Internet manager here. Ask me anything!

Custom order paint cars are rare to begin with and so far we haven’t ever gotten any outrageous color requests where we had to turn them down.

If there is a client that wants custom order purple R8, I’ll bet you there someone else out there that would not mind driving a purple R8 as well for the right price.

Is it frowned upon to “advertise” dirt cheap lease deals online and in forums such as leasehackr? Are there any regulations and restrictions such as @Cody_Carter which has to keep the excel sheet hidden unless PM’d? Thanks!

Every ad posted on dealer’s website cannot be lower than invoice or else they’ll get in trouble by the manufacturer. Dealerships always advertise a low monthly payment but when you read the fine print you realize that you are putting $5-$6k to get there and it’s always an invoice deal. ALL DEALERSHIPS PAY THE SAME AMOUNT FOR A CAR FROM THE MANUFACTURER. A volume dealership doesn’t get cars for less versus a small volume dealership. Just different business philosophy. Make a little from a lot of units or make a lot from just a few units sold.

Other dealerships can report another dealership for advertising lower than invoice which is why we try to quote over the phone or text just to protect ourselves.

The manufacturers can really care less how much or litter dealerships make on a car, all they care about is units sold.

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Wish I could keep pricing out in the Wild… but Toyota Ad Policy doesn’t allow under invoice pricing.

Someone reported me and thats why I got in big trouble

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thats brand specific. i knew in toyota and audi. not sure on other brands. chevy doesnt have that restriction.

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Lexus also has the policy, which makes sense that they are inline with Toyota’s policy. Kinda odd that Audi has it, but VW doesn’t.

Thanks for doing this, Ivan! Lots of great info here and it’s nice to peak behind the curtain.

I have a more miscellaneous question, but do salesmen know which of their customers filled out each of the surveys? And also, what kind of impact does alow score have on both the salesperson and the dealership? I know there is such a huge emphasis on perfect scores and I’m still on the fence about throwing my most recent out or sending it in with an imperfect (but honest) score.

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i Hope it was a salesman and not some customer trying to be a jerk.

Do manufacturers choose on their end, what colors and trims to send to smaller dealers that are not high volume? For instance, I have seen 2 encores sitting on the lot with msrp of $32-$34k i think in some crazy color. I asked the dealer why he ordered those cause they have been sitting for a while and he said they were given by corporate.
Also, if dealer is high volume, do they get to choose colors and trims to be sent to their lot? Thanks

Thanks for previous response.
Also why does Audi typically lease high with all models? I notice very high MF and typically only around 6-8% discount from msrp, while other manufactures willing to go 15-20%+. Is it bc the bank, the supply/demand, or something else?

Since you’re a sales manager, lets say I do a deal through you through email, circumventing a salesman. Since technically you sold me the car, do you get the spiff (are you allowed to get a spiff as a sales manager), or do you assign to a salesman after we finalize numbers?

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I was going to ask the same thing, how does the internet manager make money? Do you get paid by the sales that was initiated by online contact (through you) or you just get a base salary plus a bonus based on the overall sales performance of the dealership?

How do auto leasing agencies/brokers secure almost instant and very competitive quotes when you call or email them on a variety of cars across different manufacturers? And when a consumer tries by themselves, they usually get multiple rounds of negotiations with the dealer and still won’t be able to beat the brokers price. Is it because the leasing/broker offices are set-up directly with fleet dept that sends them the best monthly deals?

Are there flat rates negotiated ahead of time that dealer pays out to broker agencies when they bring in a client?

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So most of the time is there any benefit to looking for deals near the end of the month?

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But don’t high volume dealerships get more “bonuses” per car sold?

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Ah, this is a great question. Manufacturers tie A LOT OF MONEY to these surveys. We’re talking about over 6 figures every quarter which is why every salesman will ask for a perfect score because it is tied to their pay plan and risk losing their job if they continue to get bad numbers.

The manufacturers set such a unrealistic number that anything less than a perfect score is practically failing and any honest score from the client is not passing.

For the most part, the salesman and everyone else working there can see who answered the survey and what score they received. (Only speaking for Audi)

If you like the salesman and felt like he did a good job. Don’t screw him over with the surveys. You can always just not answer it or write any feed back directly to management or on their social media page.

Everyone who is in the car industry hate these surveys as everything falls on the salesman. Even rating on the dealership facility and how things went in finance which the salesman has no control over.

Now if the salesman was a total jerk from start to finish, then that’s a different story.

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Most dealerships are given allocation and management will choose the trim that they think are easy to sell.

The more volume a particular dealership sell, the more allocation they get. That’s another way to tell when you are looking at their website if that particular dealership is a volume dealership. Look at how many new cars they have in relation to their competitors.

There are instances where manufacturers will build a batch of weird optioned vehicles and disperse them among dealerships.

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Thanks @IvanAudi ! 20202020

IIRC your experience was really bad and I think your survey answers should reflect that.

Whenever I am generally (maybe not 100%) satisfied I still give them 10s because there can be serious repercussions as Ivan said, and I don’t want anyone to lose their jobs over minor faux pas.

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Supply and demand. Audi has been growing consistently for the last 5 years month to month where as Mercedes and BMW sort of hit their peak.

Once Audi begin to sell just as many cars as Mercedes and BMW is where you’ll start to see very competitive rates.