Magnex20011

Whats it like working as a parts advisor?

i've heard working in car sales is shite... long hours (8-6), heard the pay can be good but overall crap. Is working as a Parts advisor as bad??

pete

bbspolo

yep lol
ive just swapped from being a teck 2 working in parts and hell do i regreat it now !
trust me its alot harder than it looks ! plus i have 2 do 8 till 6 were as tecks do 8.30 - 5.30

Dave McB

i do it for euro car parts in glasgow

pays reasonably well basic, good bonus (if ur team makes target)

iv worked in many jobs, and im now happy and settled in what i do.

I spend my day behind a desk, no dirty fingernails nor physical exercise, and if u can handle the pressure of a sales based environment and willing to put in the effort then go for it.

If u wanna work for ECP i can point u in the right direction or offer advice m8

DMC

mrjenrst

been there and it was shit! Have to talk to fucktard's all day and even people who should be in the know make it hard

Ginge !

work RIGHT company and its a good job, i started out working as a partsman, went to another company and now im still sort of a partsman but also do other stuff too

average wage for a partsman is 20k a year, get more if your good and actually understand stuff rather than just able to identify what something is and where it fits on the car

car game is getting hard though has to be said,,,,, as for where to work,,, aftermarket is VERY VERY hard, main dealers is a little boring and not much to do 60% of the time

euros is VERY VERY sales based,,,,, sort of good rewards but not that good considering your making your boss 3k profit a day and you get 400 quid commision a month IF you hit the target,,,,, and theres LOADS of stress with it

i deal with most companys from factors/garages/main dealers so can gie you a run down on most companys

its not hard when you been doing the job a while,,, though at first 200 calls a day can be like hard work ( though my personal record is 331 calls in a day,,,, that day FLEW by ! )

im glad i started doing it and would also go back to being a pure parts man if i needed too

Ginge !

yeah but with that,,,, you also get the other perks with the DECENT garages too

also get to know who to avoid and who to recomend for the future

oh and the BEST paying partsmans job is a partsman for a body shop, can earn anything upto 30k if the need is there and your good enough,,, but bodyshop parts is NOTHING like sales parts........ guess where im gonna be going next

iansoutham

Exactly where I work.

I am THE parts point for the whole of a main dealer bodyshop dealing with every type of car from a lowly Ford Ka to a £96k Lexus LS460 and everything in between.

You deal with EVERY manufacturer and must be good @ thinking outside the box as you may have a rush job on requiring a lot of parts quickly and suddenly an important part is out of stock for 3 weeks. Where do you find it?

Have a good knowledge of dealers around the country and in some cases of importers who can supply. You need to know variations in models, year range breaks, specifications.

I have to know every dealer direct dial phone number off the top of my head as you may need to make a quick phone call whilst in the workshop and my cordless is always with me. Also, knowing everyone instantly from their voice over the phone helps. You need to know cutoff times for van deliveries for each dealer and may have to deal with more than one manufacturer dealer @ a time.

I have to manage discount structures, know what discounts apply to each manufacturer for each insurance company (we have 12 insurance companies @ my place), need to understand and know when to rip up estimator notes and start again (most times I use their details as a guide). You have to remember to follow up on every part on every car, manage returns to dealers, invoicing, parts stock control and allocation.

You will be harassed by stripper/fitters, panel beaters, painters all the time wanting their bits because they are too lazy to find them themselves, etc...

I haven't even got into the bits with pattern parts where you need to remember known issues with fit and quality from certain distributors, etc..

Silly things like consumables (bulbs, bolts, aerosol sprays for manufacturers like Renault for plastics) may be your responsibility depending on company.

You need to know what car is where to make sure you are not behind the schedule (nothing worse than getting blamed for holding a job up unecessarily).

And remember, always be fair but firm with your supplying dealers and van drivers, they can make your life hell by holding you up to the later parts of their van runs. I look after mine that well I keep getting presents @ christmas and my birthday (Mercedes gave me a coat and some t-shirts plus other bits for my birthday this month off their own back for example and one of my Ford dealers gives me everything for my own cars @ cost price + 50pence).

