Ask a car salesman anything...anything at all.
Discussion
Mexman
Had a Daihatsu yrv turbo for sale, several years ago... a strange little car which was bound to attract an equally strange buyer... do you find that with certain cars?
Our man drove from Biddeford to Reading to look at this yrv turbo. He was the image of the 40 year old virgin and had brought his mother with him too in his Toyota starlet.
Examined, test drove, hpi checked himself... an hour goes by.
And the reason for not buying he exclaimed in front of the mechanics in background and receptionist and of course his mother was that the suspension was just too hard and would reek havoc with mothers incontinence!
Had a Daihatsu yrv turbo for sale, several years ago... a strange little car which was bound to attract an equally strange buyer... do you find that with certain cars?
Our man drove from Biddeford to Reading to look at this yrv turbo. He was the image of the 40 year old virgin and had brought his mother with him too in his Toyota starlet.
Examined, test drove, hpi checked himself... an hour goes by.
And the reason for not buying he exclaimed in front of the mechanics in background and receptionist and of course his mother was that the suspension was just too hard and would reek havoc with mothers incontinence!
nct001 said:
do you find that with certain cars?
Absolutely. Anything a bit exotic brings out some proper oddballs.When I say exotics, I mean stuff like Imprezas and non run of the mill stuff.
We sold an Impreza a few years back and it brought some proper fruitloops out.
My favourite excuse for not buying a car is ‘I don’t like the colour’, well it was black when you enquired, Black when you arrived, Black when you drove it and yep, still black.
Normally an excuse for another reason they don’t want to talk about, but it’s always better to tell the truth, gives us the chance to rectify it, if not for that person, but the next.
nct001 said:
Mexman
Had a Daihatsu yrv turbo for sale, several years ago... a strange little car which was bound to attract an equally strange buyer... do you find that with certain cars?
Our man drove from Biddeford to Reading to look at this yrv turbo. He was the image of the 40 year old virgin and had brought his mother with him too in his Toyota starlet.
Examined, test drove, hpi checked himself... an hour goes by.
And the reason for not buying he exclaimed in front of the mechanics in background and receptionist and of course his mother was that the suspension was just too hard and would reek havoc with mothers incontinence!
Ha.. Yep definitely, certain cars attract all sorts and you can sort of categorise them.Had a Daihatsu yrv turbo for sale, several years ago... a strange little car which was bound to attract an equally strange buyer... do you find that with certain cars?
Our man drove from Biddeford to Reading to look at this yrv turbo. He was the image of the 40 year old virgin and had brought his mother with him too in his Toyota starlet.
Examined, test drove, hpi checked himself... an hour goes by.
And the reason for not buying he exclaimed in front of the mechanics in background and receptionist and of course his mother was that the suspension was just too hard and would reek havoc with mothers incontinence!
Citroen buyers are generally a bit weird, retired headmaster types, but they normally are in love with the Citroen brand and are easy to deal, albeit a bit anal.
Audi/BMW buyers are hard work generally and expect an as new car for (very) used money.
Suzuki buyers are very much like the person you describe above, generally 40-50 plus and once you can get over the looking down there nose at you, are OK and very brand loyal.
7 seater people, do not go there.... My pet hate, see my previous post on these types... I would be quite happy, never to have to sell another people carrier ever again.!!
V12GT said:
Firstly, thanks to Mexman and all the others taking their time to answer the 'public's' questions - however crazy they may seem. I've been reading this thread since just after it started and it has been very informative.
I've finally got a question that maybe hasn't been properly asked yet. I'm fortunate enough to be able to look at buying used prestige car (Maserati GranTurismo vs AM DB9). Probably 7-10 years old, and hopefully with a bunch of bills to back that up. A few years ago, I bought a Ferrari 456M, which I stupidly sold before the prices doubled, but it had a box file of receipts and proof that its 3 owners had looked after it.
I'm interested in your advice on how to avoid buying a car, which might have been used in the 'supercar hire' market - you see lots of these advertised these days and I'm not willing to buy anything that might have been abused or clocked, as was mentioned a few pages ago. Do any of you take these sorts of cars in for px and what do you look for?
A secondary question - I presume you pay a bit more for cars with lots of history - but how much more? 10%?
Thanks!
