Today was a good day because _________

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

...because they finally arrested the sh-thead who burned down my neighbor's house and killed him!!!!!

It’s about time! That was months ago.

Congrats on your award.

[Lady Jane]

Today was a great day. Spent a few hours with the Volunteer Fire Dept. to get the Christmas hampers ready for distribution later this week. All we need to do now is get the perishables, like frozen turkeys to add to the hampers.

The local Churches and Groups have identified the needy families. Personally, I'll visit the Seniors Homes and look after the ones who never receive visitors and are essentially abandoned by their family. It looks like I've secured a couple of therapy dogs and their handlers to accompany me. The Christmas cards writing project by our school students has been a great success.

Our Firemen are great. Over the year, they collect toys, new and old. They refurbish bicycles making them look like brand new and often using their own money to buy parts. ♥

If you can, please donate to your local Mission or Food Bank. There is a lot of poverty out there.

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

...because they finally arrested the sh-thead who burned down my neighbor's house and killed him!!!!!

Jesus! Is there a back story that has been revealed?
So sorry for your loss and thank goodness your house was unscathed

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Today was a great day. Spent a few hours with the Volunteer Fire Dept. to get the Christmas hampers ready for distribution later this week. All we need to do now is get the perishables, like frozen turkeys to add to the hampers.

The local Churches and Groups have identified the needy families. Personally, I'll visit the Seniors Homes and look after the ones who never receive visitors and are essentially abandoned by their family. It looks like I've secured a couple of therapy dogs and their handlers to accompany me. The Christmas cards writing project by our school students has been a great success.

Our Firemen are great. Over the year, they collect toys, new and old. They refurbish bicycles making them look like brand new and often using their own money to buy parts. ♥

If you can, please donate to your local Mission or Food Bank. There is a lot of poverty out there.

You’re amazing!

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Oh shit, That's terrible! Sorry for your neighbor. Did you witness this? If so, then sorry for you as well.

One of the people who got out of the burning house came pounding on our door shortly before 7 AM, asking us to call 911. My DW went into a panic, and made the 911 call after screaming at me to get out of our house. Since I was a licensed motorsports safety instructor for many years, my brain will automatically go into emergency response mode and remain calm. I moved my carbon fiber BMW i3 down the street, so that it wouldn't melt from the heat. I directed the emergency responders as they arrived, gave them the accounted/unaccounted souls count from the person who got out, set up the initial on-street parking for fire/police, and flagged the ambulances to our front lawn.

While waiting for the fire trucks to arrive, I had my DW spray the side of our house and roof with our garden hose to prevent the fire from spreading to our house. The heat buckled the vinyl siding on that one wall, but it relaxed back into normal shape after cooling off overnight. We fortunately had no damage from the fire, but the neighbor did expire on our front lawn. Oh, and one of the arson dogs watered our front lawn, which sent OCD psycho dog into a tizzy for days because another dog dared violate his kingdom.

One of my fun geek projects was trying to make a DIY license plate reader, to log all of the cars going in/out of our dead-end road. I have an insanely high-resolution security camera on a fence post right next to the road, and let's just say that everyone in law enforcement was amazed at the recording quality when they saw the videos.

Anyway, the Grand Jury issued indictments for Murder-1 and several other charges, and the punk is in jail without bail. The case probably won't go to trial for 2 years, and I have no idea if we will be receiving subpoenas to testify at the criminal trial. I don't want to jeopardize the case, so I still can't go into details.....

[Mosaud1998]

Sold 2 cars today (I know some of you might think that that's not a big deal. But, we've been dead lately. So, 2 cars in one day is good)

Leading the pack by 3 cars

This month has sucked. The month is almost over and we're at roughly 30-40 cars right now for the month. Last month we were at 96...

Might be the weather to blame or I guess nobody wants cars?

