Now Ye're Talking - to a Car Salesman

JoeA3

ba_barabus wrote: »

Do salespeople care about the service records and receipts that some owners build up over time. I've handed up large service folders tgat I took a lot if time to build up only to find out they didn't follow the car.

Service history has never been taken anywhere near as seriously in this country as in the UK in my experience. But its changing... people are more wary these days of buying anything with vague history.

Salty

Any advice for someone who would love to become a car salesman? Finding it very hard to break into the trade!

GypsyByName

_meehan_ wrote: »

Any advice for someone who would love to become a car salesman? Finding it very hard to break into the trade!

Its easy but be prepared to work on a commission only basis!

seachto7

Why do car salesmen (are there any women?) have a bad rep? How much of their/your waffle is truth?

Padkir

In relation to scrappage offers, are there any conditions to the car you are scrapping?

For example, if I have a 2nd hand car that is worth say €3k, is there anything stopping me from just buying an old banger off DoneDeal to use in getting the €5k scrappage discount? I could then sell my actual previous car for €3k privately, therefore actually saving about €8k on the new car.

bazz26

Terms of the scrappage deals depends on the car manufacturer offering it. Most require that you own the car for at least 6 or 12 months and it has a valid NCT to avoid people buying €100 heaps off donedeal to avail of these scrappage schemes. These scrappage deals are just another term for discount from the car manufacturer and are nothing to do with the Government run scrappage deals from the past where the car actually had to be scrapped.

ForestFire

bazz26 wrote: »

Terms of the scrappage deals depends on the car manufacturer offering it. Most require that you own the car for at least 6 or 12 months and it has a valid NCT to avoid people buying €100 heaps off donedeal to avail of these scrappage schemes. These scrappage deals are just another term for discount from the car manufacturer and are nothing to do with the Government run scrappage deals from the past where the car actually had to be scrapped.

Agreed,

Buying a car 2 years ago and I had a 08 Nissan Note:-

-Ford - No need for your car, you can have the full discount (Kuga).
-Hyundai - We will give you the 4K reduction for the note and sell the Note back to you for €500 (Tucson)
- Peugeot - Offered 2K on the 4.5K scrappage,. Agreed I could buy a car (e.g. €500) and come back to them in 3months to get the full 4.5K
-Nissan - Would do noting

In the end went with cash deal without trade in (Sold Note Privately) with a 1.8K discount on a 0%PCB.

ba_barabus

How many cars did you sell this week?

What was the best day?

Any reason you sold more cars that day over the other days?

I'm a Car Salesman, AMA

osarusan wrote: »

In your experience, is there a particular brand/type of car that people are more likely to pay over the odds for, compared to others?

And...in your experience, what are some of the different stereotypical views people have about different brands/types of car?

People will have their own opinions on both of these questions. Any car which is rare and unique will tend to command an large premium.

There are still some stereotypes about brands but I think brands are doing their best to change them, for example if you look at the like of Skoda, Toyota and Mercedes they would all have been seen as an older persons brand but over the last number of years they have been working hard to change that and now appeal to a wider audience

bonkers67 wrote: »

If a dealer has a car for sale a long time is it easier to get a discount from them?

Depends on the car and how recently they have reduced the price but most of the time yes because they will want to move it on

Bob_Marley wrote: »

Not sure I understand this answer.

A manufacturer is selling a car for 30k and also gives someone who trades in a €500 car a 4500 "scrappage scheme" discount, so they only pay 26.5k, but in turn said manufacture will refuse to give 4500 off to someone who buys straight and they have to pay 30k ? This makes no sense to me ? Surely people in this situation should be paying roughly the same for a car (give or take a slight variation in what different dealers want as commission ). Why would a manufacturer effectively be turning away straight sales in favour of people trading in a banger ?

Also next question, I know it will vary, but roughly what % mark up do distributors take on cars ? and in turn, what % mark up to dealers take on cars.

Also roughly what % do dealers give their sales staff as commission ?

I cant explain the reasons why manufacturer's do what they do but my guess would be they see people driving older cars as less likely to change for a new car so they do this to try and encourage them to change their car

I would imagine each distributor and each dealer gets different % mark up, all I do know is over the last number of year this figure has reduced.

Again this is different per dealer and per brand, it is generally a % of the profit of made by the dealership

Sexual Chocolate wrote: »

Great thread Car Sales Man.

How did you get into it in the first place ? Did you go around garages handing in CV's etc ?

Any advice for a young lad like myself toying with the idea of wanting to work in car sales ?

