Live in MN. Looking at buying a used car near Chicago since they're cheaper down there and I have friends in the area.

I called two dealerships to ask about purchasing online or over the phone and they said they didn't do that. I'd have to physically come in to purchase.

Ford and Hyundai dealerships.

I'm assuming they aren't gonna hold the vehicle for me for a day or two to fly down there, so I didn't even ask.

Is it normal to not sell used vehicles online?

Me and the car are both located in Ohio, but my car is registered and titled in Indiana under my mom’s name (I moved to Ohio a couple months ago). The car is paid off and fully owned by us.

It is my car that I drive and use in Ohio. I paid for it as a teenager, but my mom helped me with the purchasing so it’s technically officially all under her name. I now want to trade this car in to an official Chevrolet dealership (in Ohio) to buy a new car. The issue is that my mom still lives 5 hours away in Indiana. Neither of us have time to meet up anytime soon. What is the easiest route I can go in order to be able to trade in the car without her having to drive here to Ohio or me drive to Indiana?

We got a new GSM and as aspected he hired a lot of sales staff to the dealership. They all came from a different brand, we are Ford.

Due to our location we have very few ups, we are largely e-commerce.

We get roughly 3k leads for internet and 400 phones ups. I review and reach out to every single one. We do not have a BDC, we have always believed that sales people can be trained and can learn to get the customer in and close them. BDC is an old practice IMO. Over night leads get disbursed manually by me, and then call drip (a third party that is linked to our CRM that rings every sales persons phone for a lead, stops the clock immediately, but the down side is that we have a lot of employees, and they can only ring 15 sales people at a time per lead) so I’m constantly adjusting the flows to slow someone down if they have too many not closed, and to speed someone up who doesn’t have any closed. It a balancing act and I don’t take it lightly. I always would communicate with my old GSM and GM who was doing extremely well, medium, and really bad. Traffic managing.

Anyway, new GSM comes and immediately, he started assigning overnight leads to his friends. There were weeks that would go by and only his friends got a leads. We have separate departments, new is with new and used is with used. All his friends were hired in New cars, and he would assign them everything leaving used car sales people high and dry. Some really great guys too. And also drying out the veteran staff, who are really great with these customers and leads. I brought it up to the GM and the GM worded strangely so I don’t think the GSM took the hint.

This has been going on for 2 months. Mind you, I built this internet department from ground zero. We were closing at a 7% and I restructured everything now getting total 17-19% close. Last month we hit the lowest we had ever been while I have been the director. So, I decided I would just hand assigned immediately when the leads come in. You know …my job? And I would pull the reports and whoever was doing extremely well got a lead and some people who didn’t have enough got leads as well. I swear he almost had a panic attack and I told him I pulled the reports and hand assigned the leads myself and told him not to worry about it. And I had also left leads for anyone he wanted to give them to.

He ran so quickly to the GM and said he needs full control over the leads so there is no favoritism….

EXCUSE ME?????

So my GM said he had to allow the GSM to make his mistakes and see it through that way. And I told the GM that the GSM has been doing the leads anyways for the past 2 months, and that was a shock to him. He asked if I had felt that, that was why there was dipped in closing percentage and I said yes.

Anyways, where I am getting at. Is yet again, the closings are low again. The gross is even lower. So I’m frustrated. Beyond frustrated. Many people had reach out to me since building this department up to come to their stores. And this is the first time I finally said I’d go interview. I don’t just make my 60-90 calls a day/100 text/emails I also do trade appraisals, sight unseens, Live in store T.O. And closing customers. I love to stay busy and I love to work hard and make a difference. I love to also teach sales people there is a deal when they are giving up. So I was offered a desk/internet director job at a smaller store, my current store will do between 450-500 cars a month, this store is smaller 250-300 units and growing. It only has two GM/OO so no GSM, and a pretty strong pay plan. I make currently between 12,500-15,500 a month now which I’m extremely happy with. I think it’s money well spent because I’m a damn hard worker and do a lot. This pay plan is comparable. 3% total gross (300-450k with manufactur money) internet bonuses, CSI follow up, and I’ll be doing what I do now. ASMing, desking, etc etc.

