Every industry has its own jargon. Just for
fun, the Planet team collected some
terms that you might hear in various departments in a car dealership. Each is used in an example sentence. Enjoy!
Ash
Tray
Noun. A car that has a strong tobacco smell.
"I don't
think we can sell that ash tray here; the odor is too bad."
Baloney
Skins
Noun. Tires that are worn so badly that the tread
is gone and the rubber is smooth.
"After
100,000 miles without a rotation,
those tires are baloney skins."
Bank
Verb. Find another dealer to guarantee a trade
value when the trading dealer doesn't want to retail the car.
"We'll
never sell a Lamborghini at a
Subaru store. Let's bank it with a dealer that
specializes in exotics."
Burning
Gas
Phrase. Describes when a customer has paid for a
vehicle and actually driven it away from the lot, so the transaction is
fully
consummated.
Synonym: "Busting Bugs."
"We sold
nine cars this weekend but
one is not yet burning gas because
the customer has some credit issues that need to be resolved before the
bank
will approve the loan."
Chromies
Noun. Chrome wheels.
"That truck
has the optional 20 inch
chromies."
GAP
Insurance
Noun. Stands for Guaranteed Asset Protection.
If your car is totaled, GAP insurance
protects you if you owe more on your car than your insurance company
pays you
for your car.
"Good thing
you had GAP, Ms. Smith, because your insurance company
only gave you $20,000 for your car and you owed $24,000 on it. Now you're off the hook for the $4,000
difference."
Green
Pea
Noun. A salesperson new to the car business.
"When
Planet Subaru hires
salespeople, we like to look for green
peas so we don't have to break any bad habits."
Handshake
Noun. A manual transmission.
"The customer needed to trade in the handshake for an automatic transmission because he had knee problems in his left leg."
Synonym: Row your own. "You can save a thousand dollars if you buy the base model and don't mind rowing your own."
H.
I. Dizzles
Noun,
partial acronym. High Intensity Discharge
headlights. These are the bright white
headlights usually found on luxury cars.
"Those H.I.
Dizzles are an expensive
option but they sure light up the road."
Hole
in the roof
Noun. Moonroof.
"Yeah, it's
loaded...leather, alloys,
spoiler, and a hole in the roof."
Hoopty
Noun. An old ratty car.
"I'm
surprised that hoopty arrived under its own power,
instead of getting a tow in."
Huddle
Noun. The mass of salespeople smoking and cussin'
outside the typical dealership.
"Let's go
to Planet Subaru instead
of this place; I don't want to walk past that huddle."
Hit
everything but the lottery
Phrase. Describes a car with a lot of body damage.
"I can't
find one panel on that car
that doesn't need to be repaired. That
thing hit everything but the lottery."
In
the wrapper
Phrase. Describes a used car that looks new.
"You could
wash that trade off and
put it in the showroom. It's in the wrapper."
It's
got eyes
Phrase. Describes a car that just looks good.
"With the
spoiler and big rims, it's got eyes."
It's
a real diamond
Phrase. Describes a used car in exceptional
condition.
"The
previous owner garaged the
car. Even though it's seven years old,
it's a real diamond."
Lit
up like a Christmas Tree
Phrase. When an instrument cluster has many warning
lights illuminated.
"Check
engine light, ABS light,
airbag light, that old hoopty is lit up
like a Christmas Tree.
LOF
Noun,
acronym. (Pronounced el-oh-eff.) Lube-Oil-Filter. This is what most people call an oil change.
"Mr. Smith
doesn't have time to
repair the broken mirror today; just do the LOF."
Lot
Surfing
Action. This is the non-virtual counterpart of
"surfing the web." Describes when
someone just wants to walk around the lot checking out cars without the
help of
a salesperson.
"Mr. Smith
has his car in for
service today and he just wants to do some lot
surfing while he waits."
Meats
Noun. Tires
"That car
has baloney skins on
it. It needs new meats."
