Fresno man celebrates 50 years of selling cars

The first vehicle David Coquillette sold when he became a car salesman in Fresno nearly half a century ago was a 1969 Ford Torino station wagon for $2,400.

The white-haired, 78-year-old jokes that the sales tax alone on the Mercedes-Benz vehicles he now sells cost that much. A sleek, black, Mercedes sports car sitting in front of Coquillette’s small office in the Fresno showroom sells for more than $200,000.

Coquillette is celebrating a career milestone — 50 years in the car sales industry. The Fresno man has spent the last 21 years at Mercedes-Benz Fresno. That’s a big feat considering the average American only spends a median of 4.4 years in one job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“If I wasn’t working, what would I do?” Coquillette said shortly after the start of his 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. shift on a recent Friday. “I’ve worked all my life.”

Devotion to the job and a love of meeting people from all backgrounds keeps Coquillette showing cars and working the phones to find the perfect vehicle to fit a buyer’s needs.

“Retirement is when you get old,” said Coquillette, who recently reduced his work hours from 60 to 50 a week. “I don’t mind aging…When you stop working, you stop living. I don’t look forward to retiring.”

Coquillette’s first job at 20, after spending two years in the Army, was as a finance manager for Household Finance Corp. in his native Chicago. The company transferred him to Fresno in 1963.

The $800 monthly salary wasn’t enough to support his family — a wife and four children — so Coquillette found a job as finance manager for a car dealership. That first month, he earned $1,300.

With hard work, Coquillette, now divorced, knew he could make more money in the car business. He has worked in all levels of management and sold cars for all franchises, but has never owned his own dealership.

He has sold Audi, Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Dodge, Ferrari, Fiat, Ford, Hyundai, Isuzu, Mazda, Peugot, Plymouth, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Coquillette takes a guess at how many cars he has sold. It’s close to 5,000 as a salesman, he said, which doesn’t include all the cars he has signed off on as a manager. Selling doesn’t stop when you become the boss, he said.

Over the years, the car industry has battled skyrocketing gasoline prices, gasoline shortages, double-digit interest rates on loans, strikes at car factories and at the docks, all affecting business.

The way car loans are made has changed and the introduction of the Internet has added a new dynamic to the industry, which actually “made my job easier,” Coquillete said with a chuckle.

But the way cars are sold hasn’t changed. The key, Coquillette said, is to build a rapport with customers. “You have to make friends when you’re making money,” he said.

Coquillette has a loyal following of customers. The younger salesmen get a taste of it often. There are about a dozen people who sell cars at Mercedes-Benz.

“People come in and we think it’s fresh traffic, but it’s for David,” said Luis Ybarra, 23, who has been at Mercedes for two years.

Ybarra looks at Coquillette as a grandfather figure and a mentor who has taught him some important career lessons: don’t rush, be patient and be honest.

Coquillette’s ability to build relationships with clients shows the new salespeople the importance of building a clientele, said dealership owner Scott Biehl, who has known Coquillette for 25 years.

“His best quality would be that he really loves his customers and they love him back by coming back, over and over,” Biehl said. “He really takes care of his people.”

This story was originally published June 6, 2015 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Fresno man celebrates 50 years of selling cars."