[BMW135i]

I'm just wondering is there license or cert to complete in order to become a salesman??

Thanks

[CRS]

I don't think there is...

However, you can PM Rich Sandor and he can tell you all about it.

[freakshow]

You could also PM 'TheSalesman'

[bassistb]

http://www.vehiclesalesauthority.com

This website has everything you need to know about becoming a car dealer.

you have to get level 1 to get started in the business and it costs about $700 to take the course and get the certificate.

And also you have to pay $150ish to renew your license every year.

[lowside67]

It's also worth noting that you need a clean criminal record.

[RunningFree]

^ as posted above, you need to take the VSA course and PASS it (though no one really ever fails). The class and the exam are dead easy... the hardest part about it is waking up early to get to the classes. You'd have to be pretty retarded to fail. I believe it's $400... that's what I paid when I was in the industry.

Here's the thing about auto sales... have you seen the movie The Goods? It's kind of like that. You'll have sales managers hounding you, making sure you make sales, follow up calls and create new ups. ... you'll start to act like your coworkers, make comments about customers while trying to assess their buyer potential...

Some people really like the industry, I personally don't like the idea of chasing customers to get the sale and working evenings and weekends. It works for some, not me. But with everything, there are really great sales people and some really crappy ones. It's up to you to decide how you're going to end up.

[TheSalesman]

The sales industry is pretty sh!tty right now and I hope that you have some experience in sales. I started in sales less than a year ago and if this was my only source of income, I would be on the streets. I do this for fun because I like working here for my employee discount and I hang out a few of the people here. I own 3 Hondas so the discount helps and its close to home. If I needed to make money, I wouldn't start in sales at this time. Although it has picked up a lot since I started. I got the job with no sales experience because I was a lot boy here for over 3 years.

[BMW135i]

Thanks for the info guys. Answered all the questions.:)

[HondaWorld]

Every year you have to renew your license.

[blee123]

sorry to bump this old thread but i was wondering how does the commision work for car sales? for example, how much would you get for selling a BMW 3 series or an Honda accord? Does the % commision increase if you sell higher end models?

thanks in advance !

[falcon]

Commission is based off of dealer profit. The more profit = more commission.

[whitev70r]

Can someone use a real life example of commission?

Eg. If you sell a BMW for $40,000, what is company profit, and what is % commission
Or If you sell a Honda for $30,000 what is company profit, and what is % commission

I'm curious as to how much a salesperson makes on a sale ... approximately. And how many you have to sell to put bread on your table.

[F30]

Buyers haggle, profit varies.
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[lowside67]

Can someone use a real life example of commission?

Eg. If you sell a BMW for $40,000, what is company profit, and what is % commission
Or If you sell a Honda for $30,000 what is company profit, and what is % commission

I'm curious as to how much a salesperson makes on a sale ... approximately. And how many you have to sell to put bread on your table.
I don't work in a franchised store but new car commissions are unbelievably low, on almost anything under $30k I think you'd be LUCKY to make $500. Many cheap cars like Civics might earn a salesperson as little as $250.

It's a very tough industry to break into and has a ton of turnover because people either aren't able to sell enough or aren't happy with what they have to do to make enough money to live.

Best of luck but think long and hard before you move into this industry.

Mark

[falcon]

Can someone use a real life example of commission?

Eg. If you sell a BMW for $40,000, what is company profit, and what is % commission
Or If you sell a Honda for $30,000 what is company profit, and what is % commission

I'm curious as to how much a salesperson makes on a sale ... approximately. And how many you have to sell to put bread on your table.

Less than you would think. On a 40,000 NEW car you could expect maybe 2.5 3k in pure profit at most. I had a flat rate comission, %15 on all profit when I sold motorcycles. In the car industry however, I belive there is a tiered system as well.

[Sky_High]

What's the base salary like, before commissions....for someone just starting out?

[Hot Karl]

The money is in used cars where they have an actual margin to make money. Anything new will just have some guy with the msrp in your face he printed off the net.
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[blee123]

Less than you would think. On a 40,000 NEW car you could expect maybe 2.5 3k in pure profit at most. I had a flat rate comission, %15 on all profit when I sold motorcycles. In the car industry however, I belive there is a tiered system as well.

so say the car dealer (store) makes $3000 off a car that was $40,000. How much does the sales rep make in commission from the $3000?

