Anyone have a job in car sales or know somebody in car sales?

[Joyfullyblessed]

Hello,

 

I was simply wondering if anyone here is or has ever been a cars sales consultant? Even if you personally don't have the experience, do you know anyone that is a car sales consultant? A good friend, spouse, family????

 

I am asking because my husband has been out of work for almost 10 months now. There have been just a few times where we would think he might have a new job and then things would just go stone cold. Overall though, things have been quiet. :( While I love having my husband around more and I love all the time he is able to spend with our son, we do realize that a job is needed.

 

He is now considering a position for a car sales consultant. It is not the same field of work that he has done in the past, but that is alright because he did not love what he was doing anyway. He has interviewed and was invited back for a crash course of training. If he is a good candidate, he will have another interview with the owner of the dealership and be offered a job possibly.

 

Anyway, I would just love to hear any stories of experiences with this type job. I think that my husband would be great at this type thing, but I do know there are some long hours. However, I honestly think that is with most jobs these days. This job would provide us with benefits again which would be wonderful, not to mention a salary again. It would require us to move about 3 hours from where we currently live which is alright too. Also, we are looking at the fact that when you have a job, you can get another job easier than when you are just out of work. So, if he got the position and then didn't really like it, he could be searching for another job and possibly appear more attractive to other companies for that very reason.

 

One other question please. IF my husband were to accept a position and we were to move (from GA. to SC. - Greenville area), we are debating on whether to sell our home or just rent it out. Any wise words of wisdom on that thought? If we sell it, we don't have to deal with it anymore which would be nice. If we rent it, well, then I guess if it didn't work out in SC., we would have a place to come back to at that point. Maybe that doesn't make sense. See, this is why I am seeking advice on these matters. Haha! :)

 

Sorry this is so long, but I sure hope there are a few people that are able to help me out with some suggestions, advice or helpful information. Thanks everyone! Have a wonderful day! :)

[Lanny]

If your DH accepts this position, I strongly suggest that you do NOT sell your home, or, move to to the city he is working in, unless and until you are certain that he will be very successful at this. Very high risk. There is a very high attrition rate, for people who begin working in Real Estate sales, Life Insurance sales, and selling cars. My belief is that a tiny percentage of the people who begin, are still doing that, one year after they begin.

 

Yes. I knew a man who was very successful selling cars. He ended up being the Used Car Manager in a dealership in Miami, Florida.

 

The hours are very long, but there is the potential for one to make a very good living.

 

Your DH would be working on Commission (40% of the Package?), but possibly they would provide him with a salary at the beginning?

 

I am trying to play "Devils Advocate" here. For you to consider selling your house and moving to another state, while he tries this, could prove to be an incredible disaster for your family.

 

If your DH decides to try this, IMHO, he should go to the other city, alone, and give this a try, and you and your DC should remain where you are. There is a lot of risk.

 

Alternate idea would be for him to talk with the Sales Managers of new car dealerships near to where you live now.

 

Many years ago, I also knew a man who worked for one of the "Big 3" Detroit firms, in Dallas.

 

Also, many years ago, the DH of one of my cousins sold Chevrolet trucks for a dealership in Florida.

 

Those who are successful can earn a very good living. GL to your family!

[Joyfullyblessed]

Thanks for your input! We do realize this is a high risk, but at the same time, DH needs a job. We are going to weigh the pros and cons before making any final decision though.

 

I was thinking that it might be best just to rent our house out for the time being. It is strange because DH is not receiving ANY calls for jobs in our state, they are all out of state. UGH. That is alright, but just creates more headache initially. If DH takes the job, we will go with him & just rent a place there most likely. He may go up a bit earlier and then we would follow.

 

SO much to have to consider and think about. Goodness, makes us almost want to just start our own business and not have to deal with the ways of the corporate world. But then again, that path has all sorts of risks as well.

 

Thank you again! I greatly appreciate your thoughts. :)

[Lanny]

I suggest that if your DH accepts the position in SC, that you wait, at least several months, to get an idea about whether or not he can be successful selling cars, before you rent your house to someone and move up there.

 

Not sure where you are in GA, but I've been in Atlanta and have friends who lived in Spartanburg, SC for many years. Not a bad area to live in.

 

Any time that you see someone offering a "Salary", for a sales position, you should really think about what that means. If someone is selling cars in a new car dealership, or even in an independent used car lot, they want to be on commission and they want to be working for an honest company that will pay them correctly, according to the agreement they make at the beginning.

 

I believe sales people in new car dealerships receive approximately 35 or 40% of the gross profit (or is it net profit? on the sales. So, if the dealership computes that they have a total profit of $1000 on a sale, the sales person should receive $350 or $400 for the sale.

 

No salary is involved. If your DH can be successful, selling cars, real estate or life insurance, the last thing he wants to be on is a salary.

 

Again, I would suggest that your DH contact the Sales Managers of 2 or 3 new car dealerships near to your home and talk with them.

[Tap]

I would not move my family for a job in car sales. To risky of a business, Especially if he has not done it before. They may be offering him a salary, but that likely comes with quotas. Car sales are still down, and you can't force people to buy. There are many ethical sales people out there, but quite often the highest paid sales men, aren't ethical people and will nudge someone into buying a car that they really can't afford. I would hate to be a person in sales who needed to make a quota, and felt compelled to oversell an item just to make my own bills.

