Stories from the Sales Frontlines

imidazol97

>I tried to call the body guy the next time I was ready to sell, but he had moved without letting me know and the phone company said since they didn't have a forwarding number he probably moved out of the state

These days we can google, 411.com, and switchboard to find "lost" people.

nj2pa2nc

don't you mean commonwealth. (LOL)after we sold our 1991 mazda MX-6 GT with 250,000 miles on it the new owner came back to show us what he had done to it-a paint job, new seats, radio system. WOW were we impressed. He told us how much he loved the car. Mechanically he did not have to do anything.

joel0622

I don't remember all the particulars like model and year but I remember enough that you will get the gist of the story.

Back in like 95 or 96 we traded for a Jag with like 110,000 miles on it, it was 8 or so rears old. If I remember correctly we hit the car for like $4000 on a wholesale bid. Well a couple days after we traded for it a salesperson greeted some folks looking for a new car and when they went around back to see what the truck had just dropped off they saw this Jag on the Wholesale line. The lady said "I want it" We are buying that car today to.

So any how they buy a new Probe, or Taurus or something and the Jag. She offered some ludicrously high price for it that in good conscious we could not except. I mean crazy money like $11K or something. I think we sold it to her in the $6K range.

Anyhow the point of my story is that when she came back a couple weeks later to get her tags the salesmen asked about the jag and she said she was having it spruced up and would bring it by when they got it back. 3 months later she rolls in with this car. They spent $5000 having a wood grain dash and trim put in it, a $4000 paint job, $3000 in new leather, and other odds and ends. I remember the salesmen told me they sank like $12000 in the car + the say $6000 we sold it for. So they got $18K wrapped in a car that 3 months ago wholesaled for $4000.

That cat worked here for about 5 years after that and at least 3 times a month, every month he would say, "Boy I hope the XXXXX don't show up wanting to trade that Jag."

They still have the car, I see it tooling around the area every now and again and it still looks great. I guess every one has there own dream car and this lady found hers.

jipster

You took 5 grand off the customers offer? Where's your dealership located again?

I'm thinking you guys have some big hearts out there... or that was one fine looking "lady".

jasmith52

18k into a $4k car. Thats four and a half times it's worth.

That's what I would call being upside down in a car !

Along those lines of putting money into old cars, I have an older (85) Corvette that I have had for years which I drive as a pleasure car on the weekends. I know that it's not worth much anymore and I would like to fix it up (mechanical issues/new leather etc.) but I just can't see dumping relatively big money into a car that's just not worth much. So It's either drive it pretty much as it is, sell it, or pay some real money to fix it up. Since I don't want to sell the car and I don't want to put too much into it, driving it around "as is" wins by default.

joel0622

You took 5 grand off the customers offer? Where's your dealership located again?


You have to have a conscious in any business. The guys that don't are the one you see featured on the evening news, or have the guy in front of there store picketing. Every one of you have a car dealer in your town that you know will rip you off and you just can't understand why people go there. We don't want to be them We are not on New Car row and we are family owned dealer. With out repeat and referalls we would be dead in the water.

Kirstie_H

You have to have a conscious in any business

Or just a conscience. I find that there are days I can do this job with a barely detectable pulse

sorry joel, I just can't help it... especially since you take the ribbing so well.

psorter

I never had any problems putting 1K into a $200 winter beater, the fact that I put more money into the car then it's worth is kind of meaningless at this stage of the car's life. Even buying a set of tires cost more then what the car is worth.

mac24

I agree. Tires, exhaust, wipers, brakes etc. are running costs, just the same a gas and insurance. Doesn't matter if the car is worth $500 or $5000, it still has to be paid.

traindriver

What's the deal with these orange pop ups? Everytime I happen to scroll past/over someone's user id, I get this annoying popup with their details in it--and it does not like to go away. Calgon, please take it away. How do you block this? I know I have not changed anything in "setup".

snakeweasel

I was having the same problem earlier. Now they only appear when you have the mouse over the posters name.

imidazol97

The popups won't go away. They open and stick OPEN. It's really obnoxious--only worse would be if they opened to advertisements.

tallman1

Mine go away. I think it is kind of cool. :shades:

traindriver

Good, I hope it is only a temporary glitch. I think it would like that feature if they go away when you move the mouse but they were "sticking" and blocking the text earlier.

corvette

Mine were sticking and blocking the text earlier, but appear to be fixed now.

jmonroe

Mine are erratic, I never know when they are going to stick. :confuse:

I'm going to bed, maybe it'll be OK in the morning. :surprise:

jmonroe

mikefm58

The first time you get the pop up it stays, roll over another person's id to get that pop up and the first one goes away and then the second goes away when you move the mouse away.

But they are SO ANNOYING!!!!!! Who's brain storm was it to turn them on?