Is there like a percentage from the total profit that the sales rep gets?

[TurboFC3S]

It all depends on the dealership.. Varies. I went to a dealership looking at a viper and the sales guy said if i reccomend sales to him he would give me 300 cash per person that buys a vehicle through him so he must get decent comission.

He however wouldnt budge much at ALL on the price of the viper though, so hes probably trying to sell sticker price so he gets max comission

[XplicitLuder]

uhm from what the salesman have told me at work, if lets say they bought a car or got a trade-in that was 8000, and they sold it for 10,000. that's a 2000$ profit, now the salesman who sold it will get a % of it , he gets 20% i think, and then im assuming the rest goes to the company

[falcon]

Salesmen don't stick to the price because they want "max commission" rather because the management said so.

Had I been able to lightly discount a lot of bikes when I was selling, I would have made way more money because of more sales.


Really guys, unless you've actually done this as a profession you can't really grasp how it works.

[suzuka84]

go apply at cowell vw, I see their ads looking for sales people all the time

[blee123]

Salesmen don't stick to the price because they want "max commission" rather because the management said so.

Had I been able to lightly discount a lot of bikes when I was selling, I would have made way more money because of more sales.


Really guys, unless you've actually done this as a profession you can't really grasp how it works.

so do u still work as a car sales rep? How much (%) you get for each sale when u sold bikes? Have you sold any actual cars for your firm or another firm?

[blee123]

^ as posted above, you need to take the VSA course and PASS it (though no one really ever fails). The class and the exam are dead easy... the hardest part about it is waking up early to get to the classes. You'd have to be pretty retarded to fail. I believe it's $400... that's what I paid when I was in the industry.

Here's the thing about auto sales... have you seen the movie The Goods? It's kind of like that. You'll have sales managers hounding you, making sure you make sales, follow up calls and create new ups. ... you'll start to act like your coworkers, make comments about customers while trying to assess their buyer potential...

Some people really like the industry, I personally don't like the idea of chasing customers to get the sale and working evenings and weekends. It works for some, not me. But with everything, there are really great sales people and some really crappy ones. It's up to you to decide how you're going to end up.


Hey man, i know to be a realtor, you can do the assignments on your own time and you don't have to go to any early morning classes. To be a car sales, is it the same? or is it required for us to attend class instead of studying on your own time?

Where does the exam take place? I am looking to enter into this field in the future.

Thanks in advance !

[cindyy]

worked at a used dealer, we had a based commission rate of 350 (if buyout), 450(finance/lease) on each car we sold, if buyer was a friend or family we get paid an extra 100 ontop of the 350/450. no salary.

VSA licensing course was 2days in surrey, and exam was open book i believe.

[Jgresch]

^ paid more for friends or family really?? :s



heres how ours worked....

$Min wage base pay.
$300 flat for new and used no matter what.
Once you break $1000 profit on the car, you get 30% of whatever profit is....
Once you break past whatever your min wage earnings are the for month, you make straight commission.

So If I do 160 hours/month, that is $1440 at $9/hour. So I need to make $1440 comission to break through min wage then actually start making comission.

If you put the time and effort in with follow ups, generate a lot of leads etc. you can make a decent buck. Generally I wouldn't spend any time with low markup cars, I would only advertise the high markup cars and spend a lot of time marketing them and generating leads. I woudl rather only sell 2-3 cars a month with huge comission than 7-8 with a flat.

[blee123]

worked at a used dealer, we had a based commission rate of 350 (if buyout), 450(finance/lease) on each car we sold, if buyer was a friend or family we get paid an extra 100 ontop of the 350/450. no salary.

VSA licensing course was 2days in surrey, and exam was open book i believe.

for the exam, how long do you get to study it for until you have to go write the exam? Do you have to go to any classes before the test at all?

[blee123]

^ paid more for friends or family really?? :s



heres how ours worked....

$Min wage base pay.
$300 flat for new and used no matter what.
Once you break $1000 profit on the car, you get 30% of whatever profit is....
Once you break past whatever your min wage earnings are the for month, you make straight commission.

