Stories from the Sales Frontlines

ateixeira

What a bargain.

-juice

corvette

But, the price of the car didn't go down $8,000 as a result? :P

british_rover

I was waiting for that question. BMW increased the price they would sell Ford the Range Rover engines a lot too. Back in 2005 the BMW motors were not that much more expensive then the jag version they use now.

No but they didn't increase the price hardly any for redesign that went through in 2006. They changed the Transmission to a 6 speed unit from a 5 speed and upgraded pretty much all of the electrical components. Added more sound deadning material and double paned window glass and refreshed the outside looks a little.

They added bluetooth phone capablity standard and a lot of other things I cannot remember.

cluedweasel

"If I could figure out a way to WC-ize my car, I'd do it in a heartbeat"

Easy. Two flags of St. George on each side window, one on the antenna, a giant Union Jack in rear window and bobble heads of Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and Michael Owen on the dash!

Apologies for anyone who hasn't got a clue what I'm on about.

bolivar

IUD
IED

You know, IUD just didn't seem right when I typed it, but I couldn't pull the right acronyom out of my mind....

british_rover

I got the flags and David Beckham but no clue who the other wankers are. :P

grabowsky

And since it's about soccer(football) you could wear a skirt too!

Kirstie_H

I've got them all in Corinthian Headliners (complete with Emile Heskey sporting home-made donkey ears and Glenn Hoddle still sealed in the box).

Soooooo.....
have summer sales slowed down? It seems like things die down around here in June/July, but August gets 'em booming again.

larryallen707

Had a vision last night maybe it was really former Met/Dodger catcher Jerry Grote who owns the car dealer you referenced?

tsgeisel

According to Rovers demographics well over 50% of Range Rover owners are either business owners, CEO/CFOs or in some high up leadership position in a company.

I am not saying that business owners or CEOs are always smarter then regular people, in my experience they are sometimes not, but in order to get to that position you need to have some wits about you.

Or they just don't care.

The same principles that make you a success in business are not always applied in personal life.

moparchrisks

Hello all. Been lurking a few weeks reading through this thread. Really appreciate reading the sales posts. Wish there were even more salespersons posting. I just moved to Wichita, Kansas from L.A., CA so I am already in a bit of a culture shock and having to relearn a lot about how I market and do business. For the most part I do what I have always done which is listen more than talk.

Is it okay to mention what I sell here? I am loyal to my brand and sold it in Cali as well as here. My username should make it obvious. As an owner I drive it and also Mercedes and Mitsubishi. I just like cars trucks tractors motorcycles, whatever. Most if not all on the market these days are so solid or getting there quickly. I like em all.

Funny thing I never see mentioned is that regardless of what brand you dealership is, those trades need to be sold as well. I find it a real pleasure to be able to research and learn (drive) the other vehicles out there. When I meet people I tell them I sell Dodge but in reality, I sell everything! Don't we all? I only worked in one shop that only resold their own marquee and wholesaled the other trades away. I liked that in theory but really appreciate having a variety of imports to offer as it helps my ability to find a vehicle to sell. My dealership offers the full spectrum pre-owned.

Cheers to all the good honest salespeople posting and lurking here.

qbrozen

As a consumer, I welcome you!

Yes, its ok to say what you sell ... just not the name of the dealership, i don't think. In any case, your screen name is a dead giveaway.

Kirstie_H

Hey, glad you decided to jump in! And yeah, you can talk about what you sell... the brands, the cars, and your general geographic area. You just can't try to sell vehicles or direct members to your dealership (which I don't get the impression you're trying to do anyway).

I think we've only got one other salesperson/dealer who participates on these boards who sells your brand(s), so it's nice that you're here to help round out our collection

dtezla

I'm a salesperson for Lexus - I just tend to get angry at some of the posts here & keep my rage to myself.

british_rover

Just stay out of the prices paid forum and any forums that have to do with negotiation. That has helped reduce my Rage Level signifigantly.

mac24

Good plan, but don't forget that some of the people making those posts get to buy cars too, and that someone will make money from them. If you could just roll your eyes and smile it might be better for your health and your bottom line.

jipster

It was almost necessary to use the free shuttle service my dealership offers the other day while having my Buick serviced. Not wanting to be a jip, I was curious as to if it were customary to tip the driver and how much???

dino001

I have used shuttle couple of times when had my Ford. Never seen anybody tipping the driver.

british_rover

No one ever tips our drivers either but I am sure they would not mind it if you did.

