BMW service advisor salary

[timsev]

Does anybody know what a BMW service advisor generally makes in a year. Maybe what starting salary would be and a for more experienced person. Thanks

[prash]

probably not much more than any other dealership s/a. I'd guess somewhere in the low 30's starting.

[timsev]

anybody else have input or know somebody with experience?

[Tronix]

A miserable job I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. No matter how much money. From experience.

[BlackBetty08]

My brother is a Service Advisor for Baron BMW here in Kansas City, but I have no idea how much he makes.

[shelbyz4u2nv]

have fun w/ that one...very stressful job...it all depends on how buisy the dealership is, area, ect..from people i know, most start at 40k w/ little experience...years in the buisness and if your good, wouldnt b hard to make 75k... i live in NY so that plays a big deal in payroll

[timsev]

thanks for the responses. The reason I ask is because I work in BMW sales right now but I'm thinking about switching to be an advisor. I'm a trained tech and I am so bored in sales and I feel like I'm not putting my knowledge to good use. I was thinking I would be happier being a service advisor. Any input is appreciated. Oh yeah, the dealership isn't super-busy, but we're building a new dealership and business is supposed to be booming when that opens.

[tcr75]

generally an advisor makes $4000 a month plus bonuses and commisions. Problem is that there are so many guys with expirience in this business that for a green pea to break into it takes alot of waiting

[tblue3cibm]

thankless job

[joeydoug]

a rookie advisor will make about $3500 to $4000 a month and IF he sticks to
it may eventualy make $90,000 + a year. Most of the advisors in my shop
are pulling this type of money right now.

[joeydoug]

also +1 on the thankless job

[palomino]

when i worked at a BMW dealer, not a single one of the service advisors was making less than $75k. I know at least 2 of the 4 were making over $100k.

[tcr75]

I worked as a service advisor for a GM dealer in a town of 120000 people and I was pulling in just shy of $8000 a month

[Brewster]

what kind of experience is needed to become a service advisor?

[CVGTURBO86]

dang, if they can work their way on up to 90k a year over a few years + bonuses that isnt so bad...

[mose121]

Does anybody know what a BMW service advisor generally makes in a year. Maybe what starting salary would be and a for more experienced person. Thanks

From reading these posts, I think people have a huge misconception of what the "normal" service advisor makes. I was an advisor for about 6 years. I started out as an administrative assistant for a high line dealer and was promoted to an advisor. I already had a good amount of automotive knowledge at this point, so that definately helped. At first, I was making about 28k, but eventually I was making almost 50k. Keep in mind, I was eventually the top selling advisor and had the highest CSI scores of any advisor in the dealer. We were ranked in the top ten nationally every year I was there. That didn't mean I was getting paid the most.


generally an advisor makes $4000 a month plus bonuses and commisions. Problem is that there are so many guys with expirience in this business that for a green pea to break into it takes alot of waiting

Most advisers salary is about 1/3 of their total pay. You will not make $4000 month salary at most dealers. You might make $4000/mo total if you're lucky at first. But it's all location dependant. I do know advisors that have cleared 100k some years. They are few and far between, and many double as a shop foreman or dispatcher as well. They all live in huge cities with high cost of living, so the money isn't really what it seems. Industry reports seem to consistently state an avg. advisor's income b/t $38-48k. Here's the NADA findings for 2005.

http://www.autocareerstoday.net/includes/pdf/Resources/SalaryCharts_low.pdf


dang, if they can work their way on up to 90k a year over a few years + bonuses that isnt so bad...

It's not feasible to expect 90k/yr as an advisor. Maybe 2% of all advisors clear $80k, and they all have 10+ years expierence and live in huge metro areas like NYC, Chicago, and LA.


As someone who has worked this position, I would want to warn you about a few things.

1. The hours are long. You start early (7) and sometimes can't leave until 6 or 7 that night. I've been stuck at work until 7 many times, and was usually always there until 6. Even with an hour lunch, an 11 hour work day is long.

