Stories from the Sales Frontlines

joel0622

Coors

greanpea68

Coors

Are going to make it to the game? If you are you could be nice and pick up Irguy. He could buy the beers

sterlingdog

It was ok. I always do that time thing any way---usually helps make the deal sweeter. I have to admit that this time I really ran into an F&I guy who was such a talker about his personal life. I also was trying to follow joel0622's advice about being patient and listening to all of the insurance information. Everyone was really super nice, and here in the South, no one gets in a big hurry. Actually, I like the slow mode better when making a big purchase. You don't feel like they are just rushing you out the door and into your car. Another thing, after my terrible experience in August at the Toyota place, I promised the guys on this site that I would check all of the paperwork before I signed and drove off. At least this time, they weren't calling for me to bring the car back.

Your story about "repo Joe" is a real hoot. I've seen some crazy ads but never one like that.

sterlingdog

You certainly are right and I had my credit union letter and my bank letter just in case. But the more we talked, and after offering to buy the GAP which I really did want, we managed to get the rate down to lower than my bank or credit union.

You reminded me of something from years ago. Late one Saturday night about 9PM, I bought a car with my credit card if you can believe that. The dealer couldn't talk to the bank at that hour and, at first, he didn't believe that I had that much limit on my card. When he called the credit card service center they confirmed it. Of course I had it all changed over Monday morning, but my poor wife was having a stroke. Man, I really wanted that car before someone else got it. It was a white Buick Park Avenue station wagon with all of the wood trim, blue velvet seats, wire spoke wheels, and every gadget you could imagine at that time. We drove that car until the gaskets and seals wore out and the blue seats turned gray. It was worth every penny and I got my penny's worth.

sterlingdog

The sales manager I worked with had on a Polo cardigan and a monogramed shirt. The F&I guy had on a Tommy shirt and Johnston & Murphy shoes. Both looked professional. I was glad that I dug out my Cole Haan shoes and my Daniel Cremieux shirt---the wife insisted. The guy in the picture looks more like the brother of the gal who sold the diamond necklace to our poor friend. I mentioned that story to my wife. She says that diamonds NEVER get too bright to look at or wear. Of course, this was followed by the statement that, "You never bought ME a diamond necklace." No more stories from this site for her!

oldfarmer50

"...I was glad that I dug out my Cole Haan shoes and my Daniel Cremieux shirt..."

If you have to borrow clothes from those guys should you really be spending your money on a car? :confuse:

I wonder how the sales pros would pre-qualify me. I might walk in with blue jeans and a t-shirt, well worn ball cap and worn-out running shoes with mismatched shoe laces.

Would I get the broom or would they see past my facade to the $25,000 in my check book?

lrguy44

You would look just like many of our customers.

obyone

I think smell has a lot to do with it too....

metmdx

Anybody notice (or care) we reached page 1,000 :confuse:

metmdx

sterlingdog

I agree but it was this site that said they didn't pay attention to customers who dressed in rags. What do you do?

Gotta go watch the Rockies beat the Red Sox. Later gator.

jmonroe

Anybody notice (or care)

The games on keep it down.

Some of the guys might even be watching car racing. After all this is a car site.

jmonroe

laurasdada

Sorry, but Sox crush Rox on Fox! Almost Patriot-like...

As of this writing at least, game ain't over yet. Or, is it?

The Rox could score a couple of late touchdowns...

jmonroe

The Rox could score a couple of late touchdowns...

This one looks like it's over. The only way the Rox can get back into this one is to score in groups of 6's or 7's.

The only problem with scoring so many in one game is, there isn't much left in those bats for the other games but extended batting practice is not always a bad thing.

jmonroe

sterlingdog

As Scarlet said, "Tomorrow is another day."

tidester

Anybody notice (or care) we reached page 1,000

It's official with post #19,999 (our numbering is zero based)!

