Stories from the Sales Frontlines

robr2

Thanks everybody for your kind words. When my son came to me back in first grade with a flyer from the local Cub Scout pack, I wasn't exactly overjoyed. I was a scout and when I moved to Boy Scouts, I had a bad experience. I didn't want my son to go through the same thing. But I said he could try it. The dad who became den leader said it was going to be a cooperative effort of all the parents to help lead meeting and run badges so I helped out over the next five years. When he went onto Boy Scouts, he joined a troop in the next town and I said I wasn't going to get too involved because in Boy Scouts, it's boy led. A month later, I bought the tan shirt, got trained and spent many weekends sleeping in snow caves, hiking mountains I had no reason to and giving up a week of vacation every summer to go to camp. Why - because my son loves it and I really liked all the boys he was with.

For his project he organized a group to build 3000 feet of mountain bike trail on conservation land with the help of a mountain biking group who taught us how to build a trail. It's in our town but only accessed from the town his troop is located in so it benefits both. He went before conservation, selectman, town manager and the group that manages the land. He got a local pizzeria to give him a deal on food - scouts love food. He raised money to pay for the food. Over 30 volunteers worked on project day and did a great job of organization or leadership.

But that leadership has been apparent for many years. It's been an amazing trip watching a little 12 year old boy packing his own pack, making his own meals and becoming more and more self sufficient with every trip.

explorerx4

@imidazol97 said:
Speaking of "Sales," I just saw a 2015 Mustang sell for $300,000 on the Barret Jackson auction. Amazing. It was the #1 Mustang to be sold retail for 2015. And it was a charity car.

But $300,000. Wow.

Charity cars at B/J have gotten a lot more than that.
I just saw that a Plymouth Superbird (non charity) sold for 500k.

abacomike

@imidazol97...Speaking of "Sales," I just saw a 2015 Mustang sell for $300,000 on the Barret Jackson auction. Amazing. It was the #1 Mustang to be sold retail for 2015. And it was a charity car.

I was watching the auction also. $300 grand - could have had a Rolls Rouce Ghost for that money , LOL

imidazol97

@explorerx4 said: Charity cars at B/J have gotten a lot more than that.

I know others have sold higher. It's just that this is a car that
can be purchased over-the-counter.

ab348

I don't understand Barrett-Jackson. A lot of those people spending big bucks look like one-tooth wonders who wouldn't have 2 dimes to rub together.

imidazol97

@ab348 said:

A lot of those people spending big bucks look like one-tooth wonders who wouldn't have 2 dimes to rub together.

.

x2 on the appearance. I also don't trust the auctioneer. I still can't get
the stories of people bidding against themselves out of my mind when
I hear the auctioning. Can anyone understand him?

I saw a $450,000 bid (charity) IIRC for a 2015 Z28 Camaro, serial 001. 
Now that's a certain car with unique character. My impression of the 
2015 Mustang was that it was a general production vehicle.

oldfarmer50

@imidazol97 said:
Speaking of "Sales," I just saw a 2015 Mustang sell for $300,000 on the Barret Jackson auction. Amazing. It was the #1 Mustang to be sold retail for 2015. And it was a charity car.

But $300,000. Wow.

At that price I hope it was a GT.

oldfarmer50

@ab348 said:
I don't understand Barrett-Jackson. A lot of those people spending big bucks look like one-tooth wonders who wouldn't have 2 dimes to rub together.

Maybe they're spending all the money they saved on dental work.

robr2

@ab348 said:
I don't understand Barrett-Jackson. A lot of those people spending big bucks look like one-tooth wonders who wouldn't have 2 dimes to rub together.

Many of them look like first generation business owners - the self made type who probably started a construction company and made it into something big.

My FIL has a former student that started out as a carpenter. With big cajones and some smarts, he is now a huge developer and building contractor. He surrounded himself with smart people but he's the one that built the relationships that grew the business.. Today he still swings a hammer regularly to stay in touch with his workers and is extremely generous to them and local charities. But if you saw him you would think he's just another carpenter but he could buy most of us with the change in the console of his F250.

explorerx4

@imidazol97 said:
a general production vehicle

It's 2015 Mustang (does not exist yet) #1. The winning bidder gets to get it built to their specs.

abacomike

@explorerx4 said:
It's 2015 Mustang (does not exist yet) #1. The winning bidder gets to get it built to their specs.

