Stories from the Sales Frontlines

tjc78

I'm going to the game on Wednesday night.

What do you think of the new Yankee stadium? It's a nice place, but I was expecting "more" considering what it cost.

Enjoy the game and have some garlic fries for me.

Kirstie_H

qbrozen is our new featured member:
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f2638b8/

verdugo

I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. I can't even imagine what you're going through right now. The only thing I can say is that we're here for you.

verdugo

Doesn't a German company own Bugatti now or is it a French company?

Volkswagen owns Bugatti. VW also owns Lamborghini, Ducati, Porsche, and Bentley.

So driver's Passat has some good genes. :P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group#Subsidiaries_and_marques

graphicguy

Craig....you and I would have formed one of those repeat customer/advisor relationships. IT would have worked well.

tjc78

Thanks, Verdugo. It's been a tough few weeks. The wedding has been a welcome diversion, but that also has its share of stress.

isellhondas

I agree. We would have had an easy and fun transaction.

abacomike

...new car sales, used car sales, and service are treated as three different business units...

Each dealership operates a little differently in terms of departmentalization, however most owners "demand" that each department support the other. In terms of the service departments, they definitely are separated from other dealer operations, not by choice, but by the dealership franchise agreement with the manufacturer.

Service and parts are under one umbrella and frequently one manager or director. If the dealership has a body shop, that is also operated under a separate umbrella. In most dealerships, new and used car sales are under the auspices of the general sales manager. But all departments report to the general manager of the dealership.

Parts are reimbursed by sales and the body shop at near cost with a 10 or 20 percent mark-up. Service charges sales and the body shop an hourly rate based upon the actual cost if labor + 10%.

This is how it worked in the dealerships I was associated with.

explorerx4

Before we went to the last dealer, where I bought my Explorer, I called to talk to the salesman I bought from, but he wasn't working there anymore.
I found a couple of other candidates, so maybe we will take a ride on Saturday to check them out, since my nephew's football team has an off week.

oldfarmer50

"...you can't HATE the Yankees..."

Perhaps hate is too strong a word but don't trust 'em, I'm warning you. They'll break your heart.

driver100

W also owns Lamborghini, Ducati, Porsche, and Bentley.
So driver's Passat has some good genes.

Wow! good to know.

How about my wife's new Audi...does it have good genes too?

driver100

This is how it worked in the dealerships I was associated with.

Thanks for the info Mike...I was always curious about how that worked.

stickguy

No, hate is a perfectly acceptable word for that application.

abacomike

I was always curious about how that worked

Unless you were in the management of a new car dealership, it would be difficult to know or understand its inner-workings.

I saw an ad on the website of my dealership where they advertised that an oil change with Mobil 1 "M" and a filter is on sale right now for $89.95. That is an outstanding price for a Mercedes dealership. But that is all they do. In 9300 miles (I'm showing miles now instead of days on my service menu) it says an "A" service is due. That service normally costs $359.00 and includes oil change, filter change, air filters, windshield wiper replacement, interior fresh air filters, tire rotation (which I can't have done due to different sized rear and front tires), brake inspection, etc.

I am covered for the first two A services as part of my deal with them. With Mobil 1, 10,000 miles is just about right for an oil change.

nyccarguy

I actually think the new stadium is a wonderful place to watch a ball game. I love it. You never miss a second of the action if you get up out of your seat. That being said, the new place is different. The old stadium used to literally shake when the crowd cheered during big games. It was an intimidating place for opposing players & fans of their teams. The new stadium is kinda sterile in that respect.

ken117

Wow, some people truly believe they get facts from Fox News! In reality, all so-called news sources skew the facts in some fashion. Fox News is no different.

MSNBC is certainly skewed toward the progressive side of things. Of course, many on the "right" often equate progress with socialism. Actually, that is not totally wrong as evolution, which is progress, actually leads to a more social view of things.

I do find the folks at MSNBC much more researched than those at Fox, particularly Maddow.

bwia

A little off topic but very appropriate for this thread since so many here drive expensive foreign brands. And to own these high price sedans takes serious money that only trust fund babies and those earning high salaries can afford. Ergo.

For the educators on this thread and for those of us who did not graduate from one of the Ivy League schools take heart. Surprisingly, (with the exception of Princeton) the Ivy's grads were not at the top of the highest starting salaries nor were they at mid-career. Very interesting.

