Stories from the Sales Frontlines

audia8q

I promptly applied the stuff to the dashboard of my seven year old Plymouth Fury

That was a pretty stylin' ride... :P

goodcarguy

I am a business manager and internet director and going to relocate to either dallas or austin. Have any of you guys in the business or customers had any experiences with the luxury segment in those areas?

isellhondas

Just because someone "tells" me something in a forum
doesn't mean I read it. It's not like I asked a question and I was expecting an answer.

OK, I believe the product has changed for the better.

I still don't like the look and feel of the stuff.

Rereading my post, I didn't mean to say I ignore YOUR posts, I meant jipster's.

tidester

Just because someone "tells" me something in a forum doesn't mean I read it.

Yeah, but c'mon! 847 misses on the identical issue is a bit much!

(JUST KIDDING!!)

tidester, host

explorerx4

was it a fury I, II, or III?

british_rover

Ok I have been thinking about this STS situation now.

This is my suggestion.

Call up the GM of the dealership your mother bought the car at. Explain the situationi to him and that you are thinking of going lemon law on the vehicle. Check the rules for your state on lemon law first before you do this.

You can ask him if it is possible to do a trade assist instead of a straight buy back or lemon law. If a trade assist is possible then it is the best for all involved.

1. Dealership gets a used vehicle with low miles that they own for a low amount.

2. Caddy gets out of a potential problem car with the least amount of cash out lay.

3. You and Mother GG get a brand new 2007 STS for little if any money up front.

At that point you could try and flip that brand new car either privately, trade it to another dealer for another vehicle, sell it to carmax or just keep it for now.

The key is if the dealership can fix the problem for good. If the service department is not confident they can fix the problem then the GM will be less likely to put his neck on the line for a trade assist. He will just let it go buy back or lemon law.

At the very worst there is a crimped wire somewhere that is causing a voltage drain. This could explain the problems you are having with some of the voice recognition and bluetooth features. A bad wire somewhere could screw all of that up.

Worst case scenario the STS needs part of the wiring harness replaced.

isellhondas

It was a 1967 Fury II. I bought it from a neighbor with 40,000 on it for 700.00. It was that dark turquoise color and it looked just like an undercover cop car.

An excellent car. 318 engine with Torqueflight. I kept it a few years and sold it for about the same as I paid, cracked dash and all!

pch101

Where do you get these waffleweave microfiber towels?

You should be able to get cheap ones at auto parts stores, Costco, etc., but you can get better but more expensive towels through online detailing businesses.

A good microfiber towel will absorb a lot of water quickly, but won't scratch. Combine with proper rinsing (rinse directly from your hose without a spray attachment so that the water beads off of the car -- believe it or not, the car will be easier to dry if you rinse it this way), and you can remove most of the water off of the outside of a regular sized car in about five minutes. Add time to get water out from the door jambs, under the hood and trunk, etc., and to get the small patches that the first drying doesn't take care of.

I'm with the others who are in the anti-Armor All camp. I could be mistaken, but I thought that the problem with Armor All is that it contains silicone, which will dry out plastics over time. Armor All may have been reformulated, but it still has silicone in it, so I avoid it.

For the interior, I use a product called 303, which leaves a matte finish and contains no silicone. I also garage the car and use sun shades whenever possible, in order to keep as much direct light out of the interior as I can. And I dust regularly, as it makes cleaning that much easier.

I don't normally care for Meguiar's products, but I've recently been using this Endurance High Gloss product on the tires. You can apply it so that it isn't all that glossy if you don't want it to be, and so far, I don't see any tire browning or anything like that. Not sure if's the best stuff, but so far, so good.

jmonroe

I've got my own theory. The car has "auto off/auto on" headlights. Setting the lights to go off 30 seconds after "shutdown", the lights will sometimes be on much longer than that and I have to manually shut the lights off (if I remember to check them).

I had this problem with a 95'Bonneville when it was four years old and out of warranty so I just disconnected the connectors on the lights-on control unit. I didn't like this feature anyway, never turned the lights on soon enough to suit me. All that I could adjust on the Bonneville was the time the lights stayed on after the car was shut off.

