Okay, I’m going to tell a little story about going out to buy a car and let’s see if you can identify with it. If you can, don’t feel bad, that’s the "Car Biz" and you are just like almost everyone else that goes into an automobile dealership to do what everyone dreads more than just about anything. Of course some of your friends will swear this bears no resemblance whatever to THEIR experiences. You can take a little satisfaction in the story though because back in my retail "closer" days those were the people I really loved to get in the negotiation process because once you played to their giant ego it was really easy. They usually paid more for the car than the people that knew the negotiator had the edge because he does it everyday. I don’t know, I guess its back to number 4 in "Who is this for."

The New Car

Your old car has seen way too many miles and after all these years your mechanic finally told you yesterday, "I can fix it for $2000 but to be honest it will still be an old car and next year you’ll probably have to spend at least the same just to keep it running. I think its time to get a new car." Mechanics don’t usually say things like that so it must really be time for a new one! You heeded the advise of the mechanic and decided that after work today you’d stop and look at some cars. One of the people at work told you to look at the new XYZ3 and you thought you’d check it out.

As you park in the lot, you haven’t even got the door of the ole’ car open all the way when you hear, "how you doin’, what can I help you find?" You look up to see a smiling young face standing right next to the door! Its hard for you to get out of the car with him in that spot but you persevere.

"I’m just looking tonight," you say to the young salesperson as you straighten up from the car.

"Great, what kind of cars are you interested in 2-door, 4-door or wagon, we have a great selection of everything," he replies almost before you have finished your sentence. You really want to say you’d like to look around in peace but don’t really know where anything is.

"I thought I’d take a look at the XYZ3," wondering were on this big lot they keep them.

"Follow me I’d be happy to show you what we have, although there aren’t as many as we’d like, they’re selling pretty fast. What color do you like?"

And so it goes, from the greeting and walk of the lot, to the demo drive (which seems entirely too short), then parking the car in the space pointed out to you which just happens to have a sign over it in bold red letters stating "SOLD CARS ONLY."

"I’m not buying a tonight," you state as you pull the new XYZ3 into the stall the salesperson has pointed to.

"No problem," you are told in a voice that sounds as if it doesn’t matter whether you buy now or in 20 years. "Did you like the way it handles." Upon your positive response you hear, "Isn’t this Inferno Red a great color for this car?" And once again buoyed by another little positivist, "How about the luxury features like the heated seats, aren’t they great?" After you have said yes to all these wonderful features this car seems to have (although start to finish was so fast you’re still not sure what color the interior is) your interest is once again caught by, "Tell you what, lets take a walk inside and jot some numbers down on a sheet of scratch paper so you can see about what you’re looking at on something like this." Then the smiling young face turns around and immediately starts walking to the showroom without even a backward glance to see if you are following or not. And without even knowing it, you are following along like a puppy!

As you walk into the showroom you are led to a small office that is just a little more claustrophobic than you’d like since you are out of your element and the salesperson is writing something on a sheet of paper. You kind of relax, thinking maybe you really are going to get some numbers so you’ll have an idea what this would cost you. Maybe this isn’t so hard after all...AND THEN IT STARTS! The price of the car starts at least $1,000 over what the Manufacturer’s sticker in the window said, but the nice young salesperson calms you down while not really giving a firm answer for anything and you finally said what you would be willing to pay, $20,000. Then the trade-in that started so low you were insulted and kind of inched up until you finally stated in no uncertain terms what is the least you could accept, $3000. The portion about cash down payment almost caused you to leave when they said it would take about $10,000 for preferred credit but you were calmed down pretty quick when informed they could try it with your $2000. The most nerve-wracking moment of all though was when they said you were looking at a monthly payment of $753. That poor salesperson almost seemed to beg you to let them try a payment comfortable to you when you were adamant about leaving because you obviously couldn’t afford this car, but finally you gave in at $300 per month and the salesperson filled out the credit application to make sure you qualify for the "preferred financing" and got up to go find out how it looked.

As they are almost out of the office they turn and look at the papers for a second and say, "Okay, so what I have to do is get them to sell this XYZ3 for only $20000, get you $3000 for the old car, only $2000 cash down, and a payment of $300 a month and you’ll buy it now, right?" Then they turn and leave you sitting there for a few minutes and the next thing you know the smiling young salesperson is at the door introducing you to "The Manager" who proceeds to start the game all over again and just like with the salesperson your blood pressure goes up and the manager brings it down, and so it goes, up, down, up, down, up, down. The problem, though is when everything is done and you are driving out in your new car you ended up paying more in almost every area than what you said to the salesperson.

If this is what happens or has happened to you when you go to buy a car, just remember...I can help.

mailto:cgruhle@aol.com

Home  / Genealogy  / Car Talk / Ebay  / Amazon.com / Cyber-Mall / Books / Trash To Treasure / Lost Photos