Car sales glossary

The words you'll hear on a car dealership's sales floor, defined plainly: 64 terms, from an up and a be-back to the rules every deal follows.

The floor

Up

A customer who arrives without an appointment. Also used as a verb — taking an up means being the salesperson who greets them.

Be-back

A customer who left without buying and came back later. They have already picked a car once, which makes them one of the best opportunities on the lot.

Floor time / up rotation

How a store decides whose turn it is to take the next arriving customer. Every store does it differently — ask how yours works on day one.

T.O. (turnover)

Bringing a manager or another salesperson into a live conversation. Done well it helps the customer; done as a power move it reads as exactly that.

The desk

The manager who structures deals and approves numbers. 'Going to the desk' means taking a customer's figures to them.

Green pea

A brand-new salesperson. Not an insult — everybody was one, and most people who make it were bad for about ninety days first.

Walk

A customer who leaves without buying. A normal outcome, not a failure — most people do not buy on the first visit.

Demo / demo drive

The test drive. The single step most correlated with actually selling the car, and the one most often skipped when a customer says they are in a hurry.

Walkaround

Presenting the vehicle in a deliberate order, tying what the car does back to what the customer told you they needed.

House deal

A sale that came to the store rather than to a salesperson — often paid differently. How your store handles these is part of your pay plan.

Lay-down

Old floor slang for a customer who accepts the first number without pushing back.A relic. It describes trusting someone as a weakness to exploit, which is how stores earned the reputation this industry is still paying off. You will hear it. Do not use it.

Grinder

Old floor slang for a customer who negotiates hard and at length.A relic. Someone protecting their own money is doing the same thing you would. Name the behavior if you must, not the person.

The people

GM (general manager)

Runs the whole dealership and answers for every department. At a small store the GM may also work deals at the desk.

GSM (general sales manager)

Runs the sales department and the managers in it. Not every store has one, and how involved they are in day-to-day deals varies a lot.

Sales manager

A manager who runs the floor and works deals with salespeople — usually who you mean by 'the desk'. Some stores split the floor and the desk between different managers.

Used-car manager

Runs the used inventory — what the store buys, how it is priced, and often what it gives for trades. At some stores they appraise every trade.

F&I manager / business manager

The person in the F&I office who finalizes the financing, presents protection products, and checks the paperwork before the customer signs.

Closer

At some stores, a manager or senior salesperson who takes over the negotiation once numbers are on the table. Ask whether yours uses one.

BDC

Business development center — the team that answers internet leads and inbound calls and sets appointments, where a store has one. At a store without one, salespeople do that work themselves.

Service advisor

Writes up a customer's repair or maintenance visit and keeps them informed while the car is in the shop. Often the person your customers see most after the sale.

Porter / lot attendant

Moves, parks and preps cars on the lot — and at many stores gets a car ready for delivery. At a small store, whoever is free does it.

Detail / detailer

Cleaning and preparing a car so it is ready to show or deliver. Some stores have their own detail department; others send it out.

Delivery coordinator

At some stores, the person who handles the handover — walking the customer through the car and the paperwork — instead of the salesperson.

The office

The back office — title clerks, billing and accounting. They book the deal, process the title and registration, and make sure the lender pays. Incomplete paperwork comes back to you through them.

The deal

Write-up

Sitting a customer down and putting real numbers on paper. The step between 'they like it' and 'we have a deal to work on.'

Appraisal

Looking at a customer's trade and deciding what the store will give for it — its ACV. Done by an appraiser, a used-car manager or the desk, depending on the store.

Pencil / first pencil

The first written set of figures presented to a customer. The word comes from the desk literally writing them out.

Worksheet

The sheet the numbers are presented on — price, trade, taxes and fees, and the resulting payment or total.

Deal jacket

The folder, physical or digital, holding everything a deal needs: the buyer's order, credit application, trade paperwork, and the lender's documents.

Spot delivery

Letting a customer take the car home before the financing is finally approved. Common, and risky for everyone — if the lender does not fund it as written, the customer has to be called back in.

