Official RS: "I work at a car dealership" Thread
 

Jp Suzuki Burnaby. Where do you work and what do you do there?

JP Volvo N. Vancouver, Service advisor

what kinda education you need to be a service advisor?

honestly, this is a vague question. its ultimately customer service. but background knowledge with automotive, at least basic servicing (eg, whats in a tune up?) would be essential.

Didn’t want to make another thread, this is kind of off topic but still kind of works since we are talking about SAs

I'm currently working as a Level one apprentice, but I have not passed the new ITA written final exam... (I just tried it a second time a few days ago and i didn't feel good about it)

I do have some service advisor experience because of cut backs at my shop;i am currently the SA and Apprentice
With the new ITA final exam for both 1st and 2nd year and the fact that working on cars is actually "hard work" I was thinking that maybe i should go and be a service advisor at another place.

IDK from what I’ve seen, a lot of successful SAs and Service Mangers were starting off as Apprentices first....

I'm still young so i can still kind of change my mind, but I don't really know what to do
what do you guys think? Tech or SA?

^ do you want to get down n dirty and actually do the work, or do you want to advise peopel on what work needs to be done lol

Did some work experience at both New Pacific Nissan and JP Toyota in Surrey during high school. Yeah, I don't work at either anymore, but at least I have first-hand experience before I go into the BCIT program in a couple of months.

On that note, anyone got a weekend opening for lot attendants? My current FT job only runs to October.

where all the sleezeballs at?

http://images.thecarconnection.com/m...00182441_m.jpg

Try this:
http://www.autotrainingcentre.com/au...ce-advisor.php
They say "...you can expect your salary automotive service to be $60,000, plus benefits...", but in reality it wouldn't be nearly that high. Expect $2500/month to start, depending on the dealership.

Expect half that^
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^that is seriously one underpaid service advisor @ 8 bucks an hour for 1200 a month.

but really it's dealership dependent, they're not all the same.

Let's put it this way, dealing with customers is harder than working on cars. Honestly working on cars is easy. It all becomes routine and diagnostic is just experience and paying attention to what you're working on.

When it comes down to it, it depends where you work at.

I've known techs who clear 100g a year (flat rate busting ass) at the same time I've known some who barely make 40g
I've known service advisors who clear that (commission based on sales) I've known some who make shit all.
I've known techs who make 40 bucks an hour. I've known some who are at max pay at 22 bucks an hour.
I've known lot attendants who make 17 bucks an hour. I've known some who make less than 10.

IT ALL depends on WHERE you work at, small shop, specialty shop, dealership, union, non union, domestic, japanese european.

I cannot stress this last point enough, no matter what job you decide to do, the environment is the most important thing for a long lasting job/career.

^nononono

I meant expect half of 60k a year lol

^lol just had to make sure. yeah that sounds more like it.

lol... service advisors making less than lot guys :p

JP Hyundai Coquitlam Product Advisor

Richmond Honda, Car Lot attendant

sales or service?

BJ

Are SAs at dealerships paid comission?

depends... some places get bonuses that I'm aware of. But they are either on a base salary, or hourly usually.

apparently there is a new course out at BCIT for service advisory.

like with most jobs at a dealership, outside of techs and basic jobs, any advisor, or sales job would be on a performance commission base income. it either be salary or hourly, but would be at a basic level. you get more income based on performance, sales numbers, customer service rating...

depends on the department and company, the bonus can be equal if not more compared to the base pay.

Maple Ridge Chrysler - Apprentice Mechanic

I would like to clear a few things up with service advisors.

1: You do NOT need formal education. All that's required is that you possess good C/S skills and that you know the basic workings of a vehicle. All cars more or less operate the same way, with some small details that work differently (ie: AWD system in an Audi is different than in a Volvo).

You usually start as an apprentice, a tech who cannot go on due to injury/boredom, or a wash kid, and move up. I was lucky and I was able to talk my way into a SA job (I do have the mech knowledge).


2: A crappy dealer or a non brand specific shop (IE: crappy tire) will pay by the hour or salary. The usual dealer always will pay an advisor salary, with profit sharing to start. They're in 2 categories:

a) By department profit - Total profit of the service/parts department, customer pay portion only (no warranty claims). The advisor will receive a set percentage of that (0.5% of total profit, ie $150,000, etc). This method is good because the advisors don't need to worry about quota, but the earning potential is less.

b) By per-advisor quota - Set quota for each advisor, all uniform, and different at every dealer (I worked at mitsu, it was 20k/month, while Ford was 30K). The advisor will receive, usually 5% of total customer pay sales at every end of the month, as long as he/she passes the quota. They're pretty easy to pass, given that you know how to push products. (At mitsu I was making EASY 1200-1800/month on commission based on that). The drawback is though, if the advisor misses too many customers, or the shop is slow, they won't make quota. But honestly, it's pretty damn easy. These quotas are pretty easily achieved.

also, There are such things as SPIFFS, which are bonus programs an advisor can earn. They're usually different every month, such as tyre sales, or system flush sales, or if an advisor sells a car, they get money out of that too.

I've never earned less than 45k a year at the least, and the most 65K/year. And that was just my first 2 years as advisor. For maximum profit, it really depends on the dealership, too. I rememeber the top grossing advisor at BJBMW cleared about 60-65K/year, which translates into about 90K gross.

Hope that answers some questions =)

On that note, I would also like to say that what JGresch said about SAs making less than lot boys is completely inaccurate.

Depends on if you would like to be more hands on or more involved with people.

A good tech that's cemented at a shop with good rates can still clear a good amount of money, if they're on flate rate. Generally, an apprentice should be getting around 20/h. a flate rate tech should be at about 25. My shop foreman gets 30 but he can clear up to 18 hours of work a day, so you can imagine the money he makes. He's not a sleazeball. He just knows how to fix things right, and spot potential issues. If anything, he also gives the most discounts in terms of rates.

Mind you though, being a tech is VERY hard on the body. The shit your hands, joints, back go through, not to mention the pressure to perform and the fumes you breathe in. If you're slow, then you're screwed. Not to mention you have to be accurate and make sure shit don't come back.


An advisor's a cushy job, but you deal with more mental stress. You're literally managing the day and personal belongings of MULTIPLE people. Your memory, reaction rate, communication and most of all, organizational skills must be great, or else it will be hard to do. I personally picked advisor because it's what I love to do, and is a stepping stone to where I want to be. Not to mention, I have back problems, so I can't be a tech even if I wanted to =(.

Either way, both is good. All really comes down to if you want stress on the physical or mental level.

Dude. They got a shady ad on the radio, not to mention, AMerican backwater. They should change it. lol