A week ago, we bought a new car (well new to us, the newest car I have ever bought!). Its a process I have only undertaken a small number of times in my life (this is my 8th car) and its something I learned to enjoy doing as I learned the game, yet quickly I grew to hate the game.
Buying a car is an analogy of life.....there are vital things, important things, desired things, frivolous things.... and for most of us living a family life in western Canada, a car eventually comes under the vital thing heading. Consequently, the experience of buying a car, a significant outlay (hardly an investment!) is something which should leave you with a good taste in your mouth when all is said and done.
There are several parties involved with the process of this transaction. It pays to learn the game and to know the role you are going to be expected to be pressed into. Its tedious once you know how its going to unfold before you get to the shop. I for one am usually well prepared, jovial but with my battle armour on under my shirt.
We have spent four years looking at cars (!) while we drove around in an ever aging car, a nice car and one we have spent good money on maintaining, one which seemed to suit well our needs some 10 years ago when it was newer. The "family car" was large, comfortable, roomy, relatively adaptable, having once carried a new chest of draws home on the trunk lid, held in place by the somewhat decorative spoiler at its edge and some bungey cords. It was great for legroom (needed for my long frame) and satisfyingly zippy and has great handling which seemed to be fairly important to me 10 years ago when I used to drive a lot more aggressively.
Sadly she was getting a bit old and ragged around small edges. She needs some money spent on her and yet in this throwaway society, costs more to insure than the insurance company would give me for her if someone even lightly rear ended me. She is still safe to drive, but needs new shocks and this and that.....and at the end of the day the stuff which I would like to do to her will cost more than the insurance which is more than the "value" of the car..... that of course is the value as determined by the insurer, which bears NO resemblance to her value to me!
I must admit that my confidence in the old girl is a little diminished. On a recent long road trip she pulled a couple of squirlies on me which made my heart falter, then seemed to immediately recover. (The fuel tank would suddenly empty and then refill when cruise control was applied, heart stopping as an experience, but she didn't falter....)
It was time to get serious. Four years of "looking" was enough.
My needs and the needs of my other half were somewhat divergeant, but being a strong believer in "its worth it for a quiet wife" we had been looking at various utility type vehicles rather than rolling armchairs and had somehow managed to come to a compromise by looking at smaller SUV type vehicles, not because we wanted to go off-road (those days are past!) but because they may be somewhat fuel efficient, still reasonably zippy and would carry a decent load when needed. Also they are easier to step into and out of than the climbing down and up I had to do with most sedans. We had looked at many types, set some aside without even driving them, had driven some, looked at others. The biggest test for me was first and formost "Can I get into the vehicle?" followed by "Can I see out of the vehicle?" followed by "Am I comfortable in the vehicle?" followed by "do I like this vehicle?" and summarised by "Can I afford this vehicle?"
Before our last road trip, we had it down to a couple more to look at which we liked the apparent look of, but both needed a real sit-in test drive in city traffic and on the hills. Our biggest complaint with most of the selection to look at was that if you wanted a sunroof, you had to have leather seats and a third row of seating and we wanted neither, despite craving a sunroof again. (There is nothing worse than being really tall and driving in British Columbia scenary and not being able to see anything but the asphalt ahead of you!).
So we planned a trip to various dealerships to look at some options. I stated before we left home that I had a bad feeling about this trip around the dealerships, a feeling that we were not going out "looking" but actually "hunting" and likely to buy something. It was strange and we found some interesting things which we were not expecting. There was a nice large Suzuki XL7 sitting on a dealership lot, looking dusty. It was a 2009 model with only 113km on it... it just hadn't sold, was sitting at the back of the lot and they were anxious to be rid of it.....still there as far as I know..... anyone want a fantastic deal?. It was a nice vehicle.....but leather seats and a third row of seats. So we continued on to look at the Subaru Forester, the new model, a vast improvement on the previous model and a car that visually attracted us, but a disappointing ride in which we felt the window sills were too high as the seats were generally set very low and the passenger seat was unadjustable in height. Hmmmmm
Next target was the Mitsubishi Outlander which we had looked at several times but never test driven, but for some reason I thought is where we would end up. Some problems though....if you want the sunroof you have to have the leather seats and the third row of seats, and the third row are stupid seats! Hmmm .
So the salesman Marcel was listening (yes some do!) to my commentary and he asked if we had looked at the Mitsubishi Endeavor, as he thought that vehicle seemed to fit everything we described very closely? I had thought about that car fleetingly some years ago, but set it aside as large and expensive. I had looked at one at the car show but my lack of serious interest in it had pushed it out of my mind. So Marcel pushed us over to look at one.....the last one on the lot (there are not a lot of them around in fact) and we looked.
