Stories from the Sales Frontlines

nyccarguy

That's actually one of the most straightforward Lease ads I've ever seen. And a pretty nice deal to boot. I wish more car makers would post honest lease prices. BMW puts a 2500 down payment with 10K miles per year, I've seen ads for local MB dealers that require over $5,000 down (cap cost reduction) for 7500 miler per year leases!

carhag2000

My sales manager came in to work this morning and kept looking at his computer and laughing hysterically. We went to his desk to find out what the commotion was all about and he told us. It seems that he grabbed a bunch of our left over ( 2006) sales brochures and put them up for sale on ebay. Thats funny enough but he put them up last night and has already sold 2 for 9 dollars a piece! He sold one of them to a man who asked if these were the same brochures that you could get free from a dealership! He sent a pretty detailed message back to this guy and ended up selling him one.

PT Barnum was right

ray80

I've seen those also (brochures) and also have wondered why anyone would buy them.

jack47

he grabbed a bunch of our left over ( 2006) sales brochures and put them up for sale on ebay.

Rather unethical, but not surprising. :P

snakeweasel

How is it unethical, he puts it up for sale with a proper description of it and someone buys it. Whats unethical about that?

kyfdx

Especially if he uses the profit to lower the "cost" on those old units!!

carhag2000

Rather unethical, but not surprising
I fail to see how ethics comes in to play. People sell water and its free. I even alluded to a gentleman asking if these were the same brochures that he could get for free at a dealership and my boss told him that yes they were. Maybe the guy wasnt close to a dealer, maybe he appreciated the brochure and the ease of which he could get them.

thenebean

i agree with others...i don't see how it's unethical...its a free market, and more power to you if you can sell something like that.

here's a good question for all...we always find people complaining about ADM markups at dealers for cars that are popular right? what does everyone think with regards to people buying video game systems just to sell on ebay for a profit? anyone think that is unethical? if people buy at the inflated price, its what the market will bear at that moment in time, correct? just thinking...

anyways, along with your comments to the above, salespeople, keep your stories coming!

british - you get your last car needed for the month for that spiff?

-thene

british_rover

Yes and no....

We got more then the necessary sales but do to circumstances beyond our control there is no way we can deliver all of them.

Kit items are on backorder for one vehicle and the customer refuses to take it without the accesories.

One guy had a business emergancy come up and is 1,200 miles away putting out a fire. This guy owns his own financial services company and something bad happend somehwere that requires his hands on attention.

Plus a couple of others have been pushed off because people are out of the country and won't be returning till Saturday/Monday.

Really depressing as we hit the objective but can't get them all over the curb and it won't count unless they are all delivered.

carhag2000

Hey BR,
If you loan me oh, about 120 beacon points I'll come buy one. You dont get charged back do you?

bigdveedubgirl

sometime the paint issue does come up but we tell them as we walk out on the lot, the deal so there is no suprises. Then before we EVEN drive the car, we tell them that they need TTLs down to get the payment. One guy said that they wanted us to do the deal with out having to pay the taxes but that payment!!! WHAT?????????

Ya before we had this deal we had people say, "Well I can get a 3series for $299 a month." A base BMW comes with less and costs more then a A4.

I am really proud of AUDI for stepping up with this special.

The Gross profit for us with this deal is $400 approx. That is a SKINNY deal.

british_rover

I don't do F&I so now I wouldn't and our F&I lady only gets charged back on canceled warranties not finance contracts.

It is sooooooooo frustrating right now I have called everyone who was even somewhat warm over the past six weeks or so and nothing.

They are all out of town, still thinking, can't make a decsion that quickly etc.

I have this one LR3 that was an ex-service loaner. It only has 5,600 miles on it, has every option but navigation and carried a MSRP of $49,450.

To hit our number for this week I would sell that car for...

$34,0000 dollars plus tax and tags.

Don't ask how I can do that I just can and I would but only up untill this evening after that the price goes back up to a more normal 41,000 dollars.

murphydog

Such a deal! Alas, I am on the wrong coast, and not really in the market for a new car right now...all though my wife does have a soft spot for the LR3!

qbrozen

I have a question on deals like that. Is it ONLY for a car equipped that way? Or if someone came in who didn't want quattro or tiptronic be able to get an even better based on that advertised special?

