Highest volume Subaru dealer?
 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...1&page=1&pp=25

Rolled across this on NASIOC and thought it was interesting.

Lithia is up there.
Lame.

Snow country.

True it is snow country, but that is pretty amazing even though, Lithia as a corporate entity sux, I have not yet had the experience of their service dept...that comes Friday.

I used to process the vehicle data at Lithia Suzuki in Sparks, they were always nice to me.

I know the owners of a couple of used car lots that will go and buy 15 to 20 used subarus a week this time of year, and amazingly they will be gone before the new year.

It's funny that you posted this. I was at Crawford Subaru here in Texas and the manager told me they were the best selling Subaru dealership in the US. I told him, "That's funny, because one of the sales men at Lithia in Reno told me the same thing."

Print out the list and bring it to him.

Seriously Tim, do it. 20 outta 130, not bad.

I'm impressed that Michael Hohl is way up there.

If Hohl had Lithia's location in Reno they would sell twice as much. Lithia is successful despite themselves.

Probably true, as sucky as Lithia is not a lot of people will drive to Carson to not deal with them.

Supposedly they are building an auto mall in Carson, so maybe that will change.

What exactly is an "auto mall?" I can't say I recall ever encountering one.

I am involved with a company that processs all of MHohls inventory and does their web pages, we visit there about 3 times a week, at all 4 dealerships. We have heard rumour of an Automall, but people are saying its a long way out, not sure what that means.

Most of the people that work there have worked at all the dealerships in Reno, they just move where the sales are when the can't sell where they are. Some of the clients we work for have several car lots and only call themselves Auto Malls on the internet. I think MHohl has the same problem that Fallon AM has, the population is smaller than Reno, and not many people are willing to travel 30+ miles to buy a car no matter how much they save.

The Sierra market has an automatic $2500 to $5000 instant increase in price just because we are special! I have heard great things about MHohl, but I have not had personal experience in buying a car from them or having one serviced. I have heard terrible things about Lithia, and I have worked with them with the company I consult with, tomorrow I will have my first experience with their service dept. I will let ya know.

When I bought my '03 WRX Lithia would not budge on price, whereas Hohl gave me a lot on my trade and a price just above invoice - savings of $2k+ and well worth the extra trouble. I have sent several people down there and two of them have gotten great deals and have been very happy.

I think Nick on here works at Lithia and I mean no disrespect to him, but I think Lithia is just living off their being the only close dealership in a very hot Suby market. I guess the bottom line is they are successful, so what do I know?

Nick's gone, actually. He moved to Washington last week. I believe he still works for Lithia Chevrolet up there. He may jump ship and go to the Subaru dealership (non-Lithia) up there, and leave Lithia behind.

I agree that those savings might make me drive to Carson or Fallon, but the mainstream buyer most likely doesn't. He drives down Kietzke sees each dealer till he finds the one that he likes the best and thats where he buys.

If more people would comparison shop between Hohl and Lithia, then Lithia would become better in order to keep up. Their pseudo-monopoly is keeping prices up and customer service down.

A friend got such a good deal on a Forester in CC she upgraded to the XT :D .

You know whats interesting about Lithia? I spent the good part of a year visiting with the Staff at Lithia and dealing with Lithia Corporate, their sales staff, service dept., and the corp billing and a/p dept. Their dealership map is pretty impressive, all over the Northwest, West Coast. I was told by a GM who had been there for about 10 yrs, that Lithia had a business plan, that was to reach 100 dealerships then sell them off as one unit. Happens all the time in this industry. In May they were at 75 and growing. So perhaps they will reach their goal and someone else will take over for them here.
I took the lil red wagon in today for warranty service, and for the two hours it took I walked around the lot to see what was new, I have to say I was pleased with the people I dealt with in service, but I was dissappointed with the selection, or lack there of on the lot.

I think Lithia Subaru is in the top ten for the most shadest business practices ;)

These guys are #1, when it comes to shadyness.

http://ezupdirect.com/index.html

Heh. I *almost* took a position as a service advisor at the Audi spot. And then I *almost* wanted a different position at the Jeep/Chrysler bit.

And then I decided working for Lithia would suck.

Sorry if there's a difference of opinion on the forum..

I also applied for a job there, which in fact turned out to be falsely advertised, oh well.

We had a lithia representative come into one of my business classes the other day and I informed her that the reno subaru dealership is one of the highest selling by volume in the country (20). This is when she was asking if we knew anything about lithia... she was impressed :) Thanks for the info!

Really? What was she wearing?

A suit...

Really? For what position?


