The way that he calls it "will make" and the fact that it is $5k per unit leads me to believe it is net profit. It really is the only true definition of profitability.
dealer which I had bought a '02 Denali 5 years ago through the GSM. Was looking at the new '07 and found that all of them had $8k in ADM bringing most of the Denalis over the $60k range and even closer to the price of a new Escalade.
I had noticed 4 guys in their 20's sitting in the shade watching me walk the lot. Guess I didn't look like a qualified buyer as they laughed and talked among themselves not one approaching me.
I'm wondering now if this is the norm as when I had purchased my '05 Titan, I was walking the Nissan lot on a busy Saturday among the people looking for a free lunch with all the music blaring and balloons galore. I had picked out a truck but couldn't find a salesperson. Finally stumbled on a guy streched out on a golf cart with newspaper covering his face and asked him if he was interested in selling a truck. He removes the newspaper revealing a smiling face and saying that yes that was his job.... to sell cars....
As we walked towards the truck I had selected he gets a call on his cell phone. Talks for a few minutes then tells me he can't sell me a truck but that there is someone else who can as he has to leave to pick up his wife from the airport. He also tells me that this guy he is turning the deal over to just started with the dealership.
Story gets more interesting. Just need to rest the wrists from all this typing lol...
I'm introduced to this supposedly greenpea. He is about my age and looks very familiar. After talking to him in trying to work out a deal I had asked him if he had sold cars before. He had replied that he retired from the business but now had a 5 year old so he's back out of retirement stating that private schools cost a lot more than they used to.
We agree on a price in about 5 minutes. He quotes MSRP and I quote invoice. He tells me why don't we split the difference and I agree. He takes the deal to the SM and she writes down +$500. I tell him to go back and tell her we already agreed to a price and if she don't like it she can put her deal where the sun don't shine. He laughs and comes back two minutes later with a done deal.
Now the hard part. Since its a busy Saturday he tells me the wait to get into F&I is about two hours. Can you believe that? This is a 1:00 in the afternoon. I tell him I'll be back around closing to wrap up the deal and leave.
Around 8:00 pm I get a call from him asking if I was planning to return. Sure no problem I'll be there in 30 minutes.....and still am told that there is a 45 minute wait.
The way that he calls it "will make" and the fact that it is $5k per unit leads me to believe it is net profit. It really is the only true definition of profitability.
So after all the bills are paid (materials, labor, interest, utilities, development, overhead, et al) LR nets $5K per vehicle? That means they are probably grossing somewhere around $10K per unit. That I doubt.
Around 8:00 pm I get a call from him asking if I was planning to return. Sure no problem I'll be there in 30 minutes.....and still am told that there is a 45 minute wait.
Thanks for the sales story even though you're not in the biz.
If it weren't for the posters who aren't in the biz we would really be starved for tales. :surprise:
We get a few threats from the guys in the biz but no tales and this is the car buying time of the year, go figure.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Using your figures, that would make net profit $0. I know for a fact that LR is one of the most profitable segments, and the biggest profit contributor in PAG. Also, the MSRP is market driven - cars will sell (exchange adjusted) for more in some markets than others, and North American sales are only 25% of total sales.
That seems rather long. I usually read all the paperwork I sign (last time I didn't I ended up in Boot Camp :P ) and I never came anywhere near that long signing the paperwork.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I believe most of the closing time is out of the customers hands. If the F&I guy wants to pussyfoot around, there's not much you can do about it.
Closing and paperwork wasn't very long for me when we bought our Mazda MPV in 04. We had negotiated past closing time and the F&I guy had already gone home.
It all depends on how the deals flow. Yesterday we delivered 12 and nobody had to wait more then 15 minutes to get there deal in the office except for a couple credit impaired that we had to get approved first. The deals were steady from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, now there are some days that 6 deliveries will all show at the same time and then there is a wait. From the time that I get a deal to the time I have you ready is about 15 minutes if you have average or better credit, average time in my office is 30 minutes on a finance deal with a complete product presentation and we have two F&I guys. In the 90's when it was nothing to deliver 25 on a Saturday the waits could get long.
believe most of the closing time is out of the customers hands. If the F&I guy wants to pussyfoot around, there's not much you can do about it.