What's your opinion on the VAG emissions scandal ? Is it true that VAG sales weren't effected much or in other words they got away lightly ?

What do you think about petrol making a come back these days ? It must be interesting explaining to a potential customer that you can get a Mondeo or Octavia in a 1.0L and so on. Or that this new 1.0 Golf would put your old 1.6 one to shame etc :pac:

You also mentioned earlier on about that in some cases you would try to steer a customer away from diesels due to their low mileage driving ( A very honest thing I must say, at lot of people were sold diesels when they shouldn't of been over the years).
Would this have being something frowned upon 5 years ago as dealers were only bringing in mostly diesels and therefore would already have the stock ready to sell ?

Keep an eye on job adverts, call in to local garages and be prepared to work your way up from the bottom. Consider other jobs in a dealership which might get you a foot in the door and then you might get a chance to progress in to sales.

Yes I think VW in this country they got off quiet lightly and are still being sold in huge numbers.

It does take a bit of explaining about the new engine technology to let people know that engine are now getting smaller in size with more power and better fuel consumption.

5 years ago everyone was encouraged to buy diesel and partly links back to your point before. The older petrol engines were not as efficient therefore some ended up more expensive due to higher VRT. Road tax is a big thing on some Irish buyers minds which again a few years ago was much higher in a petrol.

Max Prophet wrote: »

What's your view on gap insurance. Seems like a swizz

GAP is something which most people consider they don't need until either they need it themselves or someone they know needs it. If you are investing a significant amount of your money in a new car I would prefer to go for it personally because over the life span of a car it is a relatively small amount but invaluable if you do have to use it

have2flushtwice wrote: »

I was in a car sales yard this year. The guy had fresh yellow regs out the front with a few 2013 upwards irish reg cars too. Out the back he had upwards of thirty older cars in good shape, trade ins I thought . Why is he holding all these older ones for? How is the money made on these. Ive a clean 2001 golf tdi and I can't get a grand for it. So these couldn't be worth too much more. What am I missing

Probably the reason they were out the back is because he has not offloaded them yet, yes they will be worth very small money so at the busy time of year like now makes sense to concentrate on the cars you can make money from. Then when things quieten a little focus on getting rid of the older cars

I'm a Car Salesman, AMA

ba_barabus wrote: »

Do salespeople care about the service records and receipts that some owners build up over time. I've handed up large service folders tgat I took a lot if time to build up only to find out they didn't follow the car.

Yes I do anyway because without service records the mileage on a car is worthless. A car with service history is much easier to sell on so therefore vital to get off the person trading in the car

_meehan_ wrote: »

Any advice for someone who would love to become a car salesman? Finding it very hard to break into the trade!

I mentioned this above, basically be willing to work from the bottom consider any jobs in a dealership and show enthusiasm if you get an interview and when working there

seachto7 wrote: »

Why do car salesmen (are there any women?) have a bad rep? How much of their/your waffle is truth?

Yes there are some sales women, not as many as men. I went through my thoughts on this earlier in the thread but everyone's opinion about sales people will be different

Padkir wrote: »

In relation to scrappage offers, are there any conditions to the car you are scrapping?

For example, if I have a 2nd hand car that is worth say €3k, is there anything stopping me from just buying an old banger off DoneDeal to use in getting the €5k scrappage discount? I could then sell my actual previous car for €3k privately, therefore actually saving about €8k on the new car.

Yes the majority will have a minimum period of ownership clause stopping people from doing this

ba_barabus wrote: »

How many cars did you sell this week?

What was the best day?

Any reason you sold more cars that day over the other days?

I would prefer not to give exact figures. Saturdays tend to be the best days because they are the busiest. The reason for this is probably because people have more spare time than during the week

Big Nasty

I always thought Saturday was considered tyre kickers day?

DrPhilG

I'm a Car Salesman, AMA wrote: »

Yes the majority will have a minimum period of ownership clause stopping people from doing this

I've heard before (not mentioning any manufacturer in particular) that during a limited scrappage deal last year, dealers were happily selling punters the cheapest oul bangers they had and then immediately taking them back in for the scrappage discount.

Do you think that was bending the rules or flat out breaking them?

Arbie

Why do dealers generally only open 10-6 weekdays, Saturday mornings, then closed Sunday? I would have thought that most people buying new cars would be working/busy during those hours.

bazz26

Another way of looking at it is how many sales on average are actually made on a Saturday or Sunday compared to weekdays?

99 Bortles of Beer

There's an episode of the popular podcast This American Life called "129 Cars" - it's one of my favourite podcasts and a very enjoyable listen.

