# Ask a car salesman!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 22, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744 "2006-08-22T13:55:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/1 "2006-08-22T13:55:33Z")
So I am sitting at my desk waiting for a customer to come in and pay my mortgage, so by request, I am starting this thread.
I have been in the business for a few years and work in both regular sales and internet sales. I do some manager stuff (‘desking deals’, and TO’s / takeovers), and will do my best to answer any question.
Anything you want to know, here I am.
---
### Author:  [@Skipper\_Too](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skipper_Too)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/2 "2006-08-22T16:25:40Z")
I didn’t want to hijack the other thread about Salary with this question. How does your day differ from what I have seen on A&E’s King of Cars, following salesman at Tobin Dodge. Do lots really hire somebody just to count the number of “Ups” each salesman gets? Are they that crazy with the stats?
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### Author:  [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/3 "2006-08-22T16:38:53Z")
> [@FormerMarineGuy](#):
>
> So I am sitting at my desk waiting for a customer to come in and pay my mortgage, so by request, I am starting this thread.
>
> I have been in the business for a few years and work in both regular sales and internet sales. I do some manager stuff (‘desking deals’, and TO’s / takeovers), and will do my best to answer any question.
>
> Anything you want to know, here I am.
When you say, “Just a minute, I have to go in the back and ask my manager.”, what exactly do you do when you leave the room? Coffee? Donut? Call the wife?
Does anyone _actually_ talk to a manager or is this just a ruse?
What are the rules at your place for people test driving cars? How 'bout a really hot car like a Vette or a Mustang etc.
What’s the average markup on a used car?
How much bargaining room would a person have on the average car? IOW, what do you need to make to cover expenses and still maintain a liquid dealership.
---
### Author:  [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/4 "2006-08-22T16:57:21Z")
“A few years”, you say. I don’t think I’d last two minutes as a car salesman. 🙂
What do you find appealing about the job?
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/5 "2006-08-22T17:00:41Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#):
>
> When you say, “Just a minute, I have to go in the back and ask my manager.”, what exactly do you do when you leave the room? Coffee? Donut? Call the wife?
> Does anyone _actually_ talk to a manager or is this just a ruse?
I’m not the OP, obviously, but I’ve sold cars. When I was doing so, saying I had to talk to my manager was not a ruse. Most of the sales force in our dealership had to run their sales by one the desk; only one or two were privileged to write their own deals, and these were both guys who were about to be promoted to manager anyway.
I have a question: does anyone in your store ever scoop rebates, or was that just an aberration of the remarkably crooked dealership where I worked? For that matter, do y’all ever call the place a store? The first time I ever heard my boss do so, it sounded very strange.
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### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/6 "2006-08-22T17:46:56Z")
What exactly is that “undercoat”, and do I really want it?
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/7 "2006-08-22T18:19:01Z")
How much do you get in bonus if you get the customer to go with dealer financing and at an APR 3 points above the going rate?
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### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/8 "2006-08-22T18:29:35Z")
Given your experience, what do you do differently when you buy a car than most of your customers would know to do?
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/9 "2006-08-22T18:37:54Z")
1- Just how big a cut of the extended warranty sales do you get?
2- When taking in someone’s trade in, have you ever asked if it was rust proofed? Just asking cause I think rustproofing today’s cars is foolish.
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### Author:  [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/10 "2006-08-22T18:53:47Z")
Have you ever been specifically instructed to lie to customers?
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### Author:  [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/11 "2006-08-22T18:59:24Z")
Does this story match your experience as a salesman?
> **[Behind the Scenes at a Car Dealership | Edmunds](https://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/behind-the-scenes-at-a-car-dealership.html)**
>
> Do you wonder why it can take hours to buy car? Or what the salesman is doing when he huddles with the manager? We've got answers for you.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/12 "2006-08-22T18:59:38Z")
[Edmunds.com](http://Edmunds.com) has a nifty feature that lets you plug in all the details of a new car and it spits out MSRP, invoice, and TMV (true market value).
Is this “TMV price” a square deal between the dealer and customer? Or can a customer generally beat this price with little effort?
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/13 "2006-08-22T19:34:22Z")
Have you read **Blink**. In there is an interesting study of Chicago car dealers, in which the prices quoted varied significantly for different groups, with some getting higher prices because the salesmen assumed that the customers were gullible. He also described a salesman who made about three times as much as his colleagues by not prejudging.
Do you “prequalify” customers? That is, steer customers to different cars depending on their appearance. Is this common? What makes do you sell?
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### Author:  [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/14 "2006-08-22T20:24:27Z")
> [@Skipper Too](#):
>
> I didn’t want to hijack the other thread about Salary with this question. How does your day differ from what I have seen on A&E’s King of Cars, following salesman at Tobin Dodge. Do lots really hire somebody just to count the number of “Ups” each salesman gets? Are they that crazy with the stats?
That show is definitely a setup, made for TV. But some lots do have people who count the ‘ups’, or sometimes it is just the greeter who counts who gets who. The managers usually have an eye out to see who is talking to who. They want to make sure that nobody is letting customers ‘walk’ and they are not losing deals. They have to make sure that salespeople are not just giving numbers to customers and letting them leave on super high prices, when they could actually be leaving on a lower number.
---
### Author:  [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/15 "2006-08-22T20:34:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Uncommon Sense: When you say, “Just a minute, I have to go in the back and ask my manager.”, what exactly do you do when you leave the room? Coffee? Donut? Call the wife?