2. To make the big bucks, you have to leave your conscience at home. You know you are taking money from people that really can't afford a $450 maintenance service right now, or a $2000 repair bill. It does wear on you. You are the constant bearer of bad news, and 99% of the clients coming through the door are mad, and you're their forum to bitch to. You have to stand there with a smile and take it, then yes sir no maam and all of that. You're always pushing work even if if it might not be required right away or even really at all.

3. You are on your feet running around fixing everyone else's mistakes for at least 1/4 of your day. You relay on the tech's, sales, and parts departments to do your job, and they can and will eventually all throw you under the bus at some point. Just be ready, it's part of the job.

4. In the winter, you show up at work and it's dark out. When you leave, it's dark out. This just kills me.

5. When things are going bad in a service department, the advisors are normally the first to get bitched at.

6. At least one tech in the dept. will make your life hell. He either won't like you because he thinks you don't/can't sell his work, or he'll blame you for not getting any good work. This tech is normally the one that has constant comebacks and kills your CSI efforts for that client. There's normally at least 3 of these techs at every decent sized dealer.

7. If another advisor calls off work, you and the advisors that are there will have to do his work as well. It also makes it hard to take sick days or go away when you don't want to screw you're buddies by forcing your work on them while you're out. It's just hard. The entire department relies on all the advisors to work to their potential. If one doesn't show up, the entire dealership feels the effects. There's a lot of responsibilty in this job, and with it comes A LOT of stress.

And there are a ton more of those. This job is not easy. If you can't manage your time well, you WILL fail badly. Multi-tasking is all do all day long. The phone rings off the hook...some days I took 150-200 calls on top of my workload. If you want to make good money and you're a certified tech, you should go back to working on cars and work towards becoming a factory master certified tech. At that point, you have many options to make good $$$, be it as a shop foreman, staying on as a expect diag tech, motorsports, or even opening your own shop.

[palomino]

It's not feasible to expect 90k/yr as an advisor. Maybe 2% of all advisors clear $80k, and they all have 10+ years expierence and live in huge metro areas like NYC, Chicago, and LA.


2. To make the big bucks, you have to leave your conscience at home. You know you are taking money from people that really can't afford a $450 maintenance service right now, or a $2000 repair bill. It does wear on you. You are the constant bearer of bad news, and 99% of the clients coming through the door are mad, and you're their forum to bitch to. You have to stand there with a smile and take it, then yes sir no maam and all of that. You're always pushing work even if if it might not be required right away or even really at all.

4. In the winter, you show up at work and it's dark out. When you leave, it's dark out. This just kills me.
when i worked at the dealership, the service advisors were always the most busy, stressed out people ever. it does seem like a tough job that isnt for everyone. a few things need to be pointed out though...

you shouldnt speak for others' financial situations. i know lots of people that are very well-off financially, but incredibly cheap. they are always saying they "cant afford" things, when in reality they are choosing not to buy things. if someone was truly in a financial hardship, the first thing to go should be the expensive car (you DID say you were at a high-line dealership). if the expensive car cant go for whatever reason, you'd think they'd have the sense to take the car to an independant shop for service, not the dealership. if people cant manage their own money, that is their own problem. if they cant afford your service recommendations, they should decline them. i used to make collection calls for a mortgage company. too many people are living outside their means. the ones that are worth feeling sorry for are the ones that had a legitimate financial crisis and are doing their best to solve the problem, not taking their luxury car to the dealership for service.

angry customers and no free daylight hours are not specific to this job. EVERYONE in a customer service job has to deal with angry customers all the time. as for getting to work in the dark and leaving in the dark, lots of other people have it the same way, especially in the northern parts of the country where there are even fewer daylight hours in the winter.