So If I do 160 hours/month, that is $1440 at $9/hour. So I need to make $1440 comission to break through min wage then actually start making comission.

If you put the time and effort in with follow ups, generate a lot of leads etc. you can make a decent buck. Generally I wouldn't spend any time with low markup cars, I would only advertise the high markup cars and spend a lot of time marketing them and generating leads. I woudl rather only sell 2-3 cars a month with huge comission than 7-8 with a flat.

which brand did you work for? Would you know how the system for BMW, Benz, Lexus, audi, or Infiniti works?

[Jgresch]

Volvo. And no.
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[falcon]

^ paid more for friends or family really?? :s



heres how ours worked....

$Min wage base pay.
$300 flat for new and used no matter what.
Once you break $1000 profit on the car, you get 30% of whatever profit is....
Once you break past whatever your min wage earnings are the for month, you make straight commission.

So If I do 160 hours/month, that is $1440 at $9/hour. So I need to make $1440 comission to break through min wage then actually start making comission.

If you put the time and effort in with follow ups, generate a lot of leads etc. you can make a decent buck. Generally I wouldn't spend any time with low markup cars, I would only advertise the high markup cars and spend a lot of time marketing them and generating leads. I woudl rather only sell 2-3 cars a month with huge comission than 7-8 with a flat.

I've heard of this breaking through base pay thing. When I sold bikes it was base + comission. But that had a lot to do with the fact I had many other responsibilities other than just selling bikes. It was $1500/mo base plus %15 straight comission on profit. If the comission was under $100, you would make a $100 flat. Worked out quite nicely expecially selling BMWs.

[falcon]

for the exam, how long do you get to study it for until you have to go write the exam? Do you have to go to any classes before the test at all?

The test is during the course at the end. You can not take the test without taking the course.

[blee123]

The test is during the course at the end. You can not take the test without taking the course.

thanks for the info ! So how long does it take to finish the course and what time do classes start in the morning?

[blee123]

I've heard of this breaking through base pay thing. When I sold bikes it was base + comission. But that had a lot to do with the fact I had many other responsibilities other than just selling bikes. It was $1500/mo base plus %15 straight comission on profit. If the comission was under $100, you would make a $100 flat. Worked out quite nicely expecially selling BMWs.

so you sold BMW bikes but didnt sell BMW cars?

[falcon]

Yes. BMW bikes are not sold in car dealerships!

[falcon]

thanks for the info ! So how long does it take to finish the course and what time do classes start in the morning?

You really need to go on the BC Sales Authority website and read. These are all questions that are answered on there.

[blee123]

You really need to go on the BC Sales Authority website and read. These are all questions that are answered on there.

thanks for the info, i'll go check out that site :thumbs:

[blee123]

anyone else here wana chime in about your experiences as being a car salesman?

[falcon]

Yeah, it sucks and there is a reason I don't do it anymore. hahaha

[blee123]

Yeah, it sucks and there is a reason I don't do it anymore. hahaha

care to explain some negatives about it?

[GG]

i just got into the trade and left GM dealership


whats it like selling honda/nissan/toyota?


would i be better off selling cell phones? wats cell phones commission like?


since i figured its easier to sell a $200-300 product vs $20-30g item

[blee123]

i just got into the trade and left GM dealership


whats it like selling honda/nissan/toyota?


would i be better off selling cell phones? wats cell phones commission like?


since i figured its easier to sell a $200-300 product vs $20-30g item

whats wrong with the GM dealership? which location was it at?

[GG]

rather not say...



but ya wondering how is it like selling japanese cars


or anyone in the industry of selling cell phones?

[blee123]

rather not say...



but ya wondering how is it like selling japanese cars


or anyone in the industry of selling cell phones?

u shud apply to sell jap cars. see how it goes. Cell phone sales shud be your last choice.

[GG]

really?
why is that

[blee123]

really?
why is that

you have a car salesman liscense right? if u do, i would try out other dealerships first before you leave the industry so you get your moneys worth and not waste your liscense.

