Didnt really know where to put this so feel free to move it..got back from school 2 weeks ago and had been applying for jobs one of which was new/used car sales at a dealer down the road from me. Went and talked to the sales manager and he called back for a second interview tomorrow. Pay is about on par with other jobs I'm applying for, + commission isnt bad(if you can sell) and I think it'd be cool..anyone else done teh used car thing?

I've done sales before, thats no problem and I think some people will appreciate decent product knowledge, I know i've been to my fair share of dealers and heard the "the cobalt turbo v6 comes out in a few months actually..." "yep this grand prix GTP's got 300 horses under the hood(not gxp)" "you like this ws6? its actually faster than the vette, no one knows this " "nope this is the SIX cylinder maxima" ...you get my drift.

 

How much is the usual pay for car salesmen?

 

Depends on the dealership. When I worked at Corona Nissan they paid on a sliding scale...

20% of the front gross plus weekend bonuses and flat cars (cars that have been on the lot for a while and usually will pay $500-$3000 to sell them)

If you sold 11+ cars this month, the following month you move up to 25% of the front gross. If you sold 16+ cars this month you move up to 30% the following month.

It may seem good on paper but to me the reality is front line car sales sucks. Alot of high pressure come from upper management and dealing with stupid bs all the time. I'm now working as a broker selling anything from Kias to Bentleys and its alot better. No more sunburns!

 

Depending on your sales skills, six figure income is possible.

 

The sliding scale starts after a few months at this place, he said 20 % to half of how much profit the dealership makes on the car depending on sales #'s. For the first few months its 250 a week just for showing up, 100 for each new car, 250 for each used car and between $25-50 a piece for "add-ons" that we all need...lol you know like "rustproofing" and "undercarriage sealant" and "paint protector" and then the extended warranties. They've also got a car wash program, for $997 you get 1 car wash per week for 5 years, if you sell that you get $250 up front. So....eh its decent.

 

I don't get it. You get paid to sell cars the dealer thinks will sell? Do you have a say on what cars the dealer picks up to sell?
Jae

 

Im a salesperson at a new dodge dealership. theres money in the business but its not guaranteed. only do it if you can manage your money and save for those bad months becas even the best guys have them. i aspire to be a broker/wholesaler myself becas i get frustrated with rude customers a lot.

 

Its for cars you sell, I didnt explain it very well but I'm not too sure how it works either lol on the "better" commission scale, for each car you sell, you'll make 20 % of what the dealer makes on that particular sale. I think. Now that part I dont get, he must've meant revenue because, to start, it pays $100 for each new car you sell and $250 for each used car you sell... making 20 % of the profit wouldnt be that much, I dont see them making 2500-3 grand per each used car right? Idk I've got a second interview later today and I'll find out.

 

goodluck carsarecool!

rteenie22: I've been thinking of opening a dealership. I'd needa see a profit/loss statement of an existing profiting dealership. In theory it sounds great.

Jae

 

I started selling cars about 5 months ago. I work at a Mazda/Kia/Used car dealership. I like it, but there's alot of BS you'll have to deal with and management can be very hard on you. Also, at most dealerships you'll end up work 60+ hrs per week. There's definitely alot of potential to make money, but you have to be very good at selling. For example, our top salesman consistently make 25k per month. I've learned that knowing alot about cars doesn't mean you'll be a good salesman.

At my dealership, the monthly pay plan is like this...
-25% for 11.5 cars or less
-33% for 12-17.5 cars
-40% for 18 cars or more
-$150 minumum for a new car
-and there's nice bonuses for getting to 12, 15, and 18

This last week has been very slow, but I managed to sell 6.5 cars in 7 days. I sold 2 cars today...

 

Thanks, I still havent heard from them, he called yesterday and said the guy who usually does their checks is on vaca so another one is working on it, thats why their office is so slow. He can't officially offer me a job without checking driving record, consumer reports/criminal background and all that jazz, and its "taking a while"

But idk my grandfather was a federal agent and one of is buddies is a PI and they both agreed it shouldnt take more than 24 hours if that to get all that info electronically, so

 

I used to sell new cars at a Chrysler store. Like what everybody has pretty much already said, there's potential to make big bucks. Lots of pressure and bad months, lots of bull****, lots of lying and cheating people. If you're cool with that and you can sell you will do well. Also, you mentioned product knowledge. That's the reason I thought I would do well, but the product knowledge that us car guys have means **** in the sales world. People care about option packages and this add on and that add on. We're car guys, we care about horsepower and torque and 1/4 mile times. Most people don't care about that. They care about power windows and leather and keyless and somehow financing a $40,000 car for 5 years and only paying $400 per month. Give it a shot and see how you like it, no harm in trying.

 

Yea I def. wanna try, so we'll see what happens. I can tell they definetly have the "slimeball" ability, when I was in the first interview a guy was trading his 05 altima for an 07 and it had a crease in the hood with paint missing, wanted 10k on trade.

The sales manager offered him 9500 and the guy was gonna walk, said 10 or nothing so he did it. Back in the office he told me, "I'm not gonna argue over 500 bucks, if I sell 7 more altimas for this month the owner of the dealer gets between $8-10,000, so if I have to spend half of that on trades, so be it! Anyway, our paint guy is salary and itll cost me MAYBE 100 in materials, and we'll resell his car so we make out anyway."