Stories from the Sales Frontlines

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Comments

  • cdnpinheadcdnpinhead Member Posts: 5,630
    Enjoy!

    Sounds like you landed on your feet at the new store.
    '08 Acura TSX, '17 Subaru Forester
  • scottinkyscottinky Member Posts: 194
    per month. drop me an email, hayesvideo@gmail.com and I will let you know.
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 269,346
    HIlarious... Much better than the big "DUH" commercials..

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  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    Doesn't the Edge offer seating for 7? I don't get the Flex. Is it going to replace the Exploder or the Expedition? image

    :shades:
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    Oh man this is not right

    What's wrong with some competition?

    Don't tell us they're also in your zip code, :shades:

    jmonroe

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

  • verdugoverdugo Member Posts: 2,288
    Nope, the Edge offers only 5 seating. The Taurus X offers seating for 7.
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    The Taurux X is more of a station wagon than a CUV isn't it?
    image
  • snakeweaselsnakeweasel Member Posts: 19,593
    Why is it not right? Are they stealing your sales techniques?

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

  • sterlingdogsterlingdog Member Posts: 6,984
    If you'll do that exact dance, jmonroe and I will each buy a car from you. But don't forget---you have to dive over a Rover. :D
  • snakeweaselsnakeweasel Member Posts: 19,593
    You want him to dive over one of these?

    image

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

  • sterlingdogsterlingdog Member Posts: 6,984
    Since I can't afford what he sells, that is exactly what i had in mind.
  • tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    You want him to dive over one of these?

    Because they haven't built one of those yet, that belongs in the Future Vehicles section! Sticker shock is expected to be rather extreme. ;)

    tidester, host
    SUVs and Smart Shopper
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    If you'll do that exact dance, jmonroe and I will each buy a car from you.

    Leave me out of this. If I wanted one I'd have one. ;)

    But don't forget---you have to dive over a Rover.

    'rover' is having enough problems selling them; let alone demonstrating his athletic prowess. :shades:

    jmonroe

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

  • snakeweaselsnakeweasel Member Posts: 19,593
    Oh they have built them, They just shipped them off to Mars. And you thought the $650 most places charge for shipping was high.

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

  • lrguy44lrguy44 Member Posts: 2,197
    Business Builder

    LR/JAG is getting more aggressive in the policing. They will check where the first service is done and may follow up on that. If a dealer is caught cheating, it can cost them an entire quarters BB. Pretty expensive. The rule is you can sell into any adjacent territory (assigned or unassigned) or to any unassigned territory.

    In the old days employees were given a share of BBB. Those days (at least here) are long gone.
  • lrguy44lrguy44 Member Posts: 2,197
    Welcome to the wonderful and wacky world of high end.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    To me it sound like it's supposed to be a flexible fuel vehicle. Is it? Heck, since it really is just a station wagon, why don't they just call it "Country Sedan" or slap some imitation woodgrain on the sides and call it "Country Squire?"
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Except Honda dropped their holdback to 2% quite some time ago.

    If this stuff has to be posted, I wish it were accurate.
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Email them and tell them it is incorrect.

    I just noticed when this data was last revised at the bottom of the page.

    Revised September 2005

    :confuse:
  • benderofbowsbenderofbows Member Posts: 542
    "Appreciate"?? Don't think so, not even a Honda.

    That 5 speed won't help you in the resale department. Still, it'll do fine.


    I have the same car, 2007 Accord LX manual, and investigated this a couple of months ago over in Real World Trade-In Values.

    The expert consensus was that at trade-in, my car will be worth $1000 less than an identical car equipped with an automatic. However, the automatic was a $700 option when new, so really the difference is only $300, or not as much as most people think.

    I paid a little more than the OP did for his car, at $17,800 or $300 under invoice. After one year and 12k miles, the most I could get for the car would probably be $15,900, or just over a 10% first year depreciation.
  • epineyepiney Member Posts: 462
    LR/JAG is getting more aggressive in the policing. They will check where the first service is done and may follow up on that. If a dealer is caught cheating, it can cost them an entire quarters BB. Pretty expensive. The rule is you can sell into any adjacent territory (assigned or unassigned) or to any unassigned territory.

    Did you mean "The rule is you can't sell into any adjacent territory" :confuse:

    This is no different from many distribution policies in lots of industries. So what BR is upset about is not that they sold into his territory, but they allegedly used BB money to subsidize the sale and represent it as sale in their assigned territory.
  • epineyepiney Member Posts: 462
    Gotta give you credit for your passion in your Brand :D Looks like a cool vehicle, something that I would even go check out. I think that segment will be huge and grow. Mercedes had the right idea with the R-Class, but totally missed the mark with pricing. A minivan disguised as a CUV. :shades: It looks like GM hit a home run (if not a soild triple)with their Lambda CUVs. The Flex will be right in there with the Acadia and the Chevy version. The Enclave will be tough competition at the higher end though.