They set up shop in a car dealership for the last week of the month and track what's going on - all the deals, failed deals, desperate pitches etc. The goal is that the car manufacturer gives the dealership a cash reward if they sell X number of cars per month. It's a moving target, and it happens to be 129 for this particular month.

With that being said, my questions are:

(1) Do you have a sales target per month?
(2) If so, is it better for customers to negotiate near the end of a month as dealerships targets are looming larger?
(3) How competitive is it between you and other salesmen/women in your dealership? Are ye all generally aware of how the others are performing?

Arbie

bazz26 wrote: »

Another way of looking at it is how many sales on average are actually made on a Saturday or Sunday compared to weekdays?

That's exactly the question. These hours could be in place because of market research and testing, or it could be tradition, or because of staffing considerations. I don't know many working people who could/would take time off on a weekday to look at cars.

Bob_Marley

99 Bortles of Beer wrote: »

With that being said, my questions are:

(1) Do you have a sales target per month?
(2) If so, is it better for customers to negotiate near the end of a month as dealerships targets are looming larger?
(3) How competitive is it between you and other salesmen/women in your dealership? Are ye all generally aware of how the others are performing?

fyi - Good questions, but in fairness to Carsalesman, he's already answered these questions for us if you read through the thread, the easiest way to see them is to click his name and read his posts, and it will save you having to read the rest of the stuff.

thierry14

Is it true in your opinion that automakers make more profits through service centres?

Has it ever been mentioned to you that selling a car is just marketing aimed at bringing customers under their wing hoping to sell many years of service?

Is that the real earner?

Toyota seem to be very good at it here

I'm a Car Salesman, AMA

Big Nasty wrote: »

I always thought Saturday was considered tyre kickers day?

Saturdays can be both for the same reason it can be the busiest for people buying it can be the busiest tyre kicker day but as again this is when people have the most free time

DrPhilG wrote: »

I've heard before (not mentioning any manufacturer in particular) that during a limited scrappage deal last year, dealers were happily selling punters the cheapest oul bangers they had and then immediately taking them back in for the scrappage discount.

Do you think that was bending the rules or flat out breaking them?

Every manufacturer is different and some may not have a minimum ownership so cant speak on what they are doing it, could be just bending the rules

Arbie wrote: »

Why do dealers generally only open 10-6 weekdays, Saturday mornings, then closed Sunday? I would have thought that most people buying new cars would be working/busy during those hours.

Each dealership varies, majority open 9am to 6pm during the week. I used to work in a dealership that opened until 7pm 3 days a week to cater for people working but you would very rarely see anybody in during this time so they stopped it.

I also know a dealership who trialled opening Sundays and again after 3 months stopped because they were getting very little out of it.

I don't know the answer as to why they do it this way but I guess it would be weighing up the costs associated versus the return

thierry14 wrote: »

Is it true in your opinion that automakers make more profits through service centres?

Has it ever been mentioned to you that selling a car is just marketing aimed at bringing customers under their wing hoping to sell many years of service?

Is that the real earner?

Toyota seem to be very good at it here

I would not think so as far as I am aware most standard services get very little profit for the dealership. It is far more beneficial for an automaker to be selling more cars

vicwatson

Why does it cost €1300 to “deliver” a car from Cork to Dublin, why aren’t all cars coming with metallic paint as standard these days?

osarusan

Do you evaluate/analyse the performance of other salespeople you encounter as part of your life?

Bob Harris

Who will have to pay for the damage?

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/pictured-freak-accident-sees-customer-plough-through-window-of-dublin-car-showroom-36593624.html

MetzgerMeister

Bob Harris wrote: »

Who will have to pay for the damage?

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/pictured-freak-accident-sees-customer-plough-through-window-of-dublin-car-showroom-36593624.html

The person who caused it I would hope! :eek:

mickdw

I'd imagine if the person was driving their own car, it will be covered by their car insurance.
If they were test driving a car, it will be garage policy and perhaps shared with own car insurance if it also covered them to drive other cars.
Knowing insurance companies, if they can spread the claim, they will so that they can increase loads of peoples policies.

I'm a Car Salesman, AMA

vicwatson wrote: »

Why does it cost €1300 to “deliver” a car from Cork to Dublin, why aren’t all cars coming with metallic paint as standard these days?

I can’t answer exactly but some of what is included is transport costs, pre delivery inspection (workshop checkover), cleaning and fuel.

Again not sure on why metallic is priced this way, there are a small number of cars which have it as standard but majority charge extras in varying amounts

I'm a Car Salesman, AMA

Bob Harris wrote: »

Who will have to pay for the damage?