[mose121]

you shouldnt speak for others' financial situations. i know lots of people that are very well-off financially, but incredibly cheap. they are always saying they "cant afford" things, when in reality they are choosing not to buy things. if someone was truly in a financial hardship, the first thing to go should be the expensive car (you DID say you were at a high-line dealership). if the expensive car cant go for whatever reason, you'd think they'd have the sense to take the car to an independant shop for service, not the dealership. if people cant manage their own money, that is their own problem. if they cant afford your service recommendations, they should decline them. i used to make collection calls for a mortgage company. too many people are living outside their means. the ones that are worth feeling sorry for are the ones that had a legitimate financial crisis and are doing their best to solve the problem, not taking their luxury car to the dealership for service.


Obviously, not everyone was in that situation, but way more people are getting upside down in their cars these days with longer loan terms. People just don't realize that 4 years down the road your car might need $2500 worth of work. Then they want to trade it in but they are $6000 upsidedown and don't have that money. Now that person is stuck in a bad "repair" cycle and can't sell they car until they pay it off, which takes even longer b/c they are spending lots of $$$ on repairs. Jaguar x-type owners are the worst when it comes to this. Thank god our bimmers hold their value so well. I'm sure some clients play it like they have no money when they really do, but in my case I had a great relationship with most of the client's I took care of. And also, he in PA we are VERY short on reliable/professional independant shops that one would be comfortable taking thier high line car to for service. Probably not something you have a problem with in cali.

[palomino]

there are a few reputable shops around here.

i still cant feel sorry for people that dig their own graves. people just need to think more.

[Critter7r]

I was an advisor in an affluent suburb of Detroit (no, that's not an oxymoron), we had 6 advisors. The rookies coming in generally made around 40K, and the top guy made $96k in 2005. (I saw the commission/salary sheets). We were paid $100 per day salary, and 5% of labor sales ($10-15k per week in labor sales was a good week). Then CSI bonus could be as much as $750 per month. ($500 for 96, $750 for 97).

[timsev]

thanks for all the replies everybody. I know this is going to be a stressful job as some of you said, but I want to be busy. In sales, I can't stand sitting on my ass for most of the day just BS'ing people and wasting my knowledge. I want to stay busy all day. And the hours don't bother me really. I already work about 12 hours a day anyway, plus I work Saturdays. I won't mind working 10-11 hours, M-F. I'm still not sure if I'm going to switch. I still need to think about it.

[rancho5]

I thought about going into the car business years ago and now I'm glad I didn't. I admire you guys for sticking it out. I got my masters in education, work 7-8 hours a day and gross 65k and I'm always home before the kids get home from school. And I agree with the comment about being smart financially. My wife chose to be a stay at home mom and through her efforts in budgeting and wise planning she has never had to work. Please remember it is NEVER how much money you make, it is how much you keep that separates the foolish from the wise.

Good luck in your career choice.

[mose121]

thanks for all the replies everybody. I know this is going to be a stressful job as some of you said, but I want to be busy. In sales, I can't stand sitting on my ass for most of the day just BS'ing people and wasting my knowledge. I want to stay busy all day. And the hours don't bother me really. I already work about 12 hours a day anyway, plus I work Saturdays. I won't mind working 10-11 hours, M-F. I'm still not sure if I'm going to switch. I still need to think about it.

I hear ya. I went from being an advisor to sales thinking there was more $$$ potential, but soon realized how boring it was and how much it sucked not ever getting 2 days in a row off. I did work at a very small family owned BMW dealership when I was in sales, so that made it very hard. 80% of their business was repeat clients, and the next least expierence salesman had been there for 6 years when I started. This made it very hard to get fresh ups, as everyone that came in was basically established with one of the other sales people. And of the 20% that did come in fresh had 10 salesman trying to get to them first. I kinda wish I worked at a larger dealership, but it was a great expierence.

[SR20Fastback]

From reading these posts, I think people have a huge misconception of what the "normal" service advisor makes. I was an advisor for about 6 years. I started out as an administrative assistant for a high line dealer and was promoted to an advisor. I already had a good amount of automotive knowledge at this point, so that definately helped. At first, I was making about 28k, but eventually I was making almost 50k. Keep in mind, I was eventually the top selling advisor and had the highest CSI scores of any advisor in the dealer. We were ranked in the top ten nationally every year I was there. That didn't mean I was getting paid the most.



