Articles for Humor
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
On a Saturday afternoon, a salesperson closed a deal with a customer; however, the customer was not willing to take her new truck home. She stated she was paying cash, had worked the salesperson on the price and committed to buy, but she wanted to come pick it up on Monday. I asked the salesperson why, and didn’t get a reason ...
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A salesman brought me a beat-up old $200 Chevette to appraise, and along with him was the Chevette’s owner, who made it a point to let me know that the Chevette has a set of “brand-new brakes.” While in my mind it was still a $200 junker, I was taught to drive every vehicle before I signed an appraisal...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
I was working at a Chevy store when the Venture van debuted with remote power sliding doors. A customer came in wanting a minivan so I assisted him in getting one. When delivery time came, his wife had only seen the van parked on the lot ...
Monday, March 15, 2010
Jim and I were sitting by the front door on a very slow afternoon, and Linda was leaning against a vehicle just a few feet away from us when she recognized a vehicle pulling up to the front door. She said, "Oh no. These kids are so upside-down they can't buy anything..."
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
My husband, Mark, and I operate a small auto carrier business based in the Midwest. One morning, Mark pulled up to a dealership in Menomonee Falls, Wisc., with a delivery of three Ford Fusions. A young man in business attire approached the rig ...
Monday, October 05, 2009
Back in 1979, I was a salesman for Walt Bennett Ford in Little Rock, Ark. One August morning I greeted a young man and his parents. The young man said he was looking for a Thunderbird or a F-150 4x4 pickup.
After test driving six Thunderbirds ...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Unfortunately, turn over in our business is an all-too-frequent occurrence. We had a controller who worked for us for a number of years then suddenly announced one Friday that the following week would be his last. He was a popular employee with a great personality and conversed as easily with the dealer or upper management as he did with ...
Thursday, August 13, 2009
After reading "The Bomb" in the June issue, I recalled an incident that happened some years ago. I had a customer, an attorney, Joe, who drove a 15-year–old, beat-up Cadillac that he refused to get rid of and lovingly referred to as the “Old Bomb.” When he needed service, Joe would pull up out front, and I'd jump in his car and drop him off at his office a few blocks away ...
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The sign above the car lot read, “Yes we have cars under $1,000.” No big mystery here, we’re talking about basic transportation—not how far or how fast, just that it runs. This is a niche that definitely needed filling 20 years ago.
Bob always greeted people with
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
I was sitting in my office one morning when my service manager charged in and cried out that there was a bomb under one of our customer’s cars. I ran out to the service department, and sure enough, there was a fairly large black box with a blinking red light under the car.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
"Don't touch him, I think he's dead."
One summer, back when I was selling Chevrolets, I went across the street to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet for lunch with some of my coworkers, and stuffed myself. When we got back to the dealership, there was a family looking for a minivan. When they asked for someone to help them, all the other salespeople scattered...
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Don Harris - I was a green pea in the business in the early ‘80s, working with my dad, H.L. “Bitt” Harris, on a small used car lot in Pensacola. We had more cars than customers at that time and very little cash.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Dean Swindler - Back on October 21, 1996, a customer and her husband arrived at the dealership looking for another vehicle. She was obviously very pregnant and expecting twins any day.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Erika Monroe - I will never forget an incident I had with a customer back when I was selling new and used Saturns. It happened close to 10 years ago when Saturn had SC2 coupes.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Bobby Peterson - Some years ago, I hired a brand new “green pea” salesman. Since he came from a family of "car guys" that I knew well, I assumed that he had some basic knowledge about cars.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Wendy Scott - A few years ago, I sold a beautiful, slightly-used Volvo to a very sweet woman. She was so excited and adored her new car. Only two short weeks later, she called to say the vehicle had been towed to our dealership.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Jospehine Lachapelle - When I started in the special finance department, I’d never worked for a dealership before, but I was excited about my opportunity. I started calling the customer leads immediately, and one of my first contacts was a young man...
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Jay Gould - Years ago, I approved a deal for a customer. To fund his deal we needed him to provide proof of income and five references. We gave him his stips and scheduled him to pick up his car around 4:00 p.m. the next day. Four o’clock came and went.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Jay Gould - Years ago, I approved a deal for a customer. To fund his deal we needed him to provide proof of income and five references. We gave him his stips and scheduled him to pick up his car around 4:00 p.m. the next day. Four o’clock came and went.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Steve Sweitzer - While working as the service director at a large Pontiac dealership in Tampa, Fla., we saw a significant amount of transient business. So one day when a gentleman from California presented his Fiero for maintenance...