Opponaut Car Salesmen?

"Nisman" (nisman)
01/20/2015 at 16:43 • Filed to: None

I want to hear from you! I'm considering starting out my career as a car salesmen. I am studying finance in school and it is incredibly useful but I have little desire to pursue a career as an analyst. Eventually I want to get into real estate investment, but you have to have money to make money. I want to know all about your job, the pressures, what you enjoy, what you don't enjoy, and what a new salesmen can expect to make at the average dealership. I'm not looking to work at one of those buy here, pay here places but hopefully a new car dealer. My goal is to be able to make enough money to gain financial independence from my parents while I continue through school. I am almost done with my finance degree but I want to add an entrepreneurship minor which will take an extra year. I want to do this while working because I am done being poor. Also, how is flexibility time wise? I have out of state family and I want to be able to travel at least three weeks a year.

DISCUSSION (19)

deekster_caddy > Nisman
01/20/2015 at 16:45

I've always thought I would make a good car salesman because I explain things well to people and I love cars. But I would hate the business side of it.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > deekster_caddy
01/20/2015 at 16:53

I had a similar thought. There's a computer store down the road from me that I'd like to work at, but at the same time I would hate to be pushing sales, selling things customers don't need, which this store does a lot. Like selling $1500 gaming laptops to older people that just use email and take photos. I think I'd be fired quickly.

Nisman > deekster_caddy
01/20/2015 at 16:54

I just know that I hate salesmen that are pushy and don't know what they are talking about. I would be knowledgeable and I would do everything I could to get the customer into the right car. I wouldn't try to sell them shit that they don't want.

Z06Dream > Nisman
01/20/2015 at 16:56

I sold cars for 9 years. Selling cars is not about cars. It's about making money. If you want to sell cars, go do it! But don't expect to have a life besides the dealership. You will be expected to work 60+ hours a week. You can make a great deal of cash in the car business, but you can also waste a lot of time. I am now a sales manager for a small satellite TV company and I make about the same as I made when I was a car salesmen, only I work 40 or less hours a week.

As Du Volant > Nisman
01/20/2015 at 16:57

I'll hit the worst parts first- you will NOT be able to travel 3 weeks per year and you will NOT be able to continue school while selling cars. It's extremely demanding of your time and while you may average 50ish hours per week 6-day 60-plus hour weeks will be fairly common. You will not be able to travel for Thanksgiving (they'll want you working Black Friday) or Christmas/New Years (week between Christmas and New Years is one of the busiest of the year). You'll be lucky to get a week off your first year and two weeks per year after that- though if you're consistently one of their top performers they will give you a little wiggle room with the schedule as long as you keep producing.

As for the rest of the job... what I enjoyed about it was all the exposure to cars and the fact that no two days were alike. It was often exciting, having a busy day and making a couple sales. And like I said the car stuff was great, we always got to play around with all the latest stuff and through driving all the used cars that came in I got to experience lots of different car models. At the same time every high has a corresponding low- you'll hit droughts every now and then and go a week or two without selling a car, which means you don't get paid.

The customers are something else, too. It's totally feasible to go through this business being honest, but everyone will assume you're out to screw them. The customers won't believe a single word you say and will lie to you CONSTANTLY. They'll make appointments and cancel, make arrangements for you to meet them at the dealership on your day off and then not show up, make crazy and unreasonable demands and then throw a tantrum when you tell them no, call your cell phone at 10:00 at night on a Sunday to bitch about something on their car, etc. You'll meet plenty of cool people but you'll also meet the absolute worst of humanity is what I'm saying.

Money-wise it has potential to be excellent or horrible. You have to have a knack for it, and being a huge fanatic about cars plus a friendly easy to talk to person made it work for me, but you also have to be very thick-skinned and willing to aggressively go in for the close when required to. People who let others push them around will not make it. Most first-year salespeople make around $40k or so but some make more. Many of the people at my company make $75k or more once they're at it 3-4 years but the real hotshots make 6 figures. Pretty much, though, if you can't break the $50k barrier in a couple years you may want to consider a different career.

It's VERY stressful. You're paid entirely on commission which means if you don't sell, you don't get paid. I've made $3000 in a day before but I've also had many, many weeks where I made absolutely nothing. Your managers will always be on your ass for meeting sales goals and it's always grind, grind, grind day in and day out. Not a business for the faint of heart, but if you can make it it can treat you very, very well.

But yeah, don't expect to go to school and sell cars at the same time. You will NOT have time.

Nisman > As Du Volant
01/20/2015 at 17:03

Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate the time you took to write this up! I'll have something to consider now.

jariten1781 > Nisman
01/20/2015 at 17:05

I have out of state family and I want to be able to travel at least three weeks a year.

