The Sales Person Isn't Always Getting Rich On Your Dime

I am compelled to point out that this is a Toyota key, looking brand new, being handed over in front of a BMW. What kind of dealer chain is this supposed to be?Photo: Witthaya Prasongsin (Getty Images)

Dealerships have been too shady for too long, and there are few people left in the United States who trust them. No one likes to feel like they’re being swindled, and everything that comes out of a car salesperson’s mouth sounds like a swindle. Even the directions to the bathroom.

Feds Want To Stop Shady Car Sales

That salesperson, however, isn’t always just lying to your face about whether or not they put that TruCoat on at the factory. Sometimes, as R4ndyD4ndy explains, they’re genuinely making the absolute minimum on a deal — just trying to meet their numbers for the month.

Having worked in a dealership myself through college (as a lot attendant and occasional de facto head of IT) I saw plenty of mini deals go through. Sometimes a car was sitting there for months, chewing up floor space, or the dealer was just a couple sales away from hitting a target number for the franchise. It’s not impossible to get a genuinely good deal on a new car at a dealership.

That’s not to say the franchise is a nonprofit, though. Remember that new and used car sales each make up about a quarter of dealer profits, including their respective F&I income. The rest all comes from the service and parts departments, and those owners who truly believe that the dealer has their best interests at heart in the service bay. That’s not the truth, Ellen — the first priority is still making money.

Congratulations, R4ndyD4ndy, on your Comment Of The Day win. Here’s a track about what all that dealer money turns you into.

Lake Street Dive – Rich Girl (Live @Pickathon 2013)