Jip, Most of the time it is 15-20 minutes to do paperwork. This guy I was talking about was an exception - he would read a paragraph and ask several questions and ponder them. Having 14 years experience selling, doing F&I and desking and now doing the whole deal from stsrt to finish I disagree with your statement about the F&I guy completely dictating how long it takes. It varies from customer to customer. You guys here are the exception to the real world most of the time.
Took our 1959 for a quick run to kind of blow it out since it had not been started in two weeks.
Started it up running really rich but once it got warm it was a little better. I figured that I should get it up to highway speed and blow the gunk out of the carb. It gets up to 55 just fine then engage overdrive to break 60 mph.
Seems to be running fine now so I turn into a gas station to turn around and :sick:
Starts to stall sputters I almost save it by working the gas and engaging the clutch again to get some load on the engine but in the end it dies. Now the sucker won't start and I guess it is flooded from running so rich before then idling down suddenly.
I got it sitting up at the gas station for the morning and I will go try and start it later this afternoon.
Whenever I've bought a car, and the dealership's been busy, I've always come back...sometimes a couple of days later....to finish up paperwork.
Personally, it's less a waste of my time, and should be less stressful for the dealership, to return when things aren't so hectic. There have been times where the sales person insisted on me sticking around to take delivery on the spot, but I resist that.
If I'm trading-in, they state that my trade-in offer may be different if I leave and come back. I always tell them if that's the case, we don't have a deal. I've never had my trade-in "devalued", though.
If it's a straight up deal, I don't think it's ever taken longer than about 15 minutes in F&I. There's no use in me waiting. There's no use in the dealership rushing.
I also set up a time when I can come back and F&I can slot me in for that time, to keep from waiting.
I am with Isell on this one. Paper work signed, customer in the car, and contract sent to lender all on the same day the customer says OK. No opportunity for the dreaded buyers remorse to set in or for some chuckle head neighbor to tell them they got a better deal cross town 4 years ago.
It is a lot easier to spot if you have an F&I dept - we do are own as well as making sure the car is ready etc. During the week it's not bad, but on a busy Saturday it is tough. We do take the non-refundable deposit. in 14 years, had one back out on a $3500 used Subaru. Also, back end income is better because all the car negotiations are a thing of the past.
Salesman explained that they usually have three working and having only two caused the backlog. Once in the deal took 15 minutes to get done. When leaving I noticed that it was 9:30 pm and there were people still waiting to get into the F&I office.
That reminds me of the time when I bought my '00 Denali. The SM, salesman and I were in the dealership past midnight trying to work out a deal....
I've only had spot deliveries, every time I bought a car, with one exception when I had a sunroof installed on a Camry. That took a couple days, I think. Other than that, once I decide what I'm buying, I buy that day.
Probably helps that I pay cash, so don't need to do much with the F and I person. Just say "no" to everything and I'm on my way!
But I do read (or at least skim) everything. No way am I spending thousands of dollars and not reading all the related info.
Seems that the inconsiderate buyers thread has been shelfed so I'll post it here. Some of you may remember me from previous posts and I may be new to others. I'm back after being away for some time and I have a story that you may find amusing!