The Lithia rep reply makes me think, too. When we were tooling around the dealership here, a woman rep. came up to us when we were looking at a 2.5i. She tried to pitch it to us, and we explained we had a GC, which she didn't understand. So we said older Impreza.. She wanted us to trade it, and we said no (of course).

The thing that got me thinking though was that she did try to pitch the 2.5i to us, but she didn't really seem to know what she was talking about..

Maybe she was new, but all I could think was "Jeez, I can pitch a Subaru to just about anyone, and it's not my job.."

I mean, at least I would know what I was talking about and have some zest for the job. =D

Maybe I'm overconfident, but that's experience is pretty much why I'd decided to apply.

As I was talking to HR and going through the application process, sales came up. I believe I could have gotten sales if I'd asked, as I was told I could be acommodated.

In any case, just moving here and all, I'd like to settle in before jumping into a position like that (even for a service adv. position..).

Plus that and Lithia kind of reminds me of a backstabber in a fairy tale..

Here's the thing about car sales people. They don't need to know about the cars, because 99% of buyers don't know about the cars. Those of us that do know about the cars tend to get whatever deal we want through the internet or phone sales people anyway.

Therefore, dealers hire salespeople not car people. They want someone that can lean on the customer and wow them with their bright white teeth, slick hair, and silk clothes. You know, the standard grease-ball sales type. :mad:

Let's watch the sterotypes about salespeople eh?

I would definately watch that show. :banana:

Why? It's not like they're people. ;) :lol:

I was a salesperson for a week. It was a job where I would travel around the country and try to sell people on magazine subscriptions. It was gay and I hated being that guy people tried to avoid. I especially hated going door to door. Although there were some exceptions to that, i.e. hot babes inviting me in for 'coffee.'

Well actually that last part didn't happen, I just keep dreaming.

You gotta be an express delivery driver for that to happen.

Of all the people on the board to make fun of their parents and best friend, you really think I'm a good choice? I mean really Scott, you don't want to see me when I'm mean.

Grrr...

nah, salesmen can be good or bad. I've almost lost faith in general car dealers (sports car dealers not included), but I've met one or two good ones to go along with the 10 or so awful ones.

Dude I'm just playing the stereotypes for comedic value, I don't actually hate all sales people.

But my point that car dealerships hire people based on their ability to sell and not on their knowledge of the product still stands.

Haha, I don't really care. My mom hates car salespeople more than any person I've ever met.

See the thing is the vast majority of car salespeople aren't really salespeople. Just because you fumble about and try to sell something to someone doesn't make you a salesperson. Being a real salesperson is an art. Selling cars is well, to be nice, not.

I know, I know. I just have this naive thought that I can sell well due to my sales/customer service background, and moreso because I know what I'm talking about. Plus, enthusiasm is nice.. =D

I wouldn't want to be one of those "typicals." If I didn't make enough sales, oh well.

I think the fact they don't know that much about the cars makes it easier for them sell the cars. They don't have all the tech clouding their sales pitch. They only think about making the sale and not just informing the customer about the car.

I think the more you might know about the product the more likely you will be to be too honest. You would'nt want the wrong customer driving away in the wrong car.

I bought my suby from hohl cause the boys and lithia turned there nose up at me.. oh well!!!!

That happens often...!!! :lol:

I ran the detail shop at Hohl Honda/Subaru for a short time, and I saw alot of shady stuff going on there. I don't think I met an honest sells person at Hohl in the entire time I worked there, which was about six months.

I've always had good service at Lithia, when I was looking for a bugeye in 03, they had this white used wagon I almost bought. The sales person name was Paul Jarret, but even after he was unable to get me financed, he tracked down a used 02 WRX at Reno Toyota and refered me to go there, and thats where I got my old bugeye. My friend Jake bought his 06 WRX from him, and he only payed 23,000 out the door.

The best salesman I've ever met works at Carson City Toyota, his name is Dave French, he is totally honest, and not one of those salesmen who stands in front of dents. A friend of mine was all set to buy a new Tacoma, Dave tried to talk him out of it, he was going to be head over in monthly payments, so Dave tried to talk him out of it, did he listen... no and know he has a repo on his credit report

Werd. The fact that I was both knowledgeable and passionate about cars in general was not helpful to me in my brief stint as a car salesman. Far from the biggest reason I sucked at it though.

No offense man, but there is no way that is true. One of the first rules of sales is know your product. Sales is not about lying to people, it's about convincing someone that what's best for them is what you are selling. It's a very complicated field that just happens to be butchered by a lot of people.