They are all older retired gentleman and have some very neat stories.

larryallen707

I hate to sound stupid but I am used to it by now. What's a "jip?"

perna

I hate to sound stupid but I am used to it by now. What's a "jip?"

The correct spelling is actually "gyp", as in gypsies (travelling scam artists). I'm sure you've seen the yearly warnings on your local news when the gypsies come around offering to pave your driveway with garbage pavement, side your house with tinfoil, etc...

jipster

That would be correct perna.gyp-to cheat, swindle or fraud.

Which is why my name is the Jipster(Jip)...and not the Gypster(Gyp).

For some reason my father-in-law pegged that name on me when I was dating/engaged to his dauther(now wife of almost 14 years this June 20th)...thinking I was stealing his little girl.

Someone else gave me a shirt with "Jipster" written on it, thus the story behind the Jipsters username. :shades:

moparchrisks

Thanks for the kind words back. haven't looked at Prices Paid yet. Probably read that thread next. With all of my respect to rover, I shall probably pass on posting anything in there.
BTW still waiting to take a Rover in on trade so I can check it out.

audia8q

my father-in-law pegged that name on me when I was dating/engaged to his dauther(now wife of almost 14 years this June 20th)...thinking I was stealing his little girl

Hilarious....I guess thats better than meathead. :P

british_rover

If you take a Rover with the navigation system option let me know I will tell you the voice commands to play around with.

There is also a notepad feature so that you can save notes to yourself. Sometimes the factory workers in Solihul leave us messages on the cars.

moparchrisks

Since I moved from Los Angeles to Kansas, I seem to notice things are done a little bit differently out here. Was talking to a Dodge seller from Oklahoma who said his dealership took a bunch of hunting rifles in on trade for a truck. I couldn't even imagine that. He also said they did a jetski on another deal. Any of you other sellers (or buyers) done anything like that?

My dealership has a fishing pond in the middle of it too. If they have a rod in their hand, they are not considered a fresh up and we let them pass unmolested.

Big catfish in there.

snakeweasel

My dealership has a fishing pond in the middle of it too. If they have a rod in their hand, they are not considered a fresh up and we let them pass unmolested.

Are you saying that otherwise you would molest them? I am going to stay away from your dealership. :P

I would, however, love a chance at one of those catfish.

While I have never done it with a car I barter a lot. I would not be surprised by someone bartering a downpayment for a car in rural areas. When you really think about it is it that much different than offering up a trade in for a down payment?

british_rover

took in boats and jet skis when he ran our pre-owned only store.

We have never done it here though.

corvette

The attorney I work for accepted a bunch of cutting boards as payment for someone he represented. The client used hardwood from the attorney's own tree farm and made several dozen boards with various patterns. Now, he has a year's supply of birthday and Christmas presents.

kyfdx

Gee... wish I could pay my lawyer in wood... :surprise:

I'm scared to call... every time I do, I get an extra $30 on the next bill...

graphicguy

ky.....only $30/per lawyer phone call? I need your lawyer's phone #. Everytime I call mine, it seems I get a $250 bill for 10 minuted conversations. Wish I could pay my lawyer with anything but greenbacks.

danf1

We took in a mobile home pulling a fishing boat last summer. I think it was 39ft. Strange trades on a Hyundai for sure.

isellhondas

I have taken in two motorcycles including an elderly Gold Wing that I had to ride back to our store on a dark, rainy night...no helmet. Lucky they only lived about a half mile away.

Another time, an old guy showed up on a Sunday morning. His 200,000 mile Jeep Cherokee was towing a utility trailer with an almost new golf cart sitting on it.

He traded the whole thing in on an S-2000!

Another time a bright orange 1976 Chevy Pickup that was raised so high I had to get on a box to hoist myself in.

The tires were HUGE! It had LOUD musical air horns that played "Dixie"!

biancar

what in the world do you guys DO with these bizarre trades? Does your dealership sell them? Sell the super-high mileage cars for scrap? What did you do with the golf cart?

That would be a super human-interest story for your local newspaper's automotive section.

isellhondas

We use golf carts here so we had a rear seat added and it served us well for several years.