The Software engineer It was the friday before Memorial day. I was working the late shift and about 45 minutes before closing a Ford Expedition pulls into a guest parking space. The man inside sits there for a few minutes taking in the surroundings before deciding to get out. One of my colleagues whom I will call Tank heads out to greet him just as he is getting out of his vehicle. He spends a few minutes with him and then decides to "spin" him. Figuring he doesn't have a real buyer he pawns him off on me. "Hey Mack, can you do me a favor?" he asks me so that the customer doesn't hear him. "No man, don't do this to me." I reply. "Come on man, I just had an appointment show up. Just show him a car and if you sell him take the whole deal." he says. "Ok. Introduce me." So we walk over to the prospect and he says: "Mr. Smith this is Mackabee he's my partner and will be happy to show you the car. I apologize as I have an appointment that just showed up." So I shake hands with Mr. Smith and start walking to the inventory. I begin asking questions to find out what he's looking for. He tells me his 97 Camry "just blew up" and he needs to replace it but is undecided whether to go new or used. He starts asking me about the warranty for a new car and also about the Certified Pre-owned warranties. I go into detail about both warranties and I show him a couple of cars. He likes the Certified warranty and we pick an 07 Camry CE with about 19k miles on it. We go on a test drive and he tells me that the engine on his last car ceased as the last place he had the oil changed did not tighten the oil plug completely and all the oil leaked out. "I was sitting at a stop light and the the oil light came on and the car stopped. It was a great car, it had close to 300k miles." he says. "Wow! you put a lot of miles on it." I reply. "My job requires a lot of travel." As we come up to the first light after some freeway driving he goes to the left lane instead of the right lane. "Where are you going?" I ask. "I want to show my wife the car. She's right here at the corner at her sister's place." he replies. We drive up and his wife comes over and looks at the car. She likes it and he tells her about the warranty and the price. She asks how much a new one costs and I tell her. We then head back to the dealership and Mr. Smith mentions he has been doing "research" on the internet. I ask if by chance he has contacted our internet department. "I may have, I'm not really sure. I've been to a lot of websites." he replies. Since I knew that we were offering brand new Camry LE's with an MSRP of $21,872.00 for $17,999.00 after rebate plus taxes and fees I decided to let him know. I figured if he had been on our website and contacted our store they probably told him about the special offer. "Mr. Smith, I'm going to be very frank with you since I'm very open and upfront with all my customers. We are offering LE's on our website for $17,999.00 which is 1k more than this CE that we are driving." "Can we look at one when we get back to the store? he asks. "Sure" I say. To be Continued..............
Hey Mackabee! Good to see you back! I come back and forth to this site too.
Guess things are going well with you now?
Mac, one thing hasn't changed - you still don't know how to use the "enter" key to end a line, skip a line, and make a paragraph! Try it, it's fun. ;-)
Yesterday the whole family drove up to Cincinnati to look at a few cars. The local Mazda dealers didn't have any Mazdaspeed3s, and their incoming cars weren't equipped the way I wanted them. One Cinci dealer(Kings) had "my" car in stock but it had sold shortly before we arrived. However, it's twin was arriving in @2 weeks, so our salesperson encouraged me to test drive the last MS3 they had so I could see if I wanted to put down a deposit on the incoming car. The salesman was great; he was a true car nut and didn't play any games. Unfortunately, it was the car itself that left me cold- it's a very competent car, but for some reason it just didn't give me that "gotta have it" feeling. Of course, my wife and kid loved the car, and now they are ticked off at me not buying it...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Float in carb stuck open. If you get it started, and the float is still stuck, it will do the same thing again. Plus, you may have a quart or so of gasoline in the oil pan now. Hope the mains are still in good shape in that 1959...
What kind of motor is in a 59 Rover? Didn't they go to a GM alum in the 60's? Maybe in the 50's they used a motor designed for stationary pumps? Or some other such design?
Oh, a smart smack with a screwdriver handle against the carb might free up that stuck float. Or, a 1 pound ballpeen hammer might be needed.
Oh, a smart smack with a screwdriver handle against the carb might free up that stuck float. Or, a 1 pound ballpeen hammer might be needed.
The screw driver method worked for months for me back in the 70's on those GM Rochester 4 barrel carbs but the real fix was to buy a rebuild kit and do it right.
I'd save the ballpeen hammer method for those really tough jobs like a stuck CD. :surprise:
Gotta go, it's time to unwrap my Father's day presents.
Happy Father's Day to all you Dads.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Well, now that I have vented and got people's opinions on things, I have a somewhat crazy story....
In our dealership, before we go on a test drive we have to take a copy of the driver's license of whomever is driving. It is a company policy, and if you don't want to give us any more information, we don't pressure for it. Well, a salesman had a customer that wanted to drive a vehicle. He refused to give the salesman his license. The salesman asked our manager for an exception, but they wouldn't go outside the lines of the rules. The customer got furious, and was screaming "YOU DON'T WANT MY BUSINESS???!!!" and walked out.