[butters]I dont know[/butters]

I guess it just my buying expierences that lend to that philosphy. I was never really told about the car when I was buying it. When I was thininkg about buying other cars at the dealerships I was always with nit a pitch or hard sell. I would ask questions buy my answers would also be pretty undetailed and short. Maybe they knew I already had knowledge of the car and were only interested in selling, not telling.

I mean, I walk around the lots with guys/gals and never heard things like. This thing's DCCD is gonna save your life in a skid and is fun to play with, or the Subaru crash rating is one the highest in the industry. The only points of interest about the car involed money and the sale, like Subaru Finance can you a good APR. Maybe those things are only selling points for the general public and not the car nut.

You guys are looking at it from the perspective of knowing something about the car you're buying.

Whoever said it earlier got it right, a large % of car buyers don't know enough. They are open to being 'sold', if the salesperson is able to read them. That is, the salesperson doesn't really need to know technical details about the product, so long as they have figured out the psychology of how a potential buyer can be moved into a higher level of interest. Think about how many people they get into the showroom, because the person thinks they want a Subaru, because its AWD, and 'those are supposed to handle well on snowy roads during the winter in N. Nevada'.

On salespeople - after high school I sold Cutco knives for awhile. Also, 'Anti-fog', where I stood at a table in the mall during the Christmas shopping season, and acosted people walking by who were wearing glasses. I can't even believe I made sales on that stuff. :lol:

So that kinda leans towards my idea a bit Debbie.

In reality all the cases are pretty dissimilar so I doubt any one point will be valid for very many sales people.

But like I said that just my expeirence I guess I was looking at it as a person who knows about the car, as you stated.

We can see what slicknick says about it, he's a sales guy right now still I think.

I have had more experience in the last 2 yrs with just about every salesperson at damn near every dealership in Reno. I visited about 20 dealerships a day all over Reno and Lithia in Sparks 2 times per week. Good dealerships require their staff to certify on their vehicles. Cory can tell you the nissan sales staff is required to take certification tests on each model. But all "Good" Brand Name dealerships have some sort of testing on their product. The problem is that you can not teach scruples, and most salespeople work on the funnel theory,The more that get in cars the better the odds someone will actually qualify, get you into a car, even if you cant afford it. Thats why they changed the finance terms to include 72 and 84 month plans. Most new car dealerships unwind (if you dont know what that means, its when they sell a car and something goes wrong with financing or people falsify info) cars at about 1 in 3 or 4 sold. Plus, even though you buy a car at say Lithia, in 3 to 5 months your paper, or loan will be sold to someone else. There are many great sales people out there, not all of them are interested in selling you something that you cant afford. I know several people that I would take my business to or ask questions. There is a reason the top sellers are always in the top 3 for every month. Then know what they sell, and they know what you can afford and need, and they won't oversell you, they don't lose deals to unwinds. I could give lessons on this :lol: (The real secret is a Great Closer!)

With all that said, its still a commission business the more you sell the more you make. Your best bet in any circumstance is go in with a bit of knowledge of your own.

Ezdno, that doesn't explain why the salesman that sold me my WRX told me "the A/C is totally electric, so it doesn't take any power from the motor!" :roll:

Nevermind that it's a totally fabricated statement, as the A/C compressor is belt driven... how about this response:

Me: "Okay, so where does the power come from?"
Him: "The alternator!"
Me: "And what powers the alternator?"
Him: "The engine..."
Me: "So how do you figure the A/C doesn't take power from the engine?"
Him: "'Cause it's electric!"
Me: "Nevermind. :roll:"

That's not just not knowing your product, that's also being plain old stupid. It's a shame that most people would probably swallow his logic line and sinker. Then wonder why the car is such a pig under 3000 rpm w/ the A/C on.

I said "GOOD" Some people are just stupid. I have seen salespeople that are new in the game do the same shit. But the people that want to make a living at being car salesmen follow the policies of learning the product. That person that told you that shit is probably selling cars at Rite Buy or something now. Shitty salespersons end up at crappy used car dealerships or jumping from new car place to new car place until they have made the circle and are basically ignored at the new car dealerships only to be cast to the "Shady Used Carlots" of the world.
I am guessing that guy probably isnt at that dealership you went to anymore. When you can go to a dealership and 90% of the staff is the same as it was 2 yrs ago, those people know their cars.

Actually I said "Good" Branded Dealerships require some sort of certification, what I didnt say is that new sales people that dont certify usually do not last more than a couple of months. Subaru is a "Good" branded dealership, with a poor followup process for their sales staff at that particular dealership


What sucks about that guy of yours, is he probably barely knows how to put gas in his own car. Understanding the mechanics of a combustion engine is like rocket science to him, or setting the clock on the VHS. He probably found his calling now, he is the head clerk at the dollar store! :lol: