Ask a car salesman anything...anything at all.

[loskie]

Seat are currently running a radio ad campaign with the strapline " Because them, us". The Us being SEAT and them the dealers.

Only fools must buy into the ad but it is quite blatantly trying to portray that dealers are not to be trusted.

Have any of you car sales folks heard the ad?
If so what's your thoughts?

[Butter Face]

loskie said:

Seat are currently running a radio ad campaign with the strapline " Because them, us". The Us being SEAT and them the dealers.

Only fools must buy into the ad but it is quite blatantly trying to portray that dealers are not to be trusted.

Have any of you car sales folks heard the ad?
If so what's your thoughts?

'They' means other brands.

'We' means SEAT.

I think you're looking at it the wrong way.....

[Butter Face]

Hilts said:

Butter Face said:

I would love to, personally I’d like to specialise in 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s Japanese cars, mainly Hondas.

There are times when I really feel like doing it but thinking it and doing it are a world apart.

If I won the lottery I’d do it, if I didn’t have a family to feed I’d do, but I haven’t won the lottery and I have got a family so for now I will stay where I am happy and earn enough to keep the wolves from the door.

Going it alone is hard work and I’ve seen lots of people make a small fortune from it..... after starting with a large one

Sure, family comes first and you don't seem the sort of chap that would jeopardise them.

Would it be possible in the near future to maybe just get going with 1 or two examples and then if things went well scale up over time? I guess there would come a moment where wrt your time you'd have to decide to focus one or the other.

Or what about teaming up with someone with capital and a desire to set something like this up but not so knowledgeable in the car sales business?

I've bought and sold a few bits, stuff that we wouldn't retail ourselves and would have just have been punted off to trade or auction.

The hardest bit of selling is getting stock, moving it around, prepping them etc, selling cars isn't actually that hard if you advertise and prep well IMO.

Finding someone to back it would be ace, but having someone elses money dangling over my head wouldn't be all that fun IMO.

I was talking to a mate of mine last night who is self employed and does very well, but he's always 'in' the business, on holiday, evenings, weekends etc etc. I do quite like that when I'm off I can be off so it's the PAYE life for me for a while yet I think!

[Hilts]

Butter Face said:

The hardest bit of selling is getting stock, moving it around, prepping them etc, selling cars isn't actually that hard if you advertise and prep well IMO.

Would you have a good idea where most classic stock comes from? Auctions, cars wanted, private sale ads?? I imagine a good few trade-ins.

Butter Face said:

Finding someone to back it would be ace, but having someone elses money dangling over my head wouldn't be all that fun IMO.

That would just be part of the partnership, there should be equal concern over the cash and if everyone's doing their best and trust is there then it shouldn't be an issue.

Butter Face said:

I was talking to a mate of mine last night who is self employed and does very well, but he's always 'in' the business, on holiday, evenings, weekends etc etc. I do quite like that when I'm off I can be off so it's the PAYE life for me for a while yet I think!

That's interesting, makes PAYE seem not so bad!

[Sheepshanks]

Butter Face said:

loskie said:

Seat are currently running a radio ad campaign with the strapline " Because them, us". The Us being SEAT and them the dealers.

Only fools must buy into the ad but it is quite blatantly trying to portray that dealers are not to be trusted.

Have any of you car sales folks heard the ad?
If so what's your thoughts?

'They' means other brands.

'We' means SEAT.

I think you're looking at it the wrong way.....

I thought that too, but I looked up the campaign and maybe "them" is everyone who doesn't drive a SEAT and "us" is people who do? It's hard to tell! https://www.thedrum.com/creative-works/project/sea...

Either way, if loskie can interprete it in the way he has, then that's an epic marketing fail. Maybe as it was done in Spain it doesn't translate well.

[4941cc]

ChevronB19 said:

Sorry if this has been asked before (it’s a long thread).

When in for servicing, why do you offer the lowest model in the range as a courtesy car? Would it make more sense to offer the next model up to ‘tempt’ you into one?

A combination of the cost of running courtesy car fleets and they're usually the derivatives that we have to run somewhere on the dealer fleet, but are unpopular models so not really popular with buyers or salesmen.

At Merc it was usually B180 manuals and a couple of autos with no options. They were our Motability demo fleet

[4941cc]

Mexman said:

Sheepshanks said:

The Honda dealer (that I hate) usually leaves a "sorry we missed you" (they didn't try very hard) letter in the car offering a refund of the service cost (when most newish Hondas will be on a service contract) if we changed the car.

Sales and service seem completely disconnected in most dealers I've used.

There's always been a disconnection between service and sales-
Service dislike sales because we constantly put them under pressure to get a sold car prepped or stock prepped as cheaply and as quickly as possible, and sales dislike service because they are constantly trying to 'rip' us off with recon costs as we are an easy target/guaranteed income.

I'd get rid of the separate Service and Sales Managers and have a General Manager managing them as the combined pot that it really is. All Service and Sales managers seem to spend 75% of their time arguing over is the wooden dollars of internal costs, none of which change the overall profitability - real money only comes into the business from Sales and Service customers.