About 15 minutes later, when he obviously got home. He called the salesman and was still furious and screaming at him saying that he wanted to give us business but apparently we didn't want it.........
We have had the same thing happen with people getting PO'ed when you ask for a liscense. If that makes them mad then it is probably some one you dont want to sell to any how.
Some people have an unrealistic view of their own importance. I don't know if it's strange, but it's probably a good indicator that he's unlikely to be a profitable customer.
Sounds like someone who leads a confrontational lifestyle. Always aggressively facing off with co-workers, neighbors, etc. I find them amusing to observe, but tiresome to be around.
I can imagine and I apologize. I've been through hell and back not once but twice. I crashed my computer last October and baby Mack tried fixing it and made things worse. Mack Jr. is now out of the Air Force and working as an IT engineer for General Dynamics up in the DC area along with his wife who's handling defense contracts, and my Grandson tiny Mackabee is now three years old and thinks he's Spiderman. Things are slowly returning back to normal. I still have to have quarterly PET scans and complete bloodwork so I take everything a day at a time. Things that used to be a big deal I don't let them bother me anymore. I'm sorry for not letting you guys know how I was doing. I'll e-mail you as it is very distressing to go about it in a public forum. Mack
P.s. Mack Jr. fixed the computer and a few month later gave me a brand new one for Father's day 2006.
My guess is he probably drove to other dealerships and got the same response, he's most likely calling all of the sales people back to see if someone will give in.
My wife worked on the teller line in our Credit Union for several years. The stories she brought home compared to many of the sales stories posted here. She finally stopped telling me, because she thought it upset me too much.
Credit Union used a few 'random' questions to verify if you 'belonged' to a account. Date of birth, home phone number, SSN, etc.
Guy did not want to provide his SSN in order to access his account. After he got red-faced, bugged eyed, made a loud scene, and escalated it thru supervisor to a manager level - the manager still demanded to have a SSN. And told him he was not going to be able to support his threat to take all his money and close out his account unless he provided a SSN.
He finally gave a SSN and showed his SS card. The number did not match what was on the account. He obviously had provided a bogus SSN when he set up the account, probably to avoid paying taxes on the interest income (or some devious reason), and had probably forgotten what bogus number he used and could never provide the number he used to set up the account.
The manager updated his account with the correct SSN, approved giving him his $50 or whatever out of the account and sent him on his way. Don't know if he emptied the account later or not.
We get back to the dealership and I show him a couple of LE's. I also tell him the price is only good through the end of the month but he should take advantage of it this weekend since we are running out of stock and probably won't be getting any more due to the holiday. "Let me discuss this with my wife and I'll let you know tomorrow. What time will you be in?" he asks. "I'm here from 9am to 7pm." I reply. So we part ways and by now it's closing time and I head out to my car and go home. Next day the traffic is slow but steady. Many folks have gone out of town to spend the weekend with friends and relatives so business is not what it typically is for a Saturday. At about 1pm I get a phone call and Mr. Smith tells me he wants to go ahead with the purchase of a new LE. He tells me what color they want and that they will be at the store at 5pm and if anything changes he will call me. 5PM. comes and goes and no Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I give them the benefit of the doubt and wait for them for another 30 minutes. Nothing. I get on the phone and call and I get voicemail. I leave a message telling them the car is ready and to call me if we have to re-schedule. No call. At 7pm. I head home. On the way I stop to pick up a birthday card for youngest Mack as his 22nd birthday is next day. It's now around 8:15pm when my cell phone rings. I look at the caller id and recognize the number as Mr. Smiths. "Mack, this is Mr. Smith. Where are you?" he asks. "I'm at home. Where are you?!" I exclaim. "I'm here at the dealership to pick up my car but there is no one in the showroom but the cleaning crew." he responds. "Well, we close at 7pm. So everyone's gone." I say. "I thought you were open till 9pm." he says. "No, that's why I told you last night I would be in from 9am to 7pm. Besides I think it's irrelevant what time we close. You told me 5pm and never called." I respond trying not to get irritated. He takes a few seconds to talk then says. "Something came up and we couldn't get there. Can I come by tomorrow and pick the car up?" he asks. "I'm off tomorrow. We'll have to make it before wednesday." I reply. "Let me talk to my wife and see what day we can come by." ....................... To be continued.......
