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Stories from the Sales Frontlines

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Comments

  • mac24mac24 Member Posts: 3,910
    As I understand it, holdback goes from manufacturer to dealer. Dealer B bought the car from the manufacturer and therefore gets the holdback, while dealer A just bought the car from dealer B.

    However, I guess dealers A and B can negotiate any deal they want as long as they're both happy.
  • greanpea68greanpea68 Member Posts: 1,996
    It is differenr for different manufactures. In the Nissan world we swap the amount of hold back. I know in the Dodge world they swap from invoice and each dealer will get the holdback they sterted from. Hope thats helpful.
  • mac24mac24 Member Posts: 3,910
    There, I knew it couldn't be as simple as I thought! :(
  • cotmccotmc Member Posts: 1,081
    Or, conversely, I knew it could be as confusing as I thought! :D
  • jimbresjimbres Member Posts: 2,025
    Am I the only one reading this who thinks that the son might be a sandwich shy of a picnic? This guy doesn't sound like your run-of-the-mill spoiled brat. He gives me the creeps.
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    If you don't swap cars there is no holdback to swap. On 90% of the Dealer transfers we do we never take anything back or ask for anything in return.
  • madmanmoomadmanmoo Member Posts: 2,039
    Well, you're right. He's NOT all there. I just hated to ruin such a funny story with the knowledge that the kid "just ain't right". He's not spooky though, just a little crazy.

    And yes, he's driving around in Atlanta. LOL! :)

    -Moo
  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 33,736
    Wow! That SM is a helluva guy. I like to think I'm a nice person, but even I wouldn't have mailed the title back. He tossed it out the window. I would have left it there or picked it up and tossed it in the trash.

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • thenebeanthenebean Member Posts: 1,124
    i worked for nissan as well, and with certain dealers we would swap the holdback as well. i do know that on the ford side though, rarely, if ever, was holdback swapped. it usually went to the originating dealer.

    again, it depends...
  • madmanmoomadmanmoo Member Posts: 2,039
    I talked to my SM's about this. Nissan doesn't allow holdback transfers. When I worked for Honda, they did. The Honda dealer was definitely volume though, so I don't know if that makes any difference.

    -Moo
  • merelymeremerelymere Member Posts: 4
    He can't buy one in Alabama :) Have to be 19 here
  • dino001dino001 Member Posts: 6,191
    Nissan may not allow transfers on their dealer accounts, but there is nothing preventing dealers from cutting checks to each other for tracked differences between holdbacks, is there?

    2018 430i Gran Coupe

  • thenebeanthenebean Member Posts: 1,124
    thats how we did it. when we cut the check to the other dealer, it would be for invoice minus holdback. its not like nissan sent the holdback for car a from dealer a directly to dealer b instead.

    sorry - i should have said that from the start :blush:

    -thene :)
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    Dealers don't negotiate holdback. We leave that to the consumers :D . The only time I see it happen is if one dealer has allot of left over inventory they need to clear and they will offer the units at triple net if you take enough of them.
  • greanpea68greanpea68 Member Posts: 1,996
    "Nissan may not allow transfers on their delaer accounts, but there is nothing preventing dealers from cutting checks to each other for tracked differences between holdbacks, is there? "

    Thats how we do it. Invoice minus hold back. Then we'll cut either a whole check for their car and they will do the same or if dealer A's car is $20,000 and dealer B's car is $30,000. Dealer A. will cut a check for $10,000 to cover ther difference.
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    I always thought that if I could come up with a enough money to buy the Blue Sky (a Ford Dealership) I would like to have a Small Dealership out in the country and just act as a clearing house. Order as much as I could be allocated as what typically sells in the region and make my main purpose to transfer. I get the Hold Back and if I turned them quick enough there would be floor plan credits instead of charges. A small operation with out a lot of overhead could do that and make decent money. 15 Used car sales a month could cover your overhead if your rent factor was low enough.

