posted 04-26-2005 12:33 AM         

...I enjoy dealing in cars as a hobby... professionally, small town dealership, relaxed atmosphere for me...

ps...Ed works at this Lark Dealership in Cincinnati.....he is still trying to push the last of the 1962 models.....

posted 04-26-2005 12:44 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by ed monahan:
I wish I had a few 62 Larks. lol
You'll be known as a car salesman, ranks right up there with lawyers. lol

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a car salesmans plaid jacket makes it easier to spot them hanging in a tree than a lawyers 3 piece pinstripe suit....

posted 04-26-2005 12:23 PM         

Being involved in the auto business is a blast. Out of college I went to work for chrysler as a factory rep for 7 years, and bought into a dealership. Now I own the place (which is not as fun, too many headaches).
But your question on auto sales, I would say a commission job is better. Non commission jobs rely heavily on pure numbers, which can be difficult to obtain. It is tremendously helpful if you know alot of people. It is very hard to make a living off pure fresh ups. The word of mouth takes a while to spread around. I would say that you need to make at least a three year commitment. Unlike other sales, it will take about three years to start seeing repeat customers. Loyalty in the auto industry has changed dramatically over the past couple of years. Good customers will sell you out for a couple of hundred bucks and drive hours for that better deal. With that said, it is fun if you can get past the long hours. My guys put in 12 hour days, often only getting one "up". but if you treat it like your own business, and spend the down time promoting yourself and the product you sell you can definitely make some money and enjoy it.

If you have any questions what so ever, just email me.
Spend some time and do some research on major auto manufactures long term plans (gm, ford, Chrysler, etc.) to see which company has the most to offer. This is more important than you think.

posted 04-26-2005 04:30 PM         

They came across very sincere wanting to serve the customer with "customer satisfaction" their number one priority.

I lasted eight days. They scheduled me open to close the first eleven days in a row. They provided very little training, other than videos. They had a big promotion sale and brought in special financing out of Texas. They raised the prices on all the cars on the lot and took the prices out of the windows, and advertised that every car would be clearly marked with the low, blow out price, and that they were bringing in many cars of every make for this sale, which they did not bring any in, they were just over stocked with used cars. They offered 0% financing and only $99.00 down.

Only one car I know of met that criteria and they had raised the price a thousand dollars over the previous week, wanted $500.00 down and wrote it up at 14% interest for a struggling couple that walked when they were presented with the terms. They said they were going for their new insurance and called back that they weren't going to follow through with the deal. I got in trouble for not going with them to buy their insurance.

Oh yeah, that sign-on bonus... only if you sold 10 cars every 30 days, your first 90 days! Then there was the phone thing. I would call my wife once in awhile on my breaks and tell her how it was going. Mentioning some of the discrepancies and dirty tricks and out and out lies they were telling people. Only to find out the next morning in a sales meeting that they have a "service" to record and monitor all calls, in and out of the dealership, and the GM ripped me a new one for the next thirty minutes, basically telling me to suck-it-up or walk. There was several other incidents at this dealership that burned me and customers, but the overall experience sucked!

I thought that maybe the business had changed over the years and that I could be a nice guy and let the product sell itself with a soft sell approach. Ha! Not!!! This is only my personal experience, at a commission based, liner/closer lot, and I am sure that there are better places to work that are much more honest and fair dealerships out there.

I personally always like Chevrolet's and thought it would be a good line-up to sell. I am finding that General Motors is billions in debt, their vehicles aren't selling that great, and a lot of people don't like Chevrolets.

Just sharing my experience, from my point of view, hope it helps. Good luck with your career change!

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Prowl-On...

posted 04-26-2005 05:03 PM         

"Only one car I know of met that criteria and they had raised the price a thousand dollars over the previous week, wanted $500.00 down,,,,,,,,"

And they forgot to tell you one more important thing about that one car meeting the criteria,,,,,if you SOLD IT,,,,you went out the door WITH IT!

I remember selling three cars without ever telling the people how much it cost them. Just quoting the monthly payments,,,,,,that's all they wanted to know anyway. Payment buyers were known as 'birthday cake',,,,,,if you got ahold of one, you knew you were going to celebrate!

MEMORIES