Do Car Enthusiasts Make good Car Dealers and Vice Versa ?
Do Car Enthusiasts Make good Car Dealers and Vice Versa ?
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Discussion

J4CKO

Original Poster:

44,478 posts

216 months

Friday 31st December 2010
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As per the title, I think that generally, with some exceptions Car Enthusiasts dont make Good Car Dealers and Car Dealers generally are not all that interested in cars.

This is a why a lot of PHer's should probably never be car dealers, they would lose a fortune trying to just do stuff they want to drive, when there are sixty million people out there, all potential punters with different wants, needs and tastes. I am not a car dealer but can kind of see it from both points of view, it is possible to be both I guess but I think that generally.

Car Dealers are interested in making a living, shifting "goods" to make a profit and generally don't give a stuff about handling, pedigree, performance or whatever but will know to 30 decimal places what a given model is worth, what colours and options do to the value and how to press the buttons of the punter, you can sometimes see this when car enthusiasts dig a bit deeper and the knowledge runs out very quickly. Generally what dealers want is to sell bread and butter stuff that wont catch them out, get return business on servicing and potentially sell a lucrative finance product.

Car Enthusiasts are into cars and know everything about the car they are after, the bhp, torque, reputation, handling, films it was in, what mods can be done and some stuff about how much they cost from reading every single ad, but get there if they want it, little will stop them. Enthusiasts tend to not see any value in mundane cars and see them as beneath contempt, fail to see how anyone else could want one either, I kind of think that if someone bought it new, then someone will want it secondhand and generally I have been surprised the attention some cars I had not time for got and things I liked are still sat there, witness the bright green Rover Coupe 1.6 Auto, phone went mad !!!




Anyone think there is any truth in this ?


kambites

69,649 posts

237 months

Friday 31st December 2010
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I certainly wouldn't, I'd be far too honest.

J4CKO

Original Poster:

44,478 posts

216 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
kambites said:
I certainly wouldn't, I'd be far too honest.
And me, I tend to point out the faults as it gets the buyer on your side, dings, scuffs or anything needing doing and to be honest if there was anything I wasn't happy about selling I would either get it sorted or make it clear in the ad.

Hammerhead

2,705 posts

270 months

Friday 31st December 2010
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J4CKO said:
... and Car Dealers generally are not all that interested in cars.
Had this yesterday. Dropped the MX5 in for its first service and one of the sales bods offered to drop us into town. 30 secs down the the road, sparkling guards red 968 goes past - sales bod: not a flicker. "I used to have one of those" I say, zero response. Minute or two later, Lotus Elan (90's version) trickles past us - sales bod: not a flicker. Parked up Carrera 4S, you guessed it.

Quite sad really.

robsco

7,875 posts

192 months

Friday 31st December 2010
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As a car enthusiast and salesman, I find it far easier to sell cars that I have a passion for. That's not to say I can't sell the bread and butter stuff, but people can generally sense a true enthusiasm in a product. As an enthusiast I'm also extremely honest, particularly for a salesman. I can imagine a car dealer who doesn't really see a car as a car, and more as a white good, as far more willing to tell the odd porky and bend the truth for a sale.

v8will

3,308 posts

212 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
Hammerhead said:
J4CKO said:
... and Car Dealers generally are not all that interested in cars.
Had this yesterday. Dropped the MX5 in for its first service and one of the sales bods offered to drop us into town. 30 secs down the the road, sparkling guards red 968 goes past - sales bod: not a flicker. "I used to have one of those" I say, zero response. Minute or two later, Lotus Elan (90's version) trickles past us - sales bod: not a flicker. Parked up Carrera 4S, you guessed it.

Quite sad really.
Too much exposure, it just becomes 'work'

J4CKO

Original Poster:

44,478 posts

216 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
Hammerhead said:
J4CKO said:
... and Car Dealers generally are not all that interested in cars.
Had this yesterday. Dropped the MX5 in for its first service and one of the sales bods offered to drop us into town. 30 secs down the the road, sparkling guards red 968 goes past - sales bod: not a flicker. "I used to have one of those" I say, zero response. Minute or two later, Lotus Elan (90's version) trickles past us - sales bod: not a flicker. Parked up Carrera 4S, you guessed it.

Quite sad really.
They aren't all like that but I worked with a few when younger and by and large they were no more interested in cars than they were their Hoover, the main one I worked for was interested in drinking, women, gambling and ripping people off, I made the mistake of assuming they were enthusiasts by default due to the job they chose, I asked Brian (for twas his name) what his favourite car was and he said "One with Petrol in" was the response, practical but I was prompting him to regale me with tales of Jenson Interceptors and Lotus Sunbeams but literally he would run round in any old stter that came in PX until he had drained it of all the fuel it arrived with. He derived no joy from cars at all, it was just a way to finance boozing, gambling and women.

