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Confessions of a Car Salesman
Edmunds.com
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Confessions of a Car Salesman
Confessions of a Car Salesman article on Edmunds.com
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"Weak" - just post a pic of yourself.
Edmunds TMV is a joke and U know that! Talk about giving buyers unrealistic expectations.
BTW Greenpea - 3 months does NOT a car salesman make!
My father retired as a car salesman after 32 years in 1999, and was ONE OF THE BEST. Small town (less than 5,000 population), but, he had clients all over the USA, and even a few in South America!
I asked him long ago how he was so successful. He told me straight out, NEVER lie to a potential customer. Tell them the truth, straight out. Something I've carried with me to this day.
My wife is ready for a new SUV. Hopefully I can use something I learned from this article.
One thing for sure is now I can walk away from aggressive, bullying salesperson.
The no-haggle information is probably correct. however I worked for the only true no haggle car dealership in Florida, and no I am talking about Carmax. This dealership was so effective that the other 3 Chrysler dealerships in town bought them out.
The sad thing is that it was very successful, for customers and employees. It is the way the car business should be. Would love for Edmunds to contact me about how this actually worked as it was back in the 1990's.
Oh and a footnote. Prior to around 1957 new cars did not have prices on them and that is how dealers made their money, giving different prices to different people on the same car. Which is how the MSRP Manufacturers Sugessted Retail Price came into play, to help level the playing field. Which of course it did not.
The deal was done until we met with Finance. Oh, my.... This clown wanted to talk about hunting and fishing while piling on "EXTRAS" to the deal. After two hours of saying NO, NO, NO, NO and being frustrated, we finally signed the papers.
You can't believe the hard pressure to purchase CAR JACK to protect your car..... After all, Mexico is 3 hours away???
Tire protection in case the helium in the tires leak???
An extended warranty for $3,000.00 in case the car fails??? Doesn't Toyota warranty their cars when they are new???
Scotch Guard the seats to protect against stains??? Uh, no kids!
Be sure to take a condom with you if you deal with CAMELBACK TOYOTA in PHOENIX, AZ. You will need the protection!
Is it ok with you that the dealership makes money? I mean, that's why they are in business. Would you not agree that they offer a service? How much profit do you think they are entitled to? If you think that the car sales world is sleazy because it is profit based, you better go off and try some "undercover jounalism" in some other places. I'd start in real estate, stock brokerage, advertising sales, a travel agency, or just about any other industry that involves producing a good or service in exchange for capital.
While we're on the subject, I've met plenty of [non-permissible content removed] jounalists in my time...
First, Many dealerships don't use the sales square anymore. They have come up with different presentations for pricing. Many dealerships have become very competitive with pricing due to the increased presence of online shopping. Used car prices are so competitive that mark ups, or profit are very minimal.
As far as the microphones in the booths and such, this isn't common anymore. Most dealerships have no microphones and don't use phones from the sales desk to the tower. THey just speak with the tower directly.
Most dealerships are now much more Customer service oriented. Many laws have changed to make car sales easier.
Take into consideration that when this was written 9/11 hadn't happened,
The shootings of Colorado in the movie theater hadn't happened and the bombings that happened last week hadn't happen.
So much time has past and thus so many things are different.
If you are a customer and plan to buy a car, I urge you not to go into the dealership thinking you are going to experience these things, because so many laws have changes. We even have a new president since then..2 elections.
Things are different then they were back then. 12 years ago.
The customer is at the mercy of many decades of using manipulative, tricky, and false techniques that seem to have been handed down from legions of former salesmen who clone the whole ridiculous charade time and time again. Often the most successful auto sales people often do not care anything about cars, it is just a chunk of metal to move and make a commission on, and they could care less about the needs or preferences of the customers, but they are so good at lying and acting sincere as they screw their customers and make them think that they are their best friends they can do it even if they are drunk or stoned or hung over. While the customer is leaving after a big glad -handed hug and smile, the salesman is talking to his buddies saying how he ripped their heads off. Now most of the profit and commissions go to the desk men and sales managers and the dealership, as customers are more savvy and internet wise about pricing and the cars that they have researched, and the salespeople get screwed. /A few salesmen who have established relationships with the desk man and get quick turnaround on the numbers so the customer does not have to wait long and can actually negotiate pricing or terms make a good living while the rest barely make it from pay check to paycheck.
