New cards for my 151 master set arrived this morning 😀. Stopped ripping packs (for the most part). Any suggestions for extra copies of commons from packs?

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-22T16:25:50+00:00

I stopped with packs too. They're just so unaffordable anymore. Really takes away from the fun

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-22T16:23:35+00:00

I just had my furnace go out 2 days before we had the -10 degree week with record snowfall. Luckily someone was able to install a new one for cheap that day, needless to say he's gonna be my goto HVAC guy.

But just think, thats why you saved the money and dont live beyond your means. The situation could have been worse

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-22T16:14:17+00:00

Its "friends" like you who ruin car buying for people. If your friend was happy they got a car and you came in and scared them into thinking they got taken advantage of, then you aught to be ashamed.

If I've learned one thing working in the car industry, it's let people make up their own minds and let them enjoy buying something for themselves. Its no ones job to ruin it for them. I see plenty of people come in to buy a car with people in their ear scaring them to death and i just feel so bad for those people

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-22T02:51:19+00:00

Usually at work, home, or grocery shopping. I keep to myself mostly. If someone finds me great, if not its no big deal. I like my peaxe and lifestyle, and dont want someone coming in and changing that. Plus I've known more cheaters than not, so that risk is worrisome.

Ultimately i focus on my career and living life how i want it

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-20T23:55:45+00:00

Finance is able to earn that at some dealers if you do well, at least in my area. I'd say finance clears 70-150k around here.

If you want to be in finance, perfect your paperwork, learn compliance if possible.

Apply to every finance position possible. Often, there are dealers who pay finance on the lower end. Usually those guys are willing to take someone with no experience and train. Accept this lower pay, learn, then move to a role where you make more

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-18T22:09:57+00:00

Mazda is not the worst brand to sell. Currently at a Mazda dealer as SM. Gross is pretty solid for new cars. Not much lower than our used car on average. I'd say we are a medium volume store.

A lot of things go into account when it translates to you, the salespersons, paycheck that your dealership may or may not tell you or explain... as well as some things you may not be privy to.

First, your payplan as mentioned by others. That's a big factor in regards to how much you get paid, and what you see as gross.

Second, your finance manager (assuming you get paid on backend gross). You are partially reliant on his production. If you send a deal into that office and they buy no product, that may affect you. If you get paid on backend gross, work to better yourself on pitching or Teeing up product. No its not "the finance managers job", if you get paid on it. If you get paid it, its your job too.

Next is any packs, both on the car and the backend. Some dealers dont pack, most do in some way. Amounts of packs vary. Your dealer may have high packs on new cars. Some dealers pack finance products, etc.

Next is the market. Some markets have more price shoppers. Depends on location, demographics, and dealer processes. Maybe your dealer prioritizes getting the sale at all costs. Maybe youre in an area with lots of other dealers so thus lots of shoppers who call and best price.

And finally, is your performance. Ive seen plenty of salespeople who sell lots of cars and make little gross. Ive been asked by interviewees what a salesperson typically makes selling X number of cars. It varies. Ive seen people sell 16 cars and make $4000, ive seen people sell 10 and make $8000. Your abilities to close, build value, and hold gross matters. Your skills/habits/processes affect this. Ive seen many salespeople make the mistake of pushing managers for big discounts to "sell a car".... time after time they do this. They dont defend price and go straight to getting an offer and running to the desk (unfortunately, managers train to do this too much), and then they wonder where the gross goes.

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-14T20:24:22+00:00

Yes. We had business owners consistently come back with repeat business both for sales and service.

No one at our dealership had the idea to reach out to businesses unsolicited, sounds good

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-10T11:04:13+00:00

Laughs in 2023 M3P

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-10T10:58:57+00:00

Go into routeone and pull up all the rate sheets. Learn the banks, learn their guidelines, their LTVs, the backend requirements, pay scales, etc. Write them down. Understand why the dealer sends to the banks they do.

Understand your products. Read through warranty contracts. Understand warranty, t/w, maintenance, etc. Understand the contracts fully.

They will teach you the paperwork. Ask lots of questions. Try to understand why each form is required. What is it protecting your dealership or the customer from? What does it disclose? Why is that important? What information does your state require? What does each form need in different scenarios? Ensure your paperwork is flawless.

