Stories from the Sales Frontlines

1…370371373375376…2003

Comments

  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    Thanks gp. I pray it's 40 or 50 years from now.
    Mack
  • greanpea68greanpea68 Member Posts: 1,996
    When your day is so slow, you have made all of your calls, and no one is coming through the door? Or another way I know it is slow is when I come back to stories and I was the last person to post and no one else has posted.

    Here's my story this month. I have had 10 up's and 4 deals. Out of the 6 people who didn't buy three were tipped 10k or more. One person was listed as dead on the credit breau ( what ever way that word is spelled) And the other two went with Toyotas. There was not too much excitement.

    The funny thing about the guy who was listed as deceased on the credit berueas was I knew something was wrong when I got him on first pencil. other than that pretty much businesss as ussual. Well anyway that is my story this month.
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    Here's my story this month. I have had 10 up's and 4 deals

    Thats pretty strong Bro, your closing 40% of what you write. Sounds to me like you just need to write more :D (spoken like a true manager) :D
  • greanpea68greanpea68 Member Posts: 1,996
    Thats pretty strong Bro, your closing 40% of what you write. Sounds to me like you just need to write more (spoken like a true manager)

    Everyday I get told take more ups!! Your not taking enough ups. Your costing me money. :P
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Bah you are doing way better then me.

    I am 3 out of 17 right now. October is normally a huge month, I had a 31 percent closing ratio last year, but this month just won't get off the ground.

    Oh and to top it off I have to go to my wife's cousins wedding on Saturday. :sick:
  • greanpea68greanpea68 Member Posts: 1,996
    Bah you are doing way better then me.


    Yeah but I am selling cars that are from $15000 to $35000. Nothing high line.
  • snakeweaselsnakeweasel Member Posts: 19,617
    I would think that the manufacturer would have manuals you could buy.

    2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D

  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Our pay plan is so screwed up right now you probably make as much per car as I do.

    Snake...

    Discovery owner's manuals are out of print now. You can't order new ones anymore.
  • greanpea68greanpea68 Member Posts: 1,996
    I would think that the manufacturer would have manuals you could buy

    I know that you can go back a few years and look up Nissan manuals on Nissan USA. I would have to believe that other manufacturers are doing something similar.
  • lrguy44lrguy44 Member Posts: 2,197
    They can be downloaded - but they are about 300 pages to print
  • snakeweaselsnakeweasel Member Posts: 19,617
    I would guess that they have a few manuals in stock in some warehouse. I did some consulting work for a manufacturer (of trucks) trying to work on their printed materials expenses. We went looking at their warehousing and found manuals for trucks going back to WWII. They were being kept because "someone might want one".

    Those we were having scanned into PDF files so their printer can do a print on demand if anyone actually wanted one.

    2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D

  • lrguy44lrguy44 Member Posts: 2,197
    To coin an old Navy acronym, NISNC (Not in stock - not carried)
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    $1700 we spent in service on new brakes and a full 40K service.
    You must be kidding Joel.

    From Tirerack.com
    Brake Components for 2006 Jaguar S Type 3.0
    Satisfied Pro Perform OEM Pads Rear Fitment(Material: OEM Compound)-----Price: $40.00 (axle set)

    Brembo Replacement Rotor (Style: Plain, Finish: Plain)Rear Fitment -----Price: $60.00 (each)
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    This sound about right Jescue?
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    1,700 dollars for rotors and pads all the way around sounds about right on a Jag.

    A front brake job is 1,100 or so bucks for a Range Rover sales cost. I think service makes a couple of hundred bucks on us so real cost to them is 900 or so.

    If you think 1,700 bucks I a lot for brakes don't ever look at a BMW M car.

    What are these parts made of that they cost so much. I know parts are high for high end cars but these prices seem to be waaaaay over the top.

    I can’t tell you how many times I’ve changed rotors and pads on cars I’ve owned, my kids have owned, friends, neighbors, etc. and I can’t ever remember spending more than $60 ea. for rotors or $50 per axle for pads at the local auto parts. Now I admit none have been high end cars but how good can those parts be. Even accounting for markup and labor that sounds high to me. And let’s not kid anybody, that work does not require a degree in rocket surgery and it doesn’t take long to do.

    If only people knew how easy it was, more owners would do it themselves. If nothing else it’s more convenient to do it yourself than the hassle of dropping off your car at a dealer/garage then going back to get it.

