Well Seasoned Fool‘s stories of car sales reminded me of a car story out of my past, from the buyer’s side…
Back in 1988, I’d just transferred back to Kalifornia for duty. I needed a bigger car since I was going to be getting the kids on the occasional weekend and for a few road trips, and would be commuting a couple of hours each way to get them.
So… I go down to the local Ford dealer, after having perused the local Chevy dealer’s lot and not seeing anything of interest. It’s the end of the month, and I got pounced on like a piece of free cheese in a rat’s maze…
I was serious about getting a new ride, as the following weekend I had to go get the kids, and bring them back to my base, so I gave the ‘salesman’ my keys to let him get the car appraised for a trade in. We walked the lot, and I liked a Taurus I saw, so we started the negotiations.
I knew what I could afford, to the penny, as I’d done my research with Navy Fed, including what my trade-in was worth. Needless to say, we were a good bit of $$$ apart. During one of his trips to talk to the ‘boss’, I saw a familiar face walk through the showroom, and around the corner to some offices (I had bought another car there in 1977), so I knew that was where the real managers were.
The salesman came back with another offer, still not satisfactory, and I told him my final offer was good for the next thirty minutes or I was walking. He gave me the sob story, and said words to the effect, “I don’t think the boss will go for this, but I’ll take it back to him.”
This time I turned to watch him walk off, and realized he was going toward the coffee pot/break room, NOT the manager’s area…
At this point I was a little pissed, so I got up and went looking for the ‘face’ I’d recognized…
I wander down the hallway, and finally see the guy sitting at a desk in an office, so I knock on the door, he looks up, puzzled, and asked if he could help me. When I heard the voice, it connected that this was the guy I’d bought the Mustang from in 1977. I gave him the song and dance about buying a car from him in 1977, etc.
He didn’t remember me, until I told him about bringing my fiance in, and he laughed, saying he’d thought I was stupid to buy a car for ‘her’, before I married her. He asked what I was doing and I told him trying to buy a car, but the salesman was pulling a bunch of BS moves, and I was about to walk. I figured what the hell at this point.
He cocked his head, asked which Taurus I was interested in, and I told him. He asked me if I still liked fast cars, and I told him of course, but I needed four seats!
I remember he laughed, and walked me out into the shop area. Way in the back sat a black Taurus, but it looked a little different. It was lower, and when he opened the door, I saw bucket seats and a stick! He got in and started it, and it sure as hell didn’t sound like the Taurus I’d started on the lot and driven!
Regretfully, I told him it was nice, but… The salesman, and I was going to go get my keys and go somewhere else. He walked me back into his office, and I saw the top of the door frame, labeled with General Manager.
He sat me down, asked me what I was trading in, did some figuring, and said something like, “Okay, I can let you have that car for $20,000. With your trade in, you’d have to finance $7000, but if you do four years instead of two years, the payments would be the same.”
I remember asking him why it was used, since it was a brand new car. It turned out the owner had gotten the car for his son, modified it with an Eibach suspension, rolled the fender wells, and gone to larger tires on Sendel Racing rims. The son had gotten in ‘legal’ trouble of some type, and daddy was getting rid of the car.
That peaked my interest, and I decided screw it…
So he called some lady who came in and handed me a bunch of papers, I signed them and he told me to take them to Navy Fed and get them to cut Ford a check. He handed me the keys, and said have fun.
I walked back out front with him, finally saw the ‘salesman’ I had been going around and around with, and asked for my keys back. He started a line of BS, and the GM told him to shut up, get my keys and report to his office.
The look on the salesman’s face was priceless, and well worth the ass chewing I know he got. 🙂
Did I make out? Kinda… Did I put one over on them? Probably not. But to this day I cherish that salesman’s face when I walked back out with the GM!
It wasn’t until I got a copy of Car and Driver, and found out the list on the SHO was $27,000!!!
We bought our Toyota pickup from dealer X and used salesman Y, fair price and no shady tricks. A couple of years later we went to the same dealer and same salesman to get a Corolla. Completely different experience. Some shady tricks and the age old dodge of lowering the price when we stood up to walk out. We simply walked out and got a much better deal somewhere else on exactly the same car. Something must have changed at the dealership.
I had a used ’97 Ford Taurus SHO and was she a sweet ride!
Loved that car. Got it in 2002 with only 17K miles on it for $12K. Ran it until 2008 up to about 180K. I took really good care of that car and she took care of me. Gave it to my son after fixing it up nice for him. He crashed it after one week! Go figure.
Good experience for you, and a SHO!!!!
From the salesman side, he won when another piece of iron left the lot. It is like fishing, not every cast gets a fish, and not every fish is big, but enough casts and fish will feed you.
Car sales is a numbers game. I was a data guy, kept notes on every contact and every telephone call. Over time, I sold a car for every 4 1/2 “up”. Five phone calls produced on “up” on the lot. By my 5th year over half of my sales were to previous customers or referrals from previous customers.
Games? Sure, as opposed to lies. People make decisions in many different ways and you need to find a scenario where they will make a decision.
Best outcome? The iron leaves the lot with the customers telling each other, “Boy, did we take them!”
Want to succeed in the car biz? Leave your problems, worries, and ego on the sidewalk as you enter the lot.
Good for you. I almost always got screwed when I bought a vehicle. Once got a great deal on a Ford dually one ton for the place and sold it for more than I bought it for two years later. Not so lucky anymore.
I’ve got a good friend, we grew up two houses apart and still consider his Mom as an aunt. He’s been in the auto business for forty years. When I need a car, I call him and we work something out real quick. Nobody gets screwed and I’ve gotten some great deals over the years.