Pay varies depending on your tasks. I left a Ford maindealer where I was running the Trade Sales Parts and went to a Vauxhall dealer doing what I do now (was head-hunted by them) and am on over £11k more now that I was there in less than 3 years (got a £7k increase immediately), plus I get access to the equipment of an evening/weekend if needed, plus other perks like cheap/free parts for my cars, monthly account, etc...

It can be hard work, but in the right place, the benefits are worth it.

One work of caution though for anyone looking to go into that scene...

... check out how many insurance companies they have on their books. If only 1 or 2, then be wary as if an insurance company decides to change body repairer, you could be out of a job quickly as the work could dry up within a week. I have seen it with a few places round my way where they rely too much on one insurance company, get cancelled due to one reason or another (not always for bad practice) and within a month they are getting ready to close the doors for the final time. As I say, we have a dozen approved, so I am lucky in that respect.

Ginge !

im going for a bodyshop OWNED by arriva,,,, so that should help the last worry you mention

its hard getting into a good bodyshop parts job as anyone good at it is rewarded and makes it hard to go elsewhere without taking a pay cut,,,, hence either head hunting or inside info for the jobs when they come up

i got a mate whos a claims engineer so thats how im getting into it,,,, WHEN it comes up, till then im stuck where i am

oh Ian,,,, aint your cordless got speed dial then i deal with 30 different companys, 16 depots and 78 drivers at my place no to mention 30 call centre staff and others,,,,, i got 3 phones on my desk with 9 lines in total,,,,,,, without speed dial id need a extra day in the week over all for looking at numbers

ian its only a hard job when you aint good at it,, when your good you forget and make it look easy,,,,, hows you brain feel when you feeling ill at work,,,, i cant even work with a hangover cause if my mind aint there,,,,,, its a mission to get stuff done

iansoutham

My cordless has speed dial, but I have too many numbers to remember and takes too long to find them on the phone. Only got one line (direct dial to me).

You can be as good as you want, but if you get a dumb-ass bloke further down the line who for example breaks something he should not have touched (normally a small clip that was fine when you looked @ it the day before) and does not tell anyone, or a workshop foreman who has the spacial awareness of a housebrick and will park a car in a new part that has been set out for a worker 5 minutes before then deny everything, even though he was seen, it can be hard work as you suddenly have to get a replacement quickly without loss to your company (even though it was their fault as such).

Fortunately I don't drink so do not suffer working with a hangover, but if you have a headache it can make the day drag and you do get those days when nothing seems to want to go right (fortunately, they are rare).

But as I say, when it is going well, it is going swimmingly and sometimes the perks can be worth more than money......

Ginge !

tbh i love my job, its the directors that fuck me off,,,,, im lucky that im not just a partsman, i have to get involved in the bitch jobs too,,,,, which i enjoy hence why i was recomended a bodyshop partsman as its nothing like sales based

i dont drink if i got work the next day,,,,,, but i do love a beer or 2 pmsl

SteveB

iTrader: (3)

I was earning £24k as a partsman (I was a very good as well..... blowing my own trumpet)....... fookin shite job imo too many wankers wanting everything for fuck all. Taken a £9k pay drop to retrain in "building industry" where the potential after 2-3 years is at least duoble what I was earning, plus mon - fri and NO weekends unless I want overtime sat = time and half, sun = double time.

Ginge !

steve 24k is a wage for a good partsman, average one earns around 20ish

all partsman think there very good btw, ive yet to meet one that thinks hes crap !

SteveB

iTrader: (3)

£24k plus bonus says I was good

Ginge !

i agree, you must have been

downside though is when you get into that " more that the average " bracket its harder to find another job unless they know you

SteveB

iTrader: (3)

Gotta agree with that...... I was on more ££ than some managers from other branches....lol