Stories from the Sales Frontlines

sterlingdog

True, true! The smart wife would know how to do that.

Speaking of Joel in your other post, I've missed seeing him here. Hopefully, he is very busy. He is such a good poster and a nice guy.

I agree that the customers here have done their fair share of spending money to keep this thread alive. Jipster has always had that non-refundable policy on dues. It is time for the salesmen to earn their membership with new stories. Poor graphicguy has worked himself to death trying to keep us entertained. I might add that he did it in grand style.

Richard

boomchek

Not sure about Candian tax laws, but I'm sure we can deduct some home buying expenses.

jmonroe

better get used to other drivers not signaling their intentions.
up here in the northeast it is not uncommon, although very annoying.

I’m used to it and I’m one of those that rarely use my turn signals on a couple mile stretch of road that is the main drag of the shopping district in my town. It’s just down right dangerous to use your turn signal there because the entrances and exits to the business’s along this stretch of road are about as close to each other as driveways in housing development. I’ve seen more than just a few accidents there because people put on their turn signal to warn the guy behind them that they want to turn and the cars waiting to pull out of these places do pull out and into them.

Several years ago I was talking to a couple of the officers of our town and they said the guys on the force will never give someone a ticket along that stretch of road for not using their turn signal for the reason I just mentioned. In fact, they said they’d like to put up signs saying Do Not Use Turn Signals In This Area but they know that would never pass any safety review.

jmonroe

boomchek

Thanks for the lesson

driver100

It's easy. Just remember to capitalize ALL languages such as English, French, German, etc

Excellent lessons Richard......but it seems lack of capitals is not a problem on the internet. In fact, I think it just us older people who even think about it. :shades:

isellhondas

Once, quite a few years ago, a close friend asked if I would go with him to look at a private party Honda Accord that would have been for his daughter.

It was about a 45 minute drive and when we were enroute, he described the Accord as it had been described to him. As I recall, it was six or seven years old and it sounded like it would fir the bill.

As we slowly drove down the street looking for the address, we passed by a house that had a RATTY looking Accord sitting the driveway.

I was joking when I said " That's probably it". Well, it was.

I fully expected my friend to keep on driving but he was ticked.

We went to the door and a lady appeared. My friend Bill was as nice as can be when he asked her..." Is your Accord parked in the garage?"

" On no, she said, it's sitting right there in the driveway"

" Gee, I don't see it. I just see an old junker with rust, dents and a ripped up interior"

" Well, that's the car"!

Bill was pretty direct when he told her her car certainly didn't match the glowing description she had given him!

His parting words which left her with her mouth open...

"The next time someone asks you to describe your car, you should just say..." My car is a total POS" He spelled out the words very clearly!

cdn_tch

Generally speaking, the tax man just taketh away and doesn't give you a break (on home ownership).

cdnpinhead

Glad to see you participating here more of late. Good story.

We'll try to run off all those malcontents that drive you away from time to time.

snakeweasel

Not sure about Candian tax laws, but I'm sure we can deduct some home buying expenses.

Well that would depend on what you consider home buying expenses. Basically prepaid interest can be deducted and points can be amortized over the life of the loan. Other than that there isn't much more you can deduct.

Now we do have the $8,000.00 first time home buyers refundable tax credit. IIRC You must not have owned a home in the past three years and if you sell your home before a certain time frame (I believe 3 years) you have to repay the credit.

jmonroe

We'll try to run off all those malcontents that drive you away from time to time.

Hey...I'm stinkin around. My dues are paid up for the year.

jmonroe

sterlingdog

LMAO!!! Love that story. Tell us another one.

Richard

driver100

Gee, I don't see it. I just see an old junker with rust, dents and a ripped up interior"

Purrrrfect! Love that one!

Surprising how often that happens though. In the really olden days when I could only afford used cars I can remember driving for miles...only to be disappointed by some hunk a junk waiting to be looked at.

What happened to surprise the customer, by giving them more than they expected?

