Car shops recently popped up in my area. I've seen a couple of people here say that they do them.

I was curious what is a good rate, how long do they take, and are they worth it? This one requires that you visit and complete a series of 8 different dealerships where you are in the market for a new car and they suggest that you not schedule more than one dealership a day. The pay seems low at $30 per site. My original thought was to do all 8 in a day.

Not a fan that you must provide the salespeople your real name and contact information. The last time I was in the market for a car, I went to two dealerships and I received lots of follow up sales calls for a couple of weeks. Screening the phone calls from the dealerships' phone line was easy, but the salesmen also called from their cell phone or used a co-worker's so I wound up having to deal with them. I can't imagine giving 7 car salesmen my number.

I don't think I've seen these, but the other one or two visit dealership visit shops normally go for $50 and $75 each. So in this respect, $30 is low. But it also depends on what is required.

The ones I do/did you have to sit down and get written quotes for a lease and a purchase for a certain vehicle. It also requires a copy of the window sticker that can either be a picture of the car's window or the better is when they print one out for you. Then you have to go back and request a better price either via phone or e-mail or in person, hence the one or two visits. That's usually the pain in the ass part of the one call shops. They want you to come back and don't want to e-mail new offers to you.

I've done as many as 4 of these since there is a street in Dallas that has every dealership in the universe on it right next door to each other. I did 8 dealerships in two days at $75 each. It was a @#$%& writing up the reports each day.

I tend to stay away from these now as the guy they are done for (I think he's a one man operation) is a real pain in the ass to deal with and he's the one who tells the MSC whether he'll accept your shop or not.

For instance, he rejected one shop I did because I didn't get a quote for the "extended chassis" vehicle. The salesperson said only taxi and limo companies buy those vehicles and they deal with fleet services.

But yours seem to be for a different MSC. The ones I did, the MSC also does ATV and UTV shops. And I think recently the Arby's shops.

The negotiation ones are not worth it. Regular ones where you not negotiating, I would say $40 min if local. I like the ATV, UTV, and motorcycle ones as they are quicker. I have gotten anywhere from $30 to $250 over the years.

I can not imagine an auto shop simple enough for me to accept at $30, but it may exist. Personally, I much prefer ATV and motorcycle. With the motorcycle jobs, the MSC has a greatly reduced pool from which to choose; I completed one in July that paid $140. I recorded my prep, drive, shop and report time at approx. 95 minutes.

I like vehicle shops, but I mostly work online and by phone. First an FYI: After the shop has been turned in and processed, if they keep calling or emailing, I generally just tell them that I am no longer in the market for a car, but thank you so much for the help! That saves everybody's time. The sales folks don't want to be chasing after non-existent leads any more than we want to be dealing with spam.

As to the negotiation shops. They were some of the biggest headaches I have ever had mystery shopping. I took one right after I had started back shopping after a hiatus, and never took another one. Sometimes, I wonder if they would be easier now that I have more related experience under my belt, but I just don't know. On the ones that want you to get a window sticker, some places will email you a window sticker the minute they get their hands on your email address, like of course, we know you want a window sticker. Then the next dealership wouldn't t give you a window sticker if cows were flying over their very dealership.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2022 11:29AM by GinnyLynn.

Thank you @wrosie @BuffaloNY101 @shopperbob @GinnyLynn for the input.

Depends on what it is. After the shop is done, If I get another call, I answer it and tell them I've already purchased a vehicle and that usually stops the calls.

I have seen these shops on the job board. I think the pay is low, but you don't have to do a test drive. Although you do have to negotiate. They went off the job board pretty fast last time.

@breestjon wrote:

I have seen these shops on the job board. I think the pay is low, but you don't have to do a test drive. Although you do have to negotiate. They went off the job board pretty fast last time.

These are on my 10-ft pole list. The scheduler/ editor for them is difficult and you do have to go back twice. In most cases. The number of line items
of pricing in terms that they want you to provide is next to impossible unless you are actually buying the car. I would only do it with the bonus. And I haven't touched them in years. Maybe it's changed, but it wasn't even worth the hundred bucks that they are listed at now.

I did many, many new car dealership shops in the past. I finally put them on my 10' pole list about 6 years ago. The only ones I have done since then have been those for high-end cars and pay in triple digits. New car dealership shops usually take about 75 minutes or more, and the salesmen are almost as bad as the time share salespersons. The salesmen and manager will badger you and ask you at least 3 times what is keeping you from buying the car today. They generally do not treat you with respect. I have found the high-end dealerships, such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Audi, etc. to be completely opposite, treat you with respect, and do not badger you or talk down to you.

@AZwolfman wrote:

I did many, many new car dealership shops in the past. I finally put them on my 10' pole list about 6 years ago. The only ones I have done since then have been those for high-end cars and pay in triple digits. New car dealership shops usually take about 75 minutes or more, and the salesmen are almost as bad as the time share salespersons. The salesmen and manager will badger you and ask you at least 3 times what is keeping you from buying the car today. They generally do not treat you with respect. I have found the high-end dealerships, such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Audi, etc. to be completely opposite, treat you with respect, and do not badger you or talk down to you.

Agreed! I will take a high-end shop any day of the week. They don't require or even question why you don't want to test drive. They don't play as many games and they're extremely respectful of you and your time.