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    $1700 we spent in service on new brakes and a full 40K service.
    You must be kidding Joel.

    What did I do? :D

    But since you asked, let me guess. Tire rack sells knock off "OEM Compound" crap on half there stuff and just plain knock off on the other, and I am sure there is a laundry list of work that was done on the car other then brakes, and there is more to a full brake job then pads and rotors.

    So I guess if I would have said it to start with I would have replied, "no I am not kidding". :D
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    These cars also have brake pad sensors and if you wear the pads down to the point that they trip the sensors you have to replace them. I forget how much the senors are but they are probably more then the pads on a typical cheap car.

    These are huge brake rotors and pads too. The rotors on a Range Rover are between 13.5 and 14 inches in diameter and they use either two or four piston calipers.

    Then you have to add in the fact that factory parts are just more expensive then the typical after market part and the markups are larger. These brakes are stopping a nearly 6,000 lbs vehicle from 60 mph in less then 120 feet. Most midsize sedans struggle to do that.

    All the same could be said about the M3.
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    These are huge brake rotors and pads too. The rotors on a Range Rover are between 13.5 and 14 inches in diameter and they use either two or four piston calipers.

    So, let’s double the cost of what you would pay at the local auto parts, that’s still a high price but when you buy high end you should be ready for high repair bills, it comes with the territory.

    Then you have to add in the fact that factory parts are just more expensive then the typical after market part and the markups are larger.

    No argument there. If you can’t buy at the local auto parts you will be taken to the cleaners at the dealers counter. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen dealer trucks picking up parts at the local auto parts when I‘ve been there yet I’m sure the dealer never marks the parts up on those prices but probably marks them up as if they were OEM parts. Heck, he might even charge a premium because he had to go get them.

    These brakes are stopping a nearly 6,000 lbs vehicle from 60 mph in less then 120 feet.

    Yeah, everybody needs one of those to go back and forth to the mall/work. Like I’ve said before, I’m not an SUV person so I’ll never understand this type of thinking. Maybe they just like the fact that they have good brakes.

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Here is a break down of some of the costs of parts for brakes on a 2003 and up range rover through online wholesale parts places.

    http://www.rangerovers.net/rrparts3.html#brakes

    Genuine OEM rotors all the way around through a online parts store is still 149 bucks for the fronts and 119 for the rears each.
  • laurasdadalaurasdada Member Posts: 5,271
    Hmmm. I'm going to my cousin's daughter's wedding a week from Saturday. Maybe we're related? :surprise: I'm heading to the Berkshires in MA. You?

    I'd rather be cruising there in my XK. But, the TL will do just fine.

    Any Audi folks here wanna share any thoughts on the new A/S5? Saw my first one in the flesh, wow. Looks good in pix, much better in person...

    '21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)

  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    Disco back in style? Yeah!
    image
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    It's been rather quiet the last few days. Maybe is the weather, the stock market, the housing market, who knows? Halloween maybe? image all I know is I got lucky today. No not that way! :blush: I was making calls sending e-mails, working the service lane and nothing. :sick: So I get back to a computer and was about to log on to Edmund's when a buyer walks right through the door. He got halfway to the showroom as I stood up and greeted him. I have no idea where any of the other sales guys were. image This was early in the morning too! He came in to look at an Infiniti QX56 that we had listed in Autoxxxxx we went and looked at it. Didn't even test drive it. Appraised his Chrysler 300, he wanted more off the truck and more for his trade so we compromised. Done deal. It took more time for him to get his down payment money from home and for the truck to have the rust and dust, mop and glo, put on. image Next, a colleague of mine asked me if I had talked to Mike. :confuse: Then I remembered. Mike had been in on Friday and I put him out riding since his car was in the body shop and he was too late coming in to pick it up and the shop was closed. He brought the car back on Saturday and said, "I like it. If I decide to get one I'll look you up." So he comes in on Tuesday with the wife image but it's my day to get off early so I'm not there. My colleague calls me on my cell phone and tells me Merrill is there and wants to look at a Camry but he asked for me. This guy is a green pea so I tell him to go ahead and help them since I'm already at home. Next day I'm off so Thursday after the Infiniti deal is done I happen to see GP and he asks me if I called Merrill. I can't remember the name so he looks it up in the data base and I remember it's the guy from Friday. I call him up and he tells me "I'm still looking around you know, checking prices to see where I can get the best deal." he tells me. "So what have you got so far?" I ask. "Right now I'm looking at an 07 Camry for $20,500.00 out the door. If you can beat that I rather go with you since you helped me out with that car on friday and I told you I'd come back to you but you know I got to go with the best deal." he continues. I ask him which Camry, base any options? He tells me it's one without the moonroof, or alloys, .......TO BE CONTINUED...image
    :shades:
    image
  • nj2pa2ncnj2pa2nc Member Posts: 811
    i thought of you yesterday- I was in fredricksburg on my way north to new jersey. i had stopped at the wawa there to get my car filled. it is a half way point in my travels. while i was waiting at the traffic light I looked to my right and there was a Chipotle- never heard of them before you. have to try it someday. just remember if you beat your head against the wall no TO BE CONTINUED
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    A couple days ago I was walking by the sales desk and heard a SP tell the GM that all the guy wants is his payment, my ears perk up and I ask if I can talk to the guy. My best chances of not getting gutted are to let me handle the payment buyers and not the desk because they will leave me nothing.