I learned a valuable lesson, unless you're an expert, it is better to pay more, get a used car that has been screened by a new car dealer, get a warranty.

deltheking

And KBB excellent retail value says 9k.So since this is a private party sale,I am knocking of 2k for a great price of 7k only.
Steal of a deal.For the seller ! :shades:

corvette

Which engine on the 190E? I've always liked those, and they seem to be good cars if they're well taken care of.

graphicguy

I'm seeing more and more of these "curbstoners" around. An acquaintance of mine, who lives in a toney neighborhood, has one of these right down the street from him.

The person will have one, at most 2 cars with a 4 sale sign in them. He takes them to an empty or abandoned parking lot, and displays them. I asked my acquaintance one time how this guy operates. There's a Manheim auction place not far from him. The neighbor goes to those. The used cars that the dealers don't want, he snaps up. I'm assuming the guy has some sort of license to be able to participte in these auctions.

He takes them home. Cleans them up. Puts the sign up. He turns 4-5 cars a month like that....in addition to doing his "day job" (at a very large consumer products company, HQ'd in Cincinnati).

No one seems to mind, as he's been doing this for years.

Obviously, he offers no warranty. But, he doesn't have cars that cost more than about $5,000 that I've ever seen. Little cottage business for him.

If he's buying them at auction, I have to assume he's making $750-$1,000 on each unit. He doesn't finance. Buys the cars under loan value (and probably fudges their true condition)...sold "as is-where is".

I don't know if I consider him enterprising, or a smudge on the car sales profession.

jmonroe

What happened to surprise the customer, by giving them more than they expected?

Well every now and then it does happen.

I told about my son that bought a ’95 Trans Am for a track car a while back that he and I went to West Virginia to get after doing a final inspection and test drive. The car was waaaay more than he had a right to expect. The young single school teacher that had it told my son that he babied the car so my son figured it was worth investing about $60 for an inspection at an independent garage that some of his track friends recommended down there before he decided to go take a look. It turned out the car was rarely driven in the rain and NEVER driven in the snow. There is barely a spec of rust on the floor pan and NONE on top and it’s a ’95.

So yes, there are times when you are pleasantly surprised but this has to be the exception compared to all the horror stories that we always hear about.

jmonroe

michaellno

Your story about the guy who "curbstones" cars is interesting .. nice little revenue stream he's got going ($3-5K per month). Though, if he works for P&G and lives in an upscale neighborhood, he probably doesn't need the money.

(or does he? perhaps he's trying to maintain the mortgage on the McMansion he lives in .. just sayin')

I guess this really isn't any different than folks who flip houses. Buy low, sell high, move on to the next one. The only differences I see:

1) When you flip houses, the product isn't parked on the street
2) When you flip cars, folks who have access to auctions have a bit of an advantage than the regular Joe. When you flip houses, everybody can buy the investment property - no special license needed

I've always understood the term 'curbstone' to mean a salesman at a dealer who buys a car that the dealer didn't want, and sell it on the side.

oldfarmer50

"...He turns 4-5 cars a month like that..."

Your story reminded me of a guy at work who had a friend who worked for a large corporation that ran a fleet of cars. This friend had access to buying these cars when the company wanted to dispose of them.

The friend couldn't let the company know he was curbstoning the vehicles so he talked my work buddy into letting him put them on my buddy's lawn. They sold a vehicle or two each month as private sales. I think he said they made about $1000 on each one. He made enough to pay for his vacation.

I asked him if he knew that what he was doing was illegal in NY. He said "oh, nobody got hurt".

Ever since he told me this I have noticed several places around town that always seem to have a different used car for sale every few weeks.

stickguy

there are 2 that fit the bill near me. 1 more recent.

Both are guys that always have a used car for sale at the end of their driveways (on pretty busy streets). I have also seen the newer guy list his stuff on craigs. An odd assortment of older cars and trucks, but the prices don't seem to obad.

the 1st guy has been doing this, same house, for well over 5 years (could be closer to 10!). ALmost always Honda, with an occasional nissan or toyota mixed in. Lots of civics, a few accords or altime/camry. Usually about 5-8 YO stuff. Always look very clean.

funny thing is he usually has the next 1-2 units parked on the other side of his yard.