Assuming you are correct, oldfarmer, and the 2015 was not what he bid on AT THE AUCTION, but rather a 2014 in its place, at $300,000, I think that's appropriate ! This way, he goes to his local Ford Dealership with his letter from Ford Motor Company and orders the car just the way he wants. He gets his GT with the big engine and a 6 speed tranny, convertible if he likes, white exterior, red leather interior, and now he has a $45,000 car that he paid $300,000 for. However, he can deduct $255,000 from his taxes for a charitable contribution.

imidazol97

@explorerx4 said:
It's 2015 Mustang (does not exist yet) #1

They had a 2015 Mustang in dark blue for the auction. The 2015 Mustang
prototype served as a placeholder. Apparently the customer's car will have
0001 as the serial number when built?

Video of the sale here:
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/18/barrett-jackson-2014-first-production-2015-ford-mustang-video/

abacomike

@imidazol97 said:
They had a 2015 Mustang in dark blue for the auction. The 2015 Mustang prototype served as a placeholder. Apparently the customer's car will have 0001 as the serial number when built?

I thought it was a 2015 (I watched the auction on TV), but I merely assumed oldfarmer was endowed with correct information. Apparently not. But that is one gorgeous car - the rear and side "lines" of the car look more German or Italian than American. I wouldn't mind owning one of those for my toy, that's for sure.

Ford has made some amazing strides in styling and engineering of their automobiles and light trucks. GM and Chrysler better watch out - the sleeper has "awakened" (quote from "DUNE", the movie)!

explorerx4

@imidazol97 said:
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/18/barrett-jackson-2014-first-production-2015-ford-mustang-video/

Same body and wheel colors as my Fusion.

imidazol97

@explorerx4 said:
Same body and wheel colors as my Fusion.

I like the colors. That combo says "power."

ab348

Too many Fusion styling cues. It could be a Fusion sport coupe.

snakeweasel

Did anyone else have trouble logging into these forums the last day or so? Every time I tried I kept getting an error message. I tried from three different computers (two different ISP's ) and my phone an kept getting the same error.

snakeweasel

What say you all about this list?

abacomike

@snakeweasel...trouble logging in...

@snakeweasel...this list?

No trouble logging in, snake.

As for the list, I am assuming this list is as a result of auction and wholesale pricing vs. comparable competitor's makes and models.

I was aware of the Jaguar problems and the Beetle problems as well as some Mini problems. But I was unaware of the Mazdas. I didn't have many opportunities to appraise Mazdas or Beetles because I only worked in upscale dealerships where the trades were BMW, Mercedes, Infiniti, Lexus, and a number of Toyota products.

I was always leery of Range Rovers and Land Rovers from the early to mid 2000's - electrical problems and air suspension problems.

I would not disagree with 95% of the cars on the list.

driver100

@snakeweasel said:
What say you all about this list?

I trust his judgement. Seems he has a method for coming up with the worst and the best cars. No system is perfect, but, I think I would go along with what he says. I am surprised that Mazda 7 was the worst car...I have talked to two people who love their Mazda 7s. But, most people love the cars they buy...that's why they buy them. And, they probably haven't had a problem yet.

Sounds like worthwhile information. I suppose it doesn't take into account if a model has improved lately...I believe Jaguar went from one of the worst to one of the more reliable cars.

Michaell

First and foremost, I've got to say - GO BRONCOS!

OK, now that I've got that out of the way, my Elantra GT lease wasn't spur of the moment. I'd been looking at cars for a few months beforehand. Just that our transportation needs changed about the time I walked onto the Hyundai lot and I was able to be more serious about buying. I brought the wife back with me before committing to anything.

And yes, as much as I'd like to get something more flashy and expensive, I just can't seem to bring myself to do it - yet. I'd much rather have a manageable car (and house) payment for the time being.

stickguy

Michael, I'm the same way. What I want, and what I can (and should) spend often tend to be in conflict! But there are some pretty nice cars out that for cheap, if you don't need a luxo badge and all the bells and whistles (like a moonroof).

and good job by the Broncos to hang on. I had the whole game scripted, and it was all set up for a crushing Peyton pick 6 late in the game.

and they did catch a break, getting a dome team for a game in freezing temps outdoors!

driver100

Remember when I felt guilty if I was to take a car I wouldn't consider buying for a test drive for cash?

Well, this has nothing to do with that. However, we went to the doggy races with friends.

My wife and I each bet $2 on the first 10 races.

We sat inside which is really nice, big table right in front of the window looking at the track.

A delicious lunch came to $30 for the two of us, and we won $30!

It was a fun day, and it didn't cost anything.

I am not quite in the same league as Mike, and though I should feel some remorse, I really don't.

driver100

oldfarmer50

@abacomike said:

"... I merely assumed old farmer was endowed with correct information. Apparently not"

Huh? What information are you referring to? All I said was that for $300k I hoped it was a GT.

This new system makes it frustrating to follow a thread as you really can't tell what someone is responding to.

abacomike

@oldfarmer50...Huh? What information are you referring to? All I said was that for $300k I hoped it was a GT.