 

 

You mentioned that he has had other offers in other areas. Are they more permanent jobs? If you are opening up to the idea of relocating, has he put out his resume in those areas?

 

 

I will say that any job can be better than no job, but that is different when you are talking about relocating an entire family. It costs so much money to move, I would want to make sure that real money was there to justify that cost.

 

Has he tried applying for jobs at local car lots? They are often hiring due to high turn over rates. At least that way you don't have to move.

 

Dh lost his job a few years ago. After a few months of looking for work, he opened an insurance agency. He didn't like that so he started applying for more jobs, but at least the agency was bringing in a little cash and kept his resume current. Our area is hard hit by the economy, so sales managers are a dime a dozen here. He was a district manager for an international company, but doesn't have a college degree, so most places wouldn't even look at his resume. He finally started applying for jobs that were a few levels back in experience. This at least got his resume across some desks and one company hired him for a position he was actually qualified for (not the job he applied for). LOL

 

 

I would only consider this move, if it was a stepping stone into a better economy so if this job doesn't work out, maybe he will have better luck finding another job. Greenville SC is a fast growing city according to CNN so at least there is something going on there! Here is an article about Greenville. Here is what seems to be current unemployment rates and basic information. (I can't find a date for this material so it could be old info). I would also look for jobs in his current experience range in that area. Just so that if this doesn't work out, he isn't stuck in an area without the right skill set. ie if he works in the tech industry, make sure it is a tech heavy area etc.

 

I would let dh go ahead on his own and follow after he gets established and has a better idea of what sales are going to be like,.

 

Good luck! I know how trying it is to go through this. I hope what ever you choose leads to a sucessful career for your dh.

[Joyfullyblessed]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. We have checked out dealerships around here with no luck. We do have other options in mind with a couple of businesses that could work in the SC area should the cars sales not work. We have also had other jobs that were more what he desired "almost" come through, but then for one reason or another, did not happen. We are open to relocating, but only to neighboring states so that we can still be within reasonable distance to family.

 

I don't know what we are going to do. Again, LOTS to think about. I know that I don't want to be here alone with my son for several months while DH works in SC. That would just be incredibly hard for our family.

 

Thanks again for the responses. I guess I will just wait and see what happens next. DH is actually doing the training right now, but nothing has been determined yet. Maybe this is a poor choice. Need to make that pro and con list! :)

[Lanny]

@OP Be sure that your DH has registered on Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com AND that he has taken the time (possibly several hours for each site), to get his experience into their data bases. GL to your family!

[Parrothead]

Go. Keep the house for the first year. G'ville is growing. If the sales job doesn't work out the G'ville Spartanburg area is probably large enough to find something else.

[Georgiana Daniels]

Don't sell the house!!!

 

My hubby was a car salesman when I met him, and back in the day car sales were good and hubby was awesome. The checks were awesome.

 

Then car sales in general changed. There were times when his paycheck would only be a few hundred dollars for two weeks' work (and they kicked in the minimum wage to make it legal at the end of the month if the commissions didn't add up to that.)

 

There's a ton of up and down in commission sales jobs. It doesn't always have to do with talent of the salesman, although that's a HUGE factor, but the dealership's reputation, location, advertising, foot traffic, etc.

[Joyfullyblessed]

Thanks again to all who responded to my original post. The job did not pan out for DH after all. That is alright as we know something much better lies ahead! :)

 

[Georgiana Daniels]

Thanks again to all who responded to my original post. The job did not pan out for DH after all. That is alright as we know something much better lies ahead! :)

 

 

Definitely!

[tshirtyogapantmama]

I agree with others, try it out and see if it works before making any major changes to your housing. Also, not sure where you are but in GA there is a dealer called CarMax, they don't get pd on commission for selling the cars it's salary and the hours tend to be better more like shifts, not sure if you are close to Atlanta Area but there are a few around and it's not that bad. Selling Cars is a hard job, like others have said, in today's economy most dealers compete with online-pricing and most deals are $100 or a little more depending on options so to make 2000 a month you have to sell about 20 new cars a month, of course USED cars is typically where the money is, there is more MARKUP so the commission is more like someone said above 350-450 or even higher just depending on car price, options, and how much the dealership has in the car. The hours is what got us years ago when we were homeschooling 2 little ones. Even when you get a day off it's not really a day off, Most managers want you in selling on your day off if you are not producing enough also you have the risk that someone comes back that you talked to the day before or week before that buys a car and you are not there, most dealers call this a Split deal so your husband would get 1/2 of the money. Of course, if that is the only option you feel you have, then I understand you may have to do it but beware it burns most families out, in the year-2 my husband worked as a car sales guy most of his co-workers were divorced and most said it was the job.

[Mrs Mungo]

My dad sales cars. He started in the business after his company laid off all of its union employees. He had worked for them for 29 years. He has been very successful in car sales. He has won many sales awards. He was working very long hours, BUT one of the other employees accidentally hit him with a golf cart and be had to have a knee replacement. So, he currently can only work half days. He is highly ethical. He often suggests certain people do a used car, if they cannot afford payments on a new car.

 

As far as the house-can you afford for it to go unrented? What will happen if it sits for a month or your renters don't pay their rent? Can your finances take it?