My first year in the business I didn't ask for a license. I just test drove anyone.
Now I ask everyone for their license when I start doing the worksheet getting names and numbers then I tell them I have to make a copy . When someone objects I tell them I need for the test drive for Insurance reasons. Someone can't blame you for covering your own a-- when letting someone drive a $10,000- $40,000 motor vehicle.
When I get someone who doesn't want to come in or give me a anything I tell them OK I'll test drive this car with you but need to see your license to verify your a valid driver. 9 out of 10 of these people won't buy but you won't have chance if don't play by their rules.
I can understand why people don't want to give their info with all the identity theft these days.
I can understand why people don't want to give their info with all the identity theft these days.
So can I, but not why they get red faced and bug eyed about it. One solution is to let the customer see you make a single copy, then seal it in an envelope. Return the sealed envelope to the customer when he returns. Hard for a genuine customer to object to that.
Return the sealed envelope to the customer when he returns. Hard for a genuine customer to object to that.
I had something very similar to this happen when I bought in 2005.
I mentioned to the salesman that I didn't like the idea of someone making a copy of my license. He said those were the store's rules and I could understand but I still didn't like it. He said nobody does until they see how they do it. He went to a copy machine with me, made one copy, folded it, put it in his shirt pocket in plain view while we did the test drive and gave it back to me immediately when I parked the car after the test drive.
Painless.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
I think it is very strange. At the very least you want to make sure the one driving it is licensed to drive.
Not only that but you are giving someone an asset worth at least $12K and of times over $20K, you're an idiot if you don't document who is taking it out.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Accounts get set up all the time with the wrong SSN, oft times its because of a fat finger mistake or someone made an honest mistake in putting down their SSN#.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yes, I was kind of surprised when our Mazda salesman didn't ask for a license- although we had previously talked by e-mail and phone. To be honest, I was surprised that we were even allowed to test drive a Mazdaspeed3 at all, as it's a pretty hot item.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Comments
I had noticed 4 guys in their 20's sitting in the shade watching me walk the lot. Guess I didn't look like a qualified buyer as they laughed and talked among themselves not one approaching me.
I'm wondering now if this is the norm as when I had purchased my '05 Titan, I was walking the Nissan lot on a busy Saturday among the people looking for a free lunch with all the music blaring and balloons galore. I had picked out a truck but couldn't find a salesperson. Finally stumbled on a guy streched out on a golf cart with newspaper covering his face and asked him if he was interested in selling a truck. He removes the newspaper revealing a smiling face and saying that yes that was his job.... to sell cars....
As we walked towards the truck I had selected he gets a call on his cell phone. Talks for a few minutes then tells me he can't sell me a truck but that there is someone else who can as he has to leave to pick up his wife from the airport. He also tells me that this guy he is turning the deal over to just started with the dealership.
Story gets more interesting. Just need to rest the wrists from all this typing lol...
We agree on a price in about 5 minutes. He quotes MSRP and I quote invoice. He tells me why don't we split the difference and I agree. He takes the deal to the SM and she writes down +$500. I tell him to go back and tell her we already agreed to a price and if she don't like it she can put her deal where the sun don't shine. He laughs and comes back two minutes later with a done deal.
Now the hard part. Since its a busy Saturday he tells me the wait to get into F&I is about two hours. Can you believe that? This is a 1:00 in the afternoon. I tell him I'll be back around closing to wrap up the deal and leave.
Around 8:00 pm I get a call from him asking if I was planning to return. Sure no problem I'll be there in 30 minutes.....and still am told that there is a 45 minute wait.
So after all the bills are paid (materials, labor, interest, utilities, development, overhead, et al) LR nets $5K per vehicle? That means they are probably grossing somewhere around $10K per unit. That I doubt.
Thanks for the sales story even though you're not in the biz.