Your mom's car is still in warranty so it should be fixed but to fix it the service dept. has to want to fix it rather than change batteries. However, like I said in an earlier post a good new battery should be able to hold a charge even if it has been discharged fairly quickly under a heavy load so there is something fishy going on here.

Remember years ago when the choke stuck open on cars, people would crank and crank until the battery went dead and this was a pretty heavy and quick discharge yet batteries that were several years old could be recharged with no problem. Like I said they have to want to fix it.

If the battery is discharging because of a slow drain, this takes a little longer to find but a competent shop can do it. It's hard to believe your mom's car is the only one that has this problem.

So much for the "Cadillac" of the GM brand,

jmonroe

1racefan

"At the very worst there is a crimped wire somewhere that is causing a voltage drain. This could explain the problems you are having with some of the voice recognition and bluetooth features. A bad wire somewhere could screw all of that up."

I agree with the crimped wire explanation. If the car has a rubber sleeve in the front door jamb(s) that holds/shields wires - and possibly a harness too(by the front door hinges), ask the dealer to start by checking those wires.

graphicguy

BR thanks. Don't know what I'll do at this point.

J.....It's getting beyond frustration now. Last night went out to the garage to take the Caddy out since it hasn't been driven in a couple of days. You guessed it....another dead battery. Called the roadside assistance people. After 3.5 hours, they show up and flat bed it to the dealership, yet again. Just spoke to the service manager. He says he's got Cadillac Service HQ involved. Won't be just another new battery. We'll see. I'm getting this mental picture of the shop tearing out the entire interior to find the wire(s) causing the drain....UGH! :sick:

Give Cadillac credit, they delivered an '07 SRX with 11 miles on it for me to use. Don't need it, but they left it anyway. It weighs more obviously, and has a V6. It doesn't have the "jump" the northstar has, but nice, nonetheless. It's got an interior that would shame a comparable Lexus.

Too bad Cadillac can't get their act together when it comes to issues with their cars. They aren't doing themselves any favors with this type of nonsense. In some ways GM is improving. In other ways, it's "business as usual". To me, GM can't act quickly enough to right their ship. I'm sure changes are being made, but this is bordering on ridiculous.

isell....I remember my Father having a Plymouth Fury. I was much too young to remember much of anything about it (except it was green), but I remember him "bragging" about it having a 383 with a Torqueflite tranny. He kept that car for a long, long time. Probably the most satisfied he had been with any car I can remember him driving.

PCH....I won't use Amor-All for the same reasons as isell. I don't know if they've changed their formulas, or not. I like Lexol. Wax? I've been using Zaino for over a decade. Good stuff. Use it in Spring/Summer. But, in the winter time, Collinite offers better protection (I've had one coat of their insulator wax last 8 months) against the harsh winter elements around here.

jmonroe

We'll see. I'm getting this mental picture of the shop tearing out the entire interior to find the wire(s) causing the drain....UGH!

I forgot to mention that I had the same problem with a bad trunk light switch on my first new car (66' Bonneville) that 'fjb323' mentioned in his post 5936. Since then every time I have what appears to be a battery problem I check to see if the trunk light stays on but this has never been the problem again.

Surely the service wizards at the Cadillac Service Dept. have checked for this quick and easy fix. After all they are experts in servicing their products aren't they?

jmonroe

british_rover

I am on fire this month. I just figured out my closing ratio and it is I kid you not FIFTY PERCENT.

I haven't even had any repeats or referal business this month either which is unusual for me. There are probably still half a dozen or so deals hiding out there that I have not uncovered yet.

dreasdad

I worked in dallas with Toyota for 6 years and am now in Austin with Toyota for 3 years. Dallas is a bigger market and at least with Toyota has more fleet offices and true internet departments. Austin is a smaller market and harder to get a good gig with out having to work your way back up from the floor.

graphicguy

BR....hope you have a banner month.

Congrats!

qbrozen

i don't think you want that. you don't want management EXPECTING those kinds of numbers from you. How about i swing on by for a test drive and leave ya with a "beback" statement ... you know, just to shave those numbers a bit for ya.
oh, and its gotta be a supercharged RR.

british_rover

We finaly got our first 2007 MY Range Rovers in today. One Supercharged Range Rover and four Non supercharged models.

