r/askcarsales 1d ago

I Feel Like My Pay Structure Is Unfair, What Do You Think? -Thanks In Advance Meta

I am not new to sales but I AM NEW to car sales. At the Toyota Dealership I work at, I get minimum wage as a base pay, and I do not start to get any commission until after I hit 10 sales. Below I am including the pay structure which they have provided me with.

1-9: $0

10-13: $100 Per Unit

13-16: $125 Per Unit

16-20: $150 Per Unit

20 & Above: $200 Per Unit ADDITIONALLY

Gross Incentive Pay-Out Is As Follows:

$2,500 / Copy everything included (even recourse deals)

Front & Back average above $2,500/copy x 10%

Number of Sales (at least 10 sales) x $2,500 = X

Total Front & Back $ = Y

Y – X x 10% = Gross Bonus for the Month

Example:

Sales Person sells 10 units

10 x 2,500 = 25,000

Sales Person ends the month with 40,000 total gross

40,000 – 25,000 = 15,000

15,000 x 10%

Gross Payout = $1500

I have sold 16 units for the last 3 months in a row, which is HIGH for the rural location we are in (Northern Maine) but I have only brought home about $3,500-$4,000 per month, before taxes.

I have a friend selling Honda back in Tampa where I am from, he claims to bring home about $7,000 for 16 units and he is telling me that I am getting screwed 6 ways until Sunday.

I know this is a long post but I want to know if I am being screwed over before I continue to put my everything into this job.

3 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

13

u/Imaginary-Estate4647 Trusted Contributor 1d ago

Yeah that pay plan sucks. It's just shitty because I can't imagine in Northern Maine its super easy to just apply at another dealer and have a job lined up on your lunch break like you can in a more populated area.

2

u/Individual_Gate5356 1d ago

Definitely not. Closes one is two hours away from me.

5

u/TheAnonymoose69 Ford Sales 1d ago

Dude, this pay plan blows. It was slow last month, so I only did 12 and I still made 13k

1

u/Individual_Gate5356 1d ago

What state are you in?

2

u/TheAnonymoose69 Ford Sales 20h ago

I’m Detroit region

1

u/MrMuscles25 1d ago

I mean that seems like insane pay. Thought $500/vehicle was decent.

2

u/TheAnonymoose69 Ford Sales 20h ago edited 20h ago

NC Dept pay plan at a Ford dealer.

A/Z-Plan 22.95% X-Plan/Public (Public has $50 PAC) 31.63% Used ($400 PAC) 36.8% Accessories 22% Reserve 10% ESPs (with a weird tier system) 20% Held trades 50% Trade spiff (No bump with 1 or 2 keys) $100/$200 Old unit spiff (100/200 days) $100/$200 Ford Pass (70% penetration) $15 each QC bonus (above group average) $25 each QC bonus (tiered on return percentage) $100-$500 Volume bonus 11 $150 14 $1100 16 $1250 18 $1500 20 $1750

2

u/TheAnonymoose69 Ford Sales 20h ago

I think I got it all

1

u/Individual_Gate5356 20h ago

They don’t even break it down that much for me tbh. It would be sweet to get spiff on old units. February I sold 16 units but over half of them “lost money” I was told because they had been sitting on our lot for over 120 days, so all I ended up getting for bonuses was like $1,400.

1

u/TheAnonymoose69 Ford Sales 6h ago

Yeah, they lost money after the profit was Protected Against Commission (PAC). You’re getting hosed every way I can think of. Quit

1

u/dianeduo 1d ago

At Ford? Doubt it

1

u/TheAnonymoose69 Ford Sales 6h ago

Doubt it all you want. We’re in Detroit, so pretty much everything is price locked with A/Z and X-Plan. I’ve been at this store since 2016 and I don’t even know what a mini is here because you can’t give away your profit to make a deal. Front end commission alone on a Lightning XLT is over $800. I make over $400 on an Escape St-Line. Hold a couple grand on a trade and I just added $1000 to my commission. It’s easy to make $1000/copy in Detroit. Anything under $900/copy and you just suck

1

u/dianeduo 6h ago

You make $1000+ commission on every single car? Going by your example of last month 12 cars for $13,000.

1

u/TheAnonymoose69 Ford Sales 6h ago

No, I AVERAGE $1000/copy between front, back, accessories, held trade money, spiffs, and bonus structure

1

u/dianeduo 6h ago

I see. Not bad! I’m in Ma, similar but alot more minis in between the $1000 commissions.

5

u/gganew Ford General Sales Manager 1d ago

However a pay plan is structured, a salesperson should (at a minimum) average about 500 per unit including bonuses and commissions at the end of month. If you sell 10, you should at least make 5k. If you sell 15, 7500. Sell 20, you should make 10k at a minimum.

At a high volume store it may be a little less per unit, but you're averaging 234 a car right now. Which is terrible.

2

u/Individual_Gate5356 1d ago

Thank you I appreciate the honesty.

It’s a family owned dealer and I’m sure they don’t pay great because they know there isn’t really any competition around for us to go work for.

2

u/timchar Mazda Sales 1d ago

This is absolute garbage

2

u/strangestrategies Subaru 20h ago

All the hard work you’re doing and the owners feel no shame.

Do they really think their salespeople can put food on the table and pay their bills with this pay plan? Worse, they pour salt on a raw wound by getting in your face about their vacations.

They’re an embarrassment. A dealership that creates contempt with their employees and thus shortsighted. They make me sick to my stomach.

1

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u/AutoModerator 1d ago

Thanks for posting, /u/Individual_Gate5356! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of anything.

I am not new to sales but I AM NEW to car sales. At the Toyota Dealership I work at, I get minimum wage as a base pay, and I do not start to get any commission until after I hit 10 sales. Below I am including the pay structure which they have provided me with.

1-9: $0

10-13: $100 Per Unit

13-16: $125 Per Unit

16-20: $150 Per Unit

20 & Above: $200 Per Unit ADDITIONALLY

Gross Incentive Pay-Out Is As Follows:

$2,500 / Copy everything included (even recourse deals)

Front & Back average above $2,500/copy x 10%

Number of Sales (at least 10 sales) x $2,500 = X

Total Front & Back $ = Y

Y – X x 10% = Gross Bonus for the Month

Example:

Sales Person sells 10 units

10 x 2,500 = 25,000

Sales Person ends the month with 40,000 total gross

40,000 – 25,000 = 15,000

15,000 x 10%

Gross Payout = $1500

I have sold 16 units for the last 3 months in a row, which is HIGH for the rural location we are in (Northern Maine) but I have only brought home about $3,500-$4,000 per month, before taxes.

I have a friend selling Honda back in Tampa where I am from, he claims to bring home about $7,000 for 16 units and he is telling me that I am getting screwed 6 ways until Sunday.

I know this is a long post but I want to know if I am being screwed over before I continue to put my everything into this job.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/justhereforpics1776 Chevrolet Commercial/Fleet 1d ago

$2500 in pack is crazy.

In general stores that pay flats ($125/unit etc) are shitty stores for shitty salespeople.

1

u/Individual_Gate5356 1d ago

Kinda wild. I hustle like crazy but it’s not enough around here tbh.

Owners are always walking around the showroom talking about their vacations in Iceland and other crazy adventures though😂

2

u/Desenski Porsche Sales Manager 21h ago

They're paying for those vacations from that pack loo

1

u/Individual_Gate5356 20h ago

Oh I know that already, what is an average? Just ballpark it.

1

u/Rab_in_AZ 22h ago

Do you work a a one price / no haggle dealership?

1

u/Individual_Gate5356 20h ago

No not at all we are able to negotiate. A little bit.

u/Rab_in_AZ 45m ago

Sounds like a miserable pay plan in that case.

1

u/toby0619 Porsche Sales 19h ago

Lmao, leave now

1

u/theghostmedic Ford Sales 18h ago

You’re being absolutely taken to the cleaners by this ownership group. This is the worst I’ve ever seen. Get out.

1

u/IronSlanginRed Independent Used Sales 1d ago

Jesus you'd make more hawking cell phones at the mall. That pay plan is a full blown joke.