Avoid Bradord/Brum and google the plate as usually it wil have had a major "off"I've finally got a question that maybe hasn't been properly asked yet. I'm fortunate enough to be able to look at buying used prestige car (Maserati GranTurismo vs AM DB9). Probably 7-10 years old, and hopefully with a bunch of bills to back that up. A few years ago, I bought a Ferrari 456M, which I stupidly sold before the prices doubled, but it had a box file of receipts and proof that its 3 owners had looked after it.
I'm interested in your advice on how to avoid buying a car, which might have been used in the 'supercar hire' market - you see lots of these advertised these days and I'm not willing to buy anything that might have been abused or clocked, as was mentioned a few pages ago. Do any of you take these sorts of cars in for px and what do you look for?
A secondary question - I presume you pay a bit more for cars with lots of history - but how much more? 10%?
Thanks!
andymc said:
Countdown said:
Re: 2nd keys - Toyota charge something like £175 for a replacement.
What's the mark up on these? I assume if you also sell new cars you can get the replacement at trade price?
not much trade is about £130What's the mark up on these? I assume if you also sell new cars you can get the replacement at trade price?
ks for easy money? or is this just for keyless entry stop/start cars?Of which there are more each year.
When I was at Porsche we had issues with part exchanges turning up with missing keys etc, so when we sent a thank you letter out for buying a car attached was a checklist of what the customer needed to bring in with their part exchange. And an amount next to it saying how much we would charge until the missing item was brought in to us. Forget your spare key? No problem, we'll take £250 off a card and refund it as soon as your bring it in. Service history missing? £500 please. It's amazing how quickly someone comes back in with a spare key when you have £250 of their money 
GriffG said:
My mum wants to buy a Kia picanto from the Kia dealer down by me, second hand.
It costs £7,700, 2017 with 4 thousand miles
What’s the deal with deals these days? Can I haggle anything off this?
Without wishing to be rude dear boy, why don't you ask the person who will actually make the decision, rather than somebody with no knowledge of the situation. After all, if somebody on t'internet says 'Yes, you should get £500 off', it doesn't really help much if you walk in to the Kia dealer and, having been turned down for a 'deal', say 'well, a bloke on the internet said you should do a deal'.It costs £7,700, 2017 with 4 thousand miles
What’s the deal with deals these days? Can I haggle anything off this?
There are too many unknown variables for you to get an informed answer.
If the dealer wants to do a deal, he will; if he doesn't, he won't. There's not much anybody on here can do about it.
ruhall said:
GriffG said:
My mum wants to buy a Kia picanto from the Kia dealer down by me, second hand.
It costs £7,700, 2017 with 4 thousand miles
What’s the deal with deals these days? Can I haggle anything off this?
Without wishing to be rude dear boy, why don't you ask the person who will actually make the decision, rather than somebody with no knowledge of the situation. After all, if somebody on t'internet says 'Yes, you should get £500 off', it doesn't really help much if you walk in to the Kia dealer and, having been turned down for a 'deal', say 'well, a bloke on the internet said you should do a deal'.It costs £7,700, 2017 with 4 thousand miles
What’s the deal with deals these days? Can I haggle anything off this?
There are too many unknown variables for you to get an informed answer.
If the dealer wants to do a deal, he will; if he doesn't, he won't. There's not much anybody on here can do about it.
If it owes them 7k, then probably nothing.
If they have spent £500 on recon, then again probably nothing.
If it's overage stock, or an ex demo that they are keen to shift, then possibly.
If it's brand new stock, and the only one they have then probably not.
Like he said, too many variables and without knowing what it owes them, and what margin they have in the car, you are snookered because you will never know that information.
Just go in, speak to the sales guy, and explain that you want to buy the car, but... Is there any room for negotiation.
If there is, there is, if there isn't, then that's it.
You have to decide for yourself if it is competitively priced compared to others available, and anything you can negotiate is a bonus.
mylesmcd said:
Mexman said:
blindswelledrat said:
I recently bought a cheap car and found that the service from dealers is worse the cheaper it gets (even though I don't think the expensive main dealers are squeaky clean)
But one thing I was surprised at was the splipperiness from some of them about defects with the car.
A normal person would have said to me "No, this one hasn't got a FSH, that's why it is priced as such". Or "Mate, this is a cheap car, you are not going to get everything with it". But no. Instead of that I experienced a lot of slipperiness and outright lies. "Does it have a service history?" "Erm, I assume so. Ill check for you and call you back" ....no call back. "Is it Hpi clear?" "Yeah, all our cars are". Of course it is Cat D.
