Stories from the Sales Frontlines

mcdawgg

Mac, how about the ending to the one about the weird lady that wanted a Camry or a Solara?

joel0622

Then I guess I should give up the idea of trying to coax Joel out of his fear of being "banned for life" for posting with honesty :confuse:

Honesty has nothing to do with it. My guess is that you did not catch Mack's play on words there. We do not have a Clint Eastwood Taurus. If I was to expand I would be going out side of the PG-13 rating this forum has .

mackabee

Good job! I've only sold 1 used so far. Our pay plan calls for three used to get your unit bonus.
Mack

venture

Just filled up an hour ago. $3.60 a gallon. :sick:

mackabee

It's $3.20 for regular here in Va Beach. I just talked to Mack jr. , he lives up in Maryland where it's about the same as here. He did tell me that at McLean Va it's $3.60 like where you are at.
Mack.

greanpea68

As a sales person, how do you view or perceive this customer compared to someone who drives in a 3 to 5 year old car to make the same type of transaction or may want to trade?

I percieve this customer as someone who needs a new or used car. I think of their current vehicle weather it is a trade or not as a $1.00 car.

GP

" Car's a clam dude " :surprise:

GP

occupant1

I'm interviewing at a Toyota dealer tomorrow and hope to get hired on. It's one of the few Toyota shops in town that I would buy from so maybe they'll be good to work for as well. I'll start posting gratuitously in here if all goes well, or maybe if I end up at another dealer.

As far as the OT gas prices, I filled up with Shell regular today in Cleburne, TX for $3.129 a gallon. My cash money green '79 Delta 88 sucked in 12.676 gallons of it divided by 238.3 mostly highway miles for 18.8mpg. Not bad for a boat, not bad at all. And no, those aren't nautical miles...

greanpea68

unleaded regular... I have seen it from $3.11 - $3.30...

GP

grandtotal

You should do what I do. When I get to a Mackabee post I scan to the bottom. If I see "TO BE CONTINUED..." I don't even bother to start reading it.

jmonroe

My cash money green '79 Delta 88 sucked in 12.676 gallons of it divided by 238.3 mostly highway miles for 18.8mpg.

Are you trying to pull a fast one on us? You were trying to calculate gallons per mile; then you went and transposed the formula (to get miles per gallon like the rest of us do). :confuse:

Good luck with the job search, just don't let them trick you into a math test. :shades:

jmonroe

madmanmoo

You got it, Gogiboy.

Put them through the pain of the process and when they come out at the end they'll start thinking the way they should have.

-moo

peetert

About the only positive I can say about living in NJ is the gas prices. 2.99 for regular yesterday at our local no-name station.

greanpea68

If I see "TO BE CONTINUED..." I don't even bother to start reading it.

I guess you don't read much of Mack's posts.

GP

greanpea68

About the only positive I can say about living in NJ is the gas prices. 2.99 for regular yesterday at our local no-name station.

The ingrediants for the gasoline must be " salad oil and water "

GP

jmonroe

2.99 for regular yesterday at our local no-name station.

You don't actually put that stuff in a car you plan to trade in do ya? When they present you with the truth in selling document, "How did you take car of this car when you owned it", you'll have to change your mind and keep it. You should have known how those dealers are about this stuff.

jmonroe

peetert

well besides Exxon and Lukoil that's all there is around me. Even the Exxon I passed yesterday was 3.03 for regular. I guess it also helps having all those refineries along the NJTPK, keeps transportation costs down. Doesn't do much for the scenery though.

Anyway, my sister-in-law's brother used to deliver gas to alot of these no-name station and he told us alot of the gas the get comes from the same refineries as the big boys. Kinda like another friend who worked at a company that packaged vitamins. Big bin filled with Vitamin C capsules. One scoop went to the Sunkist feeder, one to the local supermarket label.

stickguy

staying OT here...

By me, the Shell is still 2.99, and the other day the Citgo was 2.97. The no name was 2.95, so not much of a difference.

I thought the difference though was the name brands added more additives before the gas left the refinery?

Oh, and the primary reason it is cheaper in NJ is the gas taxes are lower.

And, we do get full service by law!

grandtotal

I guess you don't read much of Mack's posts.

On the contrary, I read and enjoy most of them, just not the multi-part ones.

nj2pa2nc

one of the few thing jersey has is low gas tax. I love getting it in that state,usually at WaWa and be able to say fill it. (especially when it is raining or cold)

nj2pa2nc

oh well- you do not know what you are missing-love his posts-continued or not Also like the poster of those "to be continue's"

dhamilton

I pull in to work saturday, bright and early around 8:00. We have about 30 minutes before we open. There is a customer walking the lot, looking at A3's. I stop and greet him, and we talk for a while about A3's, and A4's. He tells me he's looking for a friend and he'll be back.

About 90 minutes later he shows up with a real young kid, and I demo an A3, then an A4 for them.
I'm trying to get some info from them, but it's going real slow. They talk about the car, but don't want to shoot the breeze much. It turns out, the young kid, and the older guys nephew played division 1 soccer together in college. The kid was real good, and got drafted by the local MLS squad. When he got selected, the friend tells him to look up his Uncle and Aunt, and they will help him "settle in the area".