A salesman having a dry spell can actually end up owing the dealership for his "draw" even though he took as many ups and worked as many deals as another salesman whose customers bought instead of walked. The sales people are forced to use the old ways of manipulating the customer into the deal instead of being able to make the test drive and informational part and dealing part pleasant and low pressure. If a salesman actually informs the customer about the car and options they are accused of giving too much information. The desk man wants dumbed down salespeople to keep the customers confused and dumbed down, so they can be tricked or forced by pure exhaustion into signing deal that can often change from the time they agree in the sales office to buy until until they get into the finance office where the finance manager (who can make as much as the salesman who just spent 2-4 hours with the customer in twenty minutes) having them sign pre printed documents) then extracts more from them with offers for paint coatings etc and repair warranties.
The buyer who does his or her research on the internet and gets financing pre-arranged from his or her bank is way ahead, and ones who use a service like Edmunds for both product and research and to determine fair pricing they are ready to pay for comparably equipped cars are going to be much more likely to save money and get more car and feel way better about their purchase later on. The more car buyers that do that the more it will force the retail car business to change and adapt and focus on real customer service and providing the best car matched to the customers' needs whether new or used, at a fair but still profitable price and win loyalty and earn return business so that they won't have to resort to phony telemarketing ploys during slow times or the inflated plastic ape on the roof and blow out inventory sales every single weekend.
People love cars and it should not be a miserable manipulative high pressure experience to go to a dealership to see or buy one, nor should it be made that way for salespeople who actually like and care about cars and their customers as they are marvels of style and design and high technology that greatly affect their daily lives and are becoming more connected to their drivers and owner via technology.Making the auto purchase decision knowing that a fair and reasonable price has been determined can and would lead to a much more informed and comfortable buyer, as nothing is worse than thinking that you got ripped off in the second largest purchase you make except for your house, and a salesperson would be more respected for their product knowledge and customer service than for how much profit they squeezed from every customer they sold to. Auto sales people work ridiculously long hour and weekends and holidays and the current practice of the dealership paying $250 mini commissions to salesman when they lease a $60,000 dollar vehicle , or sell a $40,000 certified used vehicle to a customer is blatant thievery, which is why after eight years I left the car business. I still have friends whom I sold cars to, and that is the way that it should be, creating real relationships that last and building a return customer base, but that is not possible if the desk and the sale managers and the dealerships insist on maximizing the profit on every single deal, because that will only mean the buyers will be more shoppers armed with the internet and mobile phones, and well aware that they are seen as victims and targets and profit centers and not people, and will continue to have no loyalty to the dealership or the salespeople as it is an adversarial environment stacked in favor of the dealership.
Until auto dealerships realize that is not a healthy nor ultimately as profitable of a way of doing business and keep wanting to keep both the salespeople and the customers in the dark like mushrooms so their managers can manipulate them the business will not change. Tools for smart buyers like Edmunds provides that inform potential buyer and make them more comfortable in making a buying decision are ultimately better for the dealerships and the salespeople and the customers so the focus can be on finding and selling the right car for the customer, not the one that is old inventory or makes the best profit at the moment. That would let the good salespeople who really care do their job better and make price not the only and major consideration in every car purchase. That is not to say the the dealer should sell every
car at or below invoice nor give more for a trade than it is actually worth, fair and reasonable has to apply both ways, and customers can be highly unreasonable in expecting to get a loaded car at the base price. Both sides have to have reasonable expectations and that is why Edmunds price promise and upfront pricing makes a lot of sense in terms of transforming the auto buying process and simplifying it so it is a better experience for all.
Too much information was based on stories the author heard rather than first-had experiences he had.
In one section e says to never tell a dealership what another dealership quoted, yet pitting one dealership against the other winds up being ne of his recommendations at the end.
Finally, he breezes over the "why is it this way?" question without a single ounce of research. His answer is something he heard from a car salesman training seminar. Federal and State laws and regulations are 100% of the reason for the current situation. NPR did an excellent report on this last year as have countless others. It's not exactly a secret.
I was scammed at a car dealership in Batlimore, MD. The scam was so criminal, and frightening that I can't see straight. When I was about to buy a Ford Escape, the dealer pretended the salesman was fired. They they switched salesmen in mid sale to jack the price up.
They made up some lame scam that included frightening lies about the salesman. That he was being investigated.
[non-permissible content removed]. I usually drop kick losers like that for breakfast. [non-permissible content removed] Car sales men are scary freaking lunatics.
Beware of sleazy salesman. They will trick you.