Gotcha. I lived in Virginia Beach for many years (ret Navy) so your area is very
competitive for sure. $60-80K is very respectable for that area.

 

When I bought my S I talked with the salesman a bit and asked him what he made and he said about 60k a year. This is in a rural area also were the majority of vehicles sold are trucks. Salespeople do work very long hours however.

 

Well Russ,

Maybe you should make a little return drive up here sometime - I'd like to see that "WILD" Suzuka machine you've got

 

LOL,

Car sales are mostly 100% commission.
With stiff competition regardless where you are at,
Most car sales people make 25k-40k/year.

Extreme few makes above 60k/year.

 

Margins are shrinking/gone in car sales. The dealership that Mr. Russian mentioned (Boch Honda) is the highest volume dealer in New England, yet their salespeople are paid flats (Boch is also a bit notorious for being cheap with floor sales pay). Boch undoubtedly offers monthly volume bonuses to inspire their salespeople.

Is if possible to break 100K selling Hondas? Yes it is *possible*. Like ANY sales job...it takes time, persistance, talent and skill to BUILD one's way up to that point. It ain't gonna happen in a month. Or a year.

It's also more than just loving the car and being able to sell it. You have to be quick on your feet, aggressive, energetic enough to take a pounding in more ways than one, and organized enough to run around and do all the stuff required when you DO sell the car...retrieving the car, registering it, having it prepped, scheduling the delivery, and everything else while juggling new customers. It is not an easy job, but it is a job.

 

Don't seem so suprised to hear of Honda Salepeople making $50k - $100 in a year. Even in a market as competitive as Baltimore/ DC.

 

I know several car salesman and i was even offered a job to sell. Here's the skinny...

Most (95%) of car salesman make ZERO base salary. If they don't sell a car they don't make money. When they do sell a car, they make about 30% on the dealer profit from their cost of the vehicle. "Cost" of the car to the dealer can be interpreted in many ways.

Average salesman makes 300-500 per car. But with todays consumers who know a lot more than 10 yrs ago are smart enough to walk away from a scrupulous dealer.

Even when a dealer says they are selling to you below invoice, they can still make money off you through financing and options.

So yes, if you are selling high profit margin cars, where customers do not care about nickeling and diming and usually order cars before they arrive, then you can make $100k plus.

Porsche salesman make great money. My friend bought a 1999 C2, msrp 67,000 but added $15k in needless options such as supple leather, special paint, GT3 aero kit, etc. That salesman made a pretty penny.

Also, dealer can make a lot of profit by squeezing you for your trade-in as well as used cars.

But $100k car salesman are the exception and not the rule.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by f20cpwr
(90-100/wk, 52 wks/yr).

 

I work about 90 hours a week every week, not in car sales, but i can say when i retire at 35 a millionare that time will have been well spent!

 

i think it depends on which brand you're selling....

i know a few people at MB and BMW....they're ALL making 100K without breaking a sweat.....one MB guy made $167K last year.

the reason why i know this? i do their taxes.

btw, i did a tax return for a chev-olds salesperson in 1993 (or thereabouts) - he made more than 70K (don't remember exactly how much - i'd have to check my client files).

for the record, i've never heard of a per-car commission of only $100.