I can just never figure out of a manufacturer is trying to get rid of a model equipped a particular way because they made too many of them or what.

british_rover

I don't think that A4 in the lease special has Quattro does it??

cole

...and someone would still try to get you to knock it down to $32k OTD! (not a car salesperson here, just have some sympathy)

bigdveedubgirl

I have to check on the transmission, but i imagine, yes the payment will be lower. But you know what the spread for quattro and CVT is only 30 bucks, I would so go with the quattro. The residual stays the same regardless of options, for the exception of adding the SLINE package, it reduces it 2%. Audi is just trying to move cars and make a good month of November. The dealer actually picks the equipment, on each vehicle on the lot. For example, In KC everyone wants Bose so they order all the cars with Bose. We do not. Many of our clients want BLUTOOTH so we order a big percentage of them with it. It makes it so we do not sit on 06 models in January of 07. BUT it is not as easy as it seems. Many managers order what they like and what they like might not be what the customers like and you get stuck with wierd crap. IF someone wants wierd crap we order it for them. When I worked for VW at the end of the model year they would send us some wierd colors and equipment and I hated it.

jipster

I fail to see how ethics come into play.

Taking advantage of other peoples stupidity by selling them worthless overpriced crap is unethical in my book. The reference to PT Barnum makes me think your boss played up the brochures as if they were collector items.

bigdveedubgirl

We are having a freeze here so I am just sitting here debating to stay or go.

How many more cars have to go get the bonus. Can't you all just punch one in your NANA'S name????hee hee

snakeweasel

Taking advantage of other peoples stupidity by selling worthless overpriced crap is unethical in my book.

If the person selling is up front in what is being sold I see no issue with ethics. It only becomes unethical when you misrepresent what you are selling.

And it was David Hannum who made the quote not P.T. Barnum.

qbrozen

But you know what the spread for quattro and CVT is only 30 bucks, I would so go with the quattro.

Huh? i don't understand.

Well, according to audi's website, quattro adds $2100 and tiptronic adds another $1200. So that's $3300 of stuff I wouldn't personally want.

anyway, it would have been a nice deal for me back in May. Oh well.

qbrozen

Taking advantage of other peoples stupidity by selling them worthless overpriced crap is unethical in my book.

I don't consider that unethical.

Now, on the other hand, stealing something from your employer and selling it ... hmmmm....

Ok, ok, I'm obviously overstating it by saying "stealing." But I do think we may be creating a grey line there when we take something provided free by our employer and make a profit.

oh ... but wait ... i guess the manufacturer isn't really the employer .... never mind then.

british_rover

Looks like we need one more because of all the people who can't come in to pick up cars today.

This is a spiff from the auto group so all cars have to be paid for in full and all paperwork signed before we can collect it. Just punching one for the manufacurer does not count.

jipster

I would suggest that you look up the definition of what ethics means.

british_rover

I am guessing she means 30 bucks of payment...

qbrozen

OH!!! gotcha.

eh. still not worth it to me. I wouldn't not choose quattro for the cost. I don't want it because it slows me down!

snakeweasel

I know what the definition of ethics. In this situation unless the seller lied or the buyer doesn't have the legal capacity there is nothing unethical here.

tincup47

Manufacturers charge the retailer for the brochures.

bigdveedubgirl

There are alot of hours left in the day. You need to call one of those moochie customers who wanted something that seemed unreasonable then, might be pretty reasonable now. I have had to do that a couple times I hate it.

british_rover

Yeah we are all doing that for the most part. There just isn't anything left out there it seems.

We hardly have anything left to sell as we have sold all of the 2006 Range Rover Sports except for one Supercharged DEMO. We have sold all of the 2006 Range Rovers and haev just gotten our first four 2007 Range Rovers. Most of the 2006 LR3s are sold, I think we have about six fresh no miles 06 MY LR3s to sell, and we just got the first half dozen 2007 MY LR3s.

There isn't much selection right now.

kyfdx

Probably have to get Quattro and Tiptronic to get the highest residual (Quattro for sure.. not sure about TIP). FrontTrak A4s generally have lower residuals.... making them more expensive to lease..

It would be interesting to see if they offered the same lease on the stick-shift, though..

I'll sacrifice a little acceleration to get Audi's Quattro system...

kyfdx

My check is in the mail.. Just go ahead and ship that LR3..

Also.. I'm a little concerned about gas mileage... Can you include a $1000 gas card at that price? Maybe take it out of your spiff? :surprise:

british_rover

That would be the whole spiff :sick:

robr2

But at least you get the pride of accomplishing the goal. For most that would be enough!!

robr2

Hey Brit - LR announced the price of the LR2 at the LA Auto Show to be less than $35K nicely equipped. It'll help volume I'm sure but do you think the clientle it'll draw may not be the "Rover" type?

british_rover

Yeah I got the pricing in yesterday but waited till today to post it. See my LR2 thread for complete details.

Well the thought is that the LR2 should attract new clientel to Land Rovers and help capture some Discvoery Defectors that were put off by the higher price of the LR3.

The LR2 is going to start a little less then a Discovery did in 2004 and a fully loaded one will still be less then a fully loaded Discovery.