[Glove]

what a fuckin nightmare, im so glad im not in sales, the whole idea of "leads" and "calling" and "selling"

makes me cringe

[blee123]

what a fuckin nightmare, im so glad im not in sales, the whole idea of "leads" and "calling" and "selling"

makes me cringe

which dealership did u work at?

[blee123]

Ludia Li as Queen of BMW? :facepalm: does she even know about the specs of a BMW?

[hchang]

rather not say...



but ya wondering how is it like selling japanese cars


or anyone in the industry of selling cell phones?

I used to work for an cell phone Dealer.

Pay/Commission worked similar to what Jgresch explained, we got paid base salary at $1600, and each new client account you sign people up for you get $40, and $25 or $30 for renewals, can't remember the exact amount.

Once you make your 1600, everything else after that goes into your pocket.

You make the most commission out of warranties and accessories (cases chargers etc)

Basically everyday you want to make calls to existing clients who are close to their renewal date to remind them to come in to renew. I don't remember the exact number here either but it was either 20 or 30 phone calls a day minimum.

If you're good you can move up to B2B sales, where all the big bucks are. But that's a lot of cold calling to large corporations to try to earn their fleet cell phone service business. But then again, each time they renew is a lot of $$$$ in your pocket.

I have a friend who works for a different retailer and their commission and base are two separate things. You get your hourly wage and commissions in groups. So for example the first step might be up to $30, second up to $100 etc etc. So if you sell $56 worth of commission then you only get $30. (Unrealistic numbers)

There's a lot of money to be made in the industry if you're good at it. People can easily make 60,000 90,000 100,000 in this industry.
I had to leave the job at the time for personal reasons.

Hope this helped.

[blee123]

^so cellphone sales can easily make as much as a car salesman? thats pretty crazy ($60,000-100,000)

[lowside67]

Most car salesmen would struggle to make $60k consistently in a good year and definitely don't make anywhere near that in a bad year. There are certainly some examples who make $100k+ but extremely few and the thing that allows them to make that kind of money is a network of repeat customers which you simply can't create in a few years.

Mark

[LP700-4]

Anybody work at a Mitsubishi?

[Rich Sandor]

I did car sales for over 5 years. Both at Toyota (few months) and Ford (5 years!) and I am familiar with the pay structure at about 10-12 stores due to the fact that I have many friends working at different dealers from Mazda to BMW to used-cars only lots.

Commission structure varies slightly at every store, some stores even have two different commission structures to choose from. In general though, most car dealers are very similar.

You get a base "safety net" every month, even if you don't sell anything that month. At my store, it was $1500 before taxes and MSP/CPP and other deductions.

At the dealership I worked for, if you sold a car (new or used), you'd get 25% of the first $1000 gross, and 40% of any gross over $1000. The minimum commission is $150. (So if the dealer's gross on a car is anywhere below $600, you make $150 on it, even if they are losing money on it) If it's a split deal with another salesperson, you split the commission in half. The % and min comm varies from dealer to dealer. Some dealers have different pay for new vs. used.

Some cars may have a spiff commission on them from managers to motive the salespeople to sell them, usually because the sale price has been dropped to the point where there's no gross and therefore no commission left. I've had spiffs as small as $250 and as large as $2000.

Most dealers also have unit bonuses. For example, if you sell 5 cars in a month, you get an extra $200. If you sell 7 cars, you get a $500 bonus instead of just $200. If you sell 9 cars, you get a $700 bonus instead of just $500. Because manufacturers give dealers bonuses for hitting targets, dealers encourage salespeople to sell volume over gross profit. This can be very draining because the more cars you sell, the more time you have to spend at the dealership delivering that car. Selling a car is rarely a 2 hours ordeal. Showing it, test driving it, delivering it, and following up with issues afterwards can take up entire days. Usually the ones that take the longest are the ones you make the least money on.

Sometimes, if we sold a new car, like a Focus or Ranger, Ford would give us a direct commission in addition to whatever our dealership paid us. (usually $150-$250) So a $16,000 Focus or Fiesta with only $800 markup ($160 commission) would get bumped to a $300 commission with the additional spin and win.

F150's with $4000 markup would never have a spin a win, although because there are so many dealers and rookie salespeople willing to discount down to nothing for fear of losing to another dealer, quite often you'd sell an F150 and make the same commission as a Focus or Fiesta.