According to CNN Money, Princeton was ranked #1 but Harvard was tied with Dartmouth and Colgate at #13. The best deals out there seem to be the Military Academies with the highest starting salaries with free tuition to book. Read more and comment.
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/college/2012/09/27/colleges-highest-paid-graduat- - - es/index.html

robr2

Keep in mind that many Ivy League schools offer very broad study areas that are geared more to those going onto graduate school. A WSJ article last year noted that many recruiters avoid Ivy grads as many of them leave within 3-5 years to return to graduate school.

Unfortunately any of the schools outside of the military academies will set one back $200K plus over 4 years.

BTW - when the article notes that military academy grads earn $70K at graduation are they talking about their 2nd Lt pay or what they get after their 4 years of military service?

isellhondas

Why didn't you just say Ultra Liberal rather than progressive.

Bill O' Reilley tells it like it really is!

abacomike

Fox News is no different.

If you read my post carefully, you will come to the conclusion that I have no argument with your comment about "skewed" news. But after watching ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, HLN and FOX for many, many years, I have found FOX "newscasters" (not their commentators) to be less biased than all the others.

I do not consider Hannity, Maddow, Schultz, O'Donnell, Cavuto, or O'Reilly to be "news" deliverers - they are commentators, pure and simple.

I am talking about daily news - events happening now - reporting of those events from "both" sides of the political spectrum. If you watch Brett Baier, his panel at the end of the show is made up of conservatives, independents and democrats. The same is true for Chris Wallace and his Sunday show. You never see that on MSNBC.

In conclusion, I am merely stating an opinion of mine that I get more accurate "news" reporting from FOX than I do the others.

abacomike

Bill O' Reilley tells it like it really is!

I do not agree with your statement completey because Bill O'Reilly leans to the conservative right. I admit that he has guests who are from both sides of the political spectrum, but he ends up "cutting off" their comments or "yelling at them" if he doesn't agree with them. He is a "commentator", not a deliverer of "news"!

His "commentaries" on increasing taxes are so obviously prejudiced - "...if I have to pay more in taxes, I'm not going to invest in the market any more..."! His "the spin stops here" is fairly accurate, however he is not an unbiased individual.

As for your comment on "ultra liberal", only MSNBC fits that category while the other TV and Cable news outlets are progressive with the exception of FOX.

nyccarguy

If there are any marketing companies out there, this is the post to watch. Of course the results don't mean a whole helluva lot because we're all confessed cheapskates in one way or another.

I jotted down results from 18 posters. I might have missed some or some of you may have opted to not respond.

We have 57 cars between us. An average of 3.17 cars each.

6 have 4 cars
5 have 2 cars
3 have 3 cars
2 have 1 car (dino & mike)
1 has 5 cars (old farmer)
1 has 6 cars (roadburner)

6 of us with multiple cars have 2 or more of the same make.

Fezo's Accord has the most miles on it @ 259,000 miles
Stickguy's RDX has the least
Mike will probably have a new car by the time I finish this post

Here's the breakdown by make:
7 - BMW
6 - Chevrolet
5 - Honda
4 - Hyundai
3 - Volvo, Toyota, Mazda
2 - Acura, Chrysler, Cadillac, GMC, Buick, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Lexus
1 - Audi, Volkswagen, Jeep, Pontiac, Mini, Saturn, Subaru

robr2

I have found FOX "newscasters" (not their commentators) to be less biased than all the others.

And IIRC from an article I read a couple of years ago, Fox executives have pretty much said that other than 3-5 hours of news a week, the rest of their shows are commentaries.

I find it disingenuous that they even try to promote "Fair and Balanced" and "We Report, You Decide" when they only do 3-5 hours a week of actual news.

mako1a

What am I, chopped liver? 2013 Mustang GT with 780 miles.

I was about the 4th to post on the "what's in YOUR garage?"

OK, I see Ford in there now (might be the Mustang). sorry

abacomike

I find it disingenuous that they even try to promote "Fair and Balanced" and "We Report, You Decide" when they only do 3-5 hours a week of actual news.

How can you say, or anyone else, that they broadcast only 3-5 hours of news each "week" when:

Sheppard Smith - 2 hours a day
Brett Baier - 5 hours a week
Bill Hemmer - 10 hours a week

Additionally, the above does not include weekend news broadcasts.

You need to get your facts straight!