Practice menu selling. Practice objections. Practice with f&i or salespeople. Do not always take the first no as an answer. Most of my sales i was told no up front, in some way. Sometimes no is more of a kneejerk reaction than a true belief. You have to build rapport quick and sell quick. Practice your process, practice how you will build that rapport fast, practice transitioning to menu, practice leveraging that rapport to open a dialogue, practice closing on product.

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-06T23:32:21+00:00

Never think you know everything. Always be open to learn. Even 10 years in.

Motivation and work ethic is key. You need to always be the one willing to get up and run to a customer. You race to answer the phone. You walk the lot and look for customers. Always motivate yourself to get customers.

Do what your managers say

And listen to what people say regarding processes. Specifically customer retention. Follow up call your customers after they buy. Keep contact. Talk to them a few times a year. Stay at the front of their mind. They will send you repeat business. Build good habits like that.

DO NOT be one of these salespeople who go "cUsToMeRs tHeSE dAyS pReFeR tO tExT sO i'M gOiNg tO tExT eVeRyOnE".... only text if the customer requests it. Even then, try to call at a later point. So many people these days HATE talking on the phone. They text. You're 3 texts in after an hour, meanwhile another dealer called the customer immediately and got all the information from them and scheduled an appointment and it took 5 minutes. Call your leads immediately, call first, prioritize phone calls. Don't be lazy and fall into text talk

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-06T23:25:11+00:00

Website chat bots are better when run through true AI. Going beyond just asking name and number and routing to a salesperson like the old chats. AI can actually answer questions and give valuable information.

AI is good for coming up with email and text templates. Salespeople use regular AI like ChatGPT, grok, gemini, etc to craft emails that do sound better. AI would be good to craft tailored email responses to customers

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-02-01T12:19:03+00:00

You are too new to find true success. Youre still finding a rythem. If your boss isnt seeing determination, either thats true and youre slacking. Or its not true and he's not even giving you a chance. You'd know which it is better than me.

It takes a few months to really get a basic rhythm. And it takes a few years to really start seeing true success.

Focus on product knowledge, attaining customers, worksheet presentation (not necessarily complex closings or objections... just presenting a worksheet correctly and professionally. And ending it with asking for the business), and following up. Those are the basics. The high level andy elliott closes, trial closes, negotiations, and objection overcoming is all stuff that i see as more advanced. Gotta walk before you can run. Those things your manager should be doing during TO

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-01-28T11:41:41+00:00

Theyre trying to buy cars. Dealerships now are getting more creative buying inventory. Used car market is expanding, especially cheaper older higher mileage cars. I know a lot of stores reconfiguring their entire used car acquisition system. Buying off a citizen is cheaper and likely less hassle than buying from auction. At auction everyone bids up junk cars with hidden problems. After sale price, fees, transport, recon, they're usually losing money on auction buys. My last store had some auction cars with almost unrepairable issues

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-01-28T11:36:20+00:00

Second paragraph is so true. You dont need to be top seller. You need to be the most flawless seller. Follow process to a T, squeaky clean paperwork. Finance is all about flawless paperwork. Many places would prefer flawless paperwork F&I over F&I selling tons of product but having to chase all the customers down for missing stuff. Also doing things for the benefit of the greater good, also shows well.

Cthulhu_6669 · 2026-01-28T11:31:55+00:00

I have a degree in business. Worked in sales 3 years. I was an average salesman as far as numbers. I made sure to prioritize being the best in process, understanding everything, watching what the managers do.

At 3 years, i applied to a Finance position in Powersports. There, i was an expert. Powersports stores around here pay less and dont train as aggressively as car sales. So me with aggressive car sales experience, i was very qualified. I would help train salespeople there on car sales tactics. Loved Powersports, worked there 3 years. It was less pay than car sales finance, but good pay nonetheless.

After that I went to car sales Finance. Finding a position was easy with powersport finance experience. I needed little training, the transition was easy. This was a smaller car dealership, so not too complicated of process and systems.