A Navy man knows when to go directly to the skipper – sometimes it pays to bypass the chain of command. Outstanding!
When I took a Personal Finance class at a community college in northern California a few years ago, the instructor handed out a tip sheet for buying a car. He said salesmen will always ask a young person how much payment per month can they afford. He said, do not fall for that. Always look at the total price and how many months it will take to hand over the dough for a car that may not be worth as much when you finally pay off that long-term loan. So true! He hates to see young adults get ripped off by car salesmen. A dealer in Dallas tried to pull a fast one on my daughter with her new 2014 Honda purchase, but her fiance backed her up and saved them thousands. Our son also stood his ground in negotiating on a new truck in the DFW area.
I answered phones at a dealership during college. It was very interesting to see things from that angle. I also got to do my homework and work on writing stories. Most of the sales guys treated me like a daughter. Not a bad job, all things considered.
Office mate had a Taurus SHO … in baby blue. Yah, either a screw up at factory or failed special order. Either way it was NOT moving and my office mate waved a cashier’s check under the manager’s nose. They were more than happy to take the offer.
I just came back from Naples after 4 years driving a 1959 VW bug that had about 56,000 European miles on it. Got stationed in NASBrunswick and went to see the VW dealer up in Auburn. 1962 was the first year of the bus and with 2 kids and another one on the way we needed bigger than a bug. Asked the guy what I could get for trade in and after a ride he mentioned all the things wrong with it, nickel dime stuff actually, and he said that the absolute best he could give me was $1200. I neglected to tell him that I had bought it at the factory in Germany for $1050 three plus years ago. First and last time I ever screwed a car dealer, and they have been getting even with me ever since!
All- Thanks for the comments! I’m still volunteering and it’s turning into 14 hour days, so I don’t have time to answer every comment. sorry
Posted from my iPhone.
First thing I learned the first time I went car shopping was NEVER give them the keys. But I’ve noticed times and sales approaches have changed and it’s real nice tobjust go in with an emailed offer.
Sounds like you found a bargain–well, paid less than you might have–but I never could have. Never bought a new car, never will. It’d be like buying a brand-new trailer to live in. The depreciation is too much for me. I buy used, although I don’t preach to those who choose to do otherwise.
Just like weapons, it’s your money & your property. I remember seeing the SHOs: I bet it was a fun critter to drive!
Hey Old NFO;
As a former builder of the Taurus series of vehicles, I really liked the SHO. I used to love it when the DN-5 SHO( 1987-1995) Taurus would for 20,000 dollars or a bit more whip a beemer that cost double. I want to buy a SHO, the new ones are very good, although 40,000+ new. Have fun at the Masters. My son and I will be going to the Naval Aviation Museum in PNS today. Will blog about it tonight…probably:)
Those Taurus SHO’s were a nice ride. Early on they had transmission issues though. That many horses on a FWD manual, something about that…. .
I used to go to school and date once in awhile a girl her dad ran a used car lot.I always got good cars and deals from him
We’re more than happy with our new SHO.
I do have a couple complaints about the car…
It nags you. “Hey, are you going to sleep? Stay in your own damn lane!”
And, this car would blow the doors off any muscle car from that era, but goes fast so subtly no one knows.
I’ll be interested to hear about your experience.
I used to sell cars for a living.
It was 1986, and Main Lady was shopping for a new car. After reading everything in sight, she decided on a Toyota Camry. So it’s off to the dealer, and we drew a band new salesman. After three days of negotiations (no, I’m not kidding. No, I haven’t been drinking. Yet.) I decided we weren’t going to do any better, and pulled the trigger. Main Lady drove off with the Camry and kept her junker for Mopsy and Cottontail to drive.
Fast forward 8 months or so, and the Congress Critters decided that the trade deficit with Japan was out of line, and as a result raised the import tariff on Toyota automobiles. The punch line was that Main Lady’s car was now worth more used than she paid for it new. Divine intervention, I’m thinking.
Great resource on negotiating for a car:
http://www.negotiationdynamics.com/Newcar.asp
http://www.negotiationdynamics.com/Usedcar.asp
And a free book on negotiation in general:
http://www.negotiationdynamics.com/bookart.asp
Also, check with your auto insurance company — and/or with AAA, if you’re a member. They may be able to point you to some great deals.
All- Thanks! Yes, I did have problems with the clutches… I went through FIVE of them!!! But, in Ford’s defense, I’d also chipped the motor with a chip from Yamaha of Japan (who originally built the motor for offshore boat racing, and it would actually turn 9000 RPM without any auxiliaries on the motor. 🙂
Fun car, did some autocrossing with it for a couple of years, and one track day at Laguna Seca. THAT was a blast!!!
My track day at Laguna Seca was also on a Yamaha, a FZ600 in a Reg Pridmore class. It was a lot of fun but my bike was relatively slow and it seemed to take forever to get around the circuit, however you could just go “over the waterfall” in the corkscrew and ride over the rumblestrips instead of going all they way in and around following the asphalt. THAT was a real trip! Those Yamaha SHO’s had the five-valve-motors like the bigger Yamaha FZR’s of the period. Fast! My other times at Laguna Seca were behind a camera with a Press-Pass, practically right on the track at a couple bike GP races. That was also a hoot.
I always thought it would be fun to build a SHO V6 in a Probe. It would be fast as hell, and would be labeled “Ford” all over, despite the fact it’s a Yamaha motor shoehorned into a Mazda body. I understand that’s not even a terribly challenging swap.