    You guys must be looking forward to the release. I know I'm beating a dead horse, but have the design redo the Taurus to compete with the new Malibu.
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    Last year the Scion tC 05, and 06, was appreciating. You could look at KBB.COM values and they were listing them for more than you could buy a new 07 for. There was a shortage of new ones at the time and I remember our store had a few 06's that came out of our rental fleet and people were paying the money for them.
    Today it's a different story. Supply has caught up with demand so they are bringing normal money for pre-owned.
    image
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    I can' t sell into their territory. I have a business builder zip code tool on my system so that if I have a questions about a particular zip code I just punch the code into the tool and it tells me if it qualifies for business builder.

    Their territory does not qualify for me so mine doesn't qualify for them.

    My territory bumps up against two other dealers to the south of me but does not border their territory as the southern most of those two dealers acts as a buffer.

    I can only assume that they are collecting business builder on these sales as otherwise they make no sense financially. You aren't gaining a service customer since they live four plus hours away from you. You aren't making any front end or back end gross profit and after you put floor mats, a full tank of gas and pay your salesperson you are actually losing money on the sale. You aren't gaining allocation since AFIK sales outside of your market do not count towards allocation.

    If you aren't picking up the business builder money then these kinds of sales are stupid.
  • epineyepiney Member Posts: 462
    What about hitting volume bonus targets?
  • epineyepiney Member Posts: 462
    You probably haven't been in one but that was a serious problem with the R-Class Mercedes. The rear doors were so huge that they could rarely be opened enough in tight parking spaces and the doors were very, very heavy.

    I actually considered buying a R-Class. Optioned up, thesticker is frightening, but incentives were good. Reliability has been in the toilet though.

    Those doors are a problem. They are huge and weigh a ton. If you have kids, they will need to push the doors hard to open them and the momentum will have them smash into the cars parked next to them. Not popular with other drivers. I open the doors for my kids (childproof) and teach them to be very careful, but I have seen many soccer moms allow their kids to carelessly bang the cars next to them without regard. Their view is I'm too busy, so get over it. I have been victim to this many times, to the point that the side of our old car looked like a golf ball. :sick:
  • british_roverbritish_rover Member Posts: 8,502
    Land Rover doesn't typically have volume bonus targets. They have monthly objectives but there isn't usually any bonus money tied to them except for this month.

    Grrrr I was just looking over our bulletin list and I missed one. There is a bonus for center managers for achieving 110 percent of their total new car objective. For this particular dealer it would be 10,000 dollars paid to the center manager since they are in the second largest volume group.

    I guess that is what they are after. A 10,000 dollar bonus paid for by Land Rover on top of whatever other pay plan the dealership has in place is a pretty good incentive for the CM.
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    It is a cross over. Which IMO is a new tech way to say station wagon because no one wants to buy a station wagon any more, that just isn't trendy. :D

    image
  • Kirstie_HKirstie_H Administrator Posts: 11,249
    Like the word "minivan," it's become a symbol of total uncoolness.

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  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    I know I'm beating a dead horse, but have the design redo the Taurus to compete with the new Malibu.

    All we need to do there is to get more people to try it out and it will be a hit again. Also we need to get the word ot that it is not just a 500 with new skin and a new badge. it is 10 times the car the 500 was, and it is a great car. My wife has a 500 and we love it. just wish I could get a SYNC and a 3.5L V^ dropped in it. :D

    Besides why would some one not want to own the safest car in america?
  • epineyepiney Member Posts: 462
    I guess that is what they are after. A 10,000 dollar bonus paid for by Land Rover on top of whatever other pay plan the dealership has in place is a pretty good incentive for the CM.

    I would sell a few RRs at cost into your territory for that.
  • lrguy44lrguy44 Member Posts: 2,197
    Did you mean "The rule is you can't sell into any adjacent territory"

    No, an adjacent territory is OK and the only way to make a Metro area work. Fir instance, there are two other dealers in our Metro area. Their territory is fair game. North of us is unassigned and fair game for all 3 dealers. However, there is a unassigned territory between Denver and Colorado Springs (fair game) so we cannot sell into the Springs territory.
  • epineyepiney Member Posts: 462
    All we need to do there is to get more people to try it out and it will be a hit again. Besides why would some one not want to own the safest car in america?

    Joel, that's not the point. They do want the safest car, but people don't want a car that looks like it was specfically designed to be a fleet or rental car. The problem is you are not going to get people to go try it out and see how good it is unless they are a little bit excited about it. You can't tell me that the Taurus is even close to getting reactions like the new Malibu.

    FWIW, I actually think the Taurus is great choice for a family car. Safe and economical and a good car. However, boring and the sales figures back that up. They should at least try to refresh the styling or have it be destined to be the Hertz car of choice.
  • lrguy44lrguy44 Member Posts: 2,197
    Did you mean "The rule is you can't sell into any adjacent territory"

    No, an adjacent territory is fair game. It is the only way to make a metro area with more than i dealer work. For instance, there are 2 other dealers here. Their territories are fair game. There is an unassigned territory south of Denver (fair game for all) and then a Colorado Springs dealer that none of the Denver dealers can sell into.
  • epineyepiney Member Posts: 462
    Got it, makes sense
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    You might like this then.

    link title

    image
  • Kirstie_HKirstie_H Administrator Posts: 11,249
    We have an undecided shopper in aisle 3:
    http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef7f867/782

    Want to help him spend his money? A few more recs might help him out.