    So they hand me the folder and I walk out and introduce myself and stick my hand out for the guy to shake it. He just stares at me and says "I ain't shaking no damn hands, I just want to get the hell out of here" I thought boy this is going to be fun. So as we walk to my office he states he wants the GD keys to his trade in and he is not going to play no F%$%ing games. So I tell this guy that there is no need for the language on the show room and if we are to that point maybe he should just take his keys and go find some place else to buy a car. He refuses that option and follows me to my office.

    He gets in my office and immediately tells me to "Hurry the hell up"

    OK, I am at a point in my career that I don't tolerate rude, belligerent people I and I will show the same amount of respect to you that you do to me, but at this point I looked at this guy as a challenge.

    So I tell him that when you are buying a car there are a certain serious of events that have to transpire, if they don't then the process gets screwed up and could end up costing one of us money, if he would like to settle down then we will go through the process, if he has predetermined that this is not going to happen then maybe he should save us both some time and go home now.

    So at this point I have asked Mr Personality to leave twice and he declined so I figured I had deal in front of me.

    I excused myself to go get the title and get my composure back a bit and the GM told me that this guy was to wired to ever close, challenge #2

    Then the thing in this business that never ceases to amaze me happened. I gave him 3 payment options, he chose one that he agreed with and he turned into a whole different person. Come to find out that he had been shopping the whole day before and no one would give him a payment with out a credit app and a commitment, he then asked why I was able to tell him in 10 minutes what other dealers couldn't tell him after two hours. So I took a chance and jokingly said "Hell Mr Customer, if you were not such an [non-permissible content removed] hole I could have told you in 5 minutes." He looked serious for a second and then started laughing.

    From that point on we were good as gold.

    I love my Job :D
  • nj2pa2ncnj2pa2nc Member Posts: 811
    please go to my profile in car space and let me know what you think of the picture i have posted in my profile. i call it the queen mother is protected. (please notice by who). have a great day
  • jescuejescue Member Posts: 521
    Sounds exactly right. We should have them all pre sold, boy do we need a hit with this car. :shades:
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Nah we are going to VT and it is tomorrow.
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    No safer place you could have been, right between two of Tennessee's finest driving two of Americas finest :D

    What part of TN were you in?
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    Genuine OEM rotors all the way around through a online parts store is still 149 bucks for the fronts and 119 for the rears each.

    How could I argue with the facts and win this discussion? I’m not even going to try. I never said Rover OEM parts were inexpensive; however, I did say $1700 for a brake job all the way around was high even for a Rover.

    Using the prices in the link, buying the kits is the best way to go as far as price. The kits include rotors, pads and wear sensors. The cost of the front kit is $419 and the rear kit is $379. So, parts are $800. Now, you add $900 for labor and waaa laaa I come to your number!!!

    When you guys in the biz say you don’t make any money on new cars, it’s the parts and service department that carries the store, I pretty much knew this but at $900 a pop for a two hour (if that) brake job will keep you in the black every year.

    If dealers are still wondering why owners go elsewhere for service or DIY (like me, especially for a simple job like brakes) they only have to look at the bill they give to their customers.

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    How the hell do you get to someone's carspace page if they aren't in your friends list anyway?
  • nj2pa2ncnj2pa2nc Member Posts: 811
    just click on to my name-the one that is underlined will take you there. do not have to be on a friends list. to Jeol that picture was taken in nashville on our way to visit elvis
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Bah I am dumb I didn't see the link at the top.
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    ..."Hell Mr Customer, if you were not such an [non-permissible content removed] hole I could have told you in 5 minutes."