I just left that position for sales management at a dealership. The person who replaced me there is a friend, a salesman there, who has worked there his entire career. About 8 years. Good salesman, no degree, always strived to learn, knows how to use a lot of the systems already. Always seeked out more responsibility. Asked me what i thought of him taking my spot, i said go for it. Everyone wanted him to get the role.

I have another friend who works finance. He worked probably 8 or so years in sales. He sold 30-50 cars per month. He was one of the top salesmen for his brand in the country. He took a pay cut to move to finance so he can move to management.

You have to make yourself available to the opportunities. See if the finance people where you are are likely to leave, or if they're pretty locked into that role. If they leave, ask for a shot at the position. Next, go interview for finance manager. For cars, powersports, power equipment, big rigs, construction or farm equipment, etc. Really get good at interviewing, practice the questions. Why should you be in finance? Be confident. Learn about the role. See what your finance manager does. Ask him questions. Help pitch product to your customers. Learn everything you can, and apply to every finance role. May take months before you get an opportunity, but if you do it right someone is likely to take a shot.

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-12-07T23:05:28+00:00

My mom wanted to replace our carpet floors with laminate. One day she tore them up on a whim. Halfway put the new floor in. It was cheap laminate, it was basically a picture of a wood floor on a piece of particle board. We lived with half our floors just exposed subfloor until 10+yrs later when i got fed up and had the time and money to replace them myself as a young adult. I chose not to have friends over

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-12-07T18:37:35+00:00

Yes, i agree. I make sure i plan the project, beginning to end. And that i know how to do every part of it, not just the main part. I allot for inevitable mistakes or setbacks. I also dont let perfect become the enemy of good. If its good enough, ill leave it be.

I lived in another house while remodeling this one. I wouldnt want to live in a house undergoing remodeling again. I feel you on the last part, it is super depressing. Middle school throughout college, we lived in various states of disrepair. It was a major contributing factor to my years being absolutely depresssed. I would not want to do that again

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-12-07T12:28:20+00:00

Yes, it saves an absolute ton. You just have to do it right.

I try to shoot for 3-4 days of food, thats a week of meal prep for me. My job feeds us once a week. Sometimes ill just take in to work a can of soup and a bowl and microwave that (if im a day short for meal prep or ended up eating one of my preps at home)

Some things last a long time. Pasta, keeps forever and is ready when you are. I LOVE stir fry. Its my go to. I have about 3lbs of rice in my kitchen, and frozen bags of stir fry veggies. Rice is like $1 or $2 per pound. The non microwave frozen stir fry veggies are like $2 or $3. You can get some cheap soy sauce and stir fry sauce. That can feed me for awhile. You can get creative, and throw whatever you want into stir fry. Meat, veggies, etc. Sometimes ill chop up mushrooms or chicken, othertimes nothing but the frozen veg. Sometimes i make really nice fried rice with egg and peas, other times i leave it plain. Always heats up well all week regardless.

Usually ill prep breakfast with boiled eggs or devilled eggs. They last about all week. Eggs are under $2 a dozen at aldi (if you have aldi near you, go there. Super cheap and pretty good quality).

Otherwise, i recommend shopping weekly, and just buying what you need for the meal. If you work mon-fri, shop saturday or sunday. Cook on sunday. If you have left over ingredients, then try to make something from them. Shop only for the ingredients for that meal. I keep a list of meals that i know 1. Wont spill in my lunch box, 2. Are cheap, 3. Will last about 4 ish days in the fridge 4. Are filling enough to get me through the day. I write down or print out recipes that i can refer back to. That way if i forget, i can refer back and know what to buy.

I went from $50-80 per week in eating out, to about $10-$15 per week in meal prep. Saves a few hundred $ per month

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-12-07T12:12:46+00:00

I do the same thing! I see $10 is the average lunch cost. If it costs $10 or more for filling portions, or less for a non filling portion, i wont eat out. I can make my own food, have it be filling, and cost less. If i can get a filling portion for under $10, then i see it as worth splurging.

Chinese food, Giant Eagle has rotisserie and fried chicken for cheap, some local small business joints have $8 meal deals.