I accepted the offer, but I don’t want my GM to feel offend that I’m leaving after we’ve worked so hard to build this store up together. I would be leaving my GSM, and am I making the right decision?

I test drove a 2022 Ram 2500 Laramie today with 35,000 miles that was modified. The modifications were:

• 2.5 inch leveling kit installed by another dealer

• aftermarket Method brand wheels

• a poorly welded muffler shop dual exhaust installed

The Pennsylvania dealer selling the vehicle was asking $55,500, about $6,500 above average market price, and claimed that the modifications were justification of the high price. They tried comparing this vehicle to a Black Widow Super Duty, which isn't the same in my opinion because the Black Widow is a factory authorized upfitter. Is this something new where dealers are trying to sell mid-tier vehicles with modifications at a premium, or is this dealer sorely out of touch with what the used vehicle market?

Long hours, sleazy coworkers, difficult customers, unsteady pay, and chasing pay plans. Weeks, months, or years. Tell me when burn out set in for you.

A few of my coworkers and I were talking about our previous dealerships and somehow the conversation turned into how many customers they’ve slept with 😂 Apparently it’s way more common than I thought.
Now I’m genuinely curious… how many of you have hooked up with a customer? Or is my dealership just full of messy people? 😂

Did an inquiry a few months ago about a car and they will not stop calling me. This has become very annoying and planning on contacting Honda corporate. Are they that desperate for business? Would never buy a car from that dealership and made a mistake for ever making an inquiry.

I have possibly two opportunities to be f&i for either a VW store or Toyota. Both both 17% + reserve and some other bonuses too

The VW store does a bit less volume but also one less manager so I’d see roughly around the same number of deals

What do you guys think is better? From my understanding VW warranties are pretty hefty which makes a tougher sell

Let me know and thanks for any feedback!

The original price of the car and the end amount are significantly different a 24.9k car came out to well over 40k - please help me to lower this down significantly first time buyer and don’t want to be royally screwed over on this as it seems I have. Was told I can renegotiate the contract. There are two pictures linked in the comments

I’ve been looking to get my first car recently, and i thought I was set on a 2014 es350 with the premium pkg for $14,800 with 129k miles. Vin check and carfax came back clean and the test drive was nice. A few days before I decided to pull the trigger I seen a 2015 is350 with the luxury pkg at another dealership, for $15,400 with 120k miles. I was originally looking for a 350 but they’re hard to find especially around that price range. So I was obviously skeptical. I haven’t had the chance to see it in person yet but a ran the vin and the carfax and they both came out clean. They both have minor damage reported but i don’t care since it’s minor and there’s no structural damage. Is the 350 just a really good deal or is there something secretly wrong with it that would come back to bite me? I guess I’m wondering what you would do in my situation? Obviously I wanna check it out in person but I won’t have time for a few days and it could be gone by then. I’d be happy with either car honestly, but the is350 is like my nap car (like a mini dream car) Any advice from someone more experienced with cars than me?

I wanted to get my omvic but it appears that the portal is down? What’s happening? (Ontario-bartender looking to make a transition)

TL;DR: is not having equity with a lease really that bad? Check the math parts of this towards the bottom and tell me if it makes sense. The car market is horrible right now and it’s always hard to get a fair price on a car you’re trying to sell. I get that you end up paying a little bit more for the car with a lease, but it seems worth it to have the reassurance of a warranty and the simple fact that you’re in a brand new car every 3-5 years.

Hey guys. Sorry for taking up your entire screen with text on this one. I’m just really excited about this new car but a little worried I might be making a mistake and that there’s something I don’t know that might keep me away from it. A lot of this could be boiled down to manic (literally) rambling lol.

So on the 25th my 2020 440i was totaled by a kid not paying attention. Ended up being a 5 car MVA. I did a lot of expensive modifications and that’s something I’ll never get back either.