The kid, [we'll call him Joe, and the older guy Dennis] needs help buying his first car, flush with a signing bonus or something. They won't tell me what their budget is, or where they are trying to be, just that the biggest obstacle will be getting him approved. They don't want to talk #'s, until he's approved :sick: .

They decide on an A3 that has a sticker of $31 and change. We run credit, and it's not bad, there just is non. Audi says no.

So I tell them what Audi says, and then give them My advice about getting a credit card with a low limit, and paying it off every month to build a good credit history.

We shake hands, stand up to leave, and Dennis says, so would my offer of $19,500 been OK? :confuse: :sick: :mad:

This is after about 2 1/2 hours of demo-ing on a saturday, when we do most of our business.

If they would have made that offer up front, I could have saved them a lot of time by directing them to Hyundai .

greanpea68

Anyway, my sister-in-law's brother used to deliver gas to alot of these no-name station and he told us alot of the gas the get comes from the same refineries as the big boys. Kinda like another friend who worked at a company that packaged vitamins. Big bin filled with Vitamin C capsules. One scoop went to the Sunkist feeder, one to the local supermarket label.

It's all called " marketing "

Do you want a Nissan or a Infinity...

DO you want a Toyota or do you want a Lexus

:surprise:

GP

epiney

We shake hands, stand up to leave, and Dennis says, so would my offer of $19,500 been OK?

You guys are always complaining about the grinders that try to squeeze out those lousy few hundred dollars... so I will gladly offer you $20,000

Well you never know, the kid could have been rich sports star and a lay down at full list. You would think the older guy would have known better. Then again the MB R Class had about $10K trunk money a couple years ago, so anything's possible.

pcampos

I did a search for a used car, a 2002 Saab 9-3, and found a 30% difference between the KBB and Edmunds estimates. Is this common, and what should I make of the difference (yes I used exactly the same parameters for each search in terms of condition, options, and mileage).

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

epiney

Do you want a Nissan or a Infinity...

GP, you work for Nissan. It's Infiniti :P If it's marketing, then I guess you won't mind giving me a G37 coupe for the same price as an Altima coupe. Heck I'll even take a QX56 for the same price as an Armada (even with $4 gas)

nthe

well, we have 2 building at our toyota lot, one for used and one for new. I just primarily sell used, with just 1 new sale, a 08 hybrid camry.

madmanmoo

Ahahhaha!!

Should have told him 'yes'.

-moo

jipster

Have you forgotten what you have read here at Edmunds. Consumers have been trying to steal deals with "low ball offers" since the beginning. Just look at a few screen names here. Bobst, Oldfarmer, "Jip"ster, JMonroe, COTMC, Tbaxxon, the list goes on but I don't have enough time to write them all

I must have left some money on the table to have only come in third on your list.

Must.... try... harder!

greanpea68

GP, you work for Nissan. It's Infiniti

Whoops... I am only human...

then I guess you won't mind

I wouldn't mind at all

GP

greanpea68

Should have told him 'yes'.

Right.... because they would have been denied anyway :surprise: Than they would have been shopping everywhere because they would believe they could get that deal. Sometimes it is the little things in this job that I enjoy the most :shades:

GP

greanpea68

I must have left some money on the table to have only come in third on your list.

When your at the bottom of the barrel I don't think there is a third place :P

Just for the record I am only joking. I don't wish the wrath of Jipster on anybody

GP

snakeweasel

I guess it also helps having all those refineries along the NJTPK, keeps transportation costs down.

Not sure if thats the reason. going between my house and the American Legion post I go by a gas station that is right across the street from the refinery. Its one of the most expensive gas stations around.

oldfarmer50

"...a 30% difference between the KBB and Edmunds estimates..."

It took me a while to get my head around this difference myself. Let's see if I can get it right. The KBB figure is the price that dealers are ASKING and the Edmunds figure is the price that people are actually PAYING.

The dealers can pull a price out of any orifice they want but that doesn't mean they will get the asking price. When I bought a used car several years ago the asking price was about $9K, KBB was $7700 and what I actually paid was close to $7K. I didn't know about Edmunds back then but I would guess Edmunds would have said about $7K.

fezo

"Not sure if thats the reason. going between my house and the American Legion post I go by a gas station that is right across the street from the refinery. Its one of the most expensive gas stations around."

Well, sure. You're paying for the ambiance.

mackabee

"On the contrary, I read and enjoy most of them, just not the multi-part ones."