Sorry, oldfarmer. I thought it was you that said it couldn't have been a 2015 mustang. I am getting confused with who said what!

imidazol97

@oldfarmer50 > This new system makes it frustrating to follow a thread as you really can't tell what someone is responding to.

The responding poster needs to include just enough wordage from the original poster that a reader can tell to which earlier post the new post is referring.

jayrider

@imidazol97 said: Post just enough --

How do you do that. I either get the whole thing or nothing.

graphicguy

@jayrider said:
How do you do that. I either get the whole thing or nothing.

Yeah...I noticed the same thing. You either get the whole quote, or just the name of the person you're trying to quote. Sometimes, my response is included in the quote, too.

Also, when you quote someone, other forums I frequent automatically take you to the posting area (usually right after the "quote" you're posting. This forum does not.

Weird. Assuming they're still trying to get the kinks worked out.

stickguy

When you pull in the quote if you don't want it all just delete the part you don't want. I think what it pulls gets weird if there is a picture in what you are trying to qote

imidazol97

@jayrider said: How do you do that. I either get the whole thing or nothing.

I copy a few words BEFORE I hit the quote key if there is already a quote in the post. That's when I get incomplete or partial quotes. Sometimes I copy the whole post and then edit in my new post after I paste the whole thing into it.

If the original post has a "<" symbol in it, there's a blue quote box usually. If the quote box is present then I don't get anything in my quote of that post.

If the original poster just used a "@jayrider" as the info line, then it all copies.

abacomike

@imidazol97 said:
I copy a few words BEFORE I hit the quote key if there is already a quote in the post. That's when I get incomplete or partial quotes. Sometimes I copy the whole post and then edit in my new post after I paste the whole thing into it

Exactly, that's what I do. But something went amok with oldfarmer's post - in that case, I probably should have copies his whole post rather than a segment of it. That way, I would have seen the error before I posted it.

@oldfarmer50....

I apologize again, oldfarmer, I thought I got your whole post, but I didn't - and probably read part of the post you were quoting in your post.

snakeweasel

@driver100 said:
However, we went to the doggy races with friends.

My wife and I each bet $2 on the first 10 races.

So you went to the races, they made money on each bet you made, maybe not a lot but they did. And they made money on your lunch.

Of course they would have made more the more you bet but it's OK that you bet $2, a lot of people do. That's why the government prints $2 bills.

Now I am reminded of my first time to the races (horse). the #1 horse in the first was was [my first name]'sbid. OK so the first horse in the first race was named "[my name] bid" so I had to play it. Out of 8 horses that horse came in 9th. If there is any justice in the world that horse was turned into glue the very next day.

snakeweasel

@jayrider said:
How do you do that. I either get the whole thing or nothing.

Yeah I get either all or just the posters name. When I respond I pull it up in another window and if I get all I just delete what I don't want and if I get nothing I'll just copy and paste into the response.

Kirstie_H

 @snakeweasel said:
 Yeah I get either all or just the posters name. When I respond I pull it up in another window and if I get all I just delete what I don't want and if I get nothing I'll just copy and paste into the response.

That seems to happen if you are quoting someone who also has a quoted snippet in their post. I'm pretty sure we've reported this one to the software folks.

PS - you can replicate the yellow thingy by highlight the text you want to be yellow, and then selecting the "paragraph" icon from the list of drop-downs at the top of the posting box, and choose "code."

snakeweasel

@Kirstie@Edmunds said:

`> PS - you can replicate the yellow thingy by highlight the text you want to be

• yellow, and then selecting the "paragraph" icon from the list of drop-downs at
• the top of the posting box, and choose "code."`

Hey it works

I wonder what "spoiler" does.

bwia

@robr2 said:
Last night my son passed his Eagle Scout board of review and was awarded the highest rank in Boy Scouting. Needless to say, we are very proud of his accomplishment.

Congrats to you and your son. This is a proud achievement and he should be awarded with a subscription to Boys' Life magazine.

By the way, how was the New England International Auto Show?

imidazol97

@imidazol97 said:

Well, it does work.

driver100

Just wondered if anyone has seen these new Boeing 797 planes....seems they will be making them, as there are many advantages...just not sure when they will get off the ground so to speak;

There are several big advantages in the "Blended Wing & Fuselage" design, the most important being the ?Lift to Drag? ratio which is expected to increase by an amazing 50%, resulting in an overall weight reduction of the aircraft by 25%, making it an estimated 33% more fuel efficient than the A380, and thus making the Airbus's $13 Billion Dollar investment look pretty shaky.