And, yes, Kirstie and I noticed. Between us we've gone through several mouses and mousepads and about 80 gallons of coffee.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

jb_turner

20000 sounds like a good round number.

mackabee

"I wonder how the sales pros would pre-qualify me. I might walk in with blue jeans and a t-shirt, well worn ball cap and worn-out running shoes with mismatched shoe laces."

Sales pros don't pre-qualify. We assume you are here to buy until you prove us otherwise.

sterlingdog

I often have wondered if we are keeping you up at night. Just think. I'm on the East Coast. Look at that time!

tidester

I'm on Mountain Time and I'm up late anyway with my other work. With Kirstie's schedule and mine we pretty much have the whole day covered here!

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

tidester

The latter!

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

cdnpinhead

Is it bi gal or big Al?

Enquiring minds. . .

kiawah

Just one open tab on the browser, multiplex in and out.

graphicguy

tidester....kirstie....kyfdx....et. al.

Thanks for your diligence. Not that I would ever do it :P ...but we all know this board would be hijacked and spin out of control if you guys weren't here.

joel0622

I wonder how the sales pros would pre-qualify me. I might walk in with blue jeans and a t-shirt, well worn ball cap and worn-out running shoes with mismatched shoe laces.

Hell we have the same wardrobe, sounds exactly like what I wear on my day off, unless its warm out side then I will probably have flip flops on unless I am building something or working in the yard.

jmonroe

…"You never bought ME a diamond necklace."

Yeah, don’t you just get a kick out of that stuff, I do. As much time as Mrs. jmonroe spends at the mall I figure if she wanted one all that bad she would have already bought it (it’s not like she hasn’t had her chances) and I’ve told her that. She says, “it’s just not the same, getting one that way”. :surprise: If by some miracle she were to buy me a power tool that I had been coveting, I wouldn’t feel that way.

No more stories from this site for her!

Now you’ve just hit on what could have been a very touchy situation I had a couple weeks ago. Wouldn’t you know it, one of my posts, that mentioned her, was still on the screen when she sat down at the desk to write some checks. Yes, she does the clerk work around here ever since I screwed up the check book a loooong time ago (never was any good with numbers that have to stay in columns). Since I wanted to get back on this board, I decided to sit down in the office to watch TV and wait for the desk to become available again. Big mistake. She sees the post and says, “hey, you’re jmonroe aren’t you”? With a good poker face I said, “what are you talking about”? She proceeds to say, “look at this, I know this is you”. I pacify her and look at the post and say, “yeah, I’ve seen some of his posts, he’s sorta out of it” and she says, “that’s why I know this is you”! Still defending myself I say, “you’re crazy, I don’t write like that” and she says, “but you talk like that”. :surprise:

Anyway this goes back and forth a couple times and I think I have her convinced I just lurk here but I’m not a participant. I’ve never stretched the truth like this with her before (OK, I lied but it’s not like I drink and chase women. Also, I am feeling kinda guilty and I might have to fess up to this). However, given some of the things I’ve said about her, behind her back, I’m still not convinced I should be considering this. Hey, I’m talkin about self preservation here.

jmonroe

qbrozen

you are a dead man.

Do you really think this has been dropped? She is keeping an eye on posts from jmonroe and will now see that one and ... bang.

hey, mrs. jmonroe ... when you read this, can you just let us all know when the funeral is?

jipster

Is it bi gal or big Al?

LOL... good one pinhead.

jipster

ha ha good one jmonroe. Mrs.jmonroe was about to bash you in the head with a frying pan weren't she? :P

My wife asked me why I was on this "car" site the other day. I told her because it was interesting. She said I should be more productive and research stocks and such.
It's always about money ain't it?

houdini1

Lol! Whenever my wife rousts me it usually goes something like this. She will barge into my office and demand to know what I am doing.

"Oh nothing much honey".

She'll say, "Now don't you lie to me, you were talking about cars weren't you"?

"No, no, you got it all wrong. I was just looking at pictures of naked ladies, I swear".

