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

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Messages
1,563
Location
Ankeny, IA
Okay, I'll try to make this short. Currently I am in wireless sales, have been for about 3 years total. I consider myself to be pretty good, almost always #1 or #2 at my location, very rarely miss goals and make very good money (Some in my company are surpassing $60K). My question for any car salesmen in the group is, why shouldn't I do it? Don't get me wrong, the commission only part of it scares me. I have a pretty decent base salary currently, which is nice in slow months. I was at my local Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealer today which really got me thinking about it, just in the fact that I heard at least 4 sales closed in the hour that I was there. Obviously, being in sales, I know thats not always the case. But i wanna really hear what people do and dont like about it. And honestly, if anyone can give me somewhat of a range of what new car dealerships are paying (average), that'd be great. Thanks!
 
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. Those were a few of the reasons I left and returned to my business, there are more. I enjoyed selling cars, it was the [censored] associated with it that made me leave. Maybe in your neck of the woods it's different.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: renegade_987
just in the fact that I heard at least 4 sales closed in the hour that I was there. Obviously, being in sales, I know thats not always the case.


You cannot expect what you see and hear on a Saturday (busiest day of the week) to be indicative of the rest of the week. Those 4 sales were probably among 4 different sales people of a sales staff of about 20 people. Also, you need to consider that when your new, your working hard for customers. All the internet sales, sales calls etc, will go to the more experienced staff (it's how they keep their best staff happy). Then there's a lot of days you'll spend countless hours at the dealership hoping for a customer to keep their appointment, the constant sales games between the customer and the sales manager....the list goes on and on.

For some people it's great. It fits their lifestyle and it works for them. I personally would not want people calling me to rush into the dealership on a "day off" just because my customer has shown up unannounced to do a deal.

Overall it's like running your own business (and the dealership will charge your commissions accordingly for business cards, overhead expenses etc). If you don't place much value on spending time with family, friends and hobbies (like changing your own oil, lol)this could be a very rewarding career
thumbsup2.gif
 
Boy it gets frustrating. Its almost impossible to get paid fair anymore. I used to make 750 a car average when they paid in real numbers. Later worked for a big Capitol Ford dealer. Sold 18 cars...made 3600 (month) No profit on any car...even used cars sold at the highest book NADA Retail...
If you can't make a profit at NADA retail....

I worked at Allen Cadillac in Laguna. The surfing cars dealers...Think its different... LOL
Sold a few year old Elantra with 60k on it...right off the truck from Enterprise (no shop fees) for 15,999. It was a 7000 auction car. Got 200. Told we didn't make a profit.
I was livid and said here is the ad from the dealer down the road asking 11900. Perhaps we need to buy our inventory from him retail so we can make a profit...
Took in a 40k 10 year old buick from an old lady for 500. Asked 4500. Many of us wanted it. It didn't sell. They auctioned it.

Its a corrupt business. You could make a RICO Case... Changing numbers to defraud salesman of commission.

That said you can make 3600 a month. You just have to be there 75 hours. Beats being up on a roof banging nails in 100 degree heat...for me
 
Last edited:
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. Those were a few of the reasons I left and returned to my business, there are more. I enjoyed selling cars, it was the [censored] associated with it that made me leave. Maybe in your neck of the woods it's different.



Exactly. Shop fees on the used cars. At Capitol we had the 600 dollar oil change and they would move cars around the 30 odd lots..each adding a 700 pack...which was why even at NADA retail...its a no profit deal...LOL
 
Originally Posted By: clarkflower
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. Those were a few of the reasons I left and returned to my business, there are more. I enjoyed selling cars, it was the [censored] associated with it that made me leave. Maybe in your neck of the woods it's different.



Exactly. Shop fees on the used cars. At Capitol we had the 600 dollar oil change and they would move cars around the 30 odd lots..each adding a 700 pack...which was why even at NADA retail...its a no profit deal...LOL


LOL I could write a book.
 
Why work for the sake of working? Every car sales guy I have ever known worked Monday through Saturday 80 hours a week. And for what? To meet some impossible sales goal for some rich guys? DO anything else. Seriously.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Why work for the sake of working? Every car sales guy I have ever known worked Monday through Saturday 80 hours a week. And for what? To meet some impossible sales goal for some rich guys? DO anything else. Seriously.


Because as I said in my post you can still make 700- 800 bucks a week in air conditioning
You can’t do that at Walmart or McDonald’s.
 
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.


Reminds me of:
 
I worked in sales for vw and Lexus Ang am GLAD I go t out. Long days dealers don't trust customers and vise versa. Every month the"deals" or perks change. It takes two to three years of starving wages to get a customer base. I was told by seasoned sales people that carmax is a great place to start.
 
Some people have the personality to be in sales, I don't.

For me it's less stressful to have a guaranteed income plus OT when I want to work it, meeting difficult sales goals is something I could never do. Taking time off could end up in lost sales.

No thanks.
 
Most states they are required to pay you minimum wage. Of course if you’re not selling your going to be gone
 
Go try a Heavy Equipment dealer United rental Hertz Sunbelt Rentals..? I sold used cars for 6 months. What everyone says here is true a ton of hours and don't get paid [censored]... At a Heavy Equipment rental place you get paid well and drive around ion a trunk and talk to people.

The owners of these dealers and their LOSER KIDS ... were just to much. OK Little Johnny when you get out of RE Hab for the 3 rd time try and put together a new commission plan for the sales people.
 
Last edited:
What is wireless sales like? How do you do well at it? Do you got for lots of volume or spend time with particular customers who seem like they could be convinced they need more?
I just bought a new car at a small Subaru dealership and it seemed a little dysfunctional, but the one young salesman seemed happy to be there. He was pretty smooth and knew how to run the test drive atleast, and he seemed to be the sales manager's favorite.
I think if you get into the right dealership and be in the top couple guys it might not be that bad if the hours work for you, but with a family it wouldn't be ideal.
 
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.
 
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.


Reminds me of:





I somehow thought that posting a video containing profanity wasn't allowed. Did I miss something?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top