    The only problem is coming up with the 6+ figures to do it :D
  • volvomaxvolvomax Member Posts: 5,238
    Just one small problem with that.
    Domestic manufacturers usually overbuild, so the market hub is always stocked w/ extra units.
  • mazda6iguymazda6iguy Member Posts: 365
    When will the re-designed Scion XB's arrive? Local dealer guy i talked to said they had one, I came in and they didn't have one. Of course, they had the current model. So, given that bit of mis-information, i left.
  • greanpea68greanpea68 Member Posts: 1,996
    At least he did part of his job. He got you in the dealership. That's half the battle. But he shouldn't of lied if he didn't really have the car to begin with.
  • cdnpinheadcdnpinhead Member Posts: 5,618
    ". . . .a certain crazy customer that decided to. . . ."

    I believe you recently pointed out that another poster wasn't using "standard" speech/grammar.

    In my world, the excised phrase would be "a certain crazy customer who decided to," based on the concept that things go with that and people go with who.

    I can trump almost any anal-retentive folks -- note my moniker.
    '08 Acura TSX, '17 Subaru Forester
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    At least he did part of his job. He got you in the dealership. That's half the battle. But he shouldn't of lied if he didn't really have the car to begin with.

    Na, he didn't do any part of his job. Its chuckle heads like this who keep the stereo type of the car biz alive and kicking.

    If he would have been doing his job he would have said. "Why no Sir we do not have one in stock. We expect to have them in about XX number of days. If I can have your name and number though I will be happy to call you.

    There are a select few who work very hard every day to give us all a bad name.

    Now if they had the vehicle when the customer called but sold it before he got there then that is a different story.

    I use to have a thing on my desk when I sold that said.

    "The car you looked at today and want to think about till tomorrow is the car some one else looked at yesterday and will buy today"
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    ". . . .a certain crazy customer that decided to. . . ."

    In my world, the excised phrase would be "a certain crazy customer who decided to," based on the concept that things go with that and people go with who.


    Ok...my turn.

    In the sentence you corrected, if the word "that" is not used this would eliminate the arguments for incorrect grammar since the sentence would be grammatically correct without the word "that".

    I once had a grade school teacher who was a stickler for the over use of the word "that". I almost didn't make it through some of her writing assignments :( but I finally remembered this rule, although I'm probably just as guilty of its use (misuse) as most other posters. :blush:

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    GRAMMAR COP ALERT!! ;)

    tidester, host
    SUVs and Smart Shopper
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    Here's a sales story that happenned to me.

    About a month ago an 85 year old lady comes in with a guy in his mid 40s to look at cars. Turns out the guy is her financial advisor, and came out with her to help her car shop. She had a black eye from a car accident she was in.
    She totalled an old Dodge Aries of some sorts, and needed a new car. I show them some Civics and give them some info, and they leave.

    A few days later I get a call that they'd like to come in and test drive a Civic. We set up an appointment, but they don't show up. They show up 10 minutes after I'm off work and on the way home, so I turn back, come back to work, and take them out on a test drive.

    She said her previous car was a manual tranny one, and she has trouble driving automatics, but would like to buy an automatic. So we test drive an automatic. We spend about 45 minutes driving, and this old lady was scaring me the crap out of me the way she drove. :surprise:

    She liked it, and wanted to go home to think about it. Before they go she asked me if before buying she can take a long test drive with me so she can get comfortable with the car. I agreed and we left it at that.

    About half a week later I got a call from them that they want to come in and drive the car again, and that it's pretty much a done deal. She said she likes the car but needs to get used to it. I agree and try to set the appointment on a day I'm working, but since that didn't work for them, once again, I came in on my day off. :mad:

    I take this old lady for another test drive while her financial advisor stays behind. We had a couple of close calls, with my life flashing before my eyes. We nearly got T boned from my side, and she nearly sideswiped a parked car. She couldn't park, she didn't know how to use the right hand mirror (her old car didn't have one), she kept pumping the brakes (when I told her not to), and she let the car roll at red lights and intersections to the point of almost rear ending others.

    Luckily there was no incident, and it's not my job to be a driving instructor, or tester, but I did point out to her that she needs to improve the way she drives, specifically those points I mentioned.

    After about hour and a half we get back to the dealership and she tells me she "wants to think about it"

    I got a bit choked, and so did her financial guy because I can imagine he drove her around car shopping to many other dealers, and I'm wasting my day off time here to "teach" her how to drive.

    I asked her to do the paperwork today, and come in on antoher day to pick the car up , after it's detailed and ready. I give her and the advisor guy about 15 minutes, and come back. They agree.

