[jcommin]

Porschegal, just because you like cars won't make you successful in car sales. It is quite the opposite.

I sold cars for a 12 month period at my uncle's Chevy dealership in the late 80's. I was between things and I asked him if I could try this. I like cars allot - I thought with my passion I would be good at this. I learned the product and kinda watched how the process works. I learned you that car knowledge isn't a requirement. It was about trying to close a deal because the odds of a customer returning aren't very good. The is a rule of sales "ABC" always be closing. If you can master that, you can do this.


With the Internet, one can find invoice prices, rebate information, etc on new cars. The profit margin on new is very low unless is the car has a short supply, highly sought where the demand is higher than the supply. The money (profit) is made on the back end - finance and aftermarket items. It is easy to shop price on a new car - the salesperson gets typically a flat fee for a bottom price determined by the dealer and there is a percent of additional profit above that bottom price the sales person gets. Back when I did this, my commission on a base deal was $35 anything profit above the base price I received 25%. It's allot of work for that amount of money. I didn't get anything at the back end of the deal . I couldn't make money on the educated consumer but you could on others. Most are payment buyers "what can you afford per month". You should always negotiate the price of the car, not monthly payments.

Used cars are different - it is very difficult to "shop price" because of the condition of the car, millage and equipment. There aren't two that are alike. The biggest factor is you don't know the wholesale price of the car that the dealer paid. The retail price is established by the condition of the car and current market. there is more mark-up for a negotiation. I would get 25% of the profit from a used car sale. Most sales persons would rather sell used than new.

It was a real eye opening experience for me - I probably became a better educated consumer.

Car sales is tuff. I consider real estate agents in the same pool as car sales persons.


It doesn't hurt to look into this - you might like it.
good luck.