Ironically in both situations I would have bought the car and fully expected problems.Just the fact they were prepared to lie about them meant that I didn't have the energy to go and see the cars and sift through the lies.
Anyway, my question is do these kind of people actually profit from lying or do they just waste thiers, and everyone elses time?
You should hear some of the blatant lies that your average customer/potential customer comes out with.But one thing I was surprised at was the splipperiness from some of them about defects with the car.
A normal person would have said to me "No, this one hasn't got a FSH, that's why it is priced as such". Or "Mate, this is a cheap car, you are not going to get everything with it". But no. Instead of that I experienced a lot of slipperiness and outright lies. "Does it have a service history?" "Erm, I assume so. Ill check for you and call you back" ....no call back. "Is it Hpi clear?" "Yeah, all our cars are". Of course it is Cat D.
Ironically in both situations I would have bought the car and fully expected problems.Just the fact they were prepared to lie about them meant that I didn't have the energy to go and see the cars and sift through the lies.
Anyway, my question is do these kind of people actually profit from lying or do they just waste thiers, and everyone elses time?
blindswelledrat said:
Oh I don't doubt that, but this certain type of salesman does it day in day out for his job. I just wonder if they actually gain anything? Do they get a slightly higher price for 1 in 5 of their cars because someone believes them, or do they just work under the mistaken belief that this is 'sales'?
I have to say, I have wondered about that in the past. Personally I think it is the '1-in-5' theory you have suggested, that kind of dealer buys st cars and knowing they are st just spouts a load of guff about it waiting for the more gullible/inexperienced type of person to come along and take them at their word.Nickp82 said:
blindswelledrat said:
Oh I don't doubt that, but this certain type of salesman does it day in day out for his job. I just wonder if they actually gain anything? Do they get a slightly higher price for 1 in 5 of their cars because someone believes them, or do they just work under the mistaken belief that this is 'sales'?
I have to say, I have wondered about that in the past. Personally I think it is the '1-in-5' theory you have suggested, that kind of dealer buys st cars and knowing they are st just spouts a load of guff about it waiting for the more gullible/inexperienced type of person to come along and take them at their word.Fortunately I haven't worked with many and if I have done they haven't lasted very long.
mon the fish said:
I've always wondered how the salary commission model works for low-volume stuff, say Lamborghini/Ferrari. I'm not asking anyone here to divulge how much they're paid, but we all have a rough idea - 25% of your take home pay is basic, the rest is sales commission, am I in the ballpark?
If you're selling Ford/Vauxhall/Renault or whatever, you make lots of commission due to volume, but how are the high-end salesmen paid - do they get a higher basic to start with, or is just huge commission on each sale (I know for example the only Ferrari dealer in Scotland sells 40 cars a year - that's not a huge volume of commission across the sales team)?
How much more as a % would a Ferrari salesman earn per year than say a Ford salesman? And how easy is it to move from being a Ford salesman to a Ferrari salesman?
Any thoughts on this guys?If you're selling Ford/Vauxhall/Renault or whatever, you make lots of commission due to volume, but how are the high-end salesmen paid - do they get a higher basic to start with, or is just huge commission on each sale (I know for example the only Ferrari dealer in Scotland sells 40 cars a year - that's not a huge volume of commission across the sales team)?
How much more as a % would a Ferrari salesman earn per year than say a Ford salesman? And how easy is it to move from being a Ford salesman to a Ferrari salesman?
mon the fish said:
mon the fish said:
I've always wondered how the salary commission model works for low-volume stuff, say Lamborghini/Ferrari. I'm not asking anyone here to divulge how much they're paid, but we all have a rough idea - 25% of your take home pay is basic, the rest is sales commission, am I in the ballpark?
If you're selling Ford/Vauxhall/Renault or whatever, you make lots of commission due to volume, but how are the high-end salesmen paid - do they get a higher basic to start with, or is just huge commission on each sale (I know for example the only Ferrari dealer in Scotland sells 40 cars a year - that's not a huge volume of commission across the sales team)?
How much more as a % would a Ferrari salesman earn per year than say a Ford salesman? And how easy is it to move from being a Ford salesman to a Ferrari salesman?