"Ha, now I know you're lying. You don't know anything about cars either. Remember that Sterling you bought back in 1987? If a new car is going to be bought, I'll pick it out, understand?"

"Yes dear".

laurasdada

I oft refer to my lovely bride as the Evil Wife in posts here. Luckily, I refer to her in the real world as the Evil Wife also, so I don't have to worry about covering my tracks. Of course, I have bought her diamond (or "diamond-like substance" ) necklaces and bracelets, so she lets me have my fun...

You heavily insured, jmonroe? :surprise:

laurasdada

Yeah, the Evil Wife will see me on the PC and want to know "Porn or are you talking to all your little car friends?" It's always "car friends" :shades:

With her it's easy: If she's on-line, she's shopping...

obyone

Still defending myself I say, “you’re crazy, I don’t write like that” and she says, “but you talk like that”

Really?

imidazol97

I hope you don't have auto logon enabled so she can just punch up Edmunds and start reading you favorite subscribed topics looking for jmonroe posts, like this one!!!

Kirstie_H

Anybody notice (or care) we reached page 1,000

Aw... and it only feels like 5,000

And thanks, GG! We wouldn't do it if we didn't love it.

joel0622

It would probably be 5000 if you put back all the crap you have had to nuke in the past.

greanpea68

As Scarlet said, "Tomorrow is another day."

As Manny says " Who cares, There is always next year"

jmonroe

She said I should be more productive and research stocks and such.

I think she (maybe I should refer to her like this from now on) has a sister I don’t know about since I hear the same thing. She’s even gone so far as to say, “since you spend so much time there, why don’t you ask your car buddies for some info”?

It's always about money ain't it?

It sure is. I, like most everybody else did pretty good with investments a few years back. I think it was last Friday (maybe a week before that, I like to forget the bad days) when the stuff hit the fan on Wall Street. She comes home and asks, “how’d we do today, everyone at the office is talking about it, even heard it on the news coming home”. I said, “don’t worry, what I did a few years ago more than covers this bad day”. She essentially said… that’s already spent what have you done for ME lately. :surprise:

It definitely is “ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY” and they wonder why we seek refuge on a car site.

I’ll bet you ladies out there don’t act like the wives of the typical male posters here, since you’re “car girls”, right? (don’t want to leave anyone out when I rant)

jmonroe

sterlingdog

As the mastro says, "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings."

sterlingdog

Oh, have you stepped in it now! Don't you know to hit the red "x" when the wife comes into your office? Actually, I was caught the other day. My wife asked me why I was still using this site since we had purchased the car. I told her that I was learning maintenance tips. She responded by saying that I was full of BS and had found a bunch of guys to gossip with. That's what happens when you've been married 40 years.

The other day when she announced that I had not bought her a diamond necklace like the guy on here, I reminded her that I bought her a mink coat the year before I retired. Would you believe that she answered me with, "What has that got to do with anything?" You can't win these battles.

Dear Mrs. jmonroe---he makes remarks about you all of the time and he doesn't use correct spelling or punctuation. You're right. He writes like he talks.

mrsuzuki

Has anyone done anything productive today? I had the pleasure of bashing my head against the wall working the same dead leads.

Anyone hear how British's arm is doing?

greanpea68

I would much rather get caught by my wife than my manager here at the dealership. Maybe some of the other guys have heard the same thing " What are you doing that for?" or "That ain't going to sell you any cars"... " Why don't you call your customers instead and get a refferal." But still it is fun to come here and visit...

I predict the Sox take the Series in 6 games. Sorry Rocky fans. :shades:

jipster

Has anyone done anything productive today?

I took a nap. :sick:

Interesting that 9 of the last 10 teams to take the first game in the World Series have gone on to win it all. I think that the 8 day nap(layoff) the Rockies had before the Series started may be hurting them now.

jmonroe

Anyone hear how British's arm is doing?