CIT (contracts in transit)

Deals that have been delivered but not yet funded by the lender. The store has given away the car and is waiting on the money.

Funding

When the lender actually pays the dealership for a financed deal. A deal is not truly done until it funds.

Stip (stipulation)

Something a lender requires before it will fund — proof of income, proof of residence, insurance. Chasing stips is why a delivered deal can still need your attention a week later.

We-owe / due bill

A written promise of something owed to the customer after delivery — a second key, a missing mat, a repair. If it is not written down, it does not exist.

RO (repair order)

A service department work order. You will hear it when a trade goes through the shop or when a we-owe gets fixed.

The money

Front gross

The profit on the vehicle itself — roughly what it sold for against what the dealership has in it.

Back gross

The profit from financing and the products sold in F&I. At most stores it is a large share of the total.

PVR

Per vehicle retailed — average profit per car sold. Usually quoted as total or F&I PVR.

Pack

An amount the dealership holds back from the gross before commission is calculated. Whether your store uses one, and how much, is part of your pay plan.

Mini

The minimum commission paid on a deal with little or no gross. Selling a lot of minis is how a salesperson can have a busy month and a thin paycheck.

Unit

One vehicle sold. Most pay plans have bonuses at unit counts, which is why the last few days of a month matter so much.

Spiff

A one-off bonus on a specific car or goal — an aging unit, a weekend push.

MSRP vs invoice

MSRP is the manufacturer's sticker price. Invoice is roughly what the dealer was billed. Neither is the same as what the car actually costs the store.

Holdback

A percentage of MSRP the manufacturer returns to the dealer after the car sells — part of why invoice is not the real floor.

ACV

Actual cash value — what the store believes a trade is genuinely worth.

Allowance

What the paperwork shows as the trade credit. It can be higher than ACV, with the difference accounted for elsewhere in the deal. This is why 'more for my trade' and 'a lower price' are often the same conversation.

Equity / negative equity

The gap between what a trade is worth and what is still owed on it. Negative equity — owing more than it is worth — is extremely common and has to be dealt with honestly, because it does not disappear.

Payoff

The exact amount required to clear a customer's existing loan or lease, obtained from their lender.

Buy rate vs sell rate

The interest rate the lender approves versus the rate on the contract. The difference is shared with the dealership and is regulated — the store's policy on it is not yours to improvise.

The systems

CRM

The system holding customers, tasks and follow-up. If it is not in the CRM, as far as the store is concerned it did not happen.

DMS

The dealer management system — the accounting and inventory backbone. Deals are booked here, which is why it owns the real money numbers.

F&I (the box)

Finance and insurance: the office where financing is finalized and protection products are presented.

Menu

The structured presentation F&I uses to offer products consistently to every customer — which is a compliance requirement as much as a sales one.

GAP

Guaranteed asset protection — covers the difference between what insurance pays on a total loss and what is still owed. Relevant to anyone with negative equity.

VSC

Vehicle service contract — an extended mechanical coverage product sold in F&I.

CPO

Certified pre-owned — a used car that met the manufacturer's inspection standard and carries a factory-backed warranty.

Recon

Reconditioning — what the store spends making a trade ready to retail. It is why a trade's value to the store is lower than its eventual sticker.

Aging / days supply

How long a car has been in inventory, and how many days of sales the current stock represents. Old units cost money every day and often carry a spiff.

Floor plan

The line of credit financing the store's inventory. Interest accrues per car per day, which is the real reason aging matters.

The rules

Consent (TCPA)

You need a customer's permission before calling or texting them, and you have to honor it when they opt out. This is why asking 'is it alright if I text you?' is a real step and not a nicety.

Fair lending (ECOA)

Customers cannot be treated differently on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or receiving public assistance. It shapes how credit is discussed with everyone, every time.

Red Flags Rule

The identity-verification steps a store takes before financing. It is why ID gets checked and why some applications need a second look.

Truth in Lending (Reg Z)

Finance terms have to be disclosed accurately and completely. In practice: never quote a payment you cannot stand behind.

OFAC

A required screening of buyers against federal sanctions lists. Part of why a deal cannot simply be written and handed over.