There are very few entry level jobs in any field where you can pull off three weeks of out of state vacation/travel in a year. Maybe by year 4 or 5. There are absolutely no car sales jobs where you can do that I've ever seen.

Twinpowermeansoneturbo > Nisman
01/20/2015 at 17:06

Given your degree in finance, you may want to consider being an F+I Manager. You would make more money than the average person on the sales floor, and not have to worry as much about competing for sales. I'm 19 and I started selling cars this past June. I figured I love cars, so what better job than to sell them. As it turns out though, loving cars and selling cars generally have nothing to do with one another. Unless you are at Porsche, BMW, or the like, most customers will view the cars as an appliance. They will be interested in interior space and fuel economy numbers more than performance. You need to be willing to have the patience to cover all of this with them. The most frustrating part of this job is the strokers. Strokers are people who come in with no real intention of buying, and waste your time that you could be dealing with real customers. You will quickly learn who these people are, and grow adept at handling them efficiently. Car sales is a full time gig. You will be working 50-60 hours a week. Most dealerships will give you a day off per week, and every other Sunday off. Really though, you have no days off. On your day off, you will be fielding phone calls from your Sales managers checking up on the status of deals, and often will have to come into the dealership to handle deliveries for customers who "have to take home their car that day". I should also note, your sales managers will be the ones that make your life great or miserable. If you don't like management or they don't like you, you will not be successful at that dealership. Management receives calls/emails from the BDC or business development center. These leads are more likely to be deals than anything else that walks through the door. If your manager likes you he will give you "a spoon", ie: one of the leads. You call the customer, and then when they come in, they will ask for you. This is the easiest way to write deals. If you managers don't like you, or don't trust you to properly close the deal, you won't be given any spoons. With all these headaches, you may be wondering why anyone bothers selling cars. There a several potential answers to this question, but the only real one is the money. If you find that you are good at selling cars, it can be a very lucrative career. On the flip side, if you find that you are not good at selling cars you will be broke, stressed, and miserable. These people burn out, and burn out fast. Every dealership pay plan is different, but some are far better than others. When you apply for the job, the manager will show you the pay plan and how much money you can make. Whatever he shows you, understand that you will not be making that much. The top two or three guys will make what he shows you, and as a rookie that will not be you. Every dealership has a couple of veterans, these guys will be the ones making the most money. You cannot make what they make without experience and a client base, both of which take time to develop. Honestly I could go on and on about the pitfalls and benefits of car sales, but the only way to know if it is for you is to try it out. Like I said initially though, if you can, go into F+I. It's no less stressful, but there is much less of a gamble as far as your earnings are concerned.

Twinpowermeansoneturbo > As Du Volant
01/20/2015 at 17:07

I'm in school and selling cars at the same time. So I can tell you it is possible, but it is extremely difficult. You have to make sacrifices to both, in order to juggle them. You will never be the best student you can be, or the best car salesman you can be. It can be done though.

Nisman > Twinpowermeansoneturbo
01/20/2015 at 17:10

Again, thank you for the long reply! I'm seriously considering this, so every bit of info will help me make a decision.

Nisman > jariten1781
01/20/2015 at 17:15

It's not a totally realistic expectation, but I'm thinking there has to be a job out there that will work. Maybe I should consider teaching!

TxBrumski > As Du Volant
01/20/2015 at 17:21

Truth.

deekster_caddy > Nisman
01/20/2015 at 17:40

I love the idea. Good luck finding a dealership that will keep you employed with thatvattotude though!

E92M3 > Nisman
01/20/2015 at 17:52

Too much time required to go to school as others have said. What about detailing cars part time? You could make your own schedule, and make $200-300 per car doing paint correction details, or $50-$150 just doing cleaning details.

Confused Miata > Nisman
01/20/2015 at 18:18

I only worked for Car Max for a little while but it really wasn't too bad. Everyone I worked with was great. I was part-time and spent the rest at school or at my other job. (Expo for the cheesecake factory) They gave me good hours and worked with me when my school schedule changed. Most of the sales people had good intentions but some were not the best. I loved it. I would suggest you take your love of cars and fancy-pants degree and be a finance manager. They make nice money and you won't be worrying about commission. Good Luck!

Nisman > Confused Miata
01/20/2015 at 21:01

Haha! I'll have to use the fancy-pants comparison sometime. You're the second one who has recommended doing the financials, why didn't I think of that? I guess they didn't teach me how to think in #college.

Nisman > E92M3
01/20/2015 at 21:02

I've considered this before and actually do have some paint correction and detailing experience. It is something I should re-evaluate.

E92M3 > Nisman
01/20/2015 at 21:42

Good way to earn cash, and you can decide if you want to report it to the IRS.

JasonStern911 > As Du Volant
01/21/2015 at 00:25

Having purchased used cars from a dealership before, I can honestly say that shit works both ways.