Most advisers salary is about 1/3 of their total pay. You will not make $4000 month salary at most dealers. You might make $4000/mo total if you're lucky at first. But it's all location dependant. I do know advisors that have cleared 100k some years. They are few and far between, and many double as a shop foreman or dispatcher as well. They all live in huge cities with high cost of living, so the money isn't really what it seems. Industry reports seem to consistently state an avg. advisor's income b/t $38-48k. Here's the NADA findings for 2005.

http://www.autocareerstoday.net/includes/pdf/Resources/SalaryCharts_low.pdf



It's not feasible to expect 90k/yr as an advisor. Maybe 2% of all advisors clear $80k, and they all have 10+ years expierence and live in huge metro areas like NYC, Chicago, and LA.


As someone who has worked this position, I would want to warn you about a few things.

1. The hours are long. You start early (7) and sometimes can't leave until 6 or 7 that night. I've been stuck at work until 7 many times, and was usually always there until 6. Even with an hour lunch, an 11 hour work day is long.

2. To make the big bucks, you have to leave your conscience at home. You know you are taking money from people that really can't afford a $450 maintenance service right now, or a $2000 repair bill. It does wear on you. You are the constant bearer of bad news, and 99% of the clients coming through the door are mad, and you're their forum to bitch to. You have to stand there with a smile and take it, then yes sir no maam and all of that. You're always pushing work even if if it might not be required right away or even really at all.

3. You are on your feet running around fixing everyone else's mistakes for at least 1/4 of your day. You relay on the tech's, sales, and parts departments to do your job, and they can and will eventually all throw you under the bus at some point. Just be ready, it's part of the job.

4. In the winter, you show up at work and it's dark out. When you leave, it's dark out. This just kills me.

5. When things are going bad in a service department, the advisors are normally the first to get bitched at.

6. At least one tech in the dept. will make your life hell. He either won't like you because he thinks you don't/can't sell his work, or he'll blame you for not getting any good work. This tech is normally the one that has constant comebacks and kills your CSI efforts for that client. There's normally at least 3 of these techs at every decent sized dealer.

7. If another advisor calls off work, you and the advisors that are there will have to do his work as well. It also makes it hard to take sick days or go away when you don't want to screw you're buddies by forcing your work on them while you're out. It's just hard. The entire department relies on all the advisors to work to their potential. If one doesn't show up, the entire dealership feels the effects. There's a lot of responsibilty in this job, and with it comes A LOT of stress.

And there are a ton more of those. This job is not easy. If you can't manage your time well, you WILL fail badly. Multi-tasking is all do all day long. The phone rings off the hook...some days I took 150-200 calls on top of my workload. If you want to make good money and you're a certified tech, you should go back to working on cars and work towards becoming a factory master certified tech. At that point, you have many options to make good $$$, be it as a shop foreman, staying on as a expect diag tech, motorsports, or even opening your own shop.



this is basically 100% true. i've worked with bmw for over 2 years and i would NEVER want to be an advisor. the only position i couldn't see myself as even more than an advisor would be the service director. these are both very high-stress jobs, and i think are fairly underpaid. i'd rather get into the sales side, at least at the end of the day your back isn't killing you :stickoutt

[timsev]

I hear ya. I went from being an advisor to sales thinking there was more $$$ potential, but soon realized how boring it was and how much it sucked not ever getting 2 days in a row off. I did work at a very small family owned BMW dealership when I was in sales, so that made it very hard. 80% of their business was repeat clients, and the next least expierence salesman had been there for 6 years when I started. This made it very hard to get fresh ups, as everyone that came in was basically established with one of the other sales people. And of the 20% that did come in fresh had 10 salesman trying to get to them first. I kinda wish I worked at a larger dealership, but it was a great expierence.

same situation here. Everybody here has repeat clients and when there is a new up, it's cut-throat. I'm not getting any better because there are no new customers to talk to. And everyone was friendly at first, but now they're mostly assholes becuase they're afraid that I might steal one of thier sales. I also always find myslef in the back talking to the service writers or techs. The only part of the day I like is when I get someone calling in with a problem on their car. Thanks for all the useful advice. I appreciate it.