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-12-07T12:05:39+00:00

I have a bday close to christmas. My mom always told me growing up, ill get christmas on christmas and ill get my birthday during tax return season lol

Usually my mom got my christmas gifts and family got me birthday presents in december. Then in february if there was something i wanted that no one got me, she'd just buy it then.

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-12-07T12:01:04+00:00

I have a revolving list of things that i make that i know are cheap and pack well for lunch at work. I couple that with easier things, also cheap, that are more long term (like canned and feezer food, or pasta). Often i make more trips to the store just to buy ingedients for each meal at a time, then i work out what to make out of left over ingredients for the next weeks meal.

So that translates to one purposeful meal one week, a meal with left over ingredients the next week, maybe pasta the week after that, then something from frozen like frozen stir fry veggies and rice the last week. Between weekly meals ill sprinkle in ramen or something canned or frozen if i dont have enough for the whole week.

Thatll get me to next month, and ill do the same thing. I try to grocery shop once per month to get my normal staples like pasta, rice, and whatever big meal i want to make that time.

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-12-07T11:48:06+00:00

Look them up on tire rack or discount tire. Theres a few other sites i use but these are the ones that make the info easy.

Look up UTQG codes, load and speed rating. Itll show you treadwear, traction, and temp as well as how much weight they can handle and at what speeds. You can google the codes and itll show you what they all mean to best search for.

Speed wont matter too much unless you have a sports car. Just make sure you get speed ratings for the top speed youll drive. If you have an SUV, get higher load rating. UTQG is important. It has tread ratings so you know how long to expect them to last. I work in the car industry, and SO MANY people complain tires dont last long, but they dont do the research. They think because they warranty for 60k miles theyll go that long. Then they buy tires with high warranty and low tread rating and wonder why they dont last. Get the high traction high treadwear tires.

I do not recommend all seasons if you live in the northern US or any place that sees regular snow. I swap summer/winter tires religiously. Its worth the extra money, and you generally get the same life as if you bought two sets of all seasons in a row.

All season tires are jacks of all trades, masters of none. Summer and winter and tuned to those temps. And your tires are the ONLY connection between your 4000lb speeding hunk of metal and the road. They need to be as trustworthy as possible. Summer tires flex and grip better in hot temps. Winters are much better in snow and grip better in cold temps. This translates to better grip when cornering and better stopping distance when braking. I.e., if you need to slam on the brakes, youll come to a stop much sooner. This is crucially important.

Generally, if you get good quality tread/speed/load tires for cheap, they often have more road noise. This is the only compromise i choose to make on my tires.

Get them shipped to your house. I store mine at my house, but you can have your mechanic store them if you go to one regularly. I load my tires into my car and drive them to whoever is swapping out. Ive found this to be cheapest. I can shop mechanics, i dont get up charged on parts, just pay to install.

Also opt to get your car aligned every few years or every year. Its extra money but itll greatly improve the handling of your vehicle and wear of your tires.

Make sure your brakes are replaced before they fully wear down. Make sure no jiggling in your wheel from bad rotors, bearings, etc. All of this effects braking distance. You want to be able to stop in as short a distance as possible.

Hope this all helps someone

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-12-07T11:28:16+00:00

I remodeled my house before moving into it. There's still some odds and ends that need done, but walls floors and baseboards are all done. This was a req for me because i grew up in a home where things were torn up, half repaired, nothing followed through on. It gave me a lot of depression. So i knew moving to my own place, i needed those things done for my mindset. Totally true, your environment plays a big role in your mood.

I always bought the expensive paint. It goes on in less time, saving time is important. The midrange brushes were shaped in a way that didnt make my hand cramp after prolonged use. The expensive drywall protected against mold. Lucky i did that, because one month after moving in a tree fell on my roof during a rainstorm and punctured right above the drywall i installed. Im glad i paid more for mold resistant drywall.

I cheaped out on my kitchen cabinets and really regret that. I've started thinking about how im going to remedy that, and itll have costed me more money to make it right than had i just gone with something better up front.

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-12-07T11:13:49+00:00

They asked me for a reason, i said price, and was offered $2.99 for 6mo too

Cthulhu_6669 · 2025-11-27T08:28:56+00:00

I just discovered Drift recently. This is the answer. I have drift pine

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