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Smart Shopper Stories from the Sales Frontlines
47926 messages, Last post on Nov 27, 2009 at 8:39 PM
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Replying to: fezo (Oct 22, 2009 11:27 am) 
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Since there have been no sales stories lately, I'll give the readers, lurkers, and posters some insight of what a dealer auction looks like. I haven't been to one in a while, so this week I went with one of my managers just because I like the atmosphere, and to learn a few new things or two. The auction ran from about 9-4, but we stayed until about noon. We arrived at about 10am. There were 7 or 8 lanes with cars all going at once. We had a 100+ page list of cars available (10 cars per page listed) = 1000+ cars running TODAY through the blocks. In order to go in you had to be either registered (with your ID# for bidding) or had to have a visitor's pass. In order to get a visitor's pass you had to be there with a registered dealer who had to sign for you. You gave up your ID and got it back when you returned the visitor's pass when you left for the day. The building where the auction took place was a giant warehouse with about 8 lanes, and huge garage doors on both sides for cars driving in through the lanes and stop "on the block" for about a minute or two where bidding would take place and then it would drive out the other side. The cars sold were divided by who was selling them and went through the appropriate lanes. For example one bank selling all their repos had one lane all to themselves, while another manufacturer selling their lease returns had another lane all to themselves. The other lanes were filled with dealers' cars, ex rentals, etc. The cars that were going through the lanes were lined up outside, so if you spotted something, you could check it out before it went up on the block (rolled up for bidding), and check with your black book values, so you can figure out a strategy as to what you should bid up to. You had about 5 - 10 minutes to do that. The list of cars had details on the car such as accident histories and their amounts, registration info (if out of country/out of province), odometer issues, warranty info, options listings, and the mileage, so at a quick glance you could see if this was a right car for you or not. Keep in mind many of these cars were available for viewing a day or two before hand, some up to a week or more before, and many were inspected by the auction house for basic stuff like oil leaks, brakes, tranny leaks, or tires with the details posted on the car's window. Most sales qualified for arbitration, so if a buyer bought a car, and found issues, they could launch a dispute. The cars labelled as-is, didn't qualify and were bought as-is. So here's the fun part. 8 lanes going. 8 fast and loud talkers on the mics. About 500 bidders/sellers, and 1000 + cars to choose from, and you having about 1 minute to decide whether to bid on a vehicle or not, and to get in on the action right away. You'll also run into old coworkers/manangers/friends in the biz who are there to buy or sell. You'll mingle, smile, shoot sh!t, and then return to focusing on the cars you want to buy, The cars pulling up for bidding would inch along, stop for about 1 or 2 minutes, and bidding would start. The auctioneer would quickly go over any big issues such as odometer, registration, or accident problems (same stuff listed on the list), and would start the bidding. He'd start from high to low and keep dropping until someone started bidding. Because of the amount of buyers/bidders, there are auction helpers who help buyers with their bids, and yell out bids for the buyers that the auctioneer might have otherwise missed. These guys work the floor and are like the ears and eyes of the auctioneer. The car that's being bid on idles on the block for about a minute or two and then it slowly drives way while the bidding continues. Sometimes the bidding still continues while the next unit pulls up. While the bidding is going, these guys yell and show hand signs to the auctioneer to represent the buyers' bids, and at the same time the bids appear on large displays so if you have no clue of what's going on, you can watch the bids on the screens and sort of clue in. This whole process for each vehicle takes no more thna 5 minutes, most of the times less, and it ends when there are no bids at all and the vehicle is unsold and drives out, or when there are bids, but they haven't met the reserve. In this case the seller is contacted and asked if they'd like to sell it for the current bid, or renegotiate. Or when it meets the reserve (or if no reserve) and sells. It gets challenging when there are two or three vehicles you're interested in that are going at the same time in different lanes. You squeeze through the crowds, underneath the blaring auction loudspeakers, and in between idling cars on the blocks to try and see what the bids are at. There is no "thinking about it" here. No "I'm not sure id this is the right vehicle, or gotta ask my wife/boss/whatever". No "stop the auction so I can see if it fits my budget". Either you bid and buy or you don't bid, or you nooze you lose. You gotta really be on the ball and keep an eye on everything and bid on the right one not buy something wrong or pay too much. There is no return policy (unless the car was misrepresented), and if you buy something wrong, you better figure out a way to sell it on your own. And the funny thing is at the auction nobody (buyers) admires the vehicles for their beauty, lines, performance, or wow factor. The vehicles are admired if they have the right mileage, look clean, is mechanically sound and are easily sellable. Every dealer in there tries to get it for the least amount possible, and every car purchased is based on a rational decision whether it can sell quick and make a profit. It becomes an emotional decision (for the end buyer - meaning you the customer) when it ends up on the dealer's lot and the customer sees it and falls in love with it. In a way it happened to me where I loved cars for what they are but have become desensitized to them since being in the biz for 5+ years. But I love ther auction atmosphere. Hundreds of cars idling and inching through the blocks, crowds of bidders, 7 or 8 auctioneers blaring bids over loudpeakers, and bidder helpers yelling out stuff and honking horns to get everyone excited. If any car buff has has an opportunity to see a large dealer auction, I'd strongly encourage it. 