Anyone know how to turn them off? Hosts?????

grandtotal

pat

Try the Software discussion. I don't think we hosts know any more about this than you folks do, at least I don't.

lemko

I usually go this route. My brother still has the 1985 Chrysler Fifth Avenue I sold him back in 1993. People who know me know I take exceptionally good care of my cars. One acquaintance of my girlfriend wanted to buy my 1988 Buick Park Avenue, but I didn't want to sell it.

metro123

I watched "King of Cars" last night and it was the episode where the green pea had a lot drop. He was supposedly fined because his customer left without speaking to a manager. Does this happen at all dealers? I can't tell you how many times I've chatted with a salesman, browsed a few cars and then left with a business card without speaking to a manager. It never seemed like it was a big deal to the salesman.

jmonroe

I watched "King of Cars" last night and it was the episode where the green pea had a lot drop. He was supposedly fined because his customer left without speaking to a manager.

I just put this in the category of entertainment. When we turn on our TV's we expect to be entertained and from what I've seen of that show, the few times I watched, that's what the producers are trying to present.

Now, how about some real tales.

jmonroe

jlawrence01

watched "King of Cars" last night and it was the episode where the green pea had a lot drop. He was supposedly fined because his customer left without speaking to a manager. Does this happen at all dealers?

All drama aside, the salesman did NOT follow the procedures established in the dealership (and did not use a lot of common sense). I would not be excited walking 1/4 mile in the Las Vegas sun during the summer months.

joel0622

I hate that show. It presents a stereo type of car dealers that allot of us work very hard every day not to portray.

But to answer your question, it depends on the stores T.O (turn over) policy. Some stores operate like that some don't. I personally wouldn't work in a store that did. What we do with green peas is after they go through there training we have a Senior Sales Person shadow them. meaning they better know what they are doing at all times. If they have a buyer then the Senior Sales Person handles the negotiations and the GP sits and listens. To compensate him he gets half of every deal he works with the GP.

The hard part now days with finding good sales people is finding a young person willing to work the hours we do.

jmonroe

The first time you get the pop up it stays, roll over another person's id to get that pop up and the first one goes away and then the second goes away when you move the mouse away.

I tried that and it's still erratic.

But they are SO ANNOYING!!!!!! Who's brain storm was it to turn them on?

If it worked as intended, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

So, as I see it we have 2 choices. We either learn how to drive our mouse’s around without running into posters names (which for us car guys shouldn’t be too difficult) ... OR ... we cancel our subscription to Edmunds and get a prorated refund.

I’m still debating. :confuse:

jmonroe

mac24

The hard part now days with finding good sales people is finding a young person willing to work the hours we do.

How about long term career changers or retirees? Is the industry open to older age groups without sales experience?

joel0622

What makes the pop up stick is if you run your mouse over it to quick. If you move the mouse before the box pops open it sticks. If you leave the mouse there till it opens it goes away when you move it. At least for me it does.

user777

Good report. I'm going to post a link to it in the appropriate forum for the site developer to fix.

I'm suggesting they give you a free shirt. Maybe you can give the person that fixes it a vehicle purchase discount.

rideon

RIGHT CLICK TO REFRESH OR GO UP TO YOUR TOOL BAR TO REFRESH

joel0622

I'm suggesting they give you a free shirt. Maybe you can give the person that fixes it a vehicle purchase discount

I would but I would be violating the TOS by revealing my top secret location and dealership name

user777

understood. maybe if they don't fix it quickly, the discount isn't warranted anyway.

btw, thanks for finding out the root cause of the problem. it was driving me crazy. you'd THINK one of the developer(s) or beta tester(s) for the site would have seen this and fixed it... oh well. your report will help them figure it out. good thing they don't do this with software in vehicles. :surprise:

maybe they should send you a free shirt anyway.

madmanmoo

I like the new feature. It has already helped me sell more vehicles.

Thanks Edmunds!

-Moo

imidazol97

On the noontime PaulHarvey 20 minutes today, there was a story about a manager who was opening a 2nd Porsche store and ran a two-for-one sale... He said it worked for the coffee shop up the street really well and he thought... He just never was good at math and thought they were making lots of money. They sold several new cars the first hour they were open...

Is this true?

volvomax

No!
It makes a good story though.

grandtotal

That business model only works if you are laundering money for the mob.

cwalti

No, not likely, BUT in the early 70s during the oil crunch there was at least one dealer near Chicago who would give you a Chevette free when you bought a Suburban. I am sure there wasn't much room to haggle with the price...

imidazol97

I don't want to belabor but there was a sitin for Paul on the program and I'm sure that's where they talked about it. But it was a new Porsche store owned by another Porsche store and the manager was doing two Porsches for price of one. Wishful thinking. Buy one and sell the other at curbstone.

jasmith52

I saw that sort of thing recently here in SoCal. The rebates and discounts on a Suburban were on the order of $10k. As I recall the deal was that if you paid list price for the Suburban that you'd get a Cavalier (or maybe it was a Cobalt) for free.