If it weren't for the posters who aren't in the biz we would really be starved for tales. :surprise:
We get a few threats from the guys in the biz but no tales and this is the car buying time of the year, go figure.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Maybe you should smile more often or take in some donuts. You don't want to end up on their bad side. They know where you live.
the reason people end up in trouble isn't because of the contract laguage,its because they don't,or can't make their car payments.
Thats why there is no time for stories because its the car buying time of the year
Soooooo, when you get home from your busy day and have finished countin your money, start writin.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
That seems rather long. I usually read all the paperwork I sign (last time I didn't I ended up in Boot Camp :P ) and I never came anywhere near that long signing the paperwork.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Closing and paperwork wasn't very long for me when we bought our Mazda MPV in 04. We had negotiated past closing time and the F&I guy had already gone home.
The SM wrote it up... out in about 20-30 minutes.
And that includes Dodge, VW Bus, Oldsmobile, Buick, Peugeot, Nissan (3), Jeep (2), Mercedes (3), Rolls (1), Land Rover (1), Honda (1), Monaco RV (1).
I'm also guilty of not reading every word of the contract. I skim it and have never ever had a problem....so far.
Mark156 (sitting on a riverboat on the Danube in Bulgaria reading Edmunds) ...go figure.
Jip, Most of the time it is 15-20 minutes to do paperwork. This guy I was talking about was an exception - he would read a paragraph and ask several questions and ponder them. Having 14 years experience selling, doing F&I and desking and now doing the whole deal from stsrt to finish I disagree with your statement about the F&I guy completely dictating how long it takes. It varies from customer to customer. You guys here are the exception to the real world most of the time.
Took our 1959 for a quick run to kind of blow it out since it had not been started in two weeks.
Started it up running really rich but once it got warm it was a little better. I figured that I should get it up to highway speed and blow the gunk out of the carb. It gets up to 55 just fine then engage overdrive to break 60 mph.
Seems to be running fine now so I turn into a gas station to turn around and :sick:
Starts to stall sputters I almost save it by working the gas and engaging the clutch again to get some load on the engine but in the end it dies. Now the sucker won't start and I guess it is flooded from running so rich before then idling down suddenly.
I got it sitting up at the gas station for the morning and I will go try and start it later this afternoon.
Personally, it's less a waste of my time, and should be less stressful for the dealership, to return when things aren't so hectic. There have been times where the sales person insisted on me sticking around to take delivery on the spot, but I resist that.
If I'm trading-in, they state that my trade-in offer may be different if I leave and come back. I always tell them if that's the case, we don't have a deal. I've never had my trade-in "devalued", though.
If it's a straight up deal, I don't think it's ever taken longer than about 15 minutes in F&I. There's no use in me waiting. There's no use in the dealership rushing.
I also set up a time when I can come back and F&I can slot me in for that time, to keep from waiting.
I hate it when I don't deliver on the spot! So many things can happen and it doubles my work.
Having to manage it, come in on my day off etc.
Spot deliveries are the ONLY way!
That reminds me of the time when I bought my '00 Denali. The SM, salesman and I were in the dealership past midnight trying to work out a deal....
Probably helps that I pay cash, so don't need to do much with the F and I person. Just say "no" to everything and I'm on my way!
But I do read (or at least skim) everything. No way am I spending thousands of dollars and not reading all the related info.