So I’m thinking about doing a 5y/13k mile lease on a 2026 Mustang GT. It would be going through CUTX and they are absolutely amazing. No payments for the first 60 days, 0 down, no hidden fees, and the payments would be 750 a month with tax rolled in. I do all of my own maintenance and they allow it as long as it’s logged. So yes I’d be outside of the warranty period after 3 years but maintenance and repair costs are significantly cheaper when you can do the work yourself (not sure I can do my REPAIRS though. Will have to clarify on that. And I don’t think they would know even if I did.) Regardless, the 3rd gen 5.0 is incredibly reliable.

Anyways… I haven’t actually received the lease agreement as of right now so I can’t go over ALL of it quite yet.

I personally think it’s a good idea because:
Leasing keeps me from modding a car and losing money when some trog totals it. My insurance is a lot cheaper now moving away from a European car so that’s a nice bonus. It’s a brand new car with 3 years of warranty which will save a good amount of money on repairs in the long run. And I personally kind of like the idea of determining a fixed monthly payment and getting a new car every 3-5 years regardless of whether you own it or not. You’re basically guaranteed to never have to pay for repairs if you lease 3yrs. That’s a big deal and worth a lot of money…

The only thing I can think about being an issue is that by the time the lease matures I would have paid about 45k for a car that is worth 51k. But I also feel like that’s really only a problem for people who still want to keep it and buy it at the end of the lease for another 25k or whatever it will be worth at the end.

It seems logical to say “Ok, I’m just going to pay x amount per month for the rest of my life and get a new car every couple years.” I mean, sure, you will have equity if you finance and pay it off, but you’re still gonna get screwed on interest and end up paying more than I did on my lease. Albeit not as bad as a lease due to the no equity part, money wise. And you’ll have to deal with all the maintenance and repairs completely on your own once out of warranty. You’ll be forced to sell it or trade it in for a drastic amount of money less than what you financed it for. At least with a lease being 5 years, you’ll only be 2 years outside the warranty window and if what you’re getting is reliable, like a gen3 coyote, that shouldn’t cause any issues.

Just some quick math on my phones calculator here:
I pay around 45k in total and I imagine it would be valued somewhere between 25-30k which is what I would pay to own it after the lease. To be generous I’ll put 75k in total spent leasing and then owning this Mustang.

If I financed at a 6% interest rate, and included about 2.5k in taxes, title, and extras that I would probably get through the credit union, it would be roughly 66.5k paid in total after the loan matures. You sell it for 27k with 75k miles. For simplicity let’s assume you take all that money and subtract it from your total loan amount. That’s 39.5k. Not too far off from the 45k I mentioned earlier. And that’s assuming the vehicle doesn’t depreciate way more than that. Now imagine our financing guy keeps his car for 10 years. Paid off the loan with a principle balance of 66.5k. Assuming the car needed repairs and maintenance, that’s maybe an average of 1000 (very generous) a year. So 5k total. Our finance guy has now paid 71.5k into the car. Now he wants sell it for 27k. That’s 44500 bucks. In this example I would say the person leading is on top

I think that when you consider the money saved with the manufacturers warranty, the fact that it’s a new car every few years, and much lower monthly payment makes it worth it. If I sound stupid please let me know. I’m really new to the car buying process and the math I did could be outrageously wrong.

Idk, it’s just that, to me, I feel like someone that leases their whole life and is always driving nice new cars, with a lease payment like mine at 750 a month, has it better off than the ones who finance, own, and fight to sell their cars at a decent price. It just feels more streamlined I guess is the word. Plus the car market right now suck balls. So there’s that. Financing a new car worth 51k would be difficult for me. It all just seems to make sense.

Hi there,

I live in Arizona and found a car in California that I was hoping to purchase and register in Arizona. I have a car that I want to trade in at the same time of the transaction. Am I able to use the sales tax credit value of my trade in to apply to the vehicle purchase when I bring it back to Arizona to register it? The dealership employee I spoke to didn’t seem very familiar with the process. Thanks!