SubaruSteve

546 posts

207 months

Friday 31st December 2010
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I'm not sure it answers your question but I certainly try my hardest to avoid selling to car enthusiasts.

Chicane-UK

3,861 posts

201 months

Friday 31st December 2010
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I had thought about how cool it'd be working for VW as a salesman, because I like my dubs.. but then I thought how you wouldn't just be selling GTI's to enthusiasts...

You'd have to sell people Tiguans, Fox's, and have to sell to people who you might not like. Such as spoiled kids with rich parents.. to be honest I'd be struggling to not reach over and throttle those kinds of people so - probably not the career for me! smile

Hammerhead

2,705 posts

270 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
SubaruSteve said:
I'm not sure it answers your question but I certainly try my hardest to avoid selling to car enthusiasts.
You don't need to 'sell' to car enthusiasts I'd imagine. If they want what you've got in stock, it's win-win all round, surely smile

Xavier259

222 posts

178 months

Friday 31st December 2010
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I'd say that the right car enthusiast could make a good car dealer, especially if they specialise in what motors they sell e.g. VAG branded cars, performance cars, classic cars etc. By catering for a paticular segment in the market the dealer would know exactly what to look for when sourcing stock in regards to common faults, car spec and so forth.

I would say that many a petrolhead (including myself) would be a bit too honest but equally if you build up a good reputation for selling honest, good quality products you could become the first port of call for anyone local looking for a new motor. I think I would also have to try hard and not speak 'car jargon' - I wouldn't want to alienate potential customers by talking crap they don't understand.

SubaruSteve

546 posts

207 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
Hammerhead said:
SubaruSteve said:
I'm not sure it answers your question but I certainly try my hardest to avoid selling to car enthusiasts.
You don't need to 'sell' to car enthusiasts I'd imagine. If they want what you've got in stock, it's win-win all round, surely smile
Precisely. I much prefer the process of selling a Renault Scenic to a VW Golf and therefore stock accordingly.

vit4

3,507 posts

186 months

Friday 31st December 2010
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I am pretty good at selling (any) product, and seeing I have a passion for cars it's something I've considered. However, as others have said I would have the issue of wanting to make sure every car was immaculate and serviced before it left biglaugh Love the idea of an 'old car' dealership/garage, dealing with the more enthusiast's stuff. Just won't have the capital to put into it anytime soon so it'll probably remain a dream.

sebhaque

6,530 posts

197 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
The dealer I got my VX220 from was a bit of a petrolhead, but then again it's a specialist dealer and not your mainstream sort of cars. I'm guessing a very high percentage of people who bought from him were enthusiasts. To an extent the Subaru dealer I got my old Impreza from were into their cars, I spent a long time talking to one of the aftersales boys there about his imported Forester STi smile

On the other hand, it's hard to find a tuning company who aren't petrolheads. I suppose it's a bit more bespoke than selling a Corsa to Mrs Miggins, though.

TheMuu

107 posts

207 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
I'd be rubbish unless I was selling a car I actually liked.

For example I'd be telling prospective 525i owners, go M5 or go home.

loose cannon

6,044 posts

257 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
Hammerhead said:
J4CKO said:
... and Car Dealers generally are not all that interested in cars.
Had this yesterday. Dropped the MX5 in for its first service and one of the sales bods offered to drop us into town. 30 secs down the the road, sparkling guards red 968 goes past - sales bod: not a flicker. "I used to have one of those" I say, zero response. Minute or two later, Lotus Elan (90's version) trickles past us - sales bod: not a flicker. Parked up Carrera 4S, you guessed it.

Quite sad really.
They aren't all like that but I worked with a few when younger and by and large they were no more interested in cars than they were their Hoover, the main one I worked for was interested in drinking, women, gambling and ripping people off, I made the mistake of assuming they were enthusiasts by default due to the job they chose, I asked Brian (for twas his name) what his favourite car was and he said "One with Petrol in" was the response, practical but I was prompting him to regale me with tales of Jenson Interceptors and Lotus Sunbeams but literally he would run round in any old stter that came in PX until he had drained it of all the fuel it arrived with. He derived no joy from cars at all, it was just a way to finance boozing, gambling and women.
in my experience that tends to be most in the motortrade just add the bolivean marching powder onto the end

hairyben

8,516 posts

199 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
My girlfriends mum runs a dealership in oz. She's very sucessfull. I'd say she's honestly enthusiastic about the product without being a car nut, which is probably the best balance to sell the things.

Edited by hairyben on Friday 31st December 19:18

philmh

363 posts

187 months

Friday 31st December 2010
quotequote all
To most dealers, a car is just a unit. All they want is their profit on that unit;)