Those are the best ones! There's been other posters who have tried to emulate my style, but there's only one Mackabee.

mackabee

Ahh, those were the good old days. We had the same setup 5 years ago. I was on the new car side but could walk over to the used car side and sell a used car. I used to tell customers "Once we cross this line my suit turns into a green plaid jacket with with a purple tie, rings appear on all my fingers except my thumbs and my shoes turn to crocodile leather." They would find that rather humorous. Incidentally, I used to sell more used then than I do now.
mACK

mackabee

They are both similar in format but the money is different. KBB uses suggested retail, private party, and trade-in for the used vehicles. Customers want to pay trade-in value for the used car on the lot. Rarely does a customer pay KBB or Edmund's retail.
Mack

epiney

Right.... because they would have been denied anyway Than they would have been shopping everywhere because they would believe they could get that deal. Sometimes it is the little things in this job that I enjoy the most

Unless he gets qualified, comes back for his deal and then screams bait and switch when he can't get it :lemon: :sick:

sterlingdog

Each time that I read one of your posts, I am tempted to tell you my school bus driver story. Since a school bus is a vehicle, I suppose that the story will be OT here. One afternoon a few years ago, a bus driver came into my office, threw the bus keys down on my desk, and informed me that he was quitting. I managed to get him seated and calmed down enough to talk. He said, "I have driven a jeep and a truck in Vietnam at the height of the conflict, but it was nothing to compare with the S*&% that I have put up with from these kids." I asked him if he had talked with the school principal where his bus was based for pick up and delivery. He said that he had but that it did no good. After about 30 minutes, it became obvious that he was actually quitting.
As I walked out the door with him, he said the most astonishing thing---"You better send someone over to King Drive to get the bus and take the rest of the kids home." I said, "Do you mean that you walked off and left a bunch of kids alone on the bus?!" He responded by saying,"Yes, and I don't give a D&@% what happens to them." A wave of panic came over me.
I ran to the phone and called the transportation director at the bus garage. I picked him up and dashed over to King Drive. Yes, I exceeded the speed limit. What a sight to behold. Three kids were sitting ON TOP of the bus and two were sitting on the hood. The rest of them were shouting obscenities at drivers passing by. We managed to get them under control and proceeded to deliver them to their respective homes. Thank heavens no one had been injured or kidnapped. It is a wonder that the police hadn't been called to the scene. Perhaps they had been. Unfortunately, they didn't always answer calls to this area.
A school bus driver's job can be awfully hard at times. I hope that your experiences with children were more positive.

Richard

rhduke00

We shake hands, stand up to leave, and Dennis says, so would my offer of $19,500 been OK?...

If they would have made that offer up front, I could have saved them a lot of time by directing them to Hyundai

You'd have done them a favor. $19,500 will buy a lot of car with a great warranty at a Hyundai dealership.

jmonroe

"I have driven a jeep and a truck in Vietnam at the height of the conflict, but it was nothing to compare with the S*&% that I have put up with from these kids."

---"You better send someone over to King Drive to get the bus and take the rest of the kids home."

It is a wonder that the police hadn't been called to the scene. Perhaps they had been. Unfortunately, they didn't always answer calls to this area.

Welcome back.

You know we have an honesty policy here, so, would you have gone into that area to retrieve that bus if it didn’t have some value? The Vietnam Vet didn’t think so but then he didn’t own the bus either.

jmonroe

sterlingdog

Thanks. As they say in the military, it was all in the line of duty.

Richard

greanpea68

Unless he gets qualified, comes back for his deal and then screams bait and switch when he can't get it

He has already been denied for a 30,000 dollar loan and was denied.

"truth in lending" he won't get approved for that $30,000 loan.

But he will learn elsewhere that he can't buy that car for $30,000... and if .... "IF" he comes back it will be easy to switch him. But if he couldn't get approved for $30,000 I doubt he will get approved for $20,000 with out conditioning the loan :lemon:

GP

greanpea68

Richard

How are you buddy?

What did you go on vacation?

GP

cashisking

"The car is a clam dude" where have i herd that before ???

roadburner

One afternoon a few years ago, a bus driver came into my office, threw the bus keys down on my desk, and informed me that he was quitting. I managed to get him seated and calmed down enough to talk.

A circuit judge in Kentucky did something similar a few years ago. He was hearing a long, drawn-out, and nasty(is there any other kind?) divorce case. After about three hours he stood up and announced, "That's it; I'm finished." and went to his chambers. A bailiff came back and asked him what time court would start tomorrow and the judge said, "I'm finished. I quit. They can't pay me enough to listen to that s#$t." And that was his last day on the bench.

greanpea68

"The car is a clam dude" where have i herd that before ???

You know where you heard that before...

It's about time you posted something. You have been lurking here a long time. Tell a story, I know you have some since you have been selling for 10 years. And don't worry about your writing skills. We have Richard her who loves to help us all with our pendmendship Most people know that most car guys don't know how to write. But we are good at math :surprise:

Anway welcome to the board Cash

GP

imidazol97

> took the bus back to the transportation depot. The child who had covered my eyes was taken to the transportation director. I never saw the kid again because he lost his bus riding privileges for the rest of the year.

Whoa. You must have been in a very small district or that was a long time ago. You violated the kid's rights. You should be sued. The parents will be at the superintendent's office or they'll call their acquaintance on the school board to get you fired!!!

That doesn't happen these days! Everyone's in fear of the kids' and parents' rights to run their local schools--at least in far to many cases.

cashisking

Maby..you know me..I need a good topic to get in on..Your rite I do have alot of good stories but most of them consist of cry baby customers that say car dealers pressure them
to do something they dont want to do..whats this high school peer pressure they
have the option to say no.

stickguy

Well, then every parent should be required to drive the bus for 1 day. That might change their mind.