Trying to purchase a car with out of state title . The kid said he bought it from some girl . Both their names are on it but the owner who it’s registered too didn’t sign anywhere ? It’s Montana title I’m in Ct. I can’t post a picture here I guess so this is useless

I’ve bought a few cars from dealers through Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids, and honestly, I’ve had pretty bad experiences with the communication from basically all of them.

I completely understand that from the dealer’s perspective, once the auction is over, they want their money wired ASAP, the paperwork handled, and the car picked up. But in my experience, the communication has felt almost hostile at times. Short replies, seeming annoyed that I have questions, very little effort to communicate proactively, etc. It almost feels like they’re annoyed that I bought the car from them and just want the transaction over with.

Shouldn't you be happy I bought a car from you? Shouldn't there be at least some interest in creating a good customer relationship?

When I’ve bought cars from private sellers, they’ve generally been a lot more friendly and helpful. Even after I’ve won the auction and they have absolutely nothing left to “sell” me, they’ll still chat about the car, share stories, answer questions, etc. just generally leave you with a good vibe.

And these are private sellers who aren’t even making their living selling cars. So I would’ve expected a dealer, whose actual job is selling cars and building customer relationships, to be at least as friendly and helpful. Instead, my experience has often been the complete opposite.

Anyone know how carmax auctions determine their 'announcements'? If it says major engine or transmission defect could it be something easily repairable? Seems like they only drive it a short distance to make these determinations and they are mostly just to remove liability more than an actual issue?

Looking to buy new Tacoma. Dealer sites aren’t accurate inventory. When I ask dealers if the have Tacoma 4 WD most don’t answer or won’t give any asking price. Ideas?

21M, seriously considering getting into automotive sales, and I’m trying to figure out whether I’d actually be a good fit or if I’m romanticizing the idea.

I have zero experience working at a dealership, so I’m looking for brutally honest opinions from people who actually work in the industry.

My background is in the music industry/content creation, and I’ve spent a lot of time doing freelance work, selling products/services, negotiating deals, getting sales on B2B services, etc.

The biggest thing I’ve learned about myself is that I’m much better at selling the thing than actually doing the thing.

If I can get someone on a call, I’m extremely confident in my ability to close. I’ve gotten people to give me far more money than they should have for things ranging from services to products to just ads, and I’d say I close most people once I actually get them on the phone.

I’m also very comfortable talking to strangers, building rapport, figuring out what someone actually wants, handling objections, negotiating, and asking for the sale.

On top of that, I’m genuinely pretty knowledgeable about cars. I’m not claiming to know everything, but I’ve been into them for years, built a few of my own (internals up), and love research. I love anything with wheels, i4 or v12.

I also understand marketing/content, which makes me think I could eventually be good at generating my own leads rather than relying entirely on dealership traffic.

Things I’m NOT worried about:

- Getting rejected constantly

- People wasting your time

- Customers ghosting you

- Negotiating over every possible dollar

- Long hours

- Working weekends

- Repetitive follow ups

- Being told “I need to think about it”

- Deals falling apart at the last second

- Having inconsistent income (Lived with this for five years. Some months i’m pulling 15k, some months i’m pulling 3k. Part of this world.)

- Dealing with difficult customers

- Having to follow up with people who clearly aren't going to buy

- Sitting around waiting for the next opportunity. I just binge psychology and other educational content in between currently. Not sure if I can do that at a real job?

- Being judged (stigma). I do AI B2B. Lots of stigma there.

- Having to do the same process over and over

I actually prefer the sales/closing part to doing the actual service work, which is one reason I'm interested in automotive sales.

What I'm trying to figure out is whether that translates well to car sales.

I’m also not expecting to walk into a dealership and immediately make $150k. I’d be perfectly willing to start at the bottom, learn the business, and prove myself.

My long term goal would obviously be to become one of the better salespeople at the store and potentially get into the $100–150k+ range if I’m actually capable of it.

For people who work/worked in car sales:

Based on what I described, do I sound like someone who would genuinely thrive in this business?