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Replying to: verdugo (Oct 22, 2009 12:35 pm) Here's a definition I just found: Description North America, the planet's 3rd largest continent, includes (23) countries and dozens of small island possessions and territories - mostly in the Caribbean. It contains all Caribbean and Central America countries, Canada, Mexico and the United States of America - three of the largest countries on the planet, as well as Greenland - the world's largest island. If boom can name off all those than I am impressed. Source; countries of NA P.S. Boom, on Jay Walking the other day he asked what countries border the U.S.A. and they knew Mexico but not the other country. How can that happen?
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I know there's been a lot of discussion lately about the short supply of used cars. Today on the radio a news report was saying that yes, there are fewer used cars available and the prices are going up. The report also said that the current hot models are SUVs which are selling well because of low gas prices (they must not have bought gas this week). After hearing that report I was surprised to see all the car carriers coming out of Manheim today had SUVs on them. How does that work, do the dealers place those stories to match what they are buying this week? Also I remember someone mentioning a gov't rebate on golf carts which I thought was pretty silly until I saw a flatbed loaded with (you guessed it) GOLF CARTS coming out of the auction also. What's the 0-60 on one of those? |
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Replying to: richard64 (Oct 21, 2009 4:51 pm) Heck I don't like finding various young people sleeping on the floor all over the place either. We allow it so no one drives home under the influence. They are all of legal drinking age but their maturity leaves much to be desired. 
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Replying to: british_rover (Oct 22, 2009 11:24 am) Fortunately, I still have the owners manual right in front of me ... Automatic Transmission Fluid - DEXRON - VI Automatic Transmission Fluid Rear Drive Module / Transfer Case - Synthetic Axle Lubricant (Part #, US - 89021677, Part # Canada - 89021678) So, you are spot on. What all did the diff flush include? Didn't ask .. we wanted to research the issue before getting into details. So, I'll get the automatic transmission done at 50K, per the severe duty schedule in the manual. Should be another 14-18 months before that is needed. We've got 30K on the clock in 26 months.
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Replying to: michaell (Oct 22, 2009 2:14 pm) Interesting that they mark that rear drive module/transfer case. AFAIK the VUE doesn't have a transfer case exactly as all of that is tied up in the transaxle. I wonder if they have a haladex or some other wet clutch unit tied into the rear diff. I really don't remember been so long since I worked on one and I have never worked on the newer ones only the older ones with the Honda V6. When it comes time to do the rear diff service if it is just a rear diff and no other funny wet clutch pack unit then don't bother with the GM specific GLS part number. That special GLS fluid is probably 20 plus bucks a quart now. Either Amsoil or Mobil 1 synthetic meet all the same specs and are less then 8 bucks a quart. They might even be as low as 5 bucks a quart depending on where you buy them. If there is a special module back there then I would check to make sure that it is actually serviced during the rear diff change. If it is then the GLS fluid might be required.
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Replying to: boomchek (Oct 22, 2009 1:47 pm) Interesting, Boom. Thanks for the look behind the curtain. |
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even better, Manheim has a live internet feed going. I watched this with a dealer I was working with at one point (totally additing). ALl the info on the screen, and you can watch 4 lanes at once. And bid right on the screen! Point, click, ship baby.
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Replying to: stickguy (Oct 22, 2009 3:16 pm) |
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