The other stuff we wholesale. Always a buyer for anything.

We probably wholesale 50 cars a month.

We don't keep the high milers, most domestics, cars that don't pass our inspection and cars that reek of smoke or worse yet, DOGS!

snakeweasel

My lawyer doesn't charge me for short phone calls, but what gets me is that he will send me a short letter explaining something and then bill me $50. :confuse:

jmurman42

When I worked at a Chrysler Jeep dealership in Portland Or we took in a couple head of cattle for trade. The guy called a packing company and with their offer for the "hoof" we applied that for his down payment.

Thats been the strangest for me.

larryallen707

My lawyer doesn't charge me for short phone calls, but what gets me is that he will send me a short letter explaining something and then bill me $50.

In defense of the lawyer, as a professional that bills by the hour, that's all he can do to make a living. He can bill his time spent working for his clients each day but he doesn't get a bump for landing a big client; it's just hour by hour. Unless you specifically ask him not to send you letters it would seem he should be allowed to bill you for his time!? If he is charging you too much time for the action taken then you probably need a different lawyer. However, if you agreed on the hourly rate and he sends bills that accurately depict his time spent I am not sure what complaint you have? To clarify, yes I am a lawyer and I dispise lawyers that over-bill as it hurts my reputation as well.

bigdveedubgirl

Sold our very first Q7! Yay! I am so excited!

Wierd Trade was my trade!:

My best friend had a big fat loser boyfriend and she co-x on a motorcycle for him. They broke up and he never made a payment. Then not even two days from when she got the title. He was chased by the police in a trailer park (can we say jerry springer) and grounded the bike and got it impounded. Since she held title for the bike, she got it out and gave it to me. She said she was an idiot for co-xing for him and she would not feel as though as she learned a lesson unless she had to make a sacrifice. I used it as a down payment on my first car. When he got out of the pokey he wanted his bike back. I gave him the empty key chain. HEE HEE HEE!

snakeweasel

My lawyer is independent, he doesn't work for a firm (or you could say he is his own firm). He does charge me for an hourly rate but what gets me is he doesn't charge me for phone calls but does for letters. I don't mind him charging me for his time but I am a bit confused when he charges me for his time typing out a letter but doesn't to talk to me on the phone.

british_rover

Maybe it is more of a charge for the secretary that is typing the letter out?

Or does he type his own letters? I would figure he would probably dictate them.

corvette

He's called a solo practicioner in the trade... If he's working out of an office, he has a lot of overhead for that. Malpractice suits against lawyers are uncommon, but not unheard of, so many attorneys send follow-up letters for phone calls where they give advice.

audia8q

Here is somthing that will shock most of you. One of the largest auto finance companies in the country has just raised their tier 0 rate (best credit, 720++) to 8.5% for new cars up to 72 months. WOW.

dino001

High, but not that shocking, really. It is where rates were three-four years ago. I suspect it is a combination of making up for losses from "zero percent" era with "preemptive" strike before Fed rates go even further, so they don't lose money on today's credits. Of course they'll have fewer applications, but that's OK for them, I guess. Let others pick up the losing money.

isellhondas

People have become spoiled by these artifical rates.

Rates are simply easing back into what are normal rates.

capitano

What would be a normal rate for the top tier like that? 8.5 strikes me a little high. I can understand how the 0, 1.9 and 2.9 were artificial promotion rates, but something in the 5-6% range seems normalish to me for good credit.

corvette

6% would be normalish for a home loan for good credit. Car loans have higher rates of default, so the rate will be higher.

biancar

My credit union gives 4.49% to top tier customers.

tsgeisel

As someone with poor credit, I'm glad I got my loan when I did, and at a rate that's only slightly usurous. And likely to look much better in the near future...

steine13

My credit union gives 4.49% to top tier customers.

Not for 72 months they don't...

But it's weird how rates can vary. My CU gives 5.99% up to 48 months, which strikes me as barely OK... other times, they're neck and neck with the best offers anywhere.

Luckily, when I got my mortgage -- 7.75% in '97, 15 yr -- and when I refinanced, they turned out to have the best deal.

But my rule is that if I'm placing MY money somewhere, trust is very important; if I'm taking THEIR money to pay it back later, not so much...

-Mathias