    Heck, you can call me that any day if you'd meet my price that fast. I always thought my 30 minute time limit was pretty good.

    Just goes to show you what you can learn on this site. Sounds like all you have to do is go into the showroom and start out like an AH (for me, just act natural). :D

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 33,804
    he never said the guy got a good deal. ;b

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • exb0exb0 Member Posts: 539
    Wow, and I though my Acura dealer was asking too much when they quoted me $190 just to resurface the front rotors.
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    he never said the guy got a good deal. ;b

    I missed that part but I know what I'm after when I shop. :P

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    Wow, and I though my Acura dealer was asking too much when they quoted me $190 just to resurface the front rotors.

    And if that were a Range Rover that could have been $250, easy. ;)

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    You aren't supposed to resurface Range Rover rotors. That is true for most European cars.
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    he never said the guy got a good deal. ;b

    Lets just say he go what he deserved :D
  • metmdxmetmdx Member Posts: 270
    It's been rather quiet the last few days. Maybe is the weather, the stock market, the housing.....

    Hey Mack,
    Sorry to hear about your friend...it really $ucks when the good ones go too early. I'm not sure I buy the whole thing about someone needing more angels, but that's not for this thread.
    Anyway, can you tell me what the 'normal' 60mo finance rate thru TFS would be right now on the '08 Sienna (not the special rate you have down south and given the fact my credit is excellent - 780FICO)?
    "Are we there yet?"..........
    Thx, metmdx
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    You aren't supposed to resurface Range Rover rotors. That is true for most European cars.

    I’ve heard this. So, whats so special un-special about European cast iron rotors. Are they so thin that you can’t get at least one turning out of them?

    This was the case when I took my 95’ Bonneville for PA state inspection about four years ago (don’t have that paintless beast anymore). I took it to a garage that I had been dealing with for years and he calls and says, “everything is fine except your front rotors are under the minimum allowable spec”. I said, “huh, they’ve never been turned” and he said “even though you have only 53K + miles on them , you’re right on schedule for a replacement. Just the normal ware of the pads against them will take them under spec at this mileage”.

    When I get the car home I mike them and sure enough they are a few mills under the minimum thickness stamped on the rotors. Off to the auto parts I go. When the guy gives the rotors to me I ask, “how many turnings can I expect to get out of these?” He looks at me and says, “oh, don’t worry about having to get these turned, they’ll wear out all by themselves before you get 60K miles on them”. :surprise: BTW, those rotors cost about $50 each but we’ve already had that discussion.

    I asked the guy why they weren’t built with enough meat for some turnings (like the good old days) and I volunteered an answer saying, “don’t tell me, they’re trying to save weight so they can get better gas mileage out of cars” and he said, “don’t laugh, that’s what we’ve been told when we’ve asked that question”. :(

    jmonroe

    '15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl

  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Too thin and softer so the rotors wear with the pads. It makes the cars stop better.

    Not many rotors get turned anymore. You could turn rotors that were designed to wear with the bads but the next set of pads wouldn't last as long, braking performance would suffer, there would be more brake noise and maybe some pedal pulsation.
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 270,332
    Just for comparison..

    My Honda dealer wants $300 to replace pads only.. front and back.. Other local tire/muffler shops want $270-$300, so that evidently isn't too far off normal..

    However, new rotors all the way around are $230/parts only... Add in labor, and a total brake job on a Honda CR-V would be $650-$700 for pads/rotors all the way around...

    So, $1700 for a Jag? Sounds about right..

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  • jescuejescue Member Posts: 521
    I had no idea this brake job would start such a discussion...How about the 1 year old Carrera GT that just got a $20,000 clutch last week? :surprise:
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Yeah how much is a brake job on the car with the carbon fiber ceramic brakes?
  • jescuejescue Member Posts: 521
    I would guess around 15K.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Hondas rarely need new rotors.

    On european cars, the rotors wear out along with the brake pads.
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Huh figured it would be more then that.
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Hondas rarely need new rotors.

    I guess I'm the rare one - my 98 Accord had rotors replaced at 15K because they had warped so badly.
  • lrguy44lrguy44 Member Posts: 2,197
    Hondas rarely need new rotors.

    But LRs, BMWs, Porsches, etc. are not a Honda. You cannot cmpare a 90k car to a Honda can you? :shades:
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