Straight from a Car Salesman (tips on buying, etc.) (Q/A)

Yeah I kinda of figured that much cause it's the same thing with the folks at Best Buy, CompUSA, etc. I always do my homework when buying new products and getting other folks opinions, etc. Doesn't matter what it is from small to big, I gotta research.

The thing that k!lls me though is that the salesman put on a act. [pic]

I ain't gonna lie though I'm not all too good with the whole insurance stuff, interest rates, credit scores, etc since I'm use to just buying stuff outright. But this is a good thread for folks that don't know. [pic]

A lot of people aren't... And this is where car dealerships make a k!llING. When I was selling cars.... I would make around $3000-$5000 a month. In the October, November and December I worked there one of our finance guys make $12k, 11k, and 15k and October and November were slow months for us. People hit the salesmen hard, and get the good deal... Then get[..]D on the backend. Salesman makes a little bit of pocket change... Finance guy makes a k!llING. In fact I had deals where I was making a good deal of money and the finance guy cut into the money I was making on the deal (I went from making $650 on the deal to $225) so he could reach the number to get financed and make his money. I was HOT...

And to answer your question about salesmen frontin... Car salesmen (Generally) see themselves like the DJs used to. They feel like sales is the game.. and the product doesn't matter because they can sell anything. In my area the salesmen when from dealership to dealership. Selling Fords, then switching to Nissan, Honda, then end up at a Chevy dealership. They honestly have no time to actually learn the product... and they see taking the time to learn it as cutting into their pockets because that's time they could be spending making money. I took it upon myself to learn as much as I can about everything i had on the lot, but honestly a majority of customers prefer the show.

And honestly.. You can do all of the research about cars you want... But in the end it doesn't matter... Fact of the matter is... No matter how much you know.. How tough you are to deal with etc. A car dealership is not going to make a deal with you.. unless they receive a benefit from it. They'll cut the salesman's money with the quickness (So when a salesman tells you "Man I'm not making ANY money on this" They could be telling you the truth) and hide the money in ultra creative ways so it seems like the deal is nice (and it may be overall) but they're still making SOME money on you. Fact of the matter is... Making big money off of single car deals these days is a rarity up front... But the car business finds ways to survive and make money regardless...

Sorry for being long winded as I realize that's a lot to read... But hopefully it helps someone out

A lot of people aren't... And this is where car dealerships make a k!llING. When I was selling cars.... I would make around $3000-$5000 a month. In the October, November and December I worked there one of our finance guys make $12k, 11k, and 15k and October and November were slow months for us. People hit the salesmen hard, and get the good deal... Then get[..]D on the backend. Salesman makes a little bit of pocket change... Finance guy makes a k!llING. In fact I had deals where I was making a good deal of money and the finance guy cut into the money I was making on the deal (I went from making $650 on the deal to $225) so he could reach the number to get financed and make his money. I was HOT...

And to answer your question about salesmen frontin... Car salesmen (Generally) see themselves like the DJs used to. They feel like sales is the game.. and the product doesn't matter because they can sell anything. In my area the salesmen when from dealership to dealership. Selling Fords, then switching to Nissan, Honda, then end up at a Chevy dealership. They honestly have no time to actually learn the product... and they see taking the time to learn it as cutting into their pockets because that's time they could be spending making money. I took it upon myself to learn as much as I can about everything i had on the lot, but honestly a majority of customers prefer the show.

And honestly.. You can do all of the research about cars you want... But in the end it doesn't matter... Fact of the matter is... No matter how much you know.. How tough you are to deal with etc. A car dealership is not going to make a deal with you.. unless they receive a benefit from it. They'll cut the salesman's money with the quickness (So when a salesman tells you "Man I'm not making ANY money on this" They could be telling you the truth) and hide the money in ultra creative ways so it seems like the deal is nice (and it may be overall) but they're still making SOME money on you. Fact of the matter is... Making big money off of single car deals these days is a rarity up front... But the car business finds ways to survive and make money regardless...

Sorry for being long winded as I realize that's a lot to read... But hopefully it helps someone out

[pic] @ the finance guy making more money than the salesman, why is that though? I mean as far as I know all the finance guy is doing is making the customer sign a little piece of paper and just explaining about payment, insurance, warranty information, etc pretty much going sitting in the A/C and banking money.

The finance guy has to deal with the banks, get approvals, buy down rates, sell warranties, etc.

It may not sound like much, but it is.

The finance guy has to deal with the banks, get approvals, buy down rates, sell warranties, etc.

It may not sound like much, but it is.

yeah they have alot of state/federal guidelines to follow to make sure paperwork is done correctly, i seen a book someone had to study to move from sales to F&I, thicker than the bible

Really? So how would one become a finance person?

Ok.. so do y'all have to take a class on being a salesman or something?

The finance guy has to deal with the banks, get approvals, buy down rates, sell warranties, etc.

It may not sound like much, but it is.

Not to mention they can directly make money off of bumping interest rates...

They get a approval from a credit Union for 4.5%... and then when they tell you what you got... "He good news! We were able to get you an approval at a 6.7% interest rate...

A $30k loan at 4.5 interest rate [@ 60 months] will have you paying roughly $33.5k (total)

Adding that 6.7% interest rate will have you paying total roughly $35.4. They just straight up made the dealership $2k... and most people wouldn't even realize they got jerked...

Big city dealers do bait-and-switch very often. Don't be suckered in by the price u see in the paper. There is always 2 blocks of fine print that u can barely see.

wouldnt that be illegal to lie about the interest rate from a bank.......

This is a good tip. There is a psychological theory called the lowball technique which car dealers use often, it involves advertising the car at a discounted, too good to be true price. After the customers come in for the deal, the dealer then removes the original discount and presents the actual price (several thousand higher). The dealer does this at the last minute because, by this point, the customer has basically verbally and publicly committed to buying the car, like coming in to the showroom, signing stuff, handshakes, etc. They create their own reasons in their head why the car is good, and end up buying it at the higher price.

So if a dealer does the bait and switch, remind yourself that you only came in for the advertised deal and haggle to get that deal.