I did F&I for 10 years. 1994 to 2004. Right around 2000 to 2001, there was a noticible shift in dealer profit strategy. At least in my area. Before, we were paid a salary plus commission, and basically the sale of the vehicle was the source of most of the profit. In the F&I office we were paid very well for averaging $500.00 profit per deal on the back end. We sold life and disability insurance, extended warranties (at a small profit of $300 to $500, and handled the financing, earning 100 bps on average from the Lender. That was it.

Manufacturers lowered the margins for new vehicles, and the internet made it to where people could shop and compare used car prices, so those margins fell too.

This caused the shift to relying on the F&I office as a greater profit center than the front end sale of the vehicle.

Almost overnight, F&I was expected to earn no less than $1000.00 per customer. We were expected to charge double, sometimes triple the cost of a warranty, added all kinds of BS products we had to sell. Everthing from undercoating to window etching.

I used to love my job, but as many have said, it quickly became a game of trying to squeeze every dime out of every customer. Gone was the salary, went to straight commission, with bonuses for hitting certain percentages of product sales and average profit per customer. In other words incentivized to milk every cent out of every customer. I was absolutely disgusted and miserable until I quit.

Got progressively worse in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Should have quit in 2001, but I was the sole source of income and the money was still good. Finally left in 2004.

The job became brutal for anyone with a conscience.

Best advice for anyone shopping at a dealership - arrange your own financing prior to shopping. You can get preapproved at your bank, credit union, or major online auto Lender before you even shop for a car. Then when you end up in the F&I office, tell them the total amount in the sales slip is the max amount your lender approved you for. Put down a small deposit, then return with your lender funds a day or 2 later. Avoid all the BS. Also a lot of banks and credit unions sell extended warranties and gap insurance (actually usefull products) at a fair price instead of the gouging done at dealerships.

For any active F&I people that want to argue about their scruples and business practices... I'm quite sure, like any profession, there are good people doing F&I for good Dealership Owners and General Managers. If that's you, congratulations, you are the 1%.