I liked the colour (how fickle!) a creamy pearly white metallic. I liked its presence. The cabin looked exceptionally spacious and well laid out. It was comfortable. It had durable fabric seats and NO THIRD ROW SEATING... and it had a full sun roof!
Inside everything fell to hand. Seating position was commodious and comfortable, visibility was amazing. I knew I was hooked. We did a test drive around some busy streets, up and down a very serious hill. It drove really well. However it was getting dark and the shop was wanting to close. It was suggested that we come back next day and do the test drive on the smaller Outlander, as that was what we set out to do. That was a very smart move on Marcel's behalf. I didn't think it was worth the time to do that as I already knew I couldn't get what I wanted in it, and was not interested in an expensive compromise. So we came back next day and we tested the Outlander and it felt weird to drive, peppy, tight, bouncy and somehow very plastic. That wasn't my car. A conundrum was raising its ugly head. Should we afterall go and look at the LandRovers? Mighty expensive options with huge engines big enough to tow the necessary oil well behind....Was the unsold 2009 Suzuki at a true clearance price a good backup proposition?
Marcel was good. He seemed like a salesman of course, gracious, polished in his technique (which was starting to become annoying), informative, chatty, doing his job and hoping for a commission. The atmosphere was beginning to change. The "sell" was coming down the chute next, I knew it. Most would have walked right into it and been oh so gently taken up in its rush and would have bitten. I braced for it.
I told him I liked the car but that I wanted to reconsider the Suzuki we had looked at and to talk things over with my other half. He was brave, polite, but saw his commission slipping away. He had no idea that I knew that this would be our car and had since we first sat in it. My poker face was on.
We returned the next day, made sure the car was on the lot still, found Marcel and said we had come to discuss buying the car. He looked almost surprised! We had done a lot of research on the type over the couple of days we had been dithering about, had developed some questions which we went over, raised the question of a part exchange on the old family bus and we were told that we could get at least a certain figure (which matched exactly my total expectation) and then he said "So are you ready to talk turkey then?" My affirmative sent him off the fetch the shop paperwork on the car but only after he had made a nice show of making us comfortable in the hotseats opposite his desk and introducing us to his sales manager, a spiffily dressed car salesman if I have ever seen one!
Back he came with a pile of papers and one on top which was the sales sticker from the car window with a number on it I had had no intention of paying, of course. He pointed to the number and said "Looks good doesn't it?!" to which I replied "No....". Oh, you should have seen the look on his face!
Out of the folder I had in front of me I pulled a printout of a page from their shop website, taken off maybe 30 minutes before this time. It showed the exact same car, matching unit number/stock number with a list price $4,000 less than the window price. Very Interesting! I said "it looks like we start there..." He feigned being shocked and a degree of "being nice" slipped a little. Of course he had to go and show this to his sales manager... of course! He was gone for a while, leaving us sitting there twiddling our thumbs.....there were raised voices in the background. I am not sure whose voices they were. As time grew more drawn out, I was making ready to get up and leave (a very useful technique in playing the game), when Marcel suddenly returned, with a bit less of a smile on his face now.
"My manager will honour the internet published price (of course he will, its the law!) but no further negotiations and no part exchange on your existing car.... are you interested?"
Of course I was interested. I know that they hoped I would say no, because I am sure that whomever typed in that price on the website made a substantial mistake and I was going to be getting the car around where I expected to anyway and didn't have to go back and forth playing nickle and dime games, plus I got to keep the "old girl" as a family run about/second car (and remember that her value to me was greater than anything they would have allowed me).
So now it was face saving time. Marcel put his best jovial salesman face back on while clearly biting his lip and we went though all the paperwork and put down the deposit. He had a few things to make sure were right over the next day or so to prep the car to go out, and I had to go and do some banking. We went back Friday evening, cheque in hand, to find the car all spruced up with a big sticker in the window "Sold to some very nice people" (which I immediately removed) and had to succomb to having our photo taken with the car and Marcel.... and that was that.
So what is my point this time? Guys, don't play games with people. Its really degrading and usually pretty easy to get caught out by smart people. What does it say to you that you take advantage of people who are not smart enough to understand what game is being played? You are smart enough to dupe a dupe!.... don't do it. Be honest, be natural. Trying to sell a car for $4,000 more than you are actually willing and able to sell it for and still be in business, so that you can allow the guy $1,000 on his old car and make him feel like he won the game, is really a sick attitude, deceptive and trashy. Don't be his best friend while you rip him off.
When you treat people like this, this is what they learn. Its easy to fall into it and actually rather hard to not fall into it. It requires more effort from you to do the right thing. Marcel ended up looking like a fool. He was false and play acting. I am fairly sure that he is actually a nice guy outside of work, but he has sold his soul and no man should do that.
Yeah the Mitsubishi Endeavor is a really nice car and I am enjoying driving it, very much actually, but how much nicer would it have been if I had not been moved to write this blog?
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