    We do the paperwork, and she comes in on another day to pick up the car. I go on a drive with her again that day for about 45 minutes, and again, while she was scaring the crap out of me with her driving non-skills.

    We get back, she takes delivery, and goes away.

    The survey comes in. I get all bad scores including comments such as:

    Salesman doesn't know his product very well.

    Salesman pushed me into driving an automatic when I drove standard before. (she's the one that wanted an automatic!!)

    The dealership shouldn't hire incompetent salesmen like this who don't know their products, and can't serve customers. :mad: :mad: :mad:

    What a miserable old lady. I feel like refunding her money and taking the car back. She should be riding the bus.

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • jipsterjipster Member Posts: 6,296
    That old lady shouldn't be behind the wheel...of anything, much less a motor vehicle. She's going to kill somebody.
    It sounds as if she should be reported to the DMV to have her driving skills evaluated, then her lisence taken away.
    2021 Honda Passport EX-L, 2020 Honda Accord EX-L, 2011 Hyundai Veracruz, 2010 Mercury Milan Premiere.
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    About a month ago an 85 year old lady comes in with a guy in his mid 40s to look at cars.

    She should be riding the bus.


    I just heard a segment on the national news tonight about elderly drivers. The story said that riding with your grandparents is far more dangerous than riding with a new teenage driver. I've thought this to be the case for quite a while now and I think you've just verified it. :sick:

    Reason # 146 why I wouldn't want to be in your biz.

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • geo9geo9 Member Posts: 735
    While sitting in the F&I office signing all the required
    papers for my new 07 Chevy truck purchase I was kidding
    with the dealership owner and the F&I guy !!!!!!!!!

    I said (to the owner) "Hey Charley whats with this guy?
    He hasn't be grilling me into buying a extended warranty,
    choke n' croak or rust n' dust and I even got a better
    interest rate than my local bank!"
    They both were laughing their shoes off !!!!!!!

    Easy and painless deal !!!!!!!!!!! :shades:
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,675
    Sweet revenge:

    Do you happen to know her insurance agent's name from your quality time spend riding and selling. He or the company might like a warning about a dangerous actuary risk?

    I was hit once by a guy I had noted had a beer can in his hand while driving behind me in a quaint college town when I was in grad school. Turned out he had the same insurance brand/agent whom I contacted about the repairs to my car.

    I was hit by a lady driver who couldn't turn city corners downtown where two lanes turn side-by-side. She commented that she'd had a recent accident. Guess who ranted to his agent when I stopped at the office on my way back to Dayton. She had had multiple recent accidents he admitted.

    Do the police in your area like tips about dangerous situations?

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • tayl0rdtayl0rd Member Posts: 1,926
    What are you? A stooly? :surprise:
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    I said (to the owner) "Hey Charley whats with this guy?
    He hasn't be grilling me into buying a extended warranty,
    choke n' croak or rust n' dust and I even got a better
    interest rate than my local bank!"
    They both were laughing their shoes off !!!!!!!


    Did you ever think they had enough of your money and they wanted to get you out of there as fast as they could before you caught on ? :)

    Good luck with your new ride.

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    I hate selling cars to friends of the owner :D 99% of the time they equate to $0.00 in profit. Not only do the pay no profit but at times he will make you call in unofficial markers with friends at banks and really take away a profit opportunity. That and the fact the deal is always screwed up.
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    I hate selling cars to friends of the owner :D 99% of the time they equate to $0.00 in profit. Not only do the pay no profit but at times he will make you call in unofficial markers with friends at banks and really take away a profit opportunity. That and the fact the deal is always screwed up.
  • user777user777 Member Posts: 3,341
    you probably should have told her financial advisor you wouldn't ride with her again and are recommending she shouldn't drive in the future.

    no doubt you'd have everyone breathing down your neck, but you might have saved her life and someone elses, plus gotten out of getting a bad survey.

    it's not too late to call someone she's related to, although, i suppose she could try to sue you.

    sticky situation. i know in the past we've argued about selling to people that were fiscally irresponsible. however, selling to someone who is a threat... i wonder if you or the dealership could be sued for putting her in another vehicle.

    i'm serious. :surprise:
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    Here's the situation:

    If I rat her out, this conflicts with customer confidentiality and privacy laws.

