Are you allowed to give a car dealer a "tip" when you buy a car??

Question

Will buy a car soon and was wondering if it was illegal or "against policy" to give car dealer's a tip.

Answer 1

It is not illegal to tip a salesperson who has been especially helpful to you.
It isn't customary either so don't feel obligated to.
Some dealerships might frown upon it so it is best to be discreet if you choose to 'tip'.

There are a lot of really decent people who sell vehicles.
(Like any other kind of sales-position)
I have a a lot customers who have sent me flowers, brought me gifts & sent me "thank-you" cards & tipped me.
So I guess I am doing something right, LOL~!

As Fire4511 said .. a salespersons commission is not always very big. A minimum commission is (depending on the dealership pay-policy) often as low as $50.
The (US national) average salesperson sells 10 cars per month.

So if a salesperson goes out of their way & makes your purchase experience exceptionally pleasant ... you can feel free to bighten their day as well.

It is always a pleasant surprise when I receive a thank-you & I often get {{{ hugs }}} at the end of a sale...

I hope this helps!
;'-)

Answer 2

Car Dealer Tips

Answer 3

Every one of the people who claim that the salesman makes a fortune selling a car is way off base! The salesman is paid a percentage of the profit on the deal, but that can be very little. When I was selling new cars, the minimum commission was $50. This meant that if the customer got a great deal, we would make very little. Usually the people who fight the hardest for every penny were also the ones who thought that we we making a lot of money on them, and we had ripped them off!!

There is more profit in a used car than in a new one, but still it is rare for a salesman to make more than a few hundred dollars on a deal! If the person you are dealing with goes out of their way to help you, and you want to give them a tip, feel free. I guarantee that if you have a service issue later, the salesman will do a lot more to help you (which is not really his job) than if you act like they owe you something!!

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Are you allowed to give a car dealer a "tip" when you buy a car??
Will buy a car soon and was wondering if it was illegal or "against policy" to give car dealer's a tip.

Answer 5

It is more likely you would be asking the sales rep to buy your family a meal out in exchange for the deal. If you ask for floor mats, don't be surprised if you only got the front mats when they deliver the car. I sold cars for a couple of years and it is a cut throat business.

The used car side usually gets like 20 percent, maybe 25, and new cars are more like 15 percent, maybe 10. It will be even greater if they beat some monthly sales goal and a yearly volume will be tied to Christmas bonuses. So, say you are purchasing a $17,000 car = about 18 - 20 percent to the dealer = 1200 to 4,000 and 1200 to 1900 to the sales rep. Gross now, looking at health care and other benefits.

So the dealer is doing 100 units per month * 2000 average = dealer's cut of $200,000 or $2.4 million yearly. And don't forget the body shop, dealer only parts, repair garage end of things. Sales dude = 8 units per month * 1500 = $12000. It is more likely a top producer to get this. Average will be more like $8000. Not all dealers are going to share the wealth or care to be a high volume dealer and prefer to make high profit off every sale.

Real estate is 7 percent now. That is $75000 house * .07 = $5250. the broker/rep split is 60/40 and top producers split 50/50. It splits again with the listing agent's broker, but they sell some of yours, you some of there's, it works out.

Real estate is more high risk because you pay your own ads, car costs, long hours after dark, work almost every weekend.

Neither one is a walk in the park, but they are the two highest investments we make in life and you can't expect a non motivated, non trained person to just kind of bump into the business by accident. They earn that money.

The Realtor(R) works for the broker, and house seller who pays them. The car salesperson works for the dealer. The dealer would consider it a conflict of interest if he thought the rep were representing you because of some kick back, let us say-- They'd look at some tip and wonder why or did the rep get all he could.

There is such a thing as buyer's agents you can hire in real estate and car sales. There is full disclosure and you may be paying the savings to the buyer's agent then.

Answer 6

They are not suppose to accept tips normally because of company policy. I'm sure most car salesmen would appreciate a tip but only after the sale and only if you feel the salesman did a special job in giving you the best customer service. Sometimes, the salesman spends lots of time and makes very little commission and other times he can make a good commission but it's not the general rule unless the product is hot and in demand. It's really not an easy job especially if the salesman is looking out for the customer and usually you can tell this just by his actions over the course of the sale. Do it ONLY if you feel he/she deserved it.

Answer 7

Yes there is a lemon law. "As is" means there is no warranty. Never buy a car from a dealer this way. Dealers get cars that are salvage titles and with other problems from the Auction. They are required to disclose a salvage title car. This means it was wrecked and considered totaled. Katrina cars are showing up everywhere and they are salvage cars rebuilt with parts. Take the car back and tell them to fix it so it works or refund your money. If they refuse leave the car and call the finance company and tell them the deal is off. You returned the car. If you bought it cash you may have to sue them. Most dealers will fix the car but there are some bad non reputable dealers. It sounds as if there are some wiring issues and a short in the system. The car is not allowed to be sold this way because it could cause a car fire. Different states have different Laws. I am assuming you are in California. The Lemon law does cover new cars but used are not covered. However there is a 72 hour law that allows you to return the car and end the contract. Your finance company won't finance a broken car and that will kill the deal because the car lot won't get paid when you return the car in that time frame.

Answer 8

The only tip a salesman needs is repeat business. Refer your friends to him, or REMEMBER HIS NAME when you're ready to buy another car.

Answer 9

No matter what BS the guy feeds you about what a great "deal" you're getting on a car, he's done everything in his power to extract as much money from you as possible. Tipping him for that would be ridiculous.

Answer 10

yes, but my son told me he rarely got tips from anyone. he worked for a large ford dealer in mobil alabama. they tip most of the time if it is a multiple times, like maybe they bought cars from you (the Salesman) every year.