I Sell Cars for a Living at a Big Dealership - Ask Me Anything (2012, AWD)

[brantleygilbert]

Originally Posted by Bayarea4

What happens if I want to buy a new car for all cash using a personal check?
Do dealers have some way of verifying that the check is good?

not really, they just trust that you're okay lol

Will they try to discourage me from paying cash so they can profit on the financing?

It depends - some will, some won't

if I have 0% financing, I'll try to convince people to finance because it helps the store but I don't care all that much TBH. I just want a car sale

Should I not reveal that I'm a cash buyer until they've accepted my offer, or should I tell them up front?
Will they still require a credit check?

doesn't really matter
there should never be a credit check if you're paying cash

[Drago45]

Originally Posted by brantleygilbert

22% of customers coming into a dealership each month don't even end up buying a car from anywhere.



We call them strokes - happens all the time. I just try to blaze through those customers so they're not eating up my time.

lol

Ok now what about trade ins if you are buying a new vehicle? I had one dealer offer me $200 for my car and another offer $500 when I was inquiring about a used car. When a dealership tried selling me a new car, the manager suggested he could give me $1500. How are they making money if they offer 1500 for a trade in if the car is worth significantly less?

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

What brand do you sell?

I think he might work at some luxury car dealership in or around Naperville, IL (a suburb of Chicago). Which has Maserati, Lexus, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, etc. dealerships there, so it could any of those.

[Drago45]

Do the salesmen at dealerships tend to get along with each other or are there cut throat politics?

[brantleygilbert]

Originally Posted by Drago45

lol

Ok now what about trade ins if you are buying a new vehicle? I had one dealer offer me $200 for my car and another offer $500 when I was inquiring about a used car. When a dealership tried selling me a new car, the manager suggested he could give me $1500. How are they making money if they offer 1500 for a trade in if the car is worth significantly less?

trade ins are kind of tough to explain


Every dealer has an ACV - actual car value. The value that they buy the car at. This could either be at a number they feel comfortable reselling the car at, a number they get from a whole saler or another dealership or what they feel they can sell the car at the auction


Sometimes, they will bump the ACV if they need to and are motivated to make a deal. They might be okay with potentially losing 500 bucks at the auction if they're making 2500 on the car


The last trick that dealers do is called over allowing. They're still buying your trade at 5K but they show you 6K - they're taking a 1,000 off the profit of the car you're buying and applying it to the trade.

[brantleygilbert]

Originally Posted by Drago45

Do the salesmen at dealerships tend to get along with each other or are there cut throat politics?

I get along great with other salespeople


It depends on what kind of people you're working with. Good natured salespeople get along great. Aholes treat each other like aholes

[Drago45]

Originally Posted by brantleygilbert

trade ins are kind of tough to explain


Every dealer has an ACV - actual car value. The value that they buy the car at. This could either be at a number they feel comfortable reselling the car at, a number they get from a whole saler or another dealership or what they feel they can sell the car at the auction


Sometimes, they will bump the ACV if they need to and are motivated to make a deal. They might be okay with potentially losing 500 bucks at the auction if they're making 2500 on the car


The last trick that dealers do is called over allowing. They're still buying your trade at 5K but they show you 6K - they're taking a 1,000 off the profit of the car you're buying and applying it to the trade.

Ok so they actually have some leeway when it comes to the new car list price then? While they make you think your trade in is worth more than it really is? At the new car dealer, I was offered $1500 but probably wouldn't get anywhere close to $1000 on craigslist

[brantleygilbert]

Originally Posted by Drago45

Ok so they actually have some leeway when it comes to the new car list price then? While they make you think your trade in is worth more than it really is? At the new car dealer, I was offered $1500 but probably wouldn't get anywhere close to $1000 on craigslist

there's a few different possibilities


1)they have a wholesaler willing to offer more for that car
2)They do have some margin on the new/used car being purchased
3)They're willing to take an ugly deal on a trade in because they need to sell a car that day/that week/that month

[Drago45]

Is it REALLY better to buy at end of month? They say there are better deals then but are we talking about $100 or $1000 discounts?

[cupper3]

How much do they pencil you over tissue?