The Software engineer
It was the friday before Memorial day. I was working the late shift and about 45 minutes before closing a Ford Expedition pulls into a guest parking space. The man inside sits there for a few minutes taking in the surroundings before deciding to get out. One of my colleagues whom I will call Tank heads out to greet him just as he is getting out of his vehicle. He spends a few minutes with him and then decides to "spin" him. Figuring he doesn't have a real buyer he pawns him off on me. "Hey Mack, can you do me a favor?" he asks me so that the customer doesn't hear him. "No man, don't do this to me." I reply. "Come on man, I just had an appointment show up. Just show him a car and if you sell him take the whole deal." he says. "Ok. Introduce me." So we walk over to the prospect and he says: "Mr. Smith this is Mackabee he's my partner and will be happy to show you the car. I apologize as I have an appointment that just showed up." So I shake hands with Mr. Smith and start walking to the inventory. I begin asking questions to find out what he's looking for. He tells me his 97 Camry "just blew up" and he needs to replace it but is undecided whether to go new or used. He starts asking me about the warranty for a new car and also about the Certified Pre-owned warranties. I go into detail about both warranties and I show him a couple of cars. He likes the Certified warranty and we pick an 07 Camry CE with about 19k miles on it. We go on a test drive and he tells me that the engine on his last car ceased as the last place he had the oil changed did not tighten the oil plug completely and all the oil leaked out. "I was sitting at a stop light and the the oil light came on and the car stopped. It was a great car, it had close to 300k miles." he says. "Wow! you put a lot of miles on it." I reply. "My job requires a lot of travel." As we come up to the first light after some freeway driving he goes to the left lane instead of the right lane. "Where are you going?" I ask. "I want to show my wife the car. She's right here at the corner at her sister's place." he replies. We drive up and his wife comes over and looks at the car. She likes it and he tells her about the warranty and the price. She asks how much a new one costs and I tell her. We then head back to the dealership and Mr. Smith mentions he has been doing "research" on the internet. I ask if by chance he has contacted our internet department. "I may have, I'm not really sure. I've been to a lot of websites." he replies. Since I knew that we were offering brand new Camry LE's with an MSRP of $21,872.00 for $17,999.00 after rebate plus taxes and fees I decided to let him know. I figured if he had been on our website and contacted our store they probably told him about the special offer. "Mr. Smith, I'm going to be very frank with you since I'm very open and upfront with all my customers. We are offering LE's on our website for $17,999.00 which is 1k more than this CE that we are driving." "Can we look at one when we get back to the store? he asks. "Sure" I say.
To be Continued..............
Guess things are going well with you now?
Mac, one thing hasn't changed - you still don't know how to use the "enter" key to end a line, skip a line, and make a paragraph! Try it, it's fun. ;-)
Can't wait to hear the end of your story.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
What kind of motor is in a 59 Rover? Didn't they go to a GM alum in the 60's? Maybe in the 50's they used a motor designed for stationary pumps? Or some other such design?
Oh, a smart smack with a screwdriver handle against the carb might free up that stuck float. Or, a 1 pound ballpeen hammer might be needed.
The screw driver method worked for months for me back in the 70's on those GM Rochester 4 barrel carbs but the real fix was to buy a rebuild kit and do it right.
I'd save the ballpeen hammer method for those really tough jobs like a stuck CD. :surprise:
Gotta go, it's time to unwrap my Father's day presents.
Happy Father's Day to all you Dads.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Isell.....if F&I is busy, why subject the customer to a prolonged wait? Just schedule a time when the customer can waltz in and finish the deal.
Do you have ANY idea how much some of "us" have been worried about your well being??
I have to come in today to deliver a car that the buyers didn't want to take delivery last week when I sold it.
"To be Continued"........not so much
In our dealership, before we go on a test drive we have to take a copy of the driver's license of whomever is driving. It is a company policy, and if you don't want to give us any more information, we don't pressure for it. Well, a salesman had a customer that wanted to drive a vehicle. He refused to give the salesman his license. The salesman asked our manager for an exception, but they wouldn't go outside the lines of the rules. The customer got furious, and was screaming "YOU DON'T WANT MY BUSINESS???!!!" and walked out.
About 15 minutes later, when he obviously got home. He called the salesman and was still furious and screaming at him saying that he wanted to give us business but apparently we didn't want it.........
Does anyone else think that is strange??
Sounds like someone who leads a confrontational lifestyle. Always aggressively facing off with co-workers, neighbors, etc. I find them amusing to observe, but tiresome to be around.
Mack
P.s. Mack Jr. fixed the computer and a few month later gave me a brand new one for Father's day 2006.
Credit Union used a few 'random' questions to verify if you 'belonged' to a account. Date of birth, home phone number, SSN, etc.
Guy did not want to provide his SSN in order to access his account. After he got red-faced, bugged eyed, made a loud scene, and escalated it thru supervisor to a manager level - the manager still demanded to have a SSN. And told him he was not going to be able to support his threat to take all his money and close out his account unless he provided a SSN.