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  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    Eggsactly! I drove the Fusion that the rental car company loaned us while my kid's Prelude was getting its new hood on and I actually liked it! image

    There were a couple of minor things I didn't like but they wouldn't be a deal breaker. The stereo controls were not user friendly and the side pillar did leak when it rained and got water all over my shirt while I was driving to work. I don't know if it was the moonroof's fault but that shouldn't happen with a car that only has 21k miles on it. I don't like the headlight and parking lot switch either. Too many positions. I'm glad it had the auto off otherwise I would have left them on. The windshield wiper lever was also on the wrong side, for me anyways since I'm used to it being on the right side of the steering wheel. Audio controls and cruise on the wheel would be nice. It had the cruise but just volume IIRC. The interior was nicely finished but I would prefer a softer leather as opposed to the F-150 type that was in it. The last thing I didn't car for was the "euro" style tuner tail lights. Too much chrome makes them look like aftermarket cheap lamps. Other than that I would definitely consider one.

    The new Malibu is a good looking car but looks too much like a VW Jetta. The interior is nice as long as you don't get the all gray one. That one looks cheap. The big problem they are having right now is that they spent all the money on advertising and there are no cars at the dealerships! I've yet to see one on the road or at a dealership. I was reading an article that says most dealers have an allocation of two and those are already sold. That's good but only two? and they want to compete with the CamCoord crowd?
    image
  • nortsr1nortsr1 Member Posts: 1,060
    Mack:
    Terrific...all this because they like to park too too close to you!!!! My kind of video.

    NORTSR
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Yeah, book values will be about a grand less for a five speed so there isn't a huge impact there.

    They are just very hard to find a buyer for compared to the automatics.
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    I meant light switch not lot switch. I liked the puddle lamps under the mirrors also. That was a very nice touch on a family sedan.
    :shades:
  • greanpea68greanpea68 Member Posts: 1,996
    HAPPY TURKEY DAY !!!!!!!!

    Happy thanksgiving to everyone and thank you for all you stories, comments, suggetions, corrections, and most importantly the laughs !!!

    GP
  • michaellnomichaellno Member Posts: 4,120
    For instance, there are 2 other dealers here. Their territories are fair game. There is an unassigned territory south of Denver (fair game for all) and then a Colorado Springs dealer that none of the Denver dealers can sell into.

    What? LR Denver south doesn't get to count Douglas County as part of it's territory?

    Wow.
  • jmonroejmonroe Member Posts: 8,989
    I open the doors for my kids (childproof) and teach them to be very careful, but I have seen many soccer moms allow their kids to carelessly bang the cars next to them without regard. Their view is I'm too busy, so get over it. I have been victim to this many times, to the point that the side of our old car looked like a golf ball.

    Haven’t we all. :(

    That’s why I couldn’t believe my eyes when this happened:

    Last summer when we went out to dinner with son #1 and his crew, there was a couple about my sons age at the next table that had a little girl the same age as my son’s oldest boy (5-1/2) they notice each other and start making eyes at each other (we have to be wired like this for this to happen at such an early age) all the adults notice this and start laughing and a little conversation took place. They finish first and leave and my daughter in law says to Mrs. jmonroe, “that’s a really nice family”.

    About 10 minutes later we leave and as we are approaching our car we notice the father washing off the side of our car. As we got closer he said, “we got our daughter an ice cream cone at the ice cream shop and she bumped up against your car with it and I didn’t want to leave until I cleaned it off. I hope you don’t mind”. :surprise:

    He said he waited at the car just in case the owner came back before he had a chance to clean it, so he could explain what happened, while his wife went back to the ice cream shop and got a large cup of water and napkins to do the cleaning.

    My daughter in law was right. They were a very nice family.

    jmonroe

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

  • gogiboygogiboy Member Posts: 732
    "...capless fueling,..."

    Joel--

    Is that like "Shotgunning" beer? If so, I think there are plenty of high school and college boys who will want to lay claim to that technological development. :)

    Then again, those same boys may feel that Ford is anticipating and fulfilling their innermost needs by including an interior refrigerator.

    Gogiboy.
  • lrguy44lrguy44 Member Posts: 2,197
    Some of Douglas County (not all - depends on ZIP) is unassigned,.Some is Souths, and some is the Springs. I can sell to South's (adjacent) and unassigned zips, but not into the Springs zips. All of El Paso belongs to the Springs.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] ColoradoPosts: 0
    So if michaell and I got a couple of wild hairs and decided to run to the Springs for a couple of LR3s, they'd turn us away???
  • lrguy44lrguy44 Member Posts: 2,197
    As I remember you live in Parker or thereabouts. They could sell you a used car, demo or service loaner, but not new.
  • oldfarmer50oldfarmer50 Member Posts: 24,425
    "...You might like this then..."

    LOL Was that the mom from Malcum in the Middle? I loved that bumper sticker.

    2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible

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