Why People Hate Car Salesmen

You know, I enjoyed selling cars. I really did. My boss was a maniac, but I adored him. My customers were the best folks in the world. And there was never a dull moment. The hours stunk, the stress was high, the pace was gruelling, and I wouldn't want to try to pull it off with children who need me at home. If, however, I was a single male, I would still be selling cars and having a blast doing it.

I didn't sacrifice my moral standards to make a sale, either. After a while, people even stopped making me stand by the Amway/Quikstar folks at social functions and welcomed me back among the living. But I do understand why, as a general rule, car salesmen carry the stigma of a leper in polite society:

They just have to push those envelopes. Just have to. The sales and management staff are the mental equivalent of a showroom full of four year olds who reach for the cookie jar not five seconds after you told them "no". They know better. You've told them better. But they just. have. to. try.

And that, honestly, pisses people off.

Zorak is in Georgia right now, yes, at nine o'clock at night, seething pretty heavily.

He's been in the market for a pick up that would work well as a commuter, and also for hauling materials for the house. He's been looking for over a year. We have the cash, but wanted to finance it to help build our credit and keep assets fluid for the remodel of a home. (We've always known we'd have to remodel whatever we bought, so we just counted on it.)

Today he found one. He researched the vehicle. He called the dealership. He asked all the right questions, including the phrase "out the door". They couldn't finance the vehicle (older truck, low price), so he arranged his own financing in a matter of minutes, called the dealership back to let them know he's on his way (198 mi. one-way drive), picked up the cashier's check and headed out.

Of course, once he got there, took it for a drive, ascertained that there's not a frightening amount of Bondo on the thing, etc. He said he'd take it... and they broke out the Alpine Air, the charge for tires, doc fees, etc. It came in much higher than the out-the-door price he'd been quoted.

Yes, I'm sure they thought he'd be an "easy lay", as the term goes for pushover customers. He's very nice, and does not come across as confrontational. But come ON, people. If you want someone to bring the money to pay for your little stunts, ya might wanna let them in on it to begin with. Personally, I'd have ridden them a bit on the sales price, to begin with, and then we'd have had a throw-down over the details later. But Zorak is very upfront, very honest, and right now, he's very pissed. He is tired, he is cold, and he would much rather get back on the road to come home before midnight than sit there in studville (aka the showroom) and haggle like he's buying a blanket in Mexico.

Out. The. Door. That means, literally translated, "What, precisely, are you going to take from me, down to the last penny, so that I can walk out the door with a vehicle?" *sigh*

Poor guy just wants a pickup.

I just want my husband home, safe and sound.

So then he could kiss the babies, too...
Dy

****Update: He did lay it on the table and tell them to either make it work or give him the check back. He's driving home in the pickup, but had to go to Wal-Mart to buy a ramp because they're mad and wouldn't help him load the bike into the bed of the truck. I'm so glad he didn't have to use those insulated coveralls tonight!****