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I spent twenty-plus years in the Army, most of it as a Senior All-Source Intelligence Analyst, and after I retired in 2016 I went to work on the dealership sales floor — started as a green pea, worked my way up to sales manager. I never sat in the F&I box, but I watched thousands…
I spent twenty-plus years in the Army as a Senior All-Source Intelligence Analyst, and after I retired in 2016, I went to work on the other side of the desk — the dealership sales floor, all the way up to sales manager. So when I tell you I’ve watched Georgia buyers sign paperwork they didn’t…
Fifteen years in the Army taught me that most casualties happen not because people are stupid, but because nobody briefed them on the terrain. I spent my career after retirement on the dealer sales floor — salesperson, then desk, then sales manager — and I watched the same eight things happen to first-time buyers over…
I spent fifteen years in the Army before I retired as a Sergeant First Class in 2016, and then I spent years on the dealer side of the desk — sales floor all the way up to sales manager. Here’s something I learned along the way: the single most valuable financial protection a servicemember has…
I spent years on the sales floor and in the sales manager’s chair, and if there’s one number that causes more confusion at the desk than any other, it’s the trade payoff. You owe $18,500 on your trade. The dealer offers you $15,000 for it. That $3,500 gap has a name — negative equity —…
I spent fifteen years in the Army as an all-source intelligence analyst, and another stretch after that working the sales floor at dealerships — from greeting customers on the lot all the way up to sales manager. I never worked the F&I office, but I sat close enough to it to watch a lot of…
I spent fifteen years in the Army as a Senior All-Source Intelligence Analyst, and then I spent years on the dealer side of the desk — sales floor all the way up to sales manager. I’ve heard the line “these fees aren’t negotiable” delivered a thousand ways, and I’ve watched buyers accept it because it…
I spent years on the sales floor, and here’s a conversation I had more times than I can count: a buyer calls the store the morning after taking delivery and says, “I changed my mind. I have three days to cancel, right?” And I had to be the one to tell them — no, you…
I spent fifteen years in Army intelligence learning that most bad outcomes come from bad assumptions, not bad luck. Then I spent years on a dealership sales floor watching buyers make the same assumption over and over: that the “As Is — No Dealer Warranty” box on the Buyers Guide means the dealer can do…
I spent years on the dealer side of the desk — sales floor to sales manager — and before that, twenty-plus years in the Army as an all-source intelligence analyst. Both jobs taught me the same lesson: most bad outcomes trace back to paperwork nobody read. Yo-yo financing is the perfect example. You drive off…
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