    She is a bad river, but maybe because it's a new car (futuristic as opposed to boxy Aries she had).

    Her financial advisor would know her more, and spent more time with her as he took her around on many more test drives. Maybe he tried talking her out of it, or maybe he feels she's well enough to drive, I don't know.

    As for the insurance thing, there's one company here in BC that does everyone's insurance (govt owned monopoly), so everyone deals with them. They only yank away licenses after a number of accidents, or points, or tickets.

    Like I said it's not my job to be a judge on her driving skills (which suck imo), but she hasn't gotten into an accident with me. Granted she did drive stick for about 60 years, so she has to have some skills.

    Anyways I'll get my mgr to call her see what her problem with me was. Maybe she got me confused with another dealer.

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 265,547
    That's funny.. I hate buying from someone I know... or a friend of a friend of the owner.. or any other connection..

    Without fail, I'm always offered a terrible deal..

    Is it because they know me? :surprise: ;)

    Edmunds Price Checker
    Edmunds Lease Calculator
    Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!

    Edmunds Moderator

  • jlawrence01jlawrence01 Member Posts: 1,757
    Her financial advisor would know her more, and spent more time with her as he took her around on many more test drives

    Oh, I can imagine that conversation:

    Financial Advisor: "Ma'am, I don't think that you can drive safely anymore."

    Lady: "You're fired."
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 265,547
    ..you should probably keep your nose out of it..

    But, for the rest of us.. Sometimes, it is best to notify a child or other close relative, when we see someone that can no longer safely operate a car. If her "financial advisor" is helping her to buy a car, and is unable or unwilling to convince her to stop driving, then some other responsible person needs to take control.

    The next vehicle she hits.. could have your child as a passenger..

    Edmunds Price Checker
    Edmunds Lease Calculator
    Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!

    Edmunds Moderator

  • geo9geo9 Member Posts: 735
    It was a GM employee/family deal anyhoo so it was a mini
    for the sales guy. They topped the other dealers trade
    $$$ by $3000. I only know the owner Charley casually
    from boating stops by sight from his TV ads..............

    When I was shootin' the breeze with the F&I and
    salesguy (on the slide smoking a cig.) beforehand I
    commented to them "should I bust on Charlie for ya?
    and wheres his Rolls parked....)

    It was a hoot for all of us and another painless deal
    for all involved !!!!!
    Sure it was a mini and I assured the GM and salesguy
    that a "completely satisfied" down the line GM new
    car survey would be forthcoming............
    Not even a mention of a "freebe or gimme" involved!
  • cdnpinheadcdnpinhead Member Posts: 5,618
    ". . . .that does everyone's insurance (govt owned monopoly). . . ."

    Good ol' ICBC -- I was in the lower mainland when they took over and all the private insurance companies moved out. Either '73 or '74, as I recall.
    '08 Acura TSX, '17 Subaru Forester
  • secret87secret87 Member Posts: 4
    :) Okay, let me introduce myself first. I just started working at a dodge/chrysler/jeep dealership in Illinois. It isn't a big place, but it's big for this town (35 cars last month). I noticed in some previous posts (I'm slowly reading thru the ENTIRE forum) that alot of you said you've not seen a 4-square in quite a while. Then what do you use??? I'm slightly confused. This is my first car sales position and I'm very interested in learning. Any advice is readily invited.

    ~Jes
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    Our store works off of difference. Your trade allowance against the list price for difference. It is all that matters. How much is the difference in money between my car and yours. The rest is allot of smoke and mirrors. Allot of the consumers here like to negotiate an OTD price.
  • geo9geo9 Member Posts: 735
    JES....Welcome ! We need more stories here...........

    BTW: The rural Chevy/Buick/Pont. store I just bought my
    07 Chevy truck from used the good ol' 4 square !!!!!!!

    I was twistin' on the salesguy about it...........
    Along with the NO rust n dust, choke n croak, how much
    of a payment were ya looking for hustle............

