Confessions of a Car Salesman

It’s a transparent ploy to get Google rank via incoming links, but it’s also a great piece of investigative reporting. By Chandler Phillips.

“We would hire you here at Edmunds.com. Then
you would go out and get a job as a car salesman
and work for three months.”

“Selling cars?” I asked unnecessarily.

“Right.”

“Where would I work?”

“Wherever you can get hired. That would be up
to you. We were thinking you should work at
two dealerships. The first would be a high-volume,
high-pressure store. Then you could quit and
go to a no-haggle dealership. You could tell
them you didn’t like the pressure at the first
place and you’d probably get a job on the spot.”

The editor explained that they wanted me to
write a series of articles describing the business
from the inside. Of course I would learn the
tricks of the trade, and that would better prepare
me to write advice for Edmunds.com. But the
benefits of the project would be greater than
just information. I would live the life of a
car salesman for three months. That would give
me an insight and perspective that couldn’t
be gained by reading books or articles or interviewing
former car salesmen.

“So what do you think?” the editor asked. “Interested?”