Kirstie_H

Don't know if my vehicles are in there - one Ford, one Chrysler, one Chevy.

mako1a

Kirstie, I think you had an Infinity G35 that got in an accident. Not replaced?

We need a list by Make, Model, Mileage for each Poster. Is there a program for that?

houdini1

Mike, I think you have the "news" down pat. I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment.

Kirstie_H

Yup, the G35 got totaled. Replaced it with a Ford Escape.

There may be a program out there somewhere in the internet universe, but nothing like that here. The only thing we could do is have a separate discussion, but the "garage" discussion already covers that, and who knows who would post there... maybe some (*gasp*) outsiders.

nyccarguy

I got you. 1 Ford Mustang & 1 GMC.

abacomike

Mike will probably have a new car by the time I finish this post

Come on, *nyccarguy, I'm bad but not "that" bad! I had the Lexus almost 5 months and the 2012 Mercedes for 6 months. Good grief, I put 3700 miles on the Lexus and 5500 miles on the Mercedes.

It's tough keeping up with *driver and the rest of you guys who have "multiple" wheels.

driver100

We have 57 cars between us. An average of 3.17 cars each.

Great survey. I didn't think you would actually study those figures and give us a nice breakdown. Very informative and interesting.

Don't worry about mako, we aren't counting Mustangs as real cars for this survey

abacomike

Mike, I think you have the "news" down pat. I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment.

Thanks, *houdini. I have the same opinion of many newspapers. For the most part, the NY Times and the Washington Post are extremely biased in favor of democrats and progressives. The Chicago papers are the same, for obvious reasons - Rom Emanuel and the rest of the Chicago machine politics group including Obama.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to find an Independent and unbiased daily news publication. Time and Newsweek and US News and World Report are leftist publications as well. If you are an Independent like me, it is impossible to find the truth in all the news media.

Very frustrating, to say the least.

mako1a

we aren't counting Mustangs as real cars for this survey

That's because it's UNREAL how much power, handling and style it has.

fezo

This is depressing. The group owns 3 Toyotas. All three are mine!

abacomike

This is depressing. The group owns 3 Toyotas. All three are mine!

*mako, perhaps they are trying to send you a "subliminal" message, but you haven't gotten it yet!

mako1a

Don't worry, fezo. At least we don't have to get rid of ours after the warranty

expires plus we probably have the best resale values of them all.

bwia

Unfortunately any of the schools outside of the military academies will set one back $200K plus over 4 years.

Rob, $200K is a bargain for a private college education these days. I know several undergraduates, only in their junior year, and already are saddled with over $100K in student loans. With that much debt how can a college graduate ever afford a new car? Then again, one can always find a good used car for $5K or less.

Speaking of students loans, if you think the mortgage debacle was bad it won't be long before the $1 trillion student debt load come crashing down.

driver100

One minute video of a Road Rage incident. The windows in the car on the right are down.
1 Minute Road Rage incident - Russia is worse than Florida

abacomike

One minute video of a Road Rage incident. The windows in the car on the right are down

When I was living in Palm Desert, CA, I remember coming to a stop at a traffic light. I was in the left lane and this women was in the right lane. Someone behind her in the right lane began blowing his horn because she was not making a right turn on a red light. He kept blowing his horn so the woman got out of hear car and refused to move her car. This guy gets out of his car, walks forward and slap the woman across her face. She starts screaming and gets back into her car, puts the gear selector into reverse and floors the accelerator. She crashes her car into the front of this guy's Mercedes, puts it into drive and goes forward about 10 feet, then puts it into reverse and smashes his car again. She did this 4 times. She then gets out of her car brandishing a metal baseball bat and starts to go after this guy. This guy runs for his life but she catches upto him and slugs him time after time - his head was gushing blood.

While this is going on, no one in my lane moved an inch, all of us waiting for this attack to stop. Finally, after about 5 minutes, three police cars arrive from the opposite direction a pull their gins and warned the lady to stop. After she stopped, the ambulance arrived to take this guy to the hospital.

We had to pull our cars off the road and each of us who witnessed what happened were interviewed.

7 months later, the newspapers reported that the guy was found guilty of assault and given a suspended sentence since he had suffered a fractured skull and would not completely recover from his injuries.

