Car Dealer Terms with Definitions....From A to E

Car Dealer Terms -- From A to E

Here are Car Dealer Terms with definitions often used by some car sales people to describe car buyers and car selling situations they go through.

Some of these auto dealer terms describe some pretty shady car selling techniques and I’m not at all condoning the use of them.

And even if you never plan to sell cars on a car lot, you might want to use this page as a reference if you ever choose to get a retail car dealers license or a wholesale car dealers license.


Allowance Buyer: An allowance buyer is someone who’s main concern is getting as much money as they can for their old car trade-in.

Babysitter: This is a car dealer term used for a co-signer on a car loan.

Back End (Backroom, Back End Gross): Back end money, is any money the car dealer can get out of a buyer that is not part of the actual sale of the car. It could include the contract being sent to the bank for the loan and may include points for the car dealer.

Bait and Switch (Switch, Switched): Bait and switch is one of the car dealer terms where the car dealer might advertise a specific car at a very low price and then when the buyer comes in, they tell them that the car was already sold so they can sell them a more expensive car. Its illegal because they would have been advertising a car that most likely never existed just to get them on to the used car lot.

Bargaining Cubicle (Vertical Coffin, Negotiating Room, Cube): This is the little tiny room where the sales people will work the deal.

Beater (Sled): This is a term used to describe a piece of junk trade-in that isn't worth anything.

Be Back: A potential buyer that has been to the car dealer several times but hasn't bought a car yet.

Bird Dog: This is a car dealer term that is for someone that refers potential car buyers to a car lot for a fee or commission.

Bounce: This refers to raising the price of the car through raising the actual selling price of the car, or making the interest on the loan higher, or making the monthly payments higher.

Bricks: This is when someone gets a car loan using their house as security.

Brownie: This is when a car sales person will put a message on a car on the street saying for the owner to call them about selling their car.

Bump (Bump and Grind): This is a process where the car salesperson will gradually raise the price by slowly but surely adding additional fees or whatever they can on to the price of the vehicle. Sometimes the sales person will tell the buyer that they are “my boss will probably go through the roof when he hears this offer, but I will see what I can do. Hey, how about if we add maybe $200.00 to it right now so he at least won’t throw the offer in the trash?” The entire process is known as “Bump and Grind”. The sooner the car buyer falls for the first “bump” then the more bumps in the price they can expect. (The “Grind”).

Buy Rate: This is the interest rate that a lender will charge on all car loans. This amount will rise after the car dealer adds their profit on to it.

Chisler: A car buyer that constantly negotiates for a lower price.

Climber: A car sales person that can sell anything to anyone. When a sales person is having difficulty closing a sale, they will often bring the Climber into their deal just to close the buyer.

Closer: The closer is usually the most experienced sales person on the lot. Less experienced sales people will bring them in to finish off the deal for them if they don’t know how to close or are getting too much resistance from the buyer. The best closers on a car lot are usually found in the finance department.

Cold Canvas: A method of prospecting where a car sales person will look for prospects in a give area.

Come On: This is where the car buyer is lead to believe one thing but the reality of the situation is totally different. Car salespeople will often use Come Ons just to get potential buyers into the door.

Corporate Cities: Corporate cities are where car manufacturers own part of a car dealership and help manage it.

Curbstoner (Curbstoning): This car dealer term describes someone who buys and sells cars from their home. Its called curbstoning because the car they sell is usually parked at the curb in front of their house.

Dealer Options (Dealer Add Ons, Dealer Installed Options, Add Ons): These are just options added by the car dealership and not the auto manufacturer.

Dealership Principal (The Dealer, Dealer, Franchisee): This is the person or persons that owns the car dealership.

Dealership (Dealer Franchise, Dealer): Car lot owners must have a franchise agreement with the car manufacturer to sell cars under the manufacturers name.

De-Horse: This car dealer term refers to taking in a buyers trade-in and lending them another car off the lot until the car they are purchasing is ready for them.

Deskman (Desk): The person that the salesperson goes to to that will figure out the deal that the dealership will accept for the buyer.

Deuce: This is a reference for $200.00 that is used in some way for the car deal. It might be a deposit or down payment.

Dip: When a car buyer is financing their down payment.

Double Dip: When the car buyer is financing their car between two lenders.

Down: This car dealer term refers to when one salesperson is done handling one customer then its the next salesperson turn for the next customer, which means the first person is down and the next guy is up. It can also refer to the down payment on a vehicle.

Down Stroke: A customers down payment on a car.

Edgy: A car buyer who's credit is borderline that may not be able to secure a loan.

Ether: Ether is a term used to describe a point when the prospect is being closed, where the buyer is unaware of what is being done to them. Its like the buyer is in a fog. Get it?

Eye Baller: This describes a really flashy car that has instant eye appeal.