I haven't done a car shop post-Covid (and have never done a negotiation shop). However, if the price was right I would jump on them again. Walk in, chit chat with the salesperson, take a test drive, get the price, and leave. I only had a salesperson bring in a manger once out of dozens of shops.

I did some high-end brands (Lexus, BMW, Audi, etc.) a few months ago. No test drive was required, which was good because very few dealers had any cars to show me anyway. Usually, they could find me a used car of the same design for me to sit in. And they offered me the opportunity to order a car for delivery in a few months. Generally 20 to 30 minutes and out the door. Since they can sell every car they happen to get, they generally don't even bother calling or following up.

I used to do car shops all time. The negotiation two visit shop- never. That shop is not worth it. The other shops paid around $35 to $50, sometimes more. One of my first mystery shops was a $20 Cadillac shop, around three or four years ago.

The car shops take around an hour. It depends if you sit and talk though.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2022 01:48AM by Niner.

Car Shops How Long Does It Take and Are They Worth It?
Too long for the job pay.
Definitely not, but I appreciate the shoppers who do them and, "Take one for the team."

I haven't done any yet but I saw the postings. Many of you say it's not work the pay. How much do you think would be worth it?

It depends on how much hassle you like from the person who accepts the shops for the MSC that does the ATV and Arby's shops.

I got $200 for a one visit shop, but that location was 60 miles away from me and was pre-Covid.

I haven't seen this MSC doing as many car shops as they did pre-Covid. This leads me to believe that the original poster is talking about shops with a different MSC.

@interested wrote:

I haven't done any yet but I saw the postings. Many of you say it's not work the pay. How much do you think would be worth it?

Are we talking about the two-visit negotiation shop? That depends on your tolerance for stress.

The current offer is $100 I think and time-wise that's pretty good if it's nearby. But you have to waste the time of a salesman who gets nothing out of it, push harder than you might even if you really were buying, get paperwork they don't usually give out, and still worry you're not getting paid after getting yelled at for your report not meeting hoped-for standards. For some that's water off a duck's back. For others it's too unpleasant even at double.

@interested wrote:

I haven't done any yet but I saw the postings. Many of you say it's not work the pay. How much do you think would be worth it?

Pay needs to be tripple digits.

@Amarsir wrote:

@interested wrote:

I haven't done any yet but I saw the postings. Many of you say it's not work the pay. How much do you think would be worth it?

Are we talking about the two-visit negotiation shop? That depends on your tolerance for stress.

The current offer is $100 I think and time-wise that's pretty good if it's nearby. But you have to waste the time of a salesman who gets nothing out of it, push harder than you might even if you really were buying, get paperwork they don't usually give out, and still worry you're not getting paid after getting yelled at for your report not meeting hoped-for standards. For some that's water off a duck's back. For others it's too unpleasant even at double.

All the new car shops I have done were single visit with negotiation.

I think you guys are right, 30 is way too low. I also don't care for the full circuit requirement where all shops involved must be completed before you can get paid.

Thank you for responding. I appreciate it.

Thank you for responding. Appreciated.

Mistake or not he is just a arse period.

I'm not making this a political post, but I am making a statement on what I believe should not take place in any industry.

During the training session he stated "dealership sales people will lie to you, they will lie to your face just like Trump." Then he went on about how you can't believe people who are like Trump and gave us examples of Trump tactics. Gasping. He also made a request when corresponding with him to include your last name. He stated how many people he corresponds with and doesn't know one Joe from the other. His request was logical and fair enough, but he was literally yelling, calling the shoppers morons and cussing up a storm. I wanted to cancel the shop realizing even $125 isn't worth it sometimes. But the scheduler encouraged me to stick with it.

As one who negotiates for a living, I have tough skin. I've seen and heard a lot of words, and dealt with many different personalities. The dealership part was right up my alley and I was able to achieve the goal; get a discount.

But in the end, I was taken back because I believe politics should never enter into a discussion like this. The yelling and cursing was unnecessary and abusive.

After completing the shop I wondered why the MSC continued to partner with the client. I could only conclude it was a very good revenue stream fir them.

@wrosie wrote:

I tend to stay away from these now as the guy they are done for (I think he's a one man operation) is a real pain in the ass to deal with and he's the one who tells the MSC whether he'll accept your shop or not.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2022 07:28PM by Zek.

Just wondering if you negotiated the $125 or is that what they offered in your area or did you have to travel far to do it? Do you think that pay is good enough?

@interested wrote:

Just wondering if you negotiated the $125 or is that what they offered in your area or did you have to travel far to do it? Do you think that pay is good enough?

The dealership was no more than 5 miles away. Last one I did was in Dec 2017. Think a $25 bonus was added; year end crunch time.

There is no cash outlay so in that sense $125 was great. But you def have to work and tolerate for the pay.
Never had a issue at the dealerships, only the client who interfaces with the shoppers directly.

@interested wrote:

Just wondering if you negotiated the $125 or is that what they offered in your area or did you have to travel far to do it? Do you think that pay is good enough?

These have like 1000 questions and you have to write out a lot. They take a really long time to fill out. This is on intelli.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2022 07:22PM by Lauren9376.

That is there every where if you want to get an vehicle on road then there are many paper work to be done.

That is there every where if you want to get an vehicle on road then there are many paper work to be done