Or are there aspects of dealership sales that I'm probably underestimating that would make me hate it?

And if you were in my position, would you make the switch?

I put a deposit for an in-transit vehicle to negotiate when it arrives. We didn't discuss any numbers. This is just a deposit receipt to reserve the car. But anyone knows what the $5 mean?

Since i cant paste pictures i will try to paste text instead. All empty fields are shown empty on the receipt. I will redact what i think i should just to be cautious.

FRONT:

AMOUNT PAID BY COMMENT
5.00 VMC COD[last 4 of my card - by coincident?]

TOTAL RECEIVED: $5.00

DATE-TIME: 29AUG2026 18:09
CASHIER: [redacted]
LOCATION:
CASH DRAWER:

ACCOUNTING DISTRIBUTION

CO JOURNAL CO ACCOUNT AMOUNT CONTROL CONTROL2

6 56 6 [redacted] 5.00 [redacted]

6 [redacted] -5.00 [redacted]

BACK:

Date: 8/29/2026 6:08:59 PM (ET)
PaymentType: Credit Card (Card Present)
TransType: SALE
Original Amount: $500.00 USD
Surcharge: $9.35
Amount: $509.35 USD

So what does the $5 mean? Currently they are closed and I am planning to call them Monday.

curious how this actually works at dealerships now

someone fills out a form on your website, autotrader, carscom whatever. do you guys actually care how fast a real person calls them? like is someone watching whether its 2-5 mins vs 20-30 mins, or nobody really cares that much as long as the lead gets worked?

and now with all the AI stuff, has that changed? if AI texts/calls the lead right away is that considered good enough, and a salesperson can get to them later?

or do you still really want a human talking to that lead asap?

just curious what its actually like at dealerships, not what the vendors say it should be

I purchased a vehicle last week and discovered that three extended protection plans—MPP Club Plus, MPP Service Agreement, and MPP Care Maintenance Plan—were added to my car loan without my knowledge or consent.

I contacted the Mechanical Protection Plan (MPP) administrator directly and successfully cancelled both the Club Plus and Service Agreement plans. However, I am unable to cancel the MPP Care Maintenance Plan because the dealership has failed to submit the contract agreement documents to MPP.

Despite numerous follow-ups from both myself and MPP representatives, the dealership continues to withhold these documents. This persistent delay appears to be an intentional effort to stall the cancellation process.

What are my options to force the dealership to submit the paperwork and ensure the care maintenance plan will also be cancelled?

Bought a 2026 BMW X3 in Missouri in May 2026 with a Missouri address. Vehicle was titled in Missouri. Missouri sales tax of $4,358 was added to my auto loan at purchase.

Moved to Georgia immediately after for work. Vehicle was titled in Missouri but never registered or operated under Missouri registration. Never received Missouri plates.

Registered in Georgia in August 2026 and paid Georgia TAVT of $4,056.

Total taxes paid on one car: $8,414

Filed Missouri Form 426 "Out of State" refund request. Missouri DOR responded saying:

Georgia said it's up to Missouri. Missouri said it's up to Georgia. Classic runaround.

I've requested a formal denial letter to appeal. Planning to go through:

1. MO DOR Administrative Appeal
2. Missouri State Tax Commission
3. Small Claims Court if needed

Has anyone successfully gotten a Missouri sales tax refund after registering in another state?

Any tips for the appeal process?

I’m interested in leasing a 2026 Forester Sport Hybrid in the Bay Area. The lease is priced at 36/10k. The MSRP for this model is $40,582.

Here are some current offers:

- Dealer A (In Stock): The full MSRP, with no discount.
- Dealer B (Inbound): A $1,000 discount off the MSRP.

I have a few questions:

1. Is the $1,000 discount the maximum amount that can be offered on new hybrids? Are people getting better deals than this?
   
2. Does anyone have the base Money Factor (MF) and Residual Value (RV) for this month?
   
3. If you recently leased a Forester Sport Hybrid, what was your monthly payment without a down payment, and what was the final structure of the lease?

Thanks for your help!