Sunday, November 14, 2010

Used Car Salesmen

Wow. My track record with salesmen has just been phenomenal (sarcastic) lately. This past week I was car shopping online and stumbled across "the car." You know, the one you've dreamt about and it finally materializes at the right time. Well, it now ranks up there with too good to be true because it had very low miles, was in almost perfect condition, and had a very bad sales person. 


First, let me just say that the online price was very overpriced. I did my research with Nada and Kelly Blue Book and even took the time to check out the car's vehicle report. Smart girl. Information in hand I went down to the dealership to check out this shining beacon of hope and wow! There she was, like something out of a movie; Sparkling and shiny like new. I liked her. A lot. (And FYI, all cars are girls. Think about the fueling process.)


So, oddly enough I had to hunt and hunt for a sales person and finally cornered one. I expressed my interest in the car and we went over to see what we could agree upon. Since the price was conveniently not on the car (but had been posted on the website) I asked, "How much are you asking." He then proceeds to quote me a price $1,000 over what was posted on the website. Talk about insulted! I then offered him a figure under the price guide listings and was quite pleased to see an equally disgusted look on his face. Good. He then came back down to about what the internet price was listed but now I was just mad and walked away. I mean come on! 


As I was walking away I pulled out my trusty cell phone and called my boyfriend. The salesman was still following me so I made sure he heard me tell my beau that the price had actually gone up! The man tried to talk to me for a minute or two more but I politely thanked him and left. Since then I've received two more offers by email, but the car is still grossly overpriced. At this point, after the treatment I received, I don't even think I'd purchase the car if it hit the magic price. 


I'm still trying to figure out if the treatment I received was because I was a woman or if I just looked like a particularly dumb individual when I walked onto the lot. I think next time I will hire a headhunter to go in for me and negotiate the deal. This is ridiculous. No wonder so many people hate car shopping.