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I went to every car dealership in Hilo. Test drove a few, even made an offer on one. Needless to say, all the cars in our family have been purchased from private ads like craigslist.
Maybe I'm not the only one. Maybe this is why they are recruiting help from elsewhere?
I worked in auto dealerships many years, including one in Hilo. Salesmen generally get a small salary for a short while, and then it's commission only. You can get a draw on the commissions, but you have to have sales first to get that. It's a business where customers buy from people that they know, or have dealt with before, so someone new and from the mainland is going to have a couple of strikes against them to begin with.
My experiences as a mainland haole working in the Hilo dealership were less than optimal! I'll never forget the Japanese boss who was so disappointed to see me during the interview that he turned his back to me during the whole talk. I had to converse to his back. For some reason known only to him he hired me (I had plenty of experience), and later we became sociable, to a point, but it was pretty strange I tell you. One of those only-in-Hawaii things.
Many people on the BI do as terracore said. They buy from individuals on craigslist ads.
A lot of East Coast dealerships hire anyone with a pulse and after they churn 6 or so sales out of friends and family they get the boot.
Huh. Really? That's horrible. Fortunately, this has not been the case for this young man. He just recently left a dealership he was at for over three years (and extremely successful) to take advantage of a better opportunity at another dealership. Since being at this dealership he has been top sales person 2 out of the 3 months he has been there.
The more I keep thinking about this - I'm really skeptical any car salesperson on the BI is making 6-figures, it just doesn't have the population/volume to support it.
Huh. Really? That's horrible. Fortunately, this has not been the case for this young man. He just recently left a dealership he was at for over three years (and extremely successful) to take advantage of a better opportunity at another dealership. Since being at this dealership he has been top sales person 2 out of the 3 months he has been there.
BUT
He really wants to live in Hawaii...
Having known a couple of people who sold cars at one time or another, I know it can be a feast or famine business, with hot periods and dead periods, not all of which have any discernible cause.
And many of us on this forum have read others' stories here, or have personal experience with people who "really want to live in Hawai'i" but then find out it doesn't really suit them, and so they leave, sometimes rather abruptly. So my advice to your friend would be to live "below his means" and save as much as possible until he has a solid foothold and knows he wants to stay.
One thing that will help is if he is given a demo car to use. I have no idea if Hawai'i dealers do that, but it's a fairly common perk on the mainland, so I'd ask for it.
And a three to six month rental of the least expensive place he can stand should give him a "feet on the ground" experience from which to judge longer term opportunities.
The more I keep thinking about this - I'm really skeptical any car salesperson on the BI is making 6-figures, it just doesn't have the population/volume to support it.
Agree. This was one of my concerns in my opening post. Thanks, whtviper1.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OpenD
Having known a couple of people who sold cars at one time or another, I know it can be a feast or famine business, with hot periods and dead periods, not all of which have any discernible cause.
And many of us on this forum have read others' stories here, or have personal experience with people who "really want to live in Hawai'i" but then find out it doesn't really suit them, and so they leave, sometimes rather abruptly. So my advice to your friend would be to live "below his means" and save as much as possible until he has a solid foothold and knows he wants to stay.
One thing that will help is if he is given a demo car to use. I have no idea if Hawai'i dealers do that, but it's a fairly common perk on the mainland, so I'd ask for it.
And a three to six month rental of the least expensive place he can stand should give him a "feet on the ground" experience from which to judge longer term opportunities.
Yes. I've dug into a lot of threads on the Hawaii forum and I understand more clearly these very points which I have shared with this person. In fact, I've personally enjoyed learning about all the experiences, logistics and nuances as well as peoples perspectives from both sides of the coin.
I think I've nagged him enough where he, too, is realizing he is in no way ready to take on such a move.
On the other side of the coin, if you don't let him move he will forever have this itch of what might have been. Unless he chooses for himself, he may always regret not doing it.
Since he does have a job that will support him at least for awhile, it might be okay to let him move as long as he has an exit strategy. He sounds employable if he returns even if he takes off to Hawaii for a year. It might be like an extended working vacation and it might scratch his itch to move to Hawaii. You'll get to visit him while he's there, he will get to live in Hawaii for awhile and then he will either make it (although if he requires the amount of money that the dealership told him he can make, he won't be real happy with the dealership after about a year) or he won't and then he will have done his "move to Hawaii" and not regret not doing it.
On the other side of the coin, if you don't let him move he will forever have this itch of what might have been. Unless he chooses for himself, he may always regret not doing it.
Forever?? That seems like a really long time.
Can't move sometime in the future?
What if he stays and wins Powerball? Would he regret it then?
What if he meets the love of his life where he is at in 6 months? Would he regret that?
There are things in life I may have wanted to differently if I can turn back time, but living a life of regret the rest of your life seems quite sad.
I know this, had I moved to Hawaii in my 20's, I probably would have been one of those posters complaining about how expensive Hawaii is all the time - I'd probably have little savings - and hanging out in my 400 square ft apartment living check to check.
Now that I think about it - I'd probably regret that.
I've a very close friend who was apparently offered a job at a car dealership on Big Island. Frankly I think the guy is nuts. I mean, it's an Island, right? Just how successful is a car dealership on an Island?
Then of course there is the expense of moving there and having enough money to see him through a period of time before he sells cars. The "owner" of the dealership of course told him he could easily make $100,000 to $130,000 a year.
Anyone want to tackle this one? My friend would be moving from the east coast to take this "great" opportunity.
If he like any of the salesmen in this video, I recommend he start a new religion on Big I.
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