[timsev]

Oh, the reason I asked about salary is because I need to get an idea of how much I can bring home each week. Right now, I'm in a predicament because I need to get a new apartment, but I can't predict how much I will make in sales every month. Right now, I can probably afford a nice cardboard box. Even if I do have a good month, the next month might be shit so I'll be screwed in a new apartment. Ugghhhhh, I'm so frustrated. :(

[mose121]

same situation here. Everybody here has repeat clients and when there is a new up, it's cut-throat. I'm not getting any better because there are no new customers to talk to. And everyone was friendly at first, but now they're mostly assholes becuase they're afraid that I might steal one of thier sales. I also always find myslef in the back talking to the service writers or techs. The only part of the day I like is when I get someone calling in with a problem on their car. Thanks for all the useful advice. I appreciate it.

No problem, anytime. I'm just curious, what kind of auto tech training do you have? and where'd you go for it? Was it BMW specific or just a general tech cert program?

[mose121]

Oh, the reason I asked about salary is because I need to get an idea of how much I can bring home each week. Right now, I'm in a predicament because I need to get a new apartment, but I can't predict how much I will make in sales every month. Right now, I can probably afford a nice cardboard box. Even if I do have a good month, the next month might be shit so I'll be screwed in a new apartment. Ugghhhhh, I'm so frustrated. :(

Although your income won't vary as much as it does in sales, it will still vary quite a bit in service depending on how your dealer pays advisors. Some months, you can get $2000 in bonus's at certain dealers. Then the next month, you might not get any and have no control over it. Just FYI. I was rolling in the $$$ in the warmer months but winter is like running a snails race sometimes. SLOW.

[timsev]

understandable. I was planning on basing my monthly bills on my salary and then I would save any money I get from bonuses. The income I have right now from sales is a joke though, so anything will be better.

[SR20Fastback]

understandable. I was planning on basing my monthly bills on my salary and then I would save any money I get from bonuses. The income I have right now from sales is a joke though, so anything will be better.



must be your part of the country, i remember the first bmw dealership i worked at our top sales guy pulled in 187k the previous year.

[timsev]

must be your part of the country, i remember the first bmw dealership i worked at our top sales guy pulled in 187k the previous year.

our top guy pulls in 250K a year, but he works off of referalls and previous customers. And yes, this part of the country (midwest) sucks for high-line cars. I could make a ton of money in a high volume dealership, But around here, the only stores with high volume are domestics and I'm not even about to go to one of those places. I just want to find somewhere in this dealership where I'll be happy, and I can pay the bills.

[SR20Fastback]

parts manager?? lol

[SR20Fastback]

err what about finance managers? our finance guys used to make decent money, and i don't think its all that much work?

[timsev]

err what about finance managers? our finance guys used to make decent money, and i don't think its all that much work?

LOL I would if I could. Our finance guys will probably never quit. They rake in money and only work for a total of about 3 hours out of the day.

[mose121]

must be your part of the country, i remember the first bmw dealership i worked at our top sales guy pulled in 187k the previous year.