The volume will be nice to have as come april Land rover will have four current Model Year vehicles for sale in the US for the first time ever.

The most we ever had before was three when there was the Range Rover, Discovery and Freelander and then three again with the LR3, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.

Our nationwide sales are up by eight and something percent for the year right now. I expect the LR2 to more then double our increase in volume by this time next year. I think a sixteen or more percent increase in volume is not out of the question.

jmonroe

That would be the whole spiff

C'mon, were talking friends here, not mother-in-laws!!!

jmonroe

lrguy44

It is too bad we can't do dealer trades to hit the LRNA LR3 bonus - we are 2 cars away from the max and I'm trying to sell a $51650 car for $39975. Probably doing the same thing you are if VIP means anything to you. Oh well 4 hours to go

explorerx4

if you can't get those sales done this month, at least they will go in the books next month. i know it doesn't help for the bonus.
otoh, props for making the top of the front page over at lln today!

british_rover

Yup the car I was trying to unload was an EX-VIP Loaner as well...

GRRRRRRRR

Yeah I figured I could get some stuff on LLN cause of my inside info ablities.

I have sent stuff to them before but that is the first time they gave me a whole headline.

bigdveedubgirl

So did you all get that one car?????? What time is it there? Where are you anyway?

I think I might have hit the high gross meter.

gogiboy

Carhag--

If your co-worker can get $9 for a "used" 06 brochure what will you dealership be charging for the 07s? What about putting down a deposit to be first to get the 08 brochure before your social climbing neighbor. I sense an untapped revenue stream.

I see plenty of bids for brochures of car models that are no longer available or considered collectible--nostalgia, perhaps? But, brochures for cars that are probably still on the lot? Couldn't a buyer send your dealership a SASE for a free one? I guess now that someone will pay the answer is no.

You've got to love free enterprise at work.

Gogiboy

imidazol97

Imagine how much that dealer could have gotten if they had given the brochure a wax job and put pinstripes on it! And sprayed it with 3M Scotchgard!!! They missed the opportunity to require purchase of a pack to get the item. Not a good salesman... :P

nyccarguy

that's a sweet deal on that LR3. I wish i could help you out!

laurasdada

Now that was funny! Don't forget the extended warranty...

carhag2000

These brochures were being thrown away as we have no more of this product in stock. Sales manager thought " what the heck" and put them on ebay. People started bidding. One customer even asked if it was the same one that he could get for free by coming into a dealership. Sales manager told him that yes it was. Same customer still bought it. Maybe it was worth it to him not to have to deal with a salesman. All I was saying was it amazes me what some people will buy. Having said all of this we are not a " rust & dust" dealership nor do we etch glass or put a myriad of unwanted, overpriced accessories on our car. And we most often will beat Edmunds TMV pricing.

gogiboy

imidazol97--

I think the brochures should be laminated since it would be much more permanent than the average wax and pin stripe job. Financing options should be offered, but wait, maybe the ebay bidder will take advantage of Paypal.

How about commission splits? The dealership already has a CS from the customer in the form of "feedback". Less than 100% on eBay means fewer brochures sent from the manufacturer. Brochures that contain lunch remnants and grease from the salesmen boning-up on new models will be discounted and sold as "dealer demo"

Sorry, I'll stop now.

Gogiboy

gogiboy

Carhag--

I think it's really funny and I certainly don't hold it against your dealership; in fact, it's pretty creative in my opinion. Also, it certainly doesn't rise to the level of "Mop 'n Glo" or "rust & dust". From all your posts you seem like a straight shooter to me.

Maybe the eBay buyer sees the brochures as an investment. As I said there are plenty of people on ebay bidding on old brochures so if he/she hangs on to them for 5-10 years who knows...

I'll never understand the VIN window etch. My insurer offers no discount and I seriously doubt it dissuades any chop shop from taking a vehicle apart. I guess the windows can't be used, although I've never checked to see that the window VIN on our RAV4 matches others inside the vehicle. What would happen if the window VIN didn't match? It could even be an honest mistake.

Gogiboy

carhag2000

I think it's really funny and I certainly don't hold it against your dealership; in fact, it's pretty creative in my opinion
Ehhh fugeddaboutit I get too thin skinned sometimes. It just kills me that the dude asked if it was free and still paid for it. Oh and by the way the cost was 9 dollars PLUS 3.50 shipping. The only way this could be any better is if we convinced the guy to "lease" the brochure for 2 bucks a month for 4 months and then return it in 4 months.

bigdveedubgirl

You have to admit, a nice way to earn a little extra christmas cash.

I have about 12 cases of 2006 Auto show brochures. HMMMM.....

I-Pods for everyone!!!