It's always baffled me about why its gets managed from above in such a way - other than simply making cost centres easier to interpret by accountants and reports to board/senior management.

[Wooda80]

survivalist said:

Apologies if this has already been asked, but to what extent do you act as an independent agent/individual vs following a process or script.

Reason for asking is that a few years ago my wife and I were looking to purchase a newly new family car. Was open about the fact that I had a couple of fun cars that we'd be keeping but wanted a smart, swift runabout with more than 2 seats to accommodate our impending arrival. Tried Skoda for a Octavia (vrs) and superb (the 4x4 petrol one) ad Audi for a S4/RS4 Avant. All of them were obsessed with:

a. Selling me a cheaper diesel (they're so much quicker in the real world)
b. Let's run a credit check to make sure you an actually afford a S4 (also, a diesel is so much cheaper to insure)
c. The VAG/Audi lifestyle is amazing, BMW and Mercedes are just going for company car contracts now, they can't compete in any space where people have a choice

Actually drove a car i thought was OK (S4). But when I tried to buy they came up with loads of reasons why a new one was chaeper at £300 more per month.

In contrast, when to BMW to pick up some parts for my classic. Salesman spotted my wife looking at family cars and asked if we were interested. Five minutes later he gave us the keys to 3 cars and the following day we bought one. No discussion about requirements, finance etc. In hindsight I got a good PX price but could have pushed harder, but didn't really care was it was painless - perfect example of service trumping price.

If not an actual script then often dealers in the same franchise will have similar objectives.

In relation to a) it sounds like they didn't have so many used S4s to shift but had far too many diesels in stock so would suggest a diesel to everyone to see if they would consider it.

In relation to b) similarly they want to maximise finance sales so they introduce it as early as possible. Presumably it works for them or they wouldn't do it. They've obviously been stung in the past by people who when push comes to shove can't come up with the funds. You can't tell by looking at someone whether their credit history is good or not.

Although they are expensive products the model for selling them is closer to McDonalds than to your favourite local bistro. And you can understand why - a typical franchise of McDonalds will serve far more people, make more profit, be more easily scalable and easier to control than a quirky place with a talented maitre d' . Quality? Customer satisfaction? McDonalds are very proud of theirs. But if you fancy yourself as a bit of a foodie and want to be recognised as such then you are likely to be disappointed.

[anonymous-user]

4941cc said:

I'd get rid of the separate Service and Sales Managers and have a General Manager managing them as the combined pot that it really is. All Service and Sales managers seem to spend 75% of their time arguing over is the wooden dollars of internal costs, none of which change the overall profitability - real money only comes into the business from Sales and Service customers.

It's always baffled me about why its gets managed from above in such a way - other than simply making cost centres easier to interpret by accountants and reports to board/senior management.

That’d make perfect sense. The dealership I worked for was run, no scratch that, overseen by a gent who not only enjoyed the friction between sales and service, but actively encouraged it.

[gothatway]

Hilts said:

I still like the idea of a classic car dealership even though I have zero car trade experience. I'm guessing there would be better mechanically knowledgeable customers who know what they want and who may well forgive small issues that they can repair themselves. Not sure if just a dealership is viable on its own without a restoration workshop or at least a paintshop/garage.

I think I may have been looking at too many dealer adverts in Octane and Classic Cars while sitting on the throne.

I think you'd have to be extremely careful, particularly if by "classic" you mean pre-70s vehicles which are likely to be high value if you're hoping to make a margin - it won't be a high-volume business unless you get to be very specialised. There are no reliable price guides, buyers and sellers are likely to be far more knowledgeable than you about the good and bad things on a car which might have had numerous cheapskate owners over the previous half century.

On the other hand, you could just dip your toe in the water, buy one or two classics, clean them up and move them on. I don't know at what point you become a "trader" with all that implies regarding warranties etc..

[4941cc]

Simonium said:

That’d make perfect sense. The dealership I worked for was run, no scratch that, overseen by a gent who not only enjoyed the friction between sales and service, but actively encouraged it.

Great for "the bantz", but crap for the bottom line...

[loskie]

Sheepshanks said:

Butter Face said:

loskie said:

Seat are currently running a radio ad campaign with the strapline " Because them, us". The Us being SEAT and them the dealers.

Only fools must buy into the ad but it is quite blatantly trying to portray that dealers are not to be trusted.

Have any of you car sales folks heard the ad?
If so what's your thoughts?

'They' means other brands.

'We' means SEAT.

I think you're looking at it the wrong way.....

I thought that too, but I looked up the campaign and maybe "them" is everyone who doesn't drive a SEAT and "us" is people who do? It's hard to tell! https://www.thedrum.com/creative-works/project/sea...

Either way, if loskie can interprete it in the way he has, then that's an epic marketing fail. Maybe as it was done in Spain it doesn't translate well.