    All in good fun tho !!!!!
  • user777user777 Member Posts: 3,341
    yeah, that's what i was thinking. i know it isn't boomcheck's responsibility (per job description).... and yet, i believe we truly have a collective responsibility to the infirm, the less fortunate, the less capable.

    someone strategically informing the family... they'd no doubt appreciate it. maybe they are even looking for an excuse to tell mom... it's time to get a chauffer. ;)

    as for the financial advisor, the story reads as though they'd been to a number of dealerships already. when all said and done, i think boomcheck would have been giving the guy an excuse to stop his misery.

    and if the lady still had her faculties... she might have found it novel / refreshing someone still gave a care to tell her the truth.

    sometimes humans let each other down, and sometimes they rise to the occasion and exceed expectations.
  • secret87secret87 Member Posts: 4
    Well, I'm sorry to say I don't have any good stories yet... Due to the fact that my last month of so has been spent in a conference room "training" for the sales floor.... AKA: being ignored and left with some other trainees as a last man standing type competition where there are now only 2 of us left... but I'm okay with that.
  • geo9geo9 Member Posts: 735
    OOOOOHHHH !!!!! A Greenpea huh?????????

    Read the Edmunds Confessions of a car salesman story/article
    thats posted around here somewhere !
    Its a scream and fun to read!!!!!!!!!
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    So I come in to work today and get my walking papers along with my vacation and severance pay.

    As you may have heard I had a warning last month about my performance. I upped my sales more but not enough for the boss even though I made more in gross than some other guys.

    My mind wasn't there anymore because of the training and bs that we have to do daily, instead of focusing on selling. (I'll get into that later, once I get all of my commissions paid out ;) .

    I'm actually a bit happy and relieved. Lately I started dreading coming to work. The good news is I got another job secured within 4 hours at a Nissan/Infiniti store with a couple phone calls. I have an interview Sunday, through a friend's friend who's a manager there. He said the job is pretty much mine. In this business it's not what you know it's who you know. ;)

    But one thing that ticked me off the last few weeks is how much I got kicked in the b@!!s by customers. Everything from that mean old lady who can't drive who gave me a crappy survey to customers I spend hours with on test drives only to be told later that they're not in the market right now (what the heck were you doing on a busy weekend wasting mine and your time driving cars and crunching numbers if you knew you 're not buying? :mad: ).

    Or the people that I spent time with who "promise" to return only to never hear from them again, or being unable to reach them cause they gave me the wrong number.

    I have to change the way I deal with some folks out there, and stop being so nice.

    But now that I'm not there, I'll bring you more stories that I didn't want to write before. Stay tuned.

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • cotmccotmc Member Posts: 1,081
    BUMMER! :sick: But it sounds like you're landing squarely on your feet! :D

    This is a crazy idea -- not necessarily a good one -- but I think it might be worth a brief discussion(?).

    Assuming you were indeed patient and courteous to that old lady who gave you such a terrible CSI, maybe you could give her a quick phone call? "Hi, Mrs Doe, this is Mr. Boomchek, your helpful sales associate from XYZ Motors. I'm just calling a few of my recent customers to let you know I will no longer be with XYZ Motors. After reviewing some survey results, management there has decided to move in a different direction. Just wanted you to know..."

    If she still has her mental faculties, maybe she will wonder if her nasty comments aren't taken too lightly -- that maybe she will think twice next time!

    You can always give her the name of your least-favorite co-worker as a future contact there. ;)
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    'm actually a bit happy and relieved. Lately I started dreading coming to work.

    Then it was time to go brother. There is no way you can perform to your obvious capabilities if you don't like the work environment you are in.

    Or the people that I spent time with who "promise" to return only to never hear from them again, or being unable to reach them cause they gave me the wrong number.


    Don't let that get you down, it comes with the territory, it just sticks out a little more when your on a slick spot and can't seem to get off of it.

    I have to change the way I deal with some folks out there, and stop being so nice.

    Exactly, there are some folks that it gets to a point that you have to cut to the chase, ask for the sale, if they don't respond cut them lose and move on to the next.

    The great thing about the car biz is that I know I can go to any english speaking country in the world and secure a job in 2 hours tops. Nurses, Truck Drivers and Car Folks can get a job any where, any time.
  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 33,736
    sorry to hear it, man. I mean, yeah, you didn't want to be there anymore, but I know getting fired can always be a kick to the head, regardless. glad to know you have a strong prospect so quickly.

    i'm not sure i know what brand you were selling before, though... ??

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Honda.
This discussion has been closed.