The woman was found guilty of attempted murder and destruction of property and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

We were all asked at the time of this assault by the police why none of us got oit to stop the onslaught. I responded that I liked living and wanted to continue to live without being maimed by a crazed woman. But the guy is the one who started it - and the woman was the one who finished it! And boy did she have a mouth on her!

mako1a

This is second hand info, but from a reputable guy I worked with for years.

He pulled into his bank to use the ATM around dusk. There was a guy already at the ATM with his car parked right behind him. A repo truck came in and slid the wheel clamps on ATM guy's car and proceeded to lift the car. After telling the repo man to drop the car twice, he hit him on the side of the head one time knocking him unconscious. He then lowered the car, withdrew the clamps and put the truck in neutral letting it roll slowly to the curb. He then got in his car and left. My buddy was so shocked he left in the opposite direction without even using the ATM.

sterlingdog

TO BE CONTINUED...

I can remember when I did a dozen posts a day. It seems as if the last four or five months have consumed me. Still, I'm reading the posts but just don't have time to respond to all of the topics. That may be just as well. I would probably piss off one or two posters with my responses to their topics.

As for the Cadillac repairs, I blew away all of the lessons that I've learned on Edmunds over the years. Planning a high school reunion, renovating the house, and firing a minister who stole church funds has kept me busy. Also, I had a consulting job during the last month in which I had to deal with the most stupid school administrators that I have ever encountered. I cannot tolerate a pompous school principal who doesn't remember what a classroom involves. I think that every three years they should have to go back and teach children for a year. At any rate, I digress. Here's the story.

I came out of a meeting to discover that the battery in the SRX was dead. No one had jumper cables, so I called AAA. They arrived in twenty minutes and jump started the car. The guy had no new batteries on the truck (not that I would have purchased one from him). Since the battery had bad cells, he recommended that I get to a store quickly. I had twenty minutes before most places closed. I drove straight to my Cadillac dealer 12 miles from the meeting. They were still open. I had so much on my mind that I told the service manager to put in a new battery---didn't ask brand or price, and was too tired to care.

Result: Delco 7 year battery with a 30 month replacement warranty. The cost was $196.00 including tax and labor. Talk about stupid me!

While there, I asked them to check a squealing noise that I had been hearing for weeks. It was the rear brake pads. Since they were closing, we made an appointment for the next day.

Result: Rear brake pads, turn rotors, and do a brake flush was $385.

While they were doing the job, they discovered that the front brake pads were "nearly" gone. How the hell would I know?

Result: Front brake pads, turn rotors was $325.

Total in 24 hours was $906. It was the first time that the Cadillac had needed any work other than two oil changes. I'm sure that I got ripped off on the price of the battery, and probably got "up shot' on the front brakes. There are times when you can research or do your homework before making repairs. In this case, I needed the car for travel and couldn't wait. As they say, "Haste makes waste." :sick:

Richard

sterlingdog

"...he left in the opposite direction..."

He didn't help the repo guy who was left unconscious? What a jerk! He could have at least called the rescue squad.

Richard

oldfarmer50

"...we aren't counting Mustangs as real cars..."

Oh the humanity!

abacomike

Sometimes, haste makes waste

*richard, sometimes when you are put between a rock and a hard place, there is only one way out - and that is to pay the piper, if you know what I mean. You had a dead battery - 20 minutes to decide how and where to get one. So, in this particular case, **my son**, say 30 Hail Mary's and donate $10.00 to your favorite charity - do these 2 things and I absolve you of your sin!

sterlingdog

I apologize for not responding to your survey. I meant to. I have a 2009 Cadillac SRX (black over tan) with 42K miles and a 2008 Chrysler Touring Convertible (cobalt blue over gray) with 32K miles. Love the SRX; hate the Chrysler. Will be trading Chrysler soon for small MB.

Richard

mako1a

You didn't do too bad, Richard. The battery sounds like top of the line.

Brakes, well how did you let them get so low without noticing. 2 foot driver?

State inspection should have caught the brakes way before the rivets sounded.

sterlingdog

"...say 30 Hail Mary's and donate $10.00 to your favorite charity..."

LOL! How about 3 Bloody Mary's instead and $10.00 to the Edmunds Dues Fund for Broke Posters?

Richard

nyccarguy

I actually included you as I know your rides Richard!

mako1a

"...we aren't counting Mustangs as real cars..."

The Bavarian Banshee strikes again. He'll get his when he tries to prove

something to a Mustang GT on the interstate with that 288 HP luxmobile.