Congratulations on the new job. This sounds like it is right up your alley, Kari.

I have always purchased my cars from people I know (lots of friends and family in the auto business), so I've not had to deal with salespeople that I didn't already know very much.

When I lived in Lexington/Columbia, we bought our first Ford from Ben Satcher Ford in Lexington. It was a 1992 Crown Victoria. We knew the dealer well, went to church with him, went to Clemson with his sister and she married one of our best friends, yada yada yada. Even after my divorce, I continued to deal with them. They were always so helpful when I had repair issues, they knew me by name and always took good care of me. I traded in the Crown Vic for a 1995 Contour with a stick shift and boy did I love that car! I even ordered it just like I wanted it, sunroof, leather interior, etc and I drove it for 4 years. By that time, I had moved to Greenville and dealt with a family member who owns a Chrysler and Ford dealership in Clinton. I have purchased a used Ford Taurus from him that I drove for work for several years, as well as two Jeep Grand Cherokees (had to have something to haul all those dogs in ). Even though he sells Ford cars, he more highly recommended that I try the Jeep and I did love it and ended up buying that second one about 4 years ago.

My husband traded in an older model Jeep Cherokee for a 2002 Ford Expedition after we got married. Biggest complaint I have about that car is the lack of space for storage when all 3 seats are up. It certainly is spacious, otherwise, and really has given us no problems. It has close to 90,000 miles on it now (he drives a lot for work), and I love it when he has to fly somewhere and I get to drive it!

Be yourself when dealing with people, and I would suggest studying up to be as knowledgeable as possible about the various models you are selling, how they compare to similar cars offered by other dealerships (Chevrolet, Chrysler, Honda, etc). I'm sure you will be trained to learn more about features on cars that you might not normally know. If you aren't offered that training, ask for it! Might even be good for you to spend a day in the service dept to see what kind of issues come up on cars, how the warranties work, etc. The more you know and understand, the better you'll be.

I wish you the BEST of luck!

Logan