The SC Range is already sold of course because they all are sold untill about March.

So yeah you can come down and drive a Range Rover but you can't drive a Superchaged model...

british_rover

VDubGirl could you go here...

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.f0c4860/43

and set these people staight. Lots of questions about some audi dealer adding lots of extra fees onto the price of a Q7. Some of them sound legitmate but some do not.

skierx420

Hey, thats great. Hope its a huge one for yah. Could you send a little luck this way?

british_rover

Thank you much Vdub.

goodcarguy

That's kind of what I was expecting. I am in a huge market right now. I know that dallas is much bigger but austin seems to have less competition and more customers vs. dealerships. I know I can make a good bit of money on the floor but it is just a big adjustment after management. Would you know any guys in the lux segment i.e. mercedes, infiniti, lexus, bmw?

isellhondas

If I had to live in Texas, Austin would definatly be the place. It's a high tech town kinda like Seattle.

grandtotal

Seconded. No doubt about it, a nice city.

dreasdad

I have a guy here that was a GM at Mitsu in Florida and after 5 months here in town looking around he took a job on the floor with us.

goodcarguy

Wow. Is it just that tight and tough to get in or is business just really slow? What's the market like down there? I'm from Texas so I know how the people are but I've never been in a sales environment in that area? Where I am now in the Northeast customers are very tough negotiators and will sell you down the river for $10 a month on a $50,000 car with no remorse. How are the customers and competition there?

bigdveedubgirl

I came from a tough market (so cal) and selling cars in TX (Dallas)is a lot of fun. I work in hi-line and most of the people a pleasure to deal with. There is a few stinkers but that is in any market. The customers who sell me for 100 and beat me down usually have a SS # that starts with a 1. The market is competetive. But on a whole the dealerships are very ethical. (again there are some bad apples.)If you are highline, the Park Place Group and the Sewell groups are very good places to work and they have locations all over the metroplex. Sewell requires a college degree to sell cars at their stores. Park Place pays very well and most stores are high volume. (as far as hi-line go) I would recommend my store but we are almost over staffed.

isellhondas

Where in So.Calif were you?

That is one miserable car market down there!

graphicguy

goodcar.....just curious, are buyers of $50K cars actually "payment buyers"? I would think they'd either be "cash" buyers or lease candidates.

Just a guess, but If they're "payment" buyers, I wouldn't think they'd be good candidates for $50K price points.

bigdveedubgirl

Pasadena.....I had to deal with EVERY culture you could think of. I grew up real quick. We advertised in the Chinese Yellow Pages. It gives me an edge out here where it is not as much of a melting pot. I do a few foreign business professional programs here. But no where near what I did there.

isellhondas

Born and raised in San Pedro and I fully understand.

It's not much different here in the Seattle area.

goodcarguy

That's just it. At my location it's about 70-75% lease customers. Just an example. I had a guy walk out over $5/month on a lease. The car was $51k but the lease was 21months and the payment was negotiated down to 499. he walked out and then we said okay because we needed a deal that day. In total he walked over a total of $105 over the term of the lease. We did the credit app...he makes $850,000 as a partner of a financial services company. It's not that they can't afford it...people like that just don't have any respect for your time.

goodcarguy

I know of those two and they very good reputations. That's an important thing for me. I would work there but my target is really austin. Dallas is my second choice and those groups are top on my list. I've actually talked to a couple of managers there. It's not their fault but they can't honestly put too much effort towards somebody who calls and says they're interested in a job but are halfway across the country! I'm afraid that I'm going to have to just jump in and hope to get a job. My credentials and experience are definitely qualified but if there isn't an opening then I'm screwed.

isellhondas

Most stores will create an opening for the right person.

Either that, or they will dump a low producer to make room.

Given the massive turnover in this business, you won't have a problem finding a job.

kdhspyder

Since there is so much diversity in regions from small markets to large markets, from low volume High-end to high volume full line brands...

What do you consider to be
a. a minimum income that any serious greenpea can make?
b. a normal income for an experienced, conscientious salesperson?
c. a star?