He finally gave a SSN and showed his SS card. The number did not match what was on the account. He obviously had provided a bogus SSN when he set up the account, probably to avoid paying taxes on the interest income (or some devious reason), and had probably forgotten what bogus number he used and could never provide the number he used to set up the account.
The manager updated his account with the correct SSN, approved giving him his $50 or whatever out of the account and sent him on his way. Don't know if he emptied the account later or not.
"Let me discuss this with my wife and I'll let you know tomorrow. What time will you be in?" he asks. "I'm here from 9am to 7pm." I reply. So we part ways and by now it's closing time and I head out to my car and go home.
Next day the traffic is slow but steady. Many folks have gone out of town to spend the weekend with friends and relatives so business is not what it typically is for a Saturday. At about 1pm I get a phone call and Mr. Smith tells me he wants to go ahead with the purchase of a new LE. He tells me what color they want and that they will be at the store at 5pm and if anything changes he will call me.
5PM. comes and goes and no Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I give them the benefit of the doubt and wait for them for another 30 minutes. Nothing. I get on the phone and call and I get voicemail. I leave a message telling them the car is ready and to call me if we have to re-schedule. No call. At 7pm. I head home. On the way I stop to pick up a birthday card for youngest Mack as his 22nd birthday is next day. It's now around 8:15pm when my cell phone rings. I look at the caller id and recognize the number as Mr. Smiths. "Mack, this is Mr. Smith. Where are you?" he asks. "I'm at home. Where are you?!" I exclaim. "I'm here at the dealership to pick up my car but there is no one in the showroom but the cleaning crew." he responds. "Well, we close at 7pm. So everyone's gone." I say. "I thought you were open till 9pm." he says. "No, that's why I told you last night I would be in from 9am to 7pm. Besides I think it's irrelevant what time we close. You told me 5pm and never called." I respond trying not to get irritated. He takes a few seconds to talk then says. "Something came up and we couldn't get there. Can I come by tomorrow and pick the car up?" he asks. "I'm off tomorrow. We'll have to make it before wednesday." I reply. "Let me talk to my wife and see what day we can come by." .......................
To be continued.......
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Now I ask everyone for their license when I start doing the worksheet getting names and numbers then I tell them I have to make a copy . When someone objects I tell them I need for the test drive for Insurance reasons. Someone can't blame you for covering your own a-- when letting someone drive a $10,000- $40,000 motor vehicle.
When I get someone who doesn't want to come in or give me a anything I tell them OK I'll test drive this car with you but need to see your license to verify your a valid driver. 9 out of 10 of these people won't buy but you won't have chance if don't play by their rules.
I can understand why people don't want to give their info with all the identity theft these days.
So can I, but not why they get red faced and bug eyed about it.
One solution is to let the customer see you make a single copy, then seal it in an envelope. Return the sealed envelope to the customer when he returns. Hard for a genuine customer to object to that.
A couple of cocky guys in thier early thirties asked one of our sales guys if they could take it for a drive.
" Sure, I need to make a copy of your Driver's License"
The guy pulled out his license, held it by it's edges and wiggled it at him...
" You can look at it but you can't copy it!"
The salesguy held the keys in his hand and wiggled them back at the customer...
" No problem, you can LOOK at the CRV, but you can't drive it!"
The guy turned red and stormed away.
I had something very similar to this happen when I bought in 2005.
I mentioned to the salesman that I didn't like the idea of someone making a copy of my license. He said those were the store's rules and I could understand but I still didn't like it. He said nobody does until they see how they do it. He went to a copy machine with me, made one copy, folded it, put it in his shirt pocket in plain view while we did the test drive and gave it back to me immediately when I parked the car after the test drive.
Painless.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Not only that but you are giving someone an asset worth at least $12K and of times over $20K, you're an idiot if you don't document who is taking it out.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yes, I was kind of surprised when our Mazda salesman didn't ask for a license- although we had previously talked by e-mail and phone. To be honest, I was surprised that we were even allowed to test drive a Mazdaspeed3 at all, as it's a pretty hot item.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive