Car Salesman

Ask a car salesman questions, get insider insights, get the right things to ask, etc.

I'm assuming this shit is pretty standard on Veeky Forums but I figured I'd make a thread.

A little info:
>been selling cars for 3 months, that's it
>I sell ~13/month so far, very strong for a total n00b but not spectacular on the whole
>I sell for a Ford dealership
>normal boards for me are /k/, Veeky Forums, Veeky Forums, and /an/
>I used to do small-batch pharmaceutical QC but I fucking love this job

What do you want to know about how dealerships operate? What seems fishy to you about your last dealership experience? Is something you've encountered a trick or legit?

Let's see where this goes. No trip because I'm a fag for OP but not a total faggot. Pic is my favorite concept car of all time.

Any tips on getting into being a car salesman? My calculus professor was talking about his brother has made over 100k/year since he was 19 by selling cars. I think I'm pretty good at manipulating people.

have you lost your soul yet?

A dealership sold me a used lemon with a third party warranty attached.

Neither the dealer or third party warranty company were going to pay for the replacement engine and they were just going to let the car sit in the back of their parking lot until it got repo'd. This all changed however when I hired an attorney and he left one single voicemail to the dealer. As of right now, my engine in the piece of shit they sold me is being replaced.

Why were they so scared of an attorney? All I want is the fucking car I bought to run, and the $3,000 warranty I paid for, to actually happen but those pricks thought I was just going to let them get by and me do nothing after selling me a broken car.

Show up at a dealership and apply- prove you can sell by selling yourself. It's what I did.

$100k is strong, but I'm on track to hit that so it's not impossible for the inexperienced.

It isn't so much manipulation as angle. Everyone, regardless of who they are, has a customer niche. I love buyers stuck on specific things, the autists. Granted, you'll work all kinds of people. My autists would never support $100k+ but they help.

Have personality, know your product, rehearse how to handle common objections, learn quickly and I mean QUICKLY. Most dealerships don't do a lot of training and kinda throw you into the thick of things.

I will say that my prior employers tried to motivate us with a bar at corporate headquarters, a gym for employees, better food, event tickets, etc. The dealership? It motivates with one and only one thing: money.

>x cars sold in the first week? You get y number of pulls from a hat full of checks signed for $50-$500
>Backend gross doing poorly? You now get 25% of backend now!
>Employees not using the new software? Here's $100 extra for every deal wherein you've kept track and used it
That kind of shit. They KNOW how to motivate you properly: cash to spend on what you want, not bullshit incentives.

My soul remains intact, as does that of even my highest-selling coworkers.

Sadly, this is SOP for a lot of places and the warranties they sell. The people who take your calls and deal with you for any repairs or maintenance are called "Service Writers" and they work on commission on top of a pittance salary.

If they can get you to pay for bullshit instead of having the warranty pay out, more $$$ for them. They'll deny it but it's how most dealership service departments work.

Honestly, you did the right thing to threaten. Some places will do what they're legally obligated to do without question- we're one of those- but a lot will try to fuck you.

My best advice? Your salesman really is your best friend. He's hungry for those good reviews, kudos, and referrals. Call HIM immediately after calling in for service work and ask him to oversee/handle it for you. He'll do it on hopes of referrals from your friends and he'll put pressure on the service department to do things honestly.

>buying a car
>rebates bring the new car down to 16500
>finance manager takes like two or three hours to draw up paperwork
>finally get into office, says my payment will be 450 a fucking month, or $29,000 total
>ask him how the everloving fuck he came up with that number
>ended up fixing the price to normal

Was he trying to pull a fast one on me or was it a genuine mistake?

Do you openly acknowledge that dealerships are a fucking scam that do nothing but add 10k+ to the price of a new car and everyone wants to be able to just buy direct from the manufacturer?

Lol look at this green pea thinking he is ready for this shit. I had 3 co workers have stroke at work. 3rd guy had Asian couple fight with him for 6hours. At the end his face was white and could not walk. Sales managers just told him to go home and sleep it off. Wtf sleep it off !!!
He never came back. Found out he died.
You only worked 3month and want to talk about dealership tips?
You know how it feels to sit on point all day and night with your bros, sharing 99cent burger together? Only to have no ups???
You know how it feels to get lied by customer, promise to show up. You take the car, wash it, park it front of door, keep the key in your pocket scared someone will sell it before you do. Only to find guy never show up ?
Fuck off green pea

>My best advice? Your salesman really is your best friend. He's hungry for those good reviews, kudos, and referrals. Call HIM immediately after calling in for service work and ask him to oversee/handle it for you. He'll do it on hopes of referrals from your friends and he'll put pressure on the service department to do things honestly.
No, salesmen forget you after you sign the papers and leave the lot. You're on your own after that.

When I called the salesman, he directed me to the manager, who then directed me to service, then back to the manager, and then I personally called the warranty provider. After 2 months of the car just fucking sitting, I called a lawyer and got them involved. They were going to get to the bottom of it and I guess that scared the dealer because they didn't want to have corporate find out that a client is having a legal battle with them over a

This is misunderstanding, salesman does not have power or been train to deal with after sale. We are instructed to have closer or manager deal with problems and take all the heat.
Salesman are pawn in this game, we get fucked by both side either way, you don't have to respect the sales but understand that we are just trying to pay our bills

Just wanted to add, when bad reviews are giving it goes to salesman not the management.

Depends on the stealership but that's LIKELY a mistake. I've seen software include a fee in leases that isn't itemized on the buyer's order so the math is fucked up but that was only $500.

In your case, I'd say it's either a monumental mistake (which can and does happen) or a finance manager who saw a credit score or debt-to-income ratio that gave him a chubby and he decided to try to fuck you.

If I had to bet though, given the sheer size of that discrepancy, I would say it's an honest mistake.

Depends on the car. For Shelby GT350's and Raptors... fuck yes we markup literally $10k.

For other shit, dealer holdback is only $1k to as little as $250. Now other shit like side-addenda and whatnot, it's an utter scam. We add the side addendum and "market adjustment" to give us room to negotiate so we can hit you with "all the money plus x" before we hit you with just "all the money"

It's a dance and we all have to do it. That said, the way customers go about negotiating down their prices are absurd and stupid- every bit as much as our own means of rigging it in our favor.

Use the internet, do your homework, and don't behave like a total autist and you'll do well.

That said, the idea of direct buying is a nightmare for dealerships. I'll happily acknowledge it.

My purpose is to be there, be personable, and help the unsure buyer find the right thing. If I make money doing it- awesome, but that's my real purpose.

I've seen buyers WANTING a Platinum F-250 with an off-road and lift kit but got them onto a far more reasonable F-150 Lariat. Literally $20k less worth of truck and it met their needs precisely. Most customers have no fucking clue what they really need from a vehicle. Mind you, my people could have EASILY afforded our $82,000 truck but I got them on one for $55,000. That's really our purpose- to ensure customers don't try to tow a 36 foot camper with a crossover SUV or a tiny bass boat with a F-450 King Ranch.

I don't blame the sales staff for the lemon I was sold, but I blame the dealership for selling it to begin with and then trying to shift the blame on to me when the car started breaking down.

I also blame the salesmen when they say they don't sell junk and end up selling me junk.

I just buy from private sellers personally, better off buying a basically new car with 20k kilometers for up to 20k less than the new price, let some sucker with more money than sense do that in my opinion.

Most sales don't know or don't care.
When we see used car with safety stickers or certified stickers we automatically think they are good to go.
Management are the ones who fucks this up and there was many times I had to face customer who got lemon.
Really sucks and I feel for them but as salesman I am instructed to not say anything

How does your dealership handle customers who get sold lemons?

Do they have to hire a lawyer before your dealership even thinks about making it right?

First ask the dealership if they will honor it, if not don't waste time going back and forth between managers. Ask for GM or owner and let them know you are serious and will pursue legal actions. If they don't bite fuck them, go all out

Again, you talking like green pea. There is more then hold back. Don't believe me ? Go learn to play golf and be friend with finance manager, he might tell you the whole story

topkek

>he doesn't have a customer board game, booze, and banquet night
>he doesn't write off the expense on his taxes
>he doesn't use eBay to generate leads on performance products
>he doesn't have silicon reusable coasters with his contact info at dozens of local bars
>he doesn't troll craigslist "trade" deals
>he doesn't have a written-off incentive program with raffles for free service for customers who refer
>he doesn't have all leads in a spreadsheet he can sort by date, interest, and vehicle of interest tied to web queries to alert on vehicles when they come in
>he doesn't sponsor events
>he doesn't volunteer with the community and use it as an excuse to spread his shit everywhere possible

No wonder you sell 8 cars a month.

You got a shit salesman. Sucks to hear it but they're certainly out there.

If all else fails, threaten and make a huge stink to the manager or GM. If that fails, legally threaten. I've had to help my dad get his warranty honored by calling a dealership's GM for him, calling them bush-league, berating them, and then swinging my dick around by quoting bits of the warranty contract.

Sadly, sometimes it takes that. It SHOULDN'T. You SHOULD be able to call your salesman and let his ass handle it for you- he's SUPPOSED to be your go-to-guy for everything you need.

The salesman who doesn't actively involve himself in OWNERSHIP, rather than just the sale, is a lazy fuck who doesn't merit the job. Almost every other industry worth a damn has the salesman as the primary point of contact and overseer of all customer needs. It was that way for me in Pharma (selling services to biotech firms, not as a rep) and I carry it over into cars. If they don't do the work FOR you then berate them...
>Why the fuck do you have this job if you don't take care of customers?
>Are you here solely to read my ass numbers?
>What the fuck good are you?

>Mind you, my people could have EASILY afforded our $82,000 truck

Where?

Yep that is same mentality I had when I first started. Sorry dude I hit most top sales in all the years I was working.
All the points you are telling me is same shit our manager used to tell us to do. Guess what? You are not the only one.
Take look at the top salesman in your dealership, I am talking about 100k and up guy. Take note you might hit I used to hit every month

I wanted to add, don't buy it to old timers. They will tell you stories about how they made pounder and how 100k a year was green pea number and stuff.
Customers have changed since then, I don't mean to say all this to discourage you, but management are better salesman then you think, when GM has meeting with them it's all about how to fuck over sales

One last one before I go to bed.
Dealerships been trying different pay plan to minimize sales pay out. Dealership in socal (dch) got sued by salesman for not getting paid for all the over time. Can you imagine we getting overtime ? Shit man I can buy few more house with that kind of pay. Due to this lawsuit, dealerships are all changing pay plan.
Soon they will pay you half in hours and half in profit. First 2weeks pay will be just the hours you work. Next pay check will be all the profit from car sales. Now this sounds great and all but think about this let's say you made profit of 5000 front. And last deal of the month was advertised car at 4000 lose to dealership. Guess what you going to take home 20% (or whatever front is in your place) of 1000. In my area all dealerships has changed their pay plan already. Rest will change in time