You'd also get bonuses for helping to sell warranties, maintenance plans, accessories, etc etc.

The KICKER is that if you sold, lets say, 4 cars, and made $300 on each one, that's $1200 - you haven't yet reached your minimum of $1500 - so you'd only get $1500 for that month, NOT $1500 + $1200.

Since every store varies in pay, management, working environment, business structure, some stores may suit certain salespeople, while other don't. Most of the mainstream dealers have managers who totally babysit their sales guys, and treat them like peons and pay them as such. More upscale dealers like Mercedes or MCL Porsche will allow the salespeople to do 99% of the work without a manager being involved until the final signature, however they don't usually hire rookies.

The most important factor, REGARDLESS of the store and pay structure, is how hard YOU are willing to work. Those who put in the hours and work hard and make phone calls can make $100,000 a year, but it's NOT easy and it's NOT the majority of salespeople that do that. At a Toyota/Ford/Mazda/Honda/GM store that would be 2 or 3 salespeople, the other 8-10 people making between $30,000-$60,000.

If you value weekends off, being home for dinner, or if you have a hobby that you like to spend a lot of time on, being a car salesman, especially at a mainstream dealership that is open till 9pm and always open on weekends, will crush those dreams. You will get phone calls on your cell when you are on your day off with a customer who wants to buy a car with a good commission on it, and he can only come in today, so you get changed, rush into work, and then the guy doesn't show up. If you're lucky, you can have a coworker take care of them and split the commission 50/50.

I couldn't take it anymore and quit 2 weeks ago. 5 years is enough. It takes a certain kind of person (no life outside the dealership) to do it successfully and I came to the realization that I am not that person.

[blee123]

I did car sales for over 5 years. Both at Toyota (few months) and Ford (5 years!) and I am familiar with the pay structure at about 10-12 stores due to the fact that I have many friends working at different dealers from Mazda to BMW to used-cars only lots.

Commission structure varies slightly at every store, some stores even have two different commission structures to choose from. In general though, most car dealers are very similar.

You get a base "safety net" every month, even if you don't sell anything that month. At my store, it was $1500 before taxes and MSP/CPP and other deductions.

At the dealership I worked for, if you sold a car (new or used), you'd get 25% of the first $1000 gross, and 40% of any gross over $1000. The minimum commission is $150. (So if the dealer's gross on a car is anywhere below $600, you make $150 on it, even if they are losing money on it) If it's a split deal with another salesperson, you split the commission in half. The % and min comm varies from dealer to dealer. Some dealers have different pay for new vs. used.

Some cars may have a spiff commission on them from managers to motive the salespeople to sell them, usually because the sale price has been dropped to the point where there's no gross and therefore no commission left. I've had spiffs as small as $250 and as large as $2000.

Most dealers also have unit bonuses. For example, if you sell 5 cars in a month, you get an extra $200. If you sell 7 cars, you get a $500 bonus instead of just $200. If you sell 9 cars, you get a $700 bonus instead of just $500. Because manufacturers give dealers bonuses for hitting targets, dealers encourage salespeople to sell volume over gross profit. This can be very draining because the more cars you sell, the more time you have to spend at the dealership delivering that car. Selling a car is rarely a 2 hours ordeal. Showing it, test driving it, delivering it, and following up with issues afterwards can take up entire days. Usually the ones that take the longest are the ones you make the least money on.

Sometimes, if we sold a new car, like a Focus or Ranger, Ford would give us a direct commission in addition to whatever our dealership paid us. (usually $150-$250) So a $16,000 Focus or Fiesta with only $800 markup ($160 commission) would get bumped to a $300 commission with the additional spin and win.

F150's with $4000 markup would never have a spin a win, although because there are so many dealers and rookie salespeople willing to discount down to nothing for fear of losing to another dealer, quite often you'd sell an F150 and make the same commission as a Focus or Fiesta.

You'd also get bonuses for helping to sell warranties, maintenance plans, accessories, etc etc.

The KICKER is that if you sold, lets say, 4 cars, and made $300 on each one, that's $1200 - you haven't yet reached your minimum of $1500 - so you'd only get $1500 for that month, NOT $1500 + $1200.

