An Insider Look At Auto Dealerships

Going to a car dealer to buy a car is a scary experience for some and angry one for others. If you know a little more about the inner workings and structure of the average car dealership you will be less likely to be so apprehensive and you will be equipped to know what to look out for and what to expect.

Like any other business a car dealership has its own little hierarchy and pecking order starting with the salespeople who often come and go weekly due to the stress of twelve hour work days and pressure over sales quotas to the sales managers who are like the ringmasters in a three ring circus cracking the whip on the salespeople. Then we have the general managers who manage the entire operation and watch over the money flow coming in from every department.

If you are older you can probably remember dealers throwing your car keys on the roof of the dealership, cars with no window stickers and going to used car lots where they had rolled back the miles on the cars. In the 1960's laws were passed that make these practices illegal, it doesn't mean they don't still happen. It is now mandatory to have the window sticker on a new car and all used cars must have an "As Is" sticker in it or the dealer my be subject to a huge fine.

With salespeople you are basically dealing with three different types. Some dealerships have the old guys that have been selling cars for 50 years when the price was whatever they wanted to sell the car for. If they have stayed in the car business this long they have evolved and are usually more professional and have a large stream of repeat business. Next you will have the young newcomers or "green peas" as they are often called who are like a cat in waiting to pounce on the next person who arrives at the dealership. These salespeople tend to come and go quickly. Next, many dealerships will have some military people usually retired who are taking up the car business for extra income. You also see many dealers hiring more and more women now.

What usually happens when you come to a dealership is that they have someone who watches the lot and they mark down the salesperson's name and a description of you so they can make sure they keep track of what is going on. The dealers want the salesperson to control the sale and bring you inside before you leave. Indeed there are many dealers who will tell the salesperson that if they do not bring the prospect in to the dealership and allow a manager to speak to them that they will be fired.

Now you know why some of the salespeople you have tried to escape from were so scared!