That top guy probably had 10 years or more of experience in sales. If not, I gotta give it to him for being a phenominal talker. It's a tough job, especially at first. It takes a long time to build up a client base, and usually people aren't buying more than a car every 2 years, which even that is a generous time frame. People coming back to the dealer for another purchase already have a salesman they work with there, same goes for those ups coming out of service. Advisors give the ups to their friends so they will give them a kick back. And it's tough to make money in new car sales since invoice prices are now public knowledge. Pre-owned makes all the money anymore. You almost never know what a dealer has into a preowned unit, and it's not uncommon to make 4-6k profit on them at times. New cars it's hard to make a 2k profit unless the car is over 50k, especially on bimmers. They really have to keep their profit margin tight to be competive price wise. 90% of the time, a BMW will be more expensive than it's competitor. It also costs more to build. The largest profit margin I saw was on a 760 and it was 13k. Client bought the car for 5k over cost. Benz s600's and high end amg's can have 20k profit margin built into the sticker. Even loaded 750Li's only have about 7k of profit margin built in b/t cost and msrp. 3 series cars regularly go for $500-$1500 over dealer cost. Take 12-20% of 1500 and the salesman makes $300 b/f taxes on the sale tops. If you sell 10 cars a month (which can be hard at smaller dealers) you make probably $4000 tops with your draw/salary included. And that's in the best months. Winter comes around and you may only sell 3-6 cars per month. That's tough to live on, but obviously all of this depends on your location as you can easily sell 20 cars a month in a place like LA, NYC, Chicago, etc..

[timsev]

That top guy probably had 10 years or more of experience in sales. If not, I gotta give it to him for being a phenominal talker. It's a tough job, especially at first. It takes a long time to build up a client base, and usually people aren't buying more than a car every 2 years, which even that is a generous time frame. People coming back to the dealer for another purchase already have a salesman they work with there, same goes for those ups coming out of service. Advisors give the ups to their friends so they will give them a kick back. And it's tough to make money in new car sales since invoice prices are now public knowledge. Pre-owned makes all the money anymore. You almost never know what a dealer has into a preowned unit, and it's not uncommon to make 4-6k profit on them at times. New cars it's hard to make a 2k profit unless the car is over 50k, especially on bimmers. They really have to keep their profit margin tight to be competive price wise. 90% of the time, a BMW will be more expensive than it's competitor. It also costs more to build. The largest profit margin I saw was on a 760 and it was 13k. Client bought the car for 5k over cost. Benz s600's and high end amg's can have 20k profit margin built into the sticker. Even loaded 750Li's only have about 7k of profit margin built in b/t cost and msrp. 3 series cars regularly go for $500-$1500 over dealer cost. Take 12-20% of 1500 and the salesman makes $300 b/f taxes on the sale tops. If you sell 10 cars a month (which can be hard at smaller dealers) you make probably $4000 tops with your draw/salary included. And that's in the best months. Winter comes around and you may only sell 3-6 cars per month. That's tough to live on, but obviously all of this depends on your location as you can easily sell 20 cars a month in a place like LA, NYC, Chicago, etc..

well, I talked to the GM about it and I'm supposed to know by tomorrow after he runs it by the owners. I'll let you know how it goes.

[TiAgMC]

I just did exactly what you are thinking of doing, I was in BMW sales and I always wanted to be in service, so when one of the advisors left I took his spot. It's very similar to sales but way more work each day. I'm in a smaller market and I'd say the guesses of 35 to 45 starting off is pretty accurate. Just make sure you can consistantly have good CSI, it's a killer at most dealerships.

[ClintonM3]

Sales is the way to go. If your current BMW center doesn't offer the opportunity or pay plan, go elsewhere. I can tell you that if you are good in sales, you WILL make more money than anyone else at the dealership, including GSM, and GM's. I am personally going up against some of the top performers in the country, here in the NY's backyard market. Some of these guy wouldn't even consider being a manager because they are making so much. Is not an easy path. And it takes time, at least one lease cycle. 80+% of all BMW clients lease. By the time you hit your 3rd year, you will start seeing repeats.

[ClintonM3]

Oh, if you are at the right store, you could be busier in sales than any other position. Last month I delivered 26 cars. Handled about 130 internet leads, a full time internet sales person handles about 100. Plus I was taking up's, probably 30-40 ups. I had total of 4 days off last month, that's including Christmas. My last store, I couldn't even make charter level (10 deliveries a month). Now, same market, better store, I got Honors level this past year, Thats averaging 14 cars a month.