Never drove any or talked to the guy (alhtough I thought of doing it just to see what his deal was). I did look at one once (always have a nice sheet in the window) and it was quite pricey IMO. Suprised me for where and how he sells. Pretty much a private purchase set up, with dealer+ prices!

qbrozen

I thought you were away from this sort of thing with the baby coming!

This was for the baby, actually. The Infiniti and Volvo are gone. Got the Mazda5 for the wife with relatively low payments, and this MB is my daily driver so I have no payment. I've been searching for a few weeks now and settled on this. However, I'm going to continue to keep my eye out for a nice E30. Then kick something to the curb ... probably the MB.

qbrozen

What do you consider a "curbstoner"?

1) A dealer who pretends to be a private seller to avoid offering a warranty.

2) A guy who fixes up and sells a number of cars each year but is not a dealer (not licensed)

3) A guy who sells cars as his own which in fact belong to a third party.

I was under the impression the definition is #2 ... sort of. A curbstoner COULD have a license, but just not share that info, correct? That way they are legal and get into the auctions. That's what this guy is. Claims to be getting his license next week.

qbrozen

Good story.
I was thinking this morning, after yesterday's incident, how in the world some people get on a plane and fly to a car to drive it back. Good grief, that's risky. Would love to hear a story like yours after a plane trip!

qbrozen

Its a 2.6 auto. Real nice on the highway (although RPMs are quite high at those speeds). But its relatively quiet, smooth, and comfy. Not the best car around town, though.
It has 158k miles. Interior is in darn good shape. Seats are nearly perfect, as are the carpets. Couple of the door panels are loose and need attention. And I'm a bit afraid to get into the electrics behind the dash because I already can see it has had some .... creative engineering?... sometime durings its life. (don't ask, cause I don't know ... but there are at least 2 extra switches that have no known function just yet.) Exterior ain't bad. Swirly paint and some fading and several touched up spots, but no rust or rot I've yet found.

boomchek

Good story. It happens so much though.

Here's a perfect example that I also posted on another board.

Does this look like it's in excellent condition to anyone here?

MB 190E

jipster

Does this look like it's in excellent condition to anyone here?

Looks to be in excellent shape... for a car 25 years old. :sick:

crkeehn

Does this look like it's in excellent condition to anyone here?

Looks to be in excellent shape... for a car 25 years old.

Plus that is obviously the urban edition. It's sold predented so the first one doesn't hurt so bad. MB starting doing that in 1983.

fezo

Well, it started showing up on the 1983 models - but not until 1992.

q - Daily driver! I should have figured. This is a perfect plan. If it works out you look like a genius. If it doesn't you get to buy another car which seems to be a pathological thing with you....

british_rover

Not sure if that is really curbstoning as the guy doesn't work for a dealership. It also matters if he has a license or is going to an open auction. In CT at least we don't have to put a warranty on a car under 5,000 dollars but the car still has to meet minimum standards that a private party sale wouldn't have to meet. He isn't registering them so kind of a curbstoner.

Back when I had my shop me and another guy that worked there would pick up a car or two every couple of months from a local auction where no license was required. We fixed them up, always on our own time after the shop was closed, and put them out for sale. We didn't register them of course so yeah kind of curbstoning.

driver100

2) A guy who fixes up and sells a number of cars each year but is not a dealer (not licensed)

I would take this a step further. A curbsider acts like he is selling a car privately, and so the possible buyer thinks the car has been driven by just a regular person.

But, the car has been bought cheap, and is being flipped to make a profit. Once the car is sold, the curbsider finds another car to flip. These cars are usually not very good, the car is just being sold to be flipped. Curbsiders are sleazy operators, appear to be doing a private sale, but they are really an unregulated dealer.

fordfool

I've wondered how curbstoners put plates on their cars for test-drives or garage inspections. I'm assuming these cars are not insured. Just borrow plates from their daily driver? :shades:

oldfarmer50

"...2 extra switches that have no known function...."

Those would be for the ejection seat and the machine guns Mr. Bond.

isellhondas

Thanks for that!