>
> What are the rules at your place for people test driving cars? How 'bout a really hot car like a Vette or a Mustang etc.
>
> What’s the average markup on a used car?
>
> How much bargaining room would a person have on the average car? IOW, what do you need to make to cover expenses and still maintain a liquid dealership.
You go and talk to the manager, usually. Now, sometimes this is done when you know you have a deal and wiggle room that is allowed without the manager approval (such as the trade is worth 13k and you are giving them 12k for it, and they want 12500). But 90% of the time, the salesperson is actually talking to a manager. But I do walk around, smoke a cigarette, call the wife, and sometimes eat a piece of pizza.
The rules for test driving cars is pretty simple. Test drive a car. There are exceptions such as a teenager wanting to drive a 100k car, or someone is obviously not qualified (they tell you they want to be $500 a month and they will be $1500 a month on the car). Or you do not test drive if it is a rare car.
The markup on a used car varies. I have seen as low as $500 and high as $15000. It definitely depends on the price of the car (more expensive, more markup) and how long they have had it on the lot (the longer it is there, the lower the price goes).
The bargaining room is not what people think it is (on new cars especially). You can use sites such as [kbb.com](http://kbb.com) and [edmunds.com](http://edmunds.com), but they are not 100% accurate. It definitely varies, and is on a case-by-case basis.
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### Author:  [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/16 "2006-08-22T20:38:08Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#):
>
> “A few years”, you say. I don’t think I’d last two minutes as a car salesman. 🙂
> What do you find appealing about the job?
The rush. The hours don’t bother me. I worked more hours as a Marine and even when I was in high school holding down two jobs. I have always been a work-a-holic, ALWAYS. I definitely enjoy the challenge of doing twenty things at once, and have always enjoyed talking to people. I am good at it, and make a very good living.
I am educated and would probably be successful at anything I did. But I control my own destiny here and am left alone.
---
### Author:  [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/17 "2006-08-22T20:42:22Z")
> [@Skald the Rhymer](#):
>
> I have a question: does anyone in your store ever scoop rebates, or was that just an aberration of the remarkably crooked dealership where I worked?
>
> For that matter, do y’all ever call the place a store? The first time I ever heard my boss do so, it sounded very strange.
We don’t have rebates here, we have what is called ‘retail cash’, which we can keep or give as wanted. Rebates have to be given to a customer, by law, no exceptions. HOWEVER, there are ways to make money, by ‘trying’ to show it as a discount. Use it as a negotiating tool, “What if I got you an extra 1000 off of the bottom line?”. That is not illegal, but is super dirty. The last place I worked at had rebates and there was this one salesperson who was notorious for being super dirty, and making a insane amount of money. Personally, I would rather look myself in the mirror. By the way, he pried on old people only.
I have heard to it referred to as a store, never found it odd.
---
### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/18 "2006-08-22T20:45:20Z")
Are you told/instructed to be uber-pushy with customers? Do you lose commission/money if I walk out without buying? Are you a _gasp_ used car dealer?
Why do so many car dealers not believe in giving people time to think it over? Sure, you wanna make the sale, but these days it’s usually over $15K for a new car at minimum - that kind of purchase I’d like to think about. Is it really useful to make them buy something, anything?
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/19 "2006-08-22T20:45:47Z")
> [@FormerMarineGuy](#):
>
> We don’t have rebates here, we have what is called ‘retail cash’, which we can keep or give as wanted. Rebates have to be given to a customer, by law, no exceptions. HOWEVER, there are ways to make money, by ‘trying’ to show it as a discount. Use it as a negotiating tool, “What if I got you an extra 1000 off of the bottom line?”. That is not illegal, but is super dirty. The last place I worked at had rebates and there was this one salesperson who was notorious for being super dirty, and making a insane amount of money. Personally, I would rather look myself in the mirror. By the way, he pried on old people only.
>
> I have heard to it referred to as a store, never found it odd.
For anybody who doesn’t know, by the way, _scooping the rebate_ is taking the rebate check from the automaker rather than passing it on to the customer, either when the customer doesn’t realize there is a rebate offered on the vehicle or when the salesman can fool the customer with smoke & mirrors. My refusal to do so got me fired from my car sales job. I was pretty irritated until I remembered that I’d gone in that day to quit.
---
### Author:  [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-a-car-salesman/369744/20 "2006-08-22T20:50:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Nanoda What exactly is that “undercoat”, and do I really want it?
I have never seen it sold, and no you do not want it. I never sold cars in the northeast, but heard it might make sense there, to help preven rust. But if it sells for $895, it probably cost $95. HUGE markup, you could do it yourself if you wanted.
> [@](#):
>
> vertizontal Have you ever been specifically instructed to lie to customers?
NEVER. And I never would. But there are ways to tell the truth and accomplish the same goal. There are ways to word things as the truth, being telling the truth, but never give the actual answer to the customer.
In retrospect, I am not sure if this is a lie, but it could fall under it. I always considered it business. I have been asked “Is this your bottom line” or “Is this your best price” and said “YES” knowing that I could do better. But I don’t do it anymore. Now, I say “No, I could take a hundred or so off to make you feel good” and evading their actual question.
> [@](#):
>
> beagledave Does this story match your experience as a salesman? [http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buyin...62/page001.html](http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buyin...62/page001.html)
NOT AT ALL, I read it a while ago, and think the guy added a little to it. Wasn’t he selling a book?
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