[UncleWede]

Santa 2 the Sea distributed all the gathered toys from the race the week before

This evening I heard some horns and sirens. I ran outside and there was Santa, cruising down the street in front of my dads house

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

You’re amazing!

Thank you but it's the Community that's amazing. I'm just a little cog.

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Sold 2 cars today (I know some of you might think that that's not a big deal. But, we've been dead lately. So, 2 cars in one day is good)

Leading the pack by 3 cars

This month has sucked. The month is almost over and we're at roughly 30-40 cars right now for the month. Last month we were at 96...

Might be the weather to blame or I guess nobody wants cars?

How much inventory do you guys have?
We reduced our loaner fleet from 60 down to 12, sold all them off and only have 11 new Cadillacs in stock….but market adjustments have allowed for profitable months for the sales dept

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

If you can, please donate to your local Mission or Food Bank. There is a lot of poverty out there.

Please also make those contributions year-round! While holiday donations are always appreciated, they do not last for the entire year at some service organizations.....

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

How much inventory do you guys have?
We reduced our loaner fleet from 60 down to 12, sold all them off and only have 11 new Cadillacs in stock….but market adjustments have allowed for profitable months for the sales dept

Roughly 12 new cars.

All our service loaners are used fords we brought from auction.

We're not really selling alot if our cars over sticker this month.

Only one we've sold over sticker this month is a Bronco.

30k over sticker. The store and managers made Hella money. Salesmen only made $1k

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Roughly 12 new cars.

All our service loaners are used fords we brought from auction.

We're not really selling alot if our cars over sticker this month.

Only one we've sold over sticker this month is a Bronco.

30k over sticker. The store and managers made Hella money. Salesmen only mad $1k

Just to be clear - are you looking for sympathy with these posts? We were all pretty clear that there are ups and downs in selling cars, but realistically the current season is not reflective (or should not be reflective) of what you can realistically anticipate over the long term. And so you shouldn't count on the money being there either. And generally we all recommended caution and potentially considering a more lucrative career path. And selling cars over list or at list...unlikely the market will permit that for long. We will adapt. And we will penalize you.

I know - you don't plan on staying here, and want to be SM / GM, and that's fine - that could fund a reasonable lifestyle. Hopefully you make it, but you already know there is competition.

Good luck, but I can't give you my sympathy if that is what this was designed to elicit.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

30k over sticker. The store and managers made Hella money. Salesmen only mad $1k

I do not like this. Not one bit. I don't care if it's standard business practice or whatever; it's all BS to me. The customer got mugged.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

I do not like this. Not one bit. I don't care if it's standard business practice or whatever; it's all BS to me. The customer got mugged.

The customer was complicit in the mugging. I'm a believer in a free market. That individual could have chosen to either repair their existing vehicle, buy a used one, buy a different new vehicle, use public transport, etc.

They didn't.

They saw value to them in doing what they did, as much as I would not do the same, it is their money, and theirs to do with it what they see fit.

But here's the thing - we (collective) as the market can change this behaviour by dealers if we choose to. Ultimately they need us more than we need them. And I'm saying such dealers are going to be penalized by the market for this type of behaviour if it becomes excessive or unsupported.

Right now, we all believe there is a chip shortage, so we are accepting a premium, but there will come a time when we no longer accept the notion that people can't do their jobs and thus we should pay a premium for them not doing so.

[Tommy-G]

Don’t forget guys, trade in values re insane also so it’s all relative….I’m just glad I’m not in sales. With 12 vehicles opposed to normally 100 or so, that’s cut throat

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by Joekerr

Just to be clear - are you looking for sympathy with these posts? We were all pretty clear that there are ups and downs in selling cars, but realistically the current season is not reflective (or should not be reflective) of what you can realistically anticipate over the long term. And so you shouldn't count on the money being there either. And generally we all recommended caution and potentially considering a more lucrative career path. And selling cars over list or at list...unlikely the market will permit that for long. We will adapt. And we will penalize you.