A couple of us used to be pretty good at running off the troublemakers but some of the hosts didn't always appreciate our methods.

qbrozen

Those would be for the ejection seat and the machine guns Mr. Bond.

That's what I was hoping for, and I have pounded on them feverishly when being irritated by other drivers on the highway ... but so far no explosions. Maybe it just needs a reload. If only I could figure out how. :P

qbrozen

This is a perfect plan. If it works out you look like a genius. If it doesn't you get to buy another car which seems to be a pathological thing with you

Hey, come on now. You weren't supposed to figure that out.

graphicguy

rover....I'm not sure how that works in OH (where I live). I assume (you know how that works) that to get into one of those Manheim auctions that you have to have a dealer license. I could be wrong on that count, however.

Insurance? Plates? Who knows? I suppose if someone wanted to take a chance, they could leave these cars uninsured (definitely a "no-no" in Ohio). Or, insurance would be minimal on a car that the seller owns for a few weeks.

I also guess you could just put plates from anything on them for test drives, and take your chances that the men in blue won't notice you.

Eventually, someone has to go to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and get plates/transfer title.

I don't know what the laws are regarding cars sold for $5,000, or less.

Since this guy has been doing it for awhile, I guess he knows what he can, and can't get away with.

He does live in a nice home, in a nice neighborhood. Maybe the way he does that is by selling these vehicles on the side. Still, it's not like P&G is known for employing people on the "stingy" end of the pay scale. Further, I don't know if they consider his side business as a conflict of interest, either....if they know about it, at all.

As expected, the massive amount of employees P&G has around these parts, as well as the tight knit communities where most of them live, I can't imagine he could keep that business a secret.

I'm kind of the outsider on my street. It's a cul-de-sac. And, of the 15 or so houses on my street, 7 of them house P&G employees (engineers). 3 of them house GE employees (another big employer locally). That leaves 1/3 of us on the street as kind of on the outside looking in.

lrguy44

In Colorado, if a private person buys a car it will be a retail deal. If the car is then sold before they title it and taxes are not paid it is a "Jump Title" and the state can go after the seller. A private party can legally sell 3 cars per year without a license.

houdini1

Personally, as long as no law is being broken, I would applaud anyone for having the get up and go to try and make a living. Sure beats robbing some old lady at gun point, or carjacking someone.

british_rover

All the managers are busy doing a couple of spot deliveries so I have been roped into listening, watching and taking notes on a Conference call about Volvo's product placement of the XC60 for that new Twilight movie.

OH MY GOD this is boring.

I have a whole hour of this.

snakeweasel

A private party can legally sell 3 cars per year without a license.

Oh gee I know someone in CO who sold four cars this year. :surprise:

lrguy44

I can't help it if you hang out with crooks :sick:

snakeweasel

nope, just over the course of the year bought 2 new(er) cars and sold the old ones in a private party transaction. Inherited one car which they sold off, and got rid of their daughters old car.

lrguy44

Not that the state is going to go after them, but they were technically outside the law regardless of the circumstances.

corvette

I have a cure, just repeat after me:

core competencies
value added
strategic planning
emergent
bring to the table
center of excellence
mindshare
network effects
proactive
synergize
value proposition
world-class

Now, when your boss asks you what you learned from the conference call, just make something up, inserting the above words whenever you can. :P

explorerx4

Bingo!

driver100

so I have been roped into listening, watching and taking notes on a Conference

At least it makes for a "good sales story."

driver100

Any one interested in one of these?
Acura ZDX

driver100

and see about one of these:

mikefm58

core competencies
value added
strategic planning
emergent
bring to the table
center of excellence
mindshare
network effects
proactive
synergize
value proposition
world-class

LOL, good one, and for those of us in corporate America.

Six sigma
Zero defects
Total quality
Work smarter not harder
ISO 9000

oldfarmer50

"...and for those of us in corporate America..."

And for those of us out on the farm.

Stupid don't pay.

Pretty much sums up everything, doesn't it?

jmonroe

That leaves 1/3 of us on the street as kind of on the outside looking in.

Yeah, I know the feeling.

Being the runt of the litter just ain't no fun.

jmonroe