Death of a Salesman (almost)

I'd rather have 2 sisters working in a whorehouse than one brother selling new cars. God damn what a beat down it is new car shopping.

I almost made a deal on a new Dodge truck last month for just under $17K at Karl Klement Dodge in Decatur. This month the best they will do is $22K. After stopping at 3 or 4 different Ford and Dodge dealers around Denton/Lewisville I decided to drive to Rodeo Ford in Dallas (TRUCKS, TRUCKS, TRUCKS, TRUCKS, TRUCKS, TRUCKS, TRUCKS, TRUCKS!!!) advertising 50% off all TX/OK F150 Crew Cabs.

(THAT'S TOO CHEAP!!!)

The best they will do is 30% off because I don't qualify for all the oddball incentives the 50% included. Then they tried to jack my driver's license in order to keep me there. They needed to make a copy for financing approval, OK no problem. After they came back with an offer that was way above 50% under MSRP I said "no thanks".

But new car deals being new car deals he went back to see what else they could knock off the price. I waited over 20 minutes before deciding it was time to walk. I almost made it out of the parking lot before the sales team descended upon me like Dallas SWAT.

C'mon back, we'll give you a Coke. Our top man is working on a deal specially chosen just for you... Oh, the humanity.

Oh, BTW... we still have your Driver's License. Holy Crap! I had completely forgotten that they still had my DL. I am a bonehead!

I go back in, but they switch to Good Cop/Bad Cop tactics. Not a wise move with me. The finance manager has me pinned in and does the hard sell. I'm killing them. Don't I feel guilty making them lose money? It's not their fault I don't qualify for discounts as an AQHA member, Farm Bureau, active military or Ford loyalty owner.

You got to be kidding me?!? FORD LOYALTY?????
I bleed the Blue Oval!!!!

Do you have any idea how much crap I put up with being a Ford Racing fan? I was hotrodding a Ford before you were pooping in your Pampers.

My first truck was a 1968 Ford F100 (Old Yeller). My first car was a 1977 Ford LTD-II. I put over 300,000 miles on my '88 F250 and close to 100,000 on my '94 Explorer.

I'm not a loyal Ford owner?

Give me my f'n license and I'm outa here.

The salesman that took it would'nt give it back. He thought I would be forced to stay and listen to why I should buy a truck from them and why I should pay more than they advertised. Then they sent in the finance manager to cross pitch me with the guilt angle. After making it plain and clear someone's ass was about to get kicked by a certified Wise County redneck they decided to return me my license. Don't play me for a fool.

On the way home I stopped at Lewisville Mitsubishi and took a second look at a used '08 Dodge with 3,000 miles that was very nice. They wanted $18,500 but the lifetime drivetrain warranty would not transfer so I passed. While driving out of the lot I caught a glimpse of a few used cars sitting behind the dealer next door, Bankston Nissan. I drove back there and noticed a very nice Dodge. It had 4 doors, the premium interior, premium soundsystem, lots of chrome and tinted windows. Until I looked at the sticker I didn't realise it was an '02 with 100K miles. The truck had been treated very well. The interior was spotless and there wasn't a single body ding.

What was odd was it had 3 prices. There was the sale tag hanging off the mirror listing the Kelley Blue Book value of $9,300 and the sales price of $8,500. But there was grease pen writing on the windshield that said $4,499.I found a salesman and asked if $4,499 was the selling price. He went to check and told me the truck and all the other cars back there were going to auction tomorrow and that was the wholesale price. I took the truck for a test drive and it ran like a top. Even got a 2nd gear chirp getting on the freeway... nice. I read the Carfax report and there were no incidents.

I wrote him a check and bought the truck!

OK, so I didn't get a new truck, but I did get one newer than I had and made money on the deal (about $3,500). I'm confident that I can get my money back if I decide to trade for a new one in a few months when they get really desperate on unloading those '08's.

I'd like to make a deal on a new one with Josh Heathcock. He's the original salesman I met with at Karl Klement Dodge in Decatur and I think he's a squared away guy fresh from Iraq. I've forced him to sit thru 2 negotiations already without making a deal. Sorry about that. If any of you are looking for a new car give Josh a shout. He's good people.