Any thoughts on this guys?If you're selling Ford/Vauxhall/Renault or whatever, you make lots of commission due to volume, but how are the high-end salesmen paid - do they get a higher basic to start with, or is just huge commission on each sale (I know for example the only Ferrari dealer in Scotland sells 40 cars a year - that's not a huge volume of commission across the sales team)?
How much more as a % would a Ferrari salesman earn per year than say a Ford salesman? And how easy is it to move from being a Ford salesman to a Ferrari salesman?
He also said that earnings weren't vastly greater than if he worked in a busy dealership which sold Ford, for example.
mon the fish said:
mon the fish said:
I've always wondered how the salary commission model works for low-volume stuff, say Lamborghini/Ferrari. I'm not asking anyone here to divulge how much they're paid, but we all have a rough idea - 25% of your take home pay is basic, the rest is sales commission, am I in the ballpark?
If you're selling Ford/Vauxhall/Renault or whatever, you make lots of commission due to volume, but how are the high-end salesmen paid - do they get a higher basic to start with, or is just huge commission on each sale (I know for example the only Ferrari dealer in Scotland sells 40 cars a year - that's not a huge volume of commission across the sales team)?
How much more as a % would a Ferrari salesman earn per year than say a Ford salesman? And how easy is it to move from being a Ford salesman to a Ferrari salesman?
Any thoughts on this guys?If you're selling Ford/Vauxhall/Renault or whatever, you make lots of commission due to volume, but how are the high-end salesmen paid - do they get a higher basic to start with, or is just huge commission on each sale (I know for example the only Ferrari dealer in Scotland sells 40 cars a year - that's not a huge volume of commission across the sales team)?
How much more as a % would a Ferrari salesman earn per year than say a Ford salesman? And how easy is it to move from being a Ford salesman to a Ferrari salesman?
I've only sold 2 brands retail, that's Rover and Porsche but I did a few things in between including a brokerage where I dealt with the buyer at the Porsche dealership I ended up working at which may have helped. Most of the guys I worked with had gone volume>BMW/MB etc>Porsche rather than direct from Ford etc.
- Depending who owns the dealer group, some try and cap total earnings and you're bound to get a shiny new pay plan each year which will enable you to earn more money than last year (you won't, but that's what you're told)
mon the fish said:
I've always wondered how the salary commission model works for low-volume stuff, say Lamborghini/Ferrari. I'm not asking anyone here to divulge how much they're paid, but we all have a rough idea - 25% of your take home pay is basic, the rest is sales commission, am I in the ballpark?
If you're selling Ford/Vauxhall/Renault or whatever, you make lots of commission due to volume, but how are the high-end salesmen paid - do they get a higher basic to start with, or is just huge commission on each sale (I know for example the only Ferrari dealer in Scotland sells 40 cars a year - that's not a huge volume of commission across the sales team)?
How much more as a % would a Ferrari salesman earn per year than say a Ford salesman? And how easy is it to move from being a Ford salesman to a Ferrari salesman?
I organised a meet at the airfield for the local Ferrari Owners Club a few years ago and the junior (in his mid 30s tho) Ferrari / Maserati salesman came along in a demo car to presumably show a bit of Dealer presence. We were chatting for about 30 mins when I took him for a flight and he was coy about figures (I wasn't actually asking, more joking that there seemed to be some perks in terms of his runaround car) but he said I would be surprised to hear his basic salary started with a 1 and he would be extremely lucky to double that.If you're selling Ford/Vauxhall/Renault or whatever, you make lots of commission due to volume, but how are the high-end salesmen paid - do they get a higher basic to start with, or is just huge commission on each sale (I know for example the only Ferrari dealer in Scotland sells 40 cars a year - that's not a huge volume of commission across the sales team)?
How much more as a % would a Ferrari salesman earn per year than say a Ford salesman? And how easy is it to move from being a Ford salesman to a Ferrari salesman?
a. I was surprised.
b. He isn't there anymore
Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. I can't afford a new Ferrari and probably never will, but I was at a dealer evening event where I briefly met the salesmen - they spent most of their time fawning over their 'preferred' clients that they barely spoke to me. They were young boyband-lookalikes, clearly not industry experienced salesmen; but as they can't sell any more than what the factory already allocate (3 cars per month) I wondered how the commission model worked for them - that's pretty much 1 car per salesman per month.
I at least expected to be spoken to, find out a bit about me and then be ignored!
I at least expected to be spoken to, find out a bit about me and then be ignored!
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