Whether it’s watching a designer turn a rundown home into a gorgeous living space, a celebrity family trying to function or a bounty hunter storming into a crack house and detaining a criminal, if there’s one thing we can’t seem to get enough of, its seeing how things work from the inside. Fortunately, A&E has realized this, which is why a big chunk of their programming is dedicated to reality series. I got to watch a couple of episodes of their series ‘King of Cars’ today and despite the fact that I don’t really have much of an interest in cars, I found the show oddly addictive.
Here’s a little background information on the show: ‘King of Cars’ premiered in April of 2006. It is currently in its second season, which started at the end of January. It features Towbin Dodge, a car dealership in Las Vegas, NV. Josh ‘Chop’ Towbin runs the dealership, which according to Wikipedia, is the #1 single-point used car dealership and the #2 single-point Dodge dealership in the entire United States. If you’ve seen the show, you’d understand why. These guys live to sell cars.
Chop’s energy and enthusiasm towards his craft is contagious at the dealership. He and his salespeople are so successful at what they do because they do not treat their occupation as though it were merely a job. Selling cars is more of a sport to these people. They get out onto the lot, find the potential buyers and work their verbal magic in the hopes of closing a deal. The people who come into the dealership are everyday joes like you and me. Most of them are just hoping to buy a car and not get screwed by a high interest rate or unmanageable monthly payment.
The show gets interesting when Chop uses a bit of friendly competition to motivate his salespeople. Whether it’s pitting two sales teams against each other and awarding a prize to the team that gets the most sales or offering an incentive to perspective buyers, there’s always something exciting going on in the show. In an upcoming episode, titled “Hoop Dreamz,” Chop offers two employees, Andy and Gabe, the chance at a promotion. Whoever gets the most sales gets the job.
The two men spend the day battling it out on the lot in the hot Vegas heat trying to convince potential buyers that today is the day to buy a new car. Both salesmen manage to sell a few cars but not all of the potential buyers are ready to sign on the dotted line. Andy is working on a couple that is unsure about whether or not they’re ready to handle the cost of a new car. Gabe tries to make a sale with a young woman that is dead set on the amount she’s willing to pay per month. These sales will determine which of the men get the promotion so both are equally eager to make the sale but it is a delicate process. If they don’t push the sale just right, the buyer could walk away from the deal. Not only will the salesman have lost that sale but they’ve also lost valuable time that could’ve been spent with other customers.
As I said earlier, I’m not into cars. I recently purchased a new vehicle with my husband and the experience of browsing, deciding, negotiating, and purchasing was exhausting. I have no idea how salespeople go through this process at work every day, let alone doing it with the energy and determination of the men at Towbin Dodge. Then again, it is the intensity and enthusiasm of Chop and his crew that makes ‘King of Cars’ so entertaining.
‘King of Cars’ airs on Tuesday nights at 11:00 PM EST on A&E