Since every store varies in pay, management, working environment, business structure, some stores may suit certain salespeople, while other don't. Most of the mainstream dealers have managers who totally babysit their sales guys, and treat them like peons and pay them as such. More upscale dealers like Mercedes or MCL Porsche will allow the salespeople to do 99% of the work without a manager being involved until the final signature, however they don't usually hire rookies.

The most important factor, REGARDLESS of the store and pay structure, is how hard YOU are willing to work. Those who put in the hours and work hard and make phone calls can make $100,000 a year, but it's NOT easy and it's NOT the majority of salespeople that do that. At a Toyota/Ford/Mazda/Honda/GM store that would be 2 or 3 salespeople, the other 8-10 people making between $30,000-$60,000.

If you value weekends off, being home for dinner, or if you have a hobby that you like to spend a lot of time on, being a car salesman, especially at a mainstream dealership that is open till 9pm and always open on weekends, will crush those dreams. You will get phone calls on your cell when you are on your day off with a customer who wants to buy a car with a good commission on it, and he can only come in today, so you get changed, rush into work, and then the guy doesn't show up. If you're lucky, you can have a coworker take care of them and split the commission 50/50.

I couldn't take it anymore and quit 2 weeks ago. 5 years is enough. It takes a certain kind of person (no life outside the dealership) to do it successfully and I came to the realization that I am not that person.

your post is very insightful and helpful :thumbs:

Just a question tho, how come u didnt leave ford after say 3 years and go to a more upscale dealership like BMW or Audi? Maybe working in a different enviroment can change your views of being a car salesman?

[blee123]

man...this thread is always dead.... Lets hear it guys :thumbs:

[highres604]

My dad has been a car salemen ever since he retired. afaik he has consistently made 6 figures for the last 4-5 years.
He says that selling new cars will get you very little money as its a flat rate /car. This goes up once you reach certain numbers. The real money is in used cars as that is where the most markup is and where you can hit huge "grosses".
As others have said, this job does take a toll on your personal life though. He has to work long hours and even have to come in on his days off if he has to deliver a car for a customer.
We have been in the middle of lunch on his day off and he has had to take off because a customer called before.
Also, the pay is like an extreme roller coaster. Some months he will be all depressed because he only managed to sell 2 cars, then other months he will be super stoked because he made $10,000+

[dinosaur]

What's the general feeling/attitude regarding female car salesmen?

[6793026]

my friend was a girl that worked at a very nice car dealership. she worked at service / and warranty whatever department you want to call it. She got paid a lot but just couldn't deal with it. what's the number 1 common trait working at service? it's that people want to bitch at you. A LOT. each time a car breaks down, you get the shit stick and then you also have to deal with the shit the tech gives you. result? she couldn't take it, she quit because she couldn't find the love and ended up crying at lunch time feeling like shit.

everyone wants a courtsey car, the tech say you suck shit cause yoiu don't know shit about cars and customers call you bitching they want their car back asap.

jut fyi

[Jgresch]

What's the general feeling/attitude regarding female car salesmen?

A lot of people feel they can take advantage of female cars salesmen. I found that if a person knew a lot about the car already, they would prefer to deal with the female for negotiating. Where as if they wanted to find the best car for themselves or were looking for more information they would prefer males.

[hchang]

What's the general feeling/attitude regarding female car salesmen?

Personally I think females are at an advantage when it comes to any type of sales.

You girls got Greater people skills by default + guys would prefer something to look at, therefore giving you a bigger clientbase.

my friend was a girl that worked at a very nice car dealership. she worked at service / and warranty whatever department you want to call it. She got paid a lot but just couldn't deal with it. what's the number 1 common trait working at service? it's that people want to bitch at you. A LOT. each time a car breaks down, you get the shit stick and then you also have to deal with the shit the tech gives you. result? she couldn't take it, she quit because she couldn't find the love and ended up crying at lunch time feeling like shit.

everyone wants a courtsey car, the tech say you suck shit cause yoiu don't know shit about cars and customers call you bitching they want their car back asap.

jut fyi

This, but like any sales job if you can tough it out and realize that its only a job and that when people are upset its not because of you personally, they just need to vent their anger somewhere.

