poker said:
Car Dealership Scams...... Interesting reading.
I can only surmise that for the average person buying a house or a car is just too large an amount of money for them to wrap their minds around. How else can one explain how such a big ticket item that can be so easily costed out at base for such little effort and expense?
I can somewhat understand it in people over 35 as we grew up with father's who loved to brag on the 'deal' they got. I recall as a kid catching shit from my parents for daring to challenge a family friend who was showing off his brand new 1972 Ford Fuck-U and beaming proudly as he pronounced how the dealer actually lost money on the sale. "Why would a dealer sell you a car for less money than it cost him to buy it? Doesn't make any sense." The jerk looked at me like I had just announced that he had ED in a pre-viagara world.
As such I wonder if what goes on is not so much the cost of the car but rather the appearance of a good deal which in turns leads to all sorts of bullshit. For something like $19 - $29, plus all the 'books' you can find out quite accurately what a dealer buys the car for. Now clearly you don't know his volume discount and whether he gets rebates and or sales over-rides for targets but none of those factors are going to cause huge effects on a specific car. So if the 2008 Ford Fuck-It, (not anti-Ford btw... just more believable as a name than the Ferrari Fuck-It), costs the dealer $25,000 and the line number before they start adding all the packages shows $29,000 then just walk out. Personally I find all the auto scams and tactics a fascinating example of human psychology and at the core level an interesting example of industry collusion.
For example who has ever successfully returned a lemon? And by that I don't mean during the cool off period but rather weeks/months after you had the car and realized that while the brand and series of car may be okay you simply have a baddie. Almost NEVER happens because all of the car companies have agreed that there will be no 'single hero' in this matter. Every car company will defend itself to the bitter end in court rather than ever setting that precedent of taking back a 'lemon'.
That's just a start at that level but the real fun is in the dealership. I mean I fully recognize that Bob the salesman is now my BFF after a mere 23 minutes including test drive and we have to work together to fight his boss who is just a real prick. Damn it Bob he wouldn't go for it? Shit Bob I feel like I'm letting you down not buying the car after all you did?
Right... I really like the dealers that 'mike' in the desks so when they 'leave you alone while they go talk to manager' they can listen in to figure out who is their champion if there is more than one person. Once I had my girlfriend all set up for that segment. She looks at me and winks and says "look you told me this is going to be my car! The one we drove was black and I want a red one and if you look over there in the showroom there is a red one. I don't care if costs more or not we're getting a red car!" Salesman, (Bob I think?), shows up and says it is looking good we just need a few more details... do you have any preference for colour or interior? Oh we don't really care says my girlfriend but red would be nice. Bob gets a worried look on his face... "oh really red? Damn... there was only a small run of red on this series and believe it or not.. that car over there is the last one in Ontario." Oh no Bob? Say it ain't so? What about the other 10 I noticed in the back of the lot? We laugh and get up and walk away saying "Bob it isn't nice to snoop in on people's conversations."
Always think of the Seinfeld episode where Cuddy is selling Jerry a new Saab. When Jerry's sorts out the relationship with Cuddy and Elaine he once again gets 'the deal'... "so none of that crazy stuff like undercoating?" "We don't even know what that is."
LOL.