"High Airframe Rigidity" is another key factor in the "Blended Wing & Fuselage" technology. It reduces turbulence and creates less stress on the airframe which adds to fuel efficiency, giving the 797 a tremendous 10,000 Mile range with 1,000 passengers on board cruising comfortably at Mach 0.88 or 654 MPH, which gives it another advantage over the tube-and-wing designed A380's 570 MPH.

houdini1

@Kirstie@Edmunds said:

How about a nice restful green color?

OK, that was dumb, but I had to write something. My attempt at yellow failed, and I didn't want to leave the post hanging.

driver100

@snakeweasel said:
. Out of 8 horses that horse came in 9th

We had a nice way around that too...you actually would have been a winner with our plan.
We each put a dollar into the pot before the race begins. If your dog (or horse) comes in last, you get the money in the pot. That way the money at least stays in our group, and the person who's horse/dog comes in last doesn't feel too bad.

abacomike

@driver100...cruising comfortably at Mach 0.88 or 654 MPH, which gives it another advantage over the tube-and-wing designed A380's 570 MPH.

Now, if they can get the battery problem corrected (another airline just had to ground a 787 again because of smoke coming from the batteries), Boeing stock should take off.

snakeweasel

@driver100 said:
Just wondered if anyone has seen these new Boeing 797 planes....

I don't think anyone has seen one since Boeing has been denying making one for many years. they are experimenting with a blended wing aircraft for military applications but not for commercial use and not a 1,000 passenger plane.

driver100

@snakeweasel said:
I don't think anyone has seen one since Boeing has been denying making one for many years. they are experimenting with a blended wing aircraft for military applications but not for commercial use and not a 1,000 passenger plane.

Good answer Snake ...once again. I checked Snopes and they said it is not true.

Origins: Although Boeing may someday introduce a commercial airliner designated with the number 797, and although the company's Phantom Works (advanced research and development) unit may be researching the potential of blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft design for military applications, Boeing is not currently developing a blended-wing aircraft for commercial use, nor does the image displayed represent any aircraft (or prototype thereof) designed or produced by that company.

The image is a conceptual picture from a Popular Science article about the future of aviation (one which proved so popular that it was made available for purchase in poster form) and has been circulated since at least early 1996 in fictitious articles proclaiming it to be Boeing's response to competition from the Airbus A380 in the commercial airliner business.

mako1a

Speaking of large aircraft and flying. I had been flying for 15 years or more when I got on a cross Atlantic flight that had a kind of info board on the forward bulkhead seating area giving airspeed and temp.

I had no idea it was so cold outside at 25-35 thousand feet. Something on the order of -20 to -30 degrees. No wonder the A/C always works well once underway...even on a hot day.

oldfarmer50

@graphicguy said:
Weird. Assuming they're still trying to get the kinks worked out.

Yeah, like above. I was hoping to get GG's whole post but just got the last line.

At least I don't feel so stupid if you computer savvy guys are having the same problems.

snakeweasel

@mako1a said:
I had no idea it was so cold outside at 25-35 thousand feet. Something on the order of -20 to -30 degrees. No wonder the A/C always works well once underway...even on a hot day.

You typically lose 3.5 degrees in temperature for every 1000 feet you go up. So at 35 thousand feet you are about 125 degrees cooler than if you were at sea level.

Now think of those bombers during WWII, they flew at about 25K feet going in and about 30-35K feet going out and it was an unheated unpressurized cabin at least for the gunners. They said you could tell bomber crews in the summer as there was a little bit of frost bite on their faces around where the oxygen mask would go.

driver100

@mako1a said:
Speaking of large aircraft and flying. I had been flying for 15 years or more when I got on a cross Atlantic flight that had a kind of info board on the forward bulkhead seating area giving airspeed and temp.

They have that now on flights with a screen on the seat ahead of you. You can check air speed, temp, miles left to go, est time of arrival etc.

For awhile they had one screen that showed the view from the nose of the plane....not a good idea, in some cases it was scaring the passengers too much. Not good if you are hurtling down the runway and the plane isn't lifting off...or if you are headed toward a mountain.

snakeweasel

@driver100 said:
They have that now on flights with a screen on the seat ahead of you. You can check air speed, temp, miles left to go, est time of arrival etc.

In light of current events do they have one that will tell you if you're going to land at the right airport?

sb55

@mako1a said:
Speaking of large aircraft and flying. I had been flying for 15 years or more when I got on a cross Atlantic flight that had a kind of info board on the forward bulkhead seating area giving airspeed and temp.

Love and hate the route map. I flew from NY to South Africa a couple of times when my daughter was is in Peace Corps. When you wake up after flying 8 hours and see that you are finally over land (Senegal) you think great. Then you realize that you are only 1/2 way there! (And that was only the 1st leg to get to where my daughter was)