Any one on here a car sales man? Ever been?

[lil_dcb7]

Im seriously considering it at this local Honda/Acura dealership.

I first toyed with the idea right after HS. But the straight comission thing told me no.

I talked to a sales manager said that its not straight comission, that theres a pretty good base pay of 1600. Which would be a nice supliment at minimum with all the shit im doing.

I figured it be bomb experience with what I want to do. And it'd be a free ride to a sellers license, and future towards a dealers/auto brokers license.

Any one here have that experience? Care to share?

Thanks

[JoshM]

I was for about 6 months. It was at a used car lot though.

Some months were amazing, some months made me think I'd make more working at McD's.

[lil_dcb7]

I was for about 6 months. It was at a used car lot though.

Some months were amazing, some months made me think I'd make more working at McD's.

The base monthly pay isnt that bad. Definately more than working at McD's here.

[JoshM]

The base monthly pay isnt that bad. Definately more than working at McD's here.

No base pay for mine.

[AstroVannin]

I worked at Toyota for like 2 years in sales.

Theres a reason I dont do it anymore.

[MikeW]

I work at a dealership and quite a few of the sales peopl have been here for years. Like 15, 20+. Pay might be different, but these guys are living PHAT. Nice houses, haircuts, suits, fake-bake wives with fake titties, kids, nice cars....

[IAmTheNight]

From what I've seen, sales can get pretty cutthroat, but you can make a ton of money when people are buying. If money is all you care about, go for it. I made good money being a dealer technician, but because of all the cutthroat politics at dealerships, I was always miserable. If you can handle the BS, by all means, be a salesman. Be prepared to work some ridiculous hours too.

[lil_dcb7]

From what I've seen, sales can get pretty cutthroat, but you can make a ton of money when people are buying. If money is all you care about, go for it. I made good money being a dealer technician, but because of all the cutthroat politics at dealerships, I was always miserable. If you can handle the BS, by all means, be a salesman. Be prepared to work some ridiculous hours too.

What do you mean by BS? What kind of BS?

[MikeW]

Drama. ALOT of thunder-stealing. Dealer owners, salesmen and higher people arent afraid to cheat and lie and steal, from anyone--including the customer, to make a buck.

[MikeW]

Ive seen it from the owner, to the salesmen, to the service head, service writers, shop foreman, parts people, techs....pretty much everyone thats been here awhile and know how to do it.

Theyll do anything to get extra. Be it, money, customers, better marks. They arent afraid to step on people to get ahead.

[deevergote]

Make sure you aren't paid on draw. Basically, if you don't earn enough in commission for a paycheck, they pay you anyway, and you go into debt. It's like "we'll loan you this money now, but the money from your next few sales comes back to us". Not a bad situation, so you can count on pay... but when sales are slow, you can get royally screwed. I don't know how it works if you quit or get fired when you've been paid for cars you have not yet sold... but I assume they'll want that money back!

Car sales are tough. I wouldn't want to do it. If you think you might like it, give it a shot and see!

You'll sell me a Skyline eventually

[new_beginnings]

^^^

So says Deev and he is correct.


I am and have been in the "Car Sales" business (independently) since '97 and is extremely tough.

Especially in my line, hare to please people.


But give it a shot and see if it's for you.

It's NOT for Everyone!


Good Luck in the path you choose.

[deevergote]

Also, new cars and used cars are two different animals. New cars are easier in a way, because people are already interested in the brand, and you have far less product to be familar with. A good salesman knows his product, and knows his buyer.

I passed on a 2002 CL-S because I asked the salesman (at the Acura dealership!) some details about the engine... I think confirming that it was the J32, and not the J30. He said "man, you know more about this car than I do!" and proceeded to talk about football... which I really couldn't give a rat's ass about when I'm shopping for a car. I bought my GTP the next day.

Hell, the guy that my ex and I bought our 2002 Accord from (at a Honda dealership) managed to learn from me that I ran this site. We went to get the cash for the car, and came back to find him on cb7tuner, checking out aww_shiet's MR thread
He had already sold the car to us at that point... but I really felt that he took time to get to know me. Then again, I also felt betrayed a bit, because that was undoubtedly part of his sales technique... For that reason, I'm not fond of salesmen. The good ones can go from being genuine to totally fake seamlessly.
Danny, I don't know that you're the type to be able to do that.

[gloryaccordy]

My uncle is a car salesman....

He makes a decent living.

That said though this might be the worst time ever in the history of auto sales, new or used. I think sales are down around 30-40% from last year, which was a bad year in itself. Dealerships are still closing left and right. And you just missed the CFC wave. That was prob some easy $$$.

I would pass. Learn a trade or get a degree.

[deevergote]

My stepfather now owns a used car lot... Chrysler yanked their franchise (which was bullshit... although they were small, they were around for a long time, did well, and had a 5 star service rating!)

The car lot around the block that sold me my GTP... gone. I feel bad. That car was crap, but the owner/salesman that I talked to was quite possibly the ONLY salesman that I felt was 100% honest. Hell, my windshield washer pump didn't work, and I told him that it never worked 2 weeks after I bought the car. He seemed offended that I didn't take it right back to him when I discovered it, and he told me to bring it in ASAP to be fixed free of charge. My life fell apart 2 days later, so I never did... but I really respected him for that.


But yes... this is a bad time for commission sales of any type. Cars, houses, CutCo knives... McDonalds would be more stable.