Service advisors makes commission off amount of labour hours I believe, but it may vary dealer to dealer.

[dinosaur]

thanks for the feedback.

it is not a job/career i have ever considered, but it was something i had always wondered about (advantages/disadvantages). I very rarely see females working in sales at dealerships and have never seen one at a used lot.

[blee123]

does anyone know which dealership is constantly hiring sales or easiest to get into?

[6793026]

^ even after all the talk above you still want to be in the business?

[blee123]

^ even after all the talk above you still want to be in the business?
Yupp, its after all this talk that makes me want to do it. I am up for any challenges.

I am not a guy that likes to work on hourly or salary pay.

[blee123]

Bump !!

So i have been in the business for a while now and can shed some light on this business.

This job is really not that easy. Even if you put in the work, time and effort, it is hard to make a sale. The car business is really competitive because people only buy a few cars over their life time so they take a long time before they decide to buy that car you showed them.

I work at a very main stream dealership in Burnaby and I prefer not to say which one (not land Rover also) and we only sell about 5 cars on the week day and 10 cars on a Saturday. If you consider we are open 12 hours a day on a weekday and we only sell 5 cars, it is pretty damn slow...take into consideration we have many salesman and usually those customers are through referals and repeat customers of older veteran salesman so us newbies have no luck if there are no walk-ins.

Most customers who walk through the door have already have their own salesman they use from before and walk-ins are usually people who are comparing 5 other brands also. Those customers who walk-in might sometimes want to test drive 3 cars with the intention of test driving 3 cars at everyday different brand (information gatherers)

So you go to work dressed nicely but you will always be dissapointed because business is slow and you cannot make a sale for 2 weeks straight and you will start to feel it is a waste of time. People would always be planning to do a test drive now but purchase the car in 3 months time and so on. It is rarely that they crashed their car or new immigrants that will need a car asap.

Sales managers would always be giving you pressure if you dont sell anything and want you to sell warranties and all sorts of things.

They would always give you shit if your customer surveys comes back with a 90% because they want a 95% and will get bonuses as management if they get a high average.

Selling a car takes 2 hours and delivering that car takes another 2 hours

Commisions are as low as $150 per car to about $1000 on a new car and sometimes even if you sell a used car, it is $150 also depending on how much the car came in for.....

On topic of sales per day, for example you have 15 guys on the floor and 5 sales that day, 4 out of 5 are repeat customers or through referals that means there is only 1 customer who is a walk-in divided by 15 salesman so it all depends on who is lucky to get that customer......

I can go on forever about this business so i'll just leave it at this

[Jas29]

I'm not a car salesman but it seems like a lot of time is wasted when you are negotiating the price of the car.

When me and my brother went to buy his accord the salesman had to go ask the manager for everything we wanted. He probably left 4 times to talk to the manager.Its a waste of time if the person buying the car has already told you what he is willing to pay and what he wants thrown in.We spent an hour trying to set a price since he kept leaving to talk to the manager it would be a lot easier if the salesman could make these decisions himself.

At the end we got what we asked for to start with except our free oil change which the manager was being an asshole about after they agree'd to it.

also does anyone work at a Honda dealership my brother is trying to figure out where to take his car for servicing

[quasi]

I bought my wife's car over the phone, took about an hour and 3-4 phone calls back and fourth but wasn't a big deal, showed up the next day to sign the papers.

If you don't like the process you could have just offered a firm price, left your number and said call me if you can make this work if you can't no worries thanks for your time but don't call me. Left the dealership and if he called great, if not find something else. This way neither of you are wasting each others time.

I'll be buying a new motorcycle in the next 2 months, I know what they go for and what I'm willing to pay I plan on doing exactly that.

[Jas29]

That would probably work better first time for me or my brother negotiating prices on a car all of our other cars have been bought from relatives or family friends.

[ken/carlab]

This is a pretty interesting thread considering I recently opened my own car dealer. I have a full time government job so the dealer I have is more like a side hobby where I broker cars for friends and family. Judging from the comments in this thread, I am definitely glad I do the car stuff as a side business rather than count on it as my main income. It would just be too stressful.