge it back at 20% of retail, and often knock a deal that made me a lot of money back down to the $75 flat commission. One day I see a charge back of $400 for "transmission work" for an Accord I sold. I questioned the manager and he said Mrs. So and So's Accord needed a $2,000 transmission job. Not trusting the lying thief I went into the shop and asked the service writer who happened to be a good guy and liked me. He said Mrs. So and So never came in. I gave them the opportunity to correct, "their mistake" they barked, and I told them I'd call the NYS Department of Labor, and a few news channels to tell them just how they screw the employees and customers. I got paid, packed my bag and went to work for another dealership. I could go on and on, the more you make the more they look to take. It is an industry that rewards top performers by screwing them more. Bottom line is they all suck!

The good news is I know how to buy a car, and what tricks they'll try and play. That has saved me, my family, and friends thousands of dollars.

 

[Rudy1999 250]

DEMARPAINT YOU SUMMED IT UP PERFECT !

its not as much the people who work there as much as the ownership that lets the [censored] go on !

there is a Buick and GMC dealer that i deal with they have the same sales people for years.. like 20-30 they kick [censored] ! they all make good money and there is little turnover ......Funny hire good people and let them make $ What a concept ??? Its Crazy

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Rudy1999 250
DEMARPAINT YOU SUMMED IT UP PERFECT !

its not as much the people who work there as much as the ownership that lets the [censored] go on !

there is a Buick and GMC dealer that i deal with they have the same sales people for years.. like 20-30 they kick [censored] ! they all make good money and there is little turnover ......Funny hire good people and let them make $ What a concept ??? Its Crazy

Thanks. We have a local Ford dealership here that is a small mom and pop operation. They have the same sales people for years and are closed on Sundays, imagine that? Around here that is the rare exception not the norm, but they don't move much metal.

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: Rudy1999 250
DEMARPAINT YOU SUMMED IT UP PERFECT !

the ownership that lets the [censored] go on !

there is a Buick and GMC dealer that i deal with they have the same sales people for years.. like 20-30 they kick [censored] ! they all make good money and there is little turnover ......Funny hire good people and let them make $ What a concept ??? Its Crazy


I think they (the dealers) have decided it's more profitable to have a steady rotating door of kids they don't pay >>..Again...if you hide 1500 in profit on each car ($300 in commission) and (then 06) that place was selling 200 cars a month its $60,000 a month--$720,000 a year in extra cash. That's a lot of money.
And that was 06 a bad year...Now I bet its 1 million 4 in FREE CASH
I think they teach how to screw people at the NADA convention

 

[JTK]

In 2018, being a car salesperson would have to be in my top 5 worst ways to make a living category and I love all that is cars. I feel fortunate having worked in the tech, mechanical, production realm my whole career working life.

I still find it hard to believe that in 2018, we still have such an archaic system in place to purchase a vehicle. What else do you buy, where you have to go through this specific process? I'm not the best at vehicle purchasing, but I've done it dozens of times and have been asked to go with many a family member or friend over the years to help them with the process.

I get it that if you want to be able to trade-in a car towards a new car, you need a place to do it, so why not just leave it at that, service and finance? Let the manufacturer set the price of the new vehicle and you order it from home or a kiosk at a "dealer"?

 

[Mr Nice]

demarpaint,

I'm not surprised the dealership tried to screw you out of your hard earned money.
Some dealerships have a revolving door of new salespeople.

-------

It's better just to have a normal 40 hour a week job with and avoid all the drama and cut throat high pressure environment. Weekends off and paid holidays to be with your family is much better.

 

[MCompact]

I worked as a product specialist at a local dealer; when things were busy I could also sell. I actually enjoyed it, but I wouldn't want to have to make a living doing it.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: JTK
In 2018, being a car salesperson would have to be in my top 5 worst ways to make a living category and I love all that is cars. I feel fortunate having worked in the tech, mechanical, production realm my whole career working life.

I still find it hard to believe that in 2018, we still have such an archaic system in place to purchase a vehicle. What else do you buy, where you have to go through this specific process? I'm not the best at vehicle purchasing, but I've done it dozens of times and have been asked to go with many a family member or friend over the years to help them with the process.

I get it that if you want to be able to trade-in a car towards a new car, you need a place to do it, so why not just leave it at that, service and finance? Let the manufacturer set the price of the new vehicle and you order it from home or a kiosk at a "dealer"?


Well you can kinda say that about the real estate industry too, but sales is all about closing the sale and for high priced items, they're there to close the deal. Saturn had a no haggle policy and see how they went out of business. People seem to like to haggle.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
demarpaint,

I'm not surprised the dealership tried to screw you out of your hard earned money.
Some dealerships have a revolving door of new salespeople.

-------

It's better just to have a normal 40 hour a week job with and avoid all the drama and cut throat high pressure environment. Weekends off and paid holidays to be with your family is much better.


I wasn't surprised either, that's why I watched them like a hawk. I moved a lot of cars, and had no problem hitting bonus quotas which they kept rising and rising. Where I come from good work is rewarded, in car sales I learned it was just the opposite. I saw the revolving door bite them in the [censored] a few times, lost sales with people who couldn't sell an Eskimo a heater. I'd often listen and laugh to myself hearing how they'd blow a deal. A few times I was asked why I didn't help, my reply was it was the sales managers job not mine. The sales managers were typically very high strung, stressed, boozers. No thanks.

You're right a good paying job with normal hours and no drama is much better. That's why I left and went back to my business. I hope this helped the OP make an intelligent decision about selling cars.

 

[MCompact]

I was working at the dealer part time; I liked everyone I worked with, but I got tired of working weekends and holidays. I ended up getting an offer to work part time back in the legal field- which allows me to work out of my home 90% of the time.
Then I got talked into one last political campaign- but that's another story....

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
It's better just to have a normal 40 hour a week job with and avoid all the drama and cut throat high pressure environment. Weekends off and paid holidays to be with your family is much better.


^^This!!

Life's way too short to stress over some dumb job.

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
It's better just to have a normal 40 hour a week job with and avoid all the drama and cut throat high pressure environment. Weekends off and paid holidays to be with your family is much better.


^^This!!

Life's way too short to stress over some dumb job.


I agree, if you can afford it.

 

[Rudy1999 250]

Guys i can tell you what i wish i had gotten into earlier,,,, PLUMBING,, i have a plumber for my apartments. This guy is 36 ? in shape he moves with a quick step clean cut and all he does is quick repairs and drain cleaning. Guy grosses a thousand a day ,,, and he works for himself and does not have a boss telling him stupid stuff. Plus he offers a Cash discont...

think about it.... you call a plumber are you going to shop his price around ? HECK NO

 

[fisher83]

The revolving door of salespeople is common too. The dealership doesn’t care. Since it’s more or less straight commission it doesn’t cost them much to have you there if you aren’t producing. Even the worst salesman will probably sell a couple to family and friends before fizzling out and quitting. Either way, the house wins.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: JTK

I get it that if you want to be able to trade-in a car towards a new car, you need a place to do it, so why not just leave it at that, service and finance? Let the manufacturer set the price of the new vehicle and you order it from home or a kiosk at a "dealer"?


The reason in my state is that it isn't legal.