I know - you don't plan on staying here, and want to be SM / GM, and that's fine - that could fund a reasonable lifestyle. Hopefully you make it, but you already know there is competition.

Good luck, but I can't give you my sympathy if that is what this was designed to elicit.

Huh? I wasn't looking for sympathy. I just answered @Tommy-G.

I'd take $1k in a day over $0.

Hey man, I'm not the one listing cars over sticker. That's our GM. He has a 2021 Ford Transit-250 cargo van listed for $10k over sticker (MSRP is $43,885.) Which to every salesman seems ridiculous because no one is willing to pay $10k over. I'd rather sell it for MSRP and get it off the lot than have the car sitting on our lot for 90+ days.

But, it's every dealership. I'm not saying it's a good thing to do. But, I've got 0 with pricing and the market. If people are willing to pay over sticker, well I mean hey

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

Don’t forget guys, trade in values re insane also so it’s all relative….I’m just glad I’m not in sales. With 12 vehicles opposed to normally 100 or so, that’s cut throat

I sell more used cars than new. We've got a good used car inventory.

We took in a 2019 Ranger Rover Land Rover HSE for $95k. The guy traded that in for a 2021 Ford Bronco First Edition. That we sold him for $89k.

These Broncos have been selling for ridiculous amounts. I've seen a first edition Bronco sell for $135k at Barret Jacksons Auction.

Imo, the new Broncos are overrated and pos. I would never trade in a RR for that crap.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

I do not like this. Not one bit. I don't care if it's standard business practice or whatever; it's all BS to me. The customer got mugged.

The customer was fine with paying $30k over. We gave him $95k for his trade. Ours was one of the cheapest first edition broncos in the country.

[Mein11]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Imo, the new Broncos are overrated and pos. I would never trade in a RR for that crap.

I can say this about most new vehicles. I despise when my truck dies and have to replace it with something newer since it'll likely be 7-10 years and the used market will be saturated with model year 2025+ with lower mileage.

Also, dealerships are just stealerships. Fuck them. Tried to tack on an "extra options" fee for the Z71 package..., ON A USED TRUCK. Said take it off or I'm leaving. Scummy as fuck. Trying to buy via private sale has it's own list of challenges too, after this last go around I'll probably look at Carvana or something instead.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by Mein11

I can say this about most new vehicles. I despise when my truck dies and have to replace it with something newer since it'll likely be 7-10 years and the used market will be saturated with model year 2025+ with lower mileage.

Also, dealerships are just stealerships. Fuck them. Tried to tack on an "extra options" fee for the Z71 package..., ON A USED TRUCK. Said take it off or I'm leaving. Scummy as fuck. Trying to buy via private sale has it's own list of challenges too, after this last go around I'll probably look at Carvana or something instead.

Caravana is probably going to get shut down. Too many issues trade-ins

[Mein11]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Caravana is probably going to get shut down. Too many issues trade-ins

That may be the case, but I'm sure in 10 years there will be something else to replace it. I will never go back to a stealership.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Huh? I wasn't looking for sympathy. I just answered @Tommy-G.

I'd take $1k in a day over $0.

Hey man, I'm not the one listing cars over sticker. That's our GM. He has a 2021 Ford Transit-250 cargo van listed for $10k over sticker (MSRP is $43,885.) Which to every salesman seems ridiculous because no one is willing to pay $10k over. I'd rather sell it for MSRP and get it off the lot than have the car sitting on our lot for 90+ days.

But, it's every dealership. I'm not saying it's a good thing to do. But, I've got 0 with pricing and the market. If people are willing to pay over sticker, well I mean hey

Ok, fair, that's why I asked. Your previous post almost sounded like you were glum because the month was dead and you had no inventory, people weren't buying, etc. That's really what made me ask.

And I know you aren't the one setting the price, not at all trying to blame you for that. Everyone knows it is the GM. And they'll be responsible for the fall out.