Would you buy a new car from Johnny L.A.?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I have a job interview today, for selling new Hondas. It’s not a job that I particularly want, but I don’t like being unemployed. It sounds like a two-day ‘cattle call’ for prospective salesmen.

I like Hondas, though I’ve never owned one (except for my 1979 CX500 motorcycle that I bought for a dollar). If the 1999 Civic hatchback had come in white, I may be driving one of those instead of my purple Jeep.

I’m not really a ‘car guy’, though I do like classic sports cars. If I were going to buy a new car today, and I haven’t won the lottery, then I think I’d choose a Mini Cooper. They’ve grown on me, and they look different from other cars. Or I might try to find a 2000 Mini (the last of the ‘original Minis’). For me, a Honda is a high-quality car at a reasonable price that gets good fuel economy and is great for basic transportation. Sure, there are sportier models; but if I want ‘sporty’ or ‘performance’ I’d choose another make. Hondas are ‘sensible cars’.

I think they sell themselves. They have a reputation for reliability. They’re less expensive than many cars, though there are less expensive ones out there as well. Still, I think that if someone comes into a Honda dealer they are seriously considering buying a Honda. They may be comparison shopping between Hyundais, Kias and Toyotas; but it seems to me that it would be easy to sell a Honda.

I’m leery about making my salary through commissions. It seems too unstable. On the other hand, I’ve heard people can make a bundle. I’d rather be a videographer though, or have a nice office job.

2

While I’ll proberly never buy a car, I belive that if I where forced to buy one, Honda would be on the top of my list for pretty much the same reasons you listed.

My only real experience with Honda is from motorcycles and if their image and popularity from bikes transfer to cars, being a Honda salesman can’t be that hard of a job.

Anyways, I’d say go for it, it must sure beat being unemployed and in my experience if you’re currently employed finding a new job seems easier.

// blinx - Honda CB400F & Yamaha FZR600R

3

You may want to read the article Confessions of a Car Salesman posted at Edmonds.com for an overview of what you may be faced with.

4

I don’t think Honda uses ‘pressure tactics’ so you should be ok. Honda really doesn’t need to. They sell enough cars without help.

You should be fine. Just read up on all the cars being sold and make sure you know them inside out. Nothing makes me look down on a sales guy than one that doesn’t know what they’re talking about. When I bought my Toyota Matrix I was never pressured into anything and the only negative impression came when he told me I could fill up with regular even though the manual and the gas cap BOTH state premium only.

5

Sorry, but I have a rule about buying cars from people named after cities.

6

I couldn’t consider buy a car from you unless you are willing to wear a plaid sport coat, hold up your pants with a white patent-leather belt, and call yourself “Crazy Johnny”.

If you ARE willing to do all that, however, I’ll tell you how much I want my monthly payments to be.

7

Well, I went to the interview. As I said, it was a ‘cattle call’. People were taken in groups into a room where they were interviewed by someone from AutoMax, which is apparently a service hired by car dealers to find salesman candidates. There were six in my group. One was dismissed immediately because of an answer he put on his application. (Must have been either the DUI question or the question about having been arrested.) There was a quick Q&A session followed by a word association bit followed by a spiel from the interviewer followed by more questions. At the end we were all ‘invited’ to attend a training seminar on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 0930 to six. At the end of that, we’ll be interviewed by the dealer.

When I got home I finished reading Billdo*'s link. Now, I don’t want to be a car salesman; but after attending the ‘interview’ I started thinking about it. There is the potential to make a lot of money. Hondas, as I’ve said, have a great reputation. They may ‘sell themselves’. If I became a car salesman, I could get a job in any city I choose. Job security is good.

But there’s that article… I’d hate to work for an overbearing manager who browbeats his staff. I don’t take threats very well. Basically, if threatened, I say ‘Do what you want, Fucknose!’ I mean, I can take constructive criticism as well as anyone; but the manager in the article sounded like a right prick, and the implication was that this is common behaviour. Life’s too short to be treated like chattel.

The hours aren’t great. Afternoons, nights and weekends. They pay can be high; but the article said that the Finance department could screw you out of your commission by moving numbers around. Since the goal is to get the highest commission possible, it means you might put people into financial situations they may not be able to handle. Bad Karma.

Then there’s videography. I’m supposed to shoot a short in a couple of weeks. I probably won’t be paid, but I’ve already worked for this guy and he likes my work. Could lead to paying gigs. This guy wants to produce my short that I wrote years ago. He says that’s next on the agenda after the first short. And we’d shoot it on my 16mm camera. :slight_smile: There’s also another infomercial coming up, and I might get paid for that one. If I get ‘in’, then I might pick up work doing wedding videos and legal depositions. There’s also a feature in the works that we hope to shoot in the Summer. My name has been mentioned to another video house in town, and the guy there seems to be interested in me.

Being a car salesman would seriously curtail my videography, and it wouldn’t be as much fun. I’d really rather shoot films and video than sell cars.

But here’s the rub: I’m collecting Unemployment. If I’m offered the job I have to take it, right? So let’s say that I get the job and I ‘don’t work out’ for whatever reason. It wouldn’t be a layoff; I’d be fired for not performing to expectations. Would I be eligible for unemployment? Would I really be required to accept a job that I don’t want? (My background is not in sales.)

If I really don’t want this job, then I can blow the interview. But I’m too competitive. I can’t not try to ‘win’. If I lose fairly, then ‘them’s the breaks of Naval warfare’. But to throw a game seems a little dishonourable. Not that I’ll be chosen even if I try my best in the interview, but it’s possible.