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/pictured-freak-accident-sees-customer-plough-through-window-of-dublin-car-showroom-36593624.html

Probably the most unusual thing I have ever seen happen to a dealership so don’t know how it will work out

I'm a Car Salesman, AMA

A few questions now this thread has been running for a bit of time;

Has it changed people’s outlook of sales people and the industry?

I know there are a number of stereotypes out there but do people think sales people in general have changed in recent times?

Is buying a car a daunting or pleasurable experience?

What would people most like to see from a sales person when dealing with them?

Heres Johnny

I'm a Car Salesman, AMA wrote: »

A few questions now this thread has been running for a bit of time;

Has it changed people’s outlook of sales people and the industry?

I know there are a number of stereotypes out there but do people think sales people in general have changed in recent times?

Is buying a car a daunting or pleasurable experience?

What would people most like to see from a sales person when dealing with them?

I moved from accounting to a financial sales job, well it's called advisory now, and I had reservations because I thought the industry was a bit crooked but it's completely not, we take great pride in matching people with policies and products that are suitable and they will do very well with. Compliance and regulation post recession and financial crash ensured this. I'm sure car sales are the same for many people too, want happy and repeat customers. I believe you are one of the honest ones.

But not all. I've encountered lies and sales tactics that I knew were deceitful recently.
Was told in a main dealer that a BMW bought in UK wouldn't be covered under BMW warranty in Ireland and also told that when I go to VRT office the tax would be much higher than the online price so I should just buy in Ireland.

Not to mention anyone can set up in the industry with very little knowledge and obligation to the customer. No regulation in the industry. Even pcp which is very popular is unregulated.

So with the price differences, buying a car in Ireland is not for me for the foreseeable future and I have been advising anyone close to me to go to the U.K. too, which they have been doing and making big savings.

mickdw

For me, buying a car would have been a very pleasurable time but the last 6 months looking around, it's now a pain in the ass.
If you don't buy 1 year old or newer, you must pay higher interest.
If you want hp, they try to force pcp by offering the hp on a short term only.
very poor discount for straight sales. That was all audi.
BMW dealers I could only describe as thieves. And that is attempting to buy straight.
I found Mercedes dealer to offer a more traditional buying experience.
The price was clear. There was a sensible straight deal price offered quickly once not trading in. Salesman got to his figures and offered what I thought was a sensible price. The interest rates were a bit high but at least that was clear. Audi advertise very low rates on used cars then make it near impossible to get that rate.
Mercedes guy also didn't pester me for weeks after. He gave his best price on the day. BMW keep calling and dropping small amounts - messing.
I was very close to doing a deal on a cls from Joe Duffy select but it sold quickly. Very impressive. Contacted by email- got a response which is a good start.
answered a few queries quickly and honestly. Got back when they said they would. Arranged a viewing and promptly got in touch when car sold before I got there.
One follow up call to see how I was dealt with. Very very slick.

az2wp0sye65487

I'm a Car Salesman, AMA wrote: »

A few questions now this thread has been running for a bit of time;

Has it changed people’s outlook of sales people and the industry?

I know there are a number of stereotypes out there but do people think sales people in general have changed in recent times?

Is buying a car a daunting or pleasurable experience?

What would people most like to see from a sales person when dealing with them?

1. Not really - I've had some positive but more negative experiences.

2. Buying a car is a "job" for me every few years and in my mind I want to do the best job possible. It can be pleasurable but also annoying depending on the individual I'm dealing with.

3. I'd like to see consistency when dealing with different sales people.

In my most recent experience 12 months ago I was looking for a new car. My requirement was specific (i wanted comfort, a saloon body type, I do 25K km per year - mostly motorway - so wanted a decent power diesel engine. No specific brand in mind. I was also trading in a 6 yr old 2L diesel passat with 90K km on it.

Went to a fair number of dealers. Mostly main dealers. The trade in value they offered me ranged from €2,500 to €8,000 for my old car. Some were willing to negotiate while others wouldn't budge at all.

One 'senior' salesman in a well-known main dealership told me blatant lies. He said that a particular car I was looking at (1 yr old with relatively low mileage) had only been used by the brand for road shows / exhibitions etc...... when i took it for a test drive i opened the glove box and it was full of leaflets & info from a car rental company and the tax/insurance/NCT holder on the windscreen was branded the same rental place. I asked him again afterwards where the car came from and he sussed that I caught him out so immediately back-tracked and came up with some silly story. I'll never go to them again.