Are you sure Butterface? Other parts of the ad "they take, we give" suggest a deposit contribution from the manufacturer.
Maybe you are right, but I hear the ad a lot on local crappy radio and it says to me that Seat, the manufacturer is trying to distance itself from the dealer and be the customer's friend. Utter bks that it is.

[anonymous-user]

4941cc said:

Great for "the bantz", but crap for the bottom line...

My thoughts exactly. I also feel that it is utterly unprofessional, but luckily I don’t have to deal with it any more.

[Paul Dishman]

Mexman said:

And another at 10mins before closing, wanting to put his brood of kids and pissed off missus into the seats of just about every SUV and people carrier out there.
You know, you have had all day to do this you cretin and now you want to spoil my (short) Bank Holiday weekend by wasting the remains of my Saturday evening keeping me behind.
And at the end of all this?....'I have some more to look at and need to do some research'
Just fk Off.
Sorry, just my rant for the day, having got home 2 hours late, tea ruined and now I have got to go out and unnecessarily spend money on food, cos my missus refuses to recook and I cannot be arsed.
And breath....thankyou for listening, your friendly pissed off salesman.

Edited by Mexman on Saturday 25th May 19:23

Why didn't you tell them you were closing in 10 mins, but would happily go through their requirements another time?

[Mexman]

Paul Dishman said:

Why didn't you tell them you were closing in 10 mins, but would happily go through their requirements another time?

I went along with it, as they kept giving me buying signals but towards the end it was plainly obvious that no decisions were going to be made and then I promptly closed the conversation down, but by then it was quite late after closing.
Didn't even bloody apologise for keeping me behind, ignorant twunts.

[Paul Dishman]

Mexman said:

I went along with it, as they kept giving me buying signals but towards the end it was plainly obvious that no decisions were going to be made and then I promptly closed the conversation down, but by then it was quite late after closing.
Didn't even bloody apologise for keeping me behind, ignorant twunts.

The joys of dealing with the general public

[mylesmcd]

Paul Dishman said:

Mexman said:

I went along with it, as they kept giving me buying signals but towards the end it was plainly obvious that no decisions were going to be made and then I promptly closed the conversation down, but by then it was quite late after closing.
Didn't even bloody apologise for keeping me behind, ignorant twunts.

The joys of dealing with the general public

I heard a story of a guy, that I had been dealing with previously, at another dealership. He arrived on Saturday afternoon and took a Jeep Renegade for a drive on the basis of special ordering a new one. He kept the trainee lad there till 19.00..... Two hours past closing. The young fella didn't have the balls to close the sale down and let it run and run.

The customer had arrived in his rental Jeep Renegade that he has been driving for several months.....

[brightonpad]

Hilts said:

Thanks Mexman for a good pragmatic answer, I sort of thought this would be the case judging by the amount of threads on these forums with posts about how I've just bought car X from Y Motors and I want a refund because of...insert niggles here.

Looks like you're in a good spot for picking up some decent part-ex's. Do you work out some deal with the dealership or is it just the stuff they don't want?

I still like the idea of a classic car dealership even though I have zero car trade experience. I'm guessing there would be better mechanically knowledgeable customers who know what they want and who may well forgive small issues that they can repair themselves. Not sure if just a dealership is viable on its own without a restoration workshop or at least a paintshop/garage.

I think I may have been looking at too many dealer adverts in Octane and Classic Cars while sitting on the throne.

I have done what you describe.... after 15 years or so of selling interesting cars part time (legally!), I left my full time job in Engineering to go full time, about 18 months ago.

I’m fully self funded with no banks or investors, I started with about 60k of which half I kept for start up costs (branding, website, insurance, warranty booklets etc.) and for my own personal income for a few months so I didn’t take any money out of the business to start with.

That left about 30k for stock, we started with about 4 units with a view to growing to 8 by the end of the year. However, stock rotation was generally measured in months rather than weeks - I hadn’t anticipated that in my financial planning and it soon became clear that in order to sustain a similar living that I’d been used to before, I’d need a lot more stock than I thought.

Right now, I don’t feel confident enough in the market to invest the additional money to get to 12-15 cars which is probably where I need to be. Fortunately I have also developed an Engineering Consultancy business over the last year and frankly, that pays the bills and the intention is to use profits from that to slowly increase the stock.

If I didn’t have that to fall back on, I’d have folded it all up within a year... so the car business plods along and washes its face, but it will be a very long time until it can be relied upon as a single source of income, if ever.

I have learnt a lot and still have a lot to learn... it’s been very enjoyable despite some setbacks and frustrations but unless you have a fair chunk behind you and are prepared to not make a great living to start with, proceed with extreme caution!

Hope this has been helpful and happy to fill in any detail..

[POORCARDEALER]

I know many car dealers who are small-medium in size who are working hard to pay everyone but themselves....overheads are ridiculous, particularly if you use those thieves called auto trader

[stevemcs]

How was bank holiday Monday, busy or a waste of time ?