Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't sell extreme luxury cars - and anybody selling 20 extreme luxury cars a month is making 100K a month but I doubt that even exists in the entire world. I've talked to guys at Ferrari stores who sell 1 car a month if they're lucky
The price of the car you sell has very very little to do with how much money you make. Many high end BMWs and Mercedes are mini deals because you're dealing with rich people, who are generally speaking...extremely cheap. I'll make more money most of the time selling the 8,000 trade in than I do on the 50K new car I'm selling. It's about selling the car with the most profit, not the highest price.
Is the Internet price usually your rock bottom price or do you often lower the price further after a customer haggles? What do you do with the copy of the license when the visit is done? How long do you keep it?
Internet price on new cars is generally rock bottom (save for a 100 dollars or so). If it's something special or unique where there is still gross, you have a chance of some negotiating room but not much. Keep in mind if they're putting a price online, they know you're shopping everywhere, dealers aren't dumb.
Internet price on used cars is a total crapshoot. Sometimes it's rock bottom, other times I have a very tough customer and I can discount the car 1800 to make the deal...and I'm still making 3500 payable profit (I get 25% of that). Other times I discount the car 200 dollars and it's a loser deal.
The market for every car is going to be different. Right now if you try to buy a Honda Pilot 2016, the best case scenario is maybe a 1,000 off sticker - which is about a 5K deal for the dealership in front and back profit even with no trade. If you try to buy a GMC or Chevy Truck, they often have 10-20% off MSRP
How does a buyer know what the "market" is like for a particular car?
By the way, what value does a car salesman like you bring to the customer?
Internet price on new cars is generally rock bottom (save for a 100 dollars or so). If it's something special or unique where there is still gross, you have a chance of some negotiating room but not much. Keep in mind if they're putting a price online, they know you're shopping everywhere, dealers aren't dumb.
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?
Also have you had instances where people come into the dealer just to mess with you guys? They have no intention of buying a car but just like playing the game. If so, how do you deal with these folks?
On average, if your dealership has a used car listed for $24k, how much did the dealership pay for the vehicle? $18k?
Depends, it's really hard to guess. I would say anywhere from 17 to 22K
The more unique/rare/desirable the car is, the more the markup from what they paid for it vs the asking price generally speaking. If I get a nice 2004 Ford F150 with 50,000 miles in mint shape, you best believe I'm marking that bad boy up 5-6K. How many 11 year old F150s are you going to find in mint condition with only 3000 miles a year driven? This is in a perfect world - sometimes you want to mark up a used car 6K but the person trading it in wants ALL the money for it and you have to pay him a lot more than average to get the car. That happens too.
If it's a piece of crap 2012 model car that is just dime a dozen, there is going to be very little markup
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?
Will they try to discourage me from paying cash so they can profit on the financing?
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?
Also have you had instances where people come into the dealer just to mess with you guys? They have no intention of buying a car but just like playing the game. If so, how do you deal with these folks?
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.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