It fell off and his boss tied the other one behind his back so now he can't use the keyboard and maybe he'll start selling some cars.

I think the boss is trying to tell him something. First he doesn't give a damn about the arm that fell off and second if he doesn't get the hint about the one tied behind his back, he doesn't have to come in tomorrow. :surprise:

jmonroe

mrsuzuki

So who remembers their first "up"?

carhag2000

So who remembers their first "up"?

I was at a Multi Point dealership working in the Ford store. I walked up and introduced myself to a gentleman looking at F-150's He was an A=plan buyer with no trade. " Man this job is easy!"

jescue

Mine was on a used GMC Safari van in 1998. The man had a worthless trade and poor credit. I remember being shocked his car was worth like $200. It was in January and was around 20 degrees at night. I knew absolutely nothing about the van except it had some duct tape on a missing trim panel. I think I made $150 or something like that.

british_rover

My arm is fine just a little itchy where I got stung.

My month is sucking though. October is usually very solid and it started out that way but is finishing badly.

mrsuzuki

I am not sure if this was my first up, or one of the first. It was a long time ago......

It was a warm sunny day, and me being the green pea I was, I stood on the lot. There were a few other salespeople with me, and we were just enjoying the weather. Then a bright red Camaro SS pulls up, and a beautiful young blonde jumps out. The other salespeople (most of them were old enough to be my father) say, go get em tiger.

ME: Welcome to XXXXX Chevrolet, my name is Tom, how may I help you today.

Her: Umm....my dad told me to come get a part, but I saw that 2001 Yellow Corvette out there, that looks nice.

ME: That is a nice one, its used, but only has 200 miles on it. Lets take it for a spin.

Her: That sounds great.

At this point I get a closer look at her. First impression from afar was that she was a 20ish looking woman. When I get her DL for a test drive I find out that she is in her 30s. No problem, I'm enjoying the view. :P

I pull the car up and we get in together.

Now I am sure some people are going to call this BS, but this is what happened....

She looks over at me, and winks. Then she hikes her skirt up a little bit. I am thinking, all right!! But she just did that to get a better feel for the gas pedal. She romps on it. I grab the oh crap handle as she goes down the road at 100MPH.

ME: Why dont you try the brake pedal out, I think it works just as good as the gas!

Her: Too fast for ya?

ME: No Im fine, but there is usually a cop up here, we should slow down.

She does, and I make it back to the dealership in one piece. I ask her if she wants to buy the car, and she says yes. I write up the deal. We were a one price store, so all I really had to do was write the deal up. While I am writing the deal up, she was telling me how much money her father had. I guess her father was a big auto parts outfitter out of TN, and she was in OH going to grad school.

So we get her into F&I and she says, well I am not going to Finance, I'm going to have my father's friend come and pay you for it. We tell her she can't take the vehicle until she brings up some money. Disapointed, she leaves.

Everyone tells me she was just here for a drive. They said she was a stroke, but I didnt care, it was fun right?

Well a few days later, she comes back. With her fathers good friend. Well, the whole time at the dealership, all they do is make out. It really was kinda gross. I mean he was old enough to be her father.

At some point, I get the customer away from her, and we get to talking. He was convinced that the car was for him, not her.

My guess was she didnt like that. She left him a few weeks after he bought the car from me.

Its always nice when crazyness ends in a car deal.

joel0622

Same here but my guy bought a Taurus. He pulled up, rolled down the window and asked if I had a green Taurus with floor [non-permissible content removed] and leather. I said yes, he asked with tax what was his Aplan OTD. I had no idea what A-plan or out the door meant so I ran inside. Manager told me this would be the first and last time I ever get a bottom line with out a customer at my desk. he really chewed my [non-permissible content removed] after the guy left. Any how the guy showed up two hours later with a check asking why his car was not clean yet. That was 14 years ago and i still sell him and his family at least 4 a year.

sterlingdog

With floor WHAT?! jmonroe will be all over you in about 3 minutes!