Pros
Easy interview process. (Too easy in fact.) Above average training provided by corporate - usually offsite. (Onsite training and mentoring is very poor.) The company's large number of dealerships affords access to much broader inventory than is available at just your store. This is true for both new vehicles and especially for pre-owned.
Cons
Inexperienced and unprofessional management - lacking in basic leadership skills. And they often are out of synch with the training provided by corporate. Very high turnover of sales reps, with the best, brightest and most ethical always the first to leave. (This is also true for the Service Writers in the Service Department.) On the sales side, the pay structure is rigged so the dealership always makes it's unit profit margin while the sales commission is driven to a minimum. Monthly sales incentives and promotions are always a mess - last-minute, confusing and mismanaged. (In Service, so many corners are cut that the vehicles - especially pre-owned - frequently are not serviced, reconditioned and recertified as claimed. A majority of my customers had to bring their vehicles back to be fixed within the few weeks of ownership.) I know very few sales reps at my former store or any South Florida store that are happy to be working for AutoNation. Worse, former AN reps generally take their own business elsewhere because they have experienced first-hand the effects of all the cost-cutting and lack of quality controls.