Annual volume / Annual income?

Midsized market in a high volume / low margin store.
a. 70-100 units / $30-40K 'by accident'
b. 130 - 220 units / $50-100K
c. 300 - 500 units / $150-250K

dreasdad

a. 110 units 32,000 yearly

b. 200 units 75,000 yearly

C. 300 units 100,000 Yearly

dreasdad

Here it really seems to be who you know, once you get in you can move around a little but here is not much movement, My GM has been here 11 years, Lead sales manager 10, 2nd 9 and the new guy on the desk has been here 9 years from fllor to Fi now to the desk.

In dallas in 6 years I had 4 GM's and 23 salemanagers come and go.

isellhondas

I've been here 11 years.

Same owner, same GM, same GSM, same UCM.

A lot of stores turn over their entire sales staff in a six month period.

kdhspyder

Same owner but the stores went from...
1 Chevy / 1 Toyota in Nov 1999

to
1 Chevy / 2 Toyota / 2 Hyundai / 1 Acura / 1 Mazda / 1 Subaru / 1 Honda

A couple of the original Managers in the Toyota store have become partners/GM's in the newly acquired stores. The two Toyota stores have tripled/quadrupled in 6 yrs. The first Hyundai store has tripled in one year.

But as a high-volume low margin store we turn over 50% of the sales force every 6 months.

tidester

I didn't think a 70 year old lady would keep up on such things ...

Unfortunately, some stereotypes just won't go away.

tidester, host

dhamilton

of meeting bigveedubgirl at her Audi dealership today. Always fun to meet other Edmunds folks [this was my first time, for the record]

She was very knowledgeable, and friendly, and let me drive, possibly, my wife's next car [Audi Q7]

Here's to meeting more of you car freeks some day. [glass being raised, errrr....beer being raised]

Hopefully I won't be one of her nightmare stories after I grind her down to below invoice.... :P

Just kidding bigveedubgirl, pleasure meeting you..

goodcarguy

I followed up with a manager in austin this evening that I had previously spoke with. I am taking this just like a sale. I can't take the first no and I have to keep following up to keep me in their ear. I think he is warming to the idea of meeting me next month when I head down for the holidays. Last month he said there were no openings, but this month he's "looking forward to meeting me in person". We'll see how it goes.

mac24

As they say, before you sell the product you have to sell yourself. Sounds like you're doing fine.

I'd wish you good luck but I doubt you'll need it.

jmonroe

The customers who sell me for 100 and beat me down usually have a SS # that starts with a 1.

HOLD ON A MINUTE........ mine starts with a "1" and I always thought that meant I was No. 1. Now you're trying to tell me it means something else?

Oooooo, I wish I was there.

jmonroe

jmonroe

Hopefully I won't be one of her nightmare stories after I grind her down to below invoice....

Grind her good then do her for another $100 for me, see post 5989. That ought to learn her about how to talk about the elders that post here.

Thanks,

jmonroe

goodcarguy

...I think she might be thinking of those that start with "9"!

goodcarguy

Thanks. I've always been of that mindset. Let's be honest about it...all of us have our preferences about brands and hopefully we're proud of the product we represent and sell, but the customers really buy US. Most of the time the cars are secondary. These days there are so many awesome car choices available and regardless of what it is people will be satisfied.

british_rover

Well first I will tell you what is about the norm for stores our size...

midsized market low volume/high margin store.

A: 50 - 60 units / $40k-50k
B: 90-110 units / $75K-120k
C: 125-175 units / $175K-250k

The two established salesman we had that moved out of state not long after I started were both in the B range. They both made a bit over 100k a year and had been in car sales for half a dozen years each and with rover for most of that time.

bigdveedubgirl

Oh my goodness! What I meant was Usually people with a 1 or 2 social security number are from the East Coast. And they are tough cookies. I know this my dad was raised in S.West Philly and I have been banned from a few dealerships because of him. Not about age. My bad!

D-Hamilton!!! I will give you Edmunds TMV!!!!!

british_rover

Hmhh I am from Texas and my SS starts with a two.....

jmonroe

Not about age. My bad!

That's more like it.

jmonroe