Common Salesman Lingo.

  • Lay-down = a customer who just comes in, falls in love with a car and will pay whatever price they are given. THIS LABEL WILL NOT APPLY TO YOU!
  • Maven = the codeword they use for your advisor who came with you.
  • Boges = stands for “Bogus” people (they think have bad credit).
  • One-legger = someone who doesn’t have their significant other with them to make a buying decision.
  • Upside-down or Tanked = The situation of owing more on your trade-in than it is worth (according to their book).
  • Strokes = people that just come in to browse, take up your time, and not buy today.
  • White-hairs = elderly people they think they can take advantage of.
  • Slam = Get you into a frenzy thinking this is the deal of a life-time and rushing you through the buying process (before the reality of what you are doing sinks in).
  • Front-end Money = the money they make on the sale of the car based on sales price and cost.
  • Back-end Money = the money they make by getting you to finance with them. It’s also the money they make by selling you additional items like warranties, service agreements, alarm systems, etc…
  • T.O. = Turn you over to a more experienced salesperson.
  • Blacked-out = what happens to a salesperson when they get frustrated.
  • Gee-whiz = a vehicle the dealership took in on trade, giving the unknowing customer far less than it was worth.
  • Heat-case = a customer who’s already bought and is now very upset