[mose121]

Oh, if you are at the right store, you could be busier in sales than any other position. Last month I delivered 26 cars. Handled about 130 internet leads, a full time internet sales person handles about 100. Plus I was taking up's, probably 30-40 ups. I had total of 4 days off last month, that's including Christmas. My last store, I couldn't even make charter level (10 deliveries a month). Now, same market, better store, I got Honors level this past year, Thats averaging 14 cars a month.

Yeah, it definately depends on your location.

[Transporter]

Thanks, ClintonM3. How long have you been an advisor, both in your first dealership and then Mt. Kisco? I grew up in Peekskill,NY, then moved down near Philly. I love Otto's, even though I just started selling. Client advisors are so laid back here and share great comraderie!

For the originator of this thread, work on becoming a master tech and you'll never have to deal with angry customers!

[timsev]

For the originator of this thread, work on becoming a master tech and you'll never have to deal with angry customers!

Thanks. I wish I could. After I got out of school, I found out I had some serious nerve damage in my neck so I can only work for about 4-5 hours under a lift before I start getting MAJOR headaches. I still wrench on the side, I just can't do it for a living anymore.

[RudolphDiesel]

timsev sorry for your physical restrictions our bodies will always have their way with us, Be Well Dave

[timsev]

timsev sorry for your physical restrictions our bodies will always have their way with us, Be Well Dave

thanks man. appreciate

[SR20Fastback]

whats the good word with service? i still want to know the requirements for the finance managers, i'm assuming a degree is necessary at the very least?

[mose121]

whats the good word with service? i still want to know the requirements for the finance managers, i'm assuming a degree is necessary at the very least?

Normally, they'll want a degree or at the very least a background in finance.

[325xi]

I work in service at a fairly busy BMW dealership in the Midwest. Other people in this thread are right; the advisors are definitely among the most stressed people in the dealership and they do get all the shit when things go wrong. Customers will always blame them, even though they obviously don't do the actual work. Phones ring off the hook all day long; I'd say there's probably a "BMW Service, you have a call on 001" every 2 minutes or so, and that's excluding direct-dial calls and those that are transferred. Some people might like that, but it'd be too much for me personally.

[Chris328is]

Who makes more money starting out a finance manager or a service adviser?

[SR20Fastback]

i know when i was working in SD one of our newer finance guys was ballin out of control, bought an 06 m3 comp and did every dinan mod available at the time (everything minus the s/c), and he also had a pretty badass 4.4 x5 already, but no house. so i'm sure they make decent money. i would think unlike sales, they have their hand in every car sold/leased except for ones paid in cash or other means of personal financing.

[mose121]

Who makes more money starting out a finance manager or a service adviser?

A finance manager would make more to start, and realisticly probably also has the higher earning potential of the two in the long run. Just that word "manager" in the title bumps up the pay.

[Lestat77]

Mose121 is 100% correct about whats involved in being a service advisor.

The hardest thing to deal with is relying on other people to finish the job. The car goes into 6-7 other people hands. If one of them drops the ball or just doesn't put the effort into it your making up for their mistakes/effort. It all falls back on your shoulders.

Your performance will not be based soley on you. You could be 100% perfect yourself, but only get 80% out of it in the end. That's the hardest thing in my opinion to deal with.

[Egon]

Now I regret googling "Service advisor salary in US" .. :D

I do all of these jobs that are talked about here + deal with crazy russian customers.. and guess how much I make, .. about 13 k euros a year.

f***** Eastern europe


But it's nice to read all those coments, so I know you guys also do hard work.

Sorry for bringing up such old topic.

[jclausen]

Yes it sucks after I left service the advisors went to 100 % commission, then couple that with the csi bonus.so you tell me when you go and talk about your car repairs and there on 100% commission. They have to fuck you over to earn money. You need all your coolant hoses replaced, an alignment, fuel injection service it goes on and on. Oh then that whole csi score shit, it is the most useless thing I have ever seem. I would like to see how much money BMW spends on the csi system per year in the states. Stay in sales at least you know about that. Don't ever go to service.