Pad
Slap
Verb. Replacing brake pads without taking the
important step of machining the rotors.
"The car
was pad slapped at a gas station and now the brakes are pulsating."
Program
Car
Noun. Usually describes a very late-model,
low-mileage car that was formerly used as a daily rental.
"We have
ten program cars in stock, all one model year old with less than 20,000
miles."
Pulsation
Noun. Worn brakes that chatter through the pedal
when applied.
"The rotors
need to be replaced
because the car has a bad brake pulsation."
Recon
Noun or
verb. Perform a complete, meticulous interior and
exterior cleaning of a car.
"It's a
nice car, other than being
dirty. Let's give it a recon and then we'll
decide whether it's
nice enough to keep for retail or whether we need to wholesale it."
Ring
the bell
Phrase. Describes a car that will generate many bids
if sent to auction.
"I don't
want to retail a purple
Dodge Viper in December so let's send it to the auction.
Those are hard to find and I'm sure it will ring the bell."
Rough
Adjective. Usually used to describe a used car that has
not been treated well.
"After
three accidents and five
years of tree sap, I'd say that car is pretty rough."
R.O.
Noun,
acronym. (Pronounced ar-oh.) Repair Order. This is the document that a service advisor
prepares with a customer. It instructs
the technician what work needs to be performed on a car.
"Ms. Smith
called to say she forgot
to ask us this morning when she dropped off the car that she wants new
wiper
blades. Please add that to the RO."
Rounds
Noun. One thousand miles on a car.
Synonyms: "Clicks" and "K"
"That Caddy
has 37 rounds on it."
Round
of Rubber
Noun. Four tires.
"The tires on that used car are original.
The car needs a round of rubber."
Ship
it
Command. Said when you're done with a car and ready to
pass it on to the next employee or to the customer.
"We
completed the service work so
you can ship it to the body shop to
repair the fender."
Sneakers
Noun. Tires.
"That car
needs sneakers."
Spot
Verb or
noun. When customers take delivery of their cars
right at the time they decide to buy.
(Probably short for taking delivery "on the spot," right then and
there.)
"Mr. Smith
is going to buy the red
Forester, and we need to spot it
because his trade was just pronounced dead in the service department."
Store
Noun. Dealership.
To save a couple of syllables (?), most in the car business refer
to
dealerships as stores. Synonym: "Deal"
"He's done
well over the years. He started with an
Oldsmobile deal back in the 1980's and now he has
sixteen stores."
TMU
Adjective,
acronym. True Mileage Unknown. Refers
to vehicles where the odometer reading
cannot be relied upon as an accurate record of the actual mileage.
"Ms. Smith
wants to trade her car
but says the odometer stopped working a couple years ago.
So we'll send the car to the auction and
announce that it's TMU."
Traffic
Noun. The quantity of customers visiting a
showroom.
"With the
snowstorm, there's not much
traffic in the store today."
Units
Noun. A car, usually used in the plural.
"That's a
busy dealership, it sells
about a hundred units a month."
Up
Noun. An opportunity to do business with a
person. Usually used in a showroom
traffic count.
"It was a
busy Saturday. We had 25 ups,
and 10 of those people bought cars."
Upside
Down
Adjective. When someone owes more on a car than it's
worth.
Synonyms: "Flipped," Tipped," "Negative Equity."
"He owes
over $10,000 on his car but
the trade in value is only $6,000. He's
way upside down.
Wholesale
Verb. When a dealer doesn't want to keep a car to
retail it, it's sent to the auction or to another dealer.
"It's not
nice enough to meet our
reconditioning standards?.let's wholesale
it."
You
can't get eggs out of both ends of the chicken
Phrase. Said tongue-in-cheek to those who want an
impossibly large discount on a new car and an impossibly large value for
the
car they are trading.
"I can work
with you on the pricing
but you can't get eggs out of both ends
of the chicken."
Planet Chrysler Jeep Dodge. your undealership