I’m an honest guy. Maybe I should honestly tell the interviewer that I’m looking for a job and not a career. ‘I go where the money is. If I can make a good living selling cars, then I will. But if I get a better gig as a videographer or as a data manager, then I’ll go for that.’ Then if I get hired, he’ll have had fair warning.

8

Problem there Johnny is that if you tell them that you will not get hired. You don’t owe your employer anything but fair warning if you decide to quit. You need to decide if you would take this job if offered it. If the answer is yes you should do everything in your power to get the job and make the dealer believe that you will be an excellent long term employee.

9

I want to buy a CR-V as soon as I can sell my bleepity bleeping piece of bleepy bleep Volkswagen. After driving my car for a while I did some research on ‘most reliable cars’ and kept coming up with Hondas. So that’s what I am getting next.

Anyone want to buy a lovely Passat? :wink:

10

My brother-in-law sold Fords for a while - he hated it. Long hours, weekends, not as much pay as they make it sound. And, working for Ford, I’m sure that pressure was involved (both on his part to customers and on him from managers). I’m not sure whether it’d be the same for Honda.

It wasn’t for him - not the right fit at all. However, the two years he worked there, he saw a lot of turnover. Salesmen came and went like clockwork. I say, give it a try, maybe, until the video gig takes off. Maybe it’ll be right for you and you’ll like it. And if it isn’t for you, move on.

11

Dude, if I need a new car, and I happen to be in LA (assuming thats where you live), I’ll buy a Honda from you.

12

I’ve moved to the PNW.

13

I’d buy a new Honda from you, if I was looking for one. Since I just got fired, though, the new car will have to wait.

14

Johnny,
If you apply yourself and have a work ethic you can make a lot of money as a car salesman, and not have to check you morals at the door.
I had a technician that wanted a change, so he started selling cars at the dealer where he worked. In the first three months he was the top salesman for new car for 2 months, and the top used cars twice. He made much more money than he did fixing cars, but he went back to working on cars because he was bored from too much inactivity.
I have known very honerable and honest salemen, I have also met guys who made you want to count your fingers after you shook hands with them. Pretty much like any other business.
My only caution to you would be find out if this is a T/O operation. T/O stands for take over. This is where the salesman shows the car, does the test drive and the manager “takes over” to do the close. My personal opinion is that this type of operation is not as ethical as one where the same salesman works with the customer from start to finish. It is easier to get started in a T/O operation because you don’t have to know how to sell.

15

Thanks Rick.

After reading the Edmunds article I’m a bit leery of the whole thing. Snickers’s post seems to back up my misgivings.

If I’m offered a job, and if I accept it, I will not check my morals at the door. I’ve been ripped off and taken advantage of several times in my life, and I wouldn’t want to do that to others.

16

How do you get to be a Jaguar, Cadillac or Rolls-Royce salesman? These brands sell to a very upmarket crowd…a much easier sell than pushing Hondas. I’d imagine the commission on a Rolls is pretty substantial-maybe one sale a month is enough to make a decent salary.
So, and you just walk in to Beverly hills Rolls-Royce and get a job?
Obviously, the worst type of auto sales has to be used cars and cheap Korean sh#tboxes. there, you are dealing with people on the brink of creditworthyness…that can’t be too pleasant.

17

According to the AutoMax guy, once you’ve been a successful car salesman you can ‘get a job anywhere’. That may be true for ‘consumer cars’, but I suspect it’s more difficult for a RR dealer.

18

I live in Seattle and have some familiarity with the unemployment process here as I got laid off a couple of years ago and collected unemployment for a few months. You do not have to accept a job, but if one is offered, it’s best that you report it during your weekly check-in. You’ll get some extra paperwork and they’ll ask you to provide a reason for turning down work, but they were not difficult about it. I think they start to look more closely if you start turning down jobs on a regular basis.

After I turned down an offer and went through that process, I became more a little more, uh, proactive about excusing myself from the interview process if I got to the point where I knew I didn’t want the job.

19

In 1986 I quit my job as a highly successful Radio Shack manager and went to the Eastern shore of Maryland so my (now ex) wife could be close to her parents for the delivery of our first child (it’s a looong story). With no job in the offing I sold cars (Hondas in fact) I chose a Honda dealership because they were well regarded cars. I sold quite a few cars, but the pay scale was so poor on a per car basis (because they sold themselves the dealer said!) I made less money than I did as a Radio Shack trainee ( I was a master RS salesman) and much less than I did as Radio Shack Manager.

I also thought I would like car sales because I was technically inclined, but being car smart, and being an effective car salesman are two very different things. My biggest failing was that I came off as too analytical and well spoken. The good ol’ boy approach was by far the most effective posture, and I just refused to pander. Plus the dealership didn’t let the sales pople make deals at all, and in the end we really weren’t expected to be real salespeople, just glorified tour guides.

In any case, after a year of that nonsense, I became a commercial real estate agent, and begain the process of getting my CCIM designation, and didn’t look back. I made four times what I did as car saleman my first full year as a commercial RE agent. You’re a smart guy Johnny. Get into real estate sales. You’ll have enough money for your toys, and effectively be your own boss. You’ve got to be a self starter though.

20

The Catch

I attended the first day of the training seminar today. It went well enough. Then at the end…

We found out the AutoMax seminar costs $499. The dealer will pick up $150 of it, leaving a balance of $349 for the attendees payable by then end of the day Saturday. An interview is not guaranteed. If you pony up the fee and you ‘graduate’, then you get a certificate saying that you have completed a car sales seminar presented by AutoMax.