# Life Of A Car Salesman

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-of-a-car-salesman/754516>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 11, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-of-a-car-salesman/754516 "2016-05-11T00:35:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 64

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**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-of-a-car-salesman/754516/64 "2016-05-14T19:56:53Z")

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> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#):
>
> I don’t take home $900/week. i wish I did. I might one month, then only my draw the next.

> [@Car salesman asked how I owed on my trade in.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-salesman-asked-how-i-owed-on-my-trade-in/754487/13):
>
> I **average** about 12-15 cars a month at about $350/car. 15x350= $5250-$2400 draw=$2850 commission check, less 46% taxes= $1539 deposited into my account, or $3939 total earnings for the month.

Then you, ahh, ummm, “misspoke”, right?

> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#):
>
> Distracting you during a test drive? Screw you man. I am so many things to a customer but a distraction isn’t one of them. You really have no idea what you’re talking about, at all. I am a babysitter, an encyclopedia, a service liason, a follow up machine, a consultant, a guide, a teacher, an entertainer a time saver and an intermediary. Car sales happen because of me!. Buy your cars on the internet, I don’t really care, the internet will never replace much of the car buying process other than maybe some paperwork and reading reviews on cars. The world needs car salesmen.

Yup, distracting. I have a few mintues to see if I like something I’m literally going to spend thousands of hours in. You & your cow-orkers yammering on about wheel size or horsepower (which is usually pretty close in comparable vehicles & therefore not all that important) is distracting.  
Pretty much all of the major car manufacturers have decent websites that show the various features & (MSRP) costs for each trim level & options. I’ve ruled out cars because they don’t come the way I want w/o leaving my house. By the time I go to a dealer I want to (after the obvious bit of paperwork) be handed the keys for a test drive to see if I really like the car I liked on paper. If I liked the car, then I want to talk pricing. If you need to go “talk to the manager” then you’re wasting that all important time you talked about or you’re nothing but an intermediary who is adding to the cost.

I realize you didn’t set up the system but, especially in this day & age, it’s a flawed design. Don’t sit there & blow smoke about how wonderful you are in a system that, if designed today, wouldn’t have you in it. It could be handled with a clerk. The purpose of a salesperson is to upsell.

> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#):
>
> And the urgency I create is REAL.

Why? That usually helps you much more than the customer.  
If I 1) have a car that & 2) one that is not in need of a major repair I don’t need a new car TODAY, do I?

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