Anyway it makes a great screamer ad. Buy one get one free !

joel0622

One of the Local Kia stores do it here.

imidazol97

I've heard that in the DAyton area, although not recently.

nj2pa2nc

i remember when a certain car dealer ( I do not remember which one) would give out a free yugo with the purchase of a new car. does anyone remember that

[Deleted User]

LOL, as Frank Barone (Everybody Loves Raymond) would say, "what contest in hell did I win?"

speterson1

With our family growing soon, my wife and I bought a new Honda Odyssey at the end of January. Didn't trade because we were getting rid of a Honda Civic and I was pretty sure I could get a lot more through a private sale. Our insurance company covered both our Civic and the new Odyssey for a month after delivery, so basically we had a month to sell the car. The challenge was that February in central Illinois is not a great time to sell a car. I knew at the very least I needed to wash it good before putting the word out. After a couple of blizzards, it finally warmed up and stayed warm enough to give it a good wash.

This was a 1998 Honda Civic LX 4-dr sedan, white, automatic, 115,000 miles, nice aftermarket CD/MP3 stereo. It had been a fantastic commuter car. I had put about $1500 into it by repairing the cruise, changing the timing belt, and some exhaust system repairs. Knowing my time was running out, I stuck a sign in the window for $4700 OBO, and parked it along one of the busiest streets in our town.

It had been out there not even one full day when my wife gets a phone call at 8:00 am, from a gentleman who is looking at the car as he is talking to her. He asks what's wrong with it, says it looks nice, and then asks if he could come right over and put $500 down to hold it until that evening when he can test drive it. My wife of course agrees and that's what he does. Turns out he is a semi-retired man who is now a runner for a local bank, and all he does is shuttle documents between their area branches. His current vehicle was a Toyota Corolla with 400,000 :surprise: miles on it, and the A/C had died.

I met him that night for the test drive and he had his wife with him. I knew it was a done deal then! He drove the Civic from its parking spot to our house (about 4 blocks), looked under the hood briefly, came inside and did the deal, in cash, for my asking price. I have never seen such a motivated buyer in my life.

My wife and I were thrilled. We beat our insurance deadline by 3 days and sold our Civic in the dead of winter for $4700, which we had bought in the summer of 2003 for $6900! I probably lucked into one of the only people in the county who would consider 115,000 miles "low mileage"! And finally, yes, I know I will never have another car selling experience as good as that one!

isellhondas

Well, you happened to own a highly desirable used car. Probably the MOST desirable of any other make or model.

People have to remember that cars that aren't very popular as new cars will be even less desirable later as used cars.

A Civic like that for under 5000.00 is almost impossible to find!

imidazol97

I had a 79 Mustang Pace Car that I had won in a contest. It was my 3rd car and I was getting married so I put it in the Cincy and Dayton Trading Post which was then the place to sell a car.

I got a call from a young man who said, "I'll take it." He asked first if I still had it and then said he wanted it. He would bring money for a down payment which he did. He lookd at it.I pointed out a couple of flaws that I hadn't fixed. He came on Saturday and we met at the bank branch for the cashier's check and the notary public signed and the title transferred.

A coworker in the Cincy area had advertised a Monte Carlo. Two men came and drove it. Husband rode along. He was forced out of the car and they stole it.

grandtotal

His current vehicle was a Toyota Corolla with 400,000 miles on it, and the A/C had died.

I'm not surprised he didn't want another Corolla after it let him down so badly.

jlawrence01

Well, you happened to own a highly desirable used car. Probably the MOST desirable of any other make or model.

It also didn't hurt that the seller priced it properly either.

Correct pricing = quick sales.

jipster

If he puts $500 down to hold it... does that mean you keep the deposit if he doesn't buy?

Also, how much do you think a dealership would have paid for your Civic? Sounds like you saved some big bucks AND an easier transaction than you would have had at a dealership.

Weren't you afraid this elderly man and his wife may try a carjacking or drive-by? Beings that private sales are considered dangerous to some.

speterson1

LOL, no, I wouldn't have kept his deposit...that was just to make sure I didn't sell it before he swung by that night - and I did get three other serious phone calls that day of people who wanted to test drive it the following day.

I have no idea what a dealership would have actually offered, but using the online appraisers, Edmunds said $3060 and KBB said $3400 for trade in values and both said about $4000 for a private sale price. When I put the sign on the window for $4700 OBO, I was fully prepared to haggle down and pull the trigger at $4200 or perhaps even $4000 if necessary.

As for the carjacking question...that's the beauty of living in a smaller town here in the Midwest. I suppose stuff like that happens occasionally around here, but this guy and his wife were in their 60s, completely pleasant, and about as threatening as Mr. Rogers.

isellhondas

We probably would have paid you what you sold it for.

Those cars break the bank if they ever make it to the auction. We pay over wholesale for them and usually sell them for over retail.