Thursday, April 14, 2011

Car Salesmen

Toby and I made a trip to The City yesterday for what should be his last doctor's appointment. All is well. The doctor said, "You are healed." I'll buy into that. Why we had to go all the way to The City for him to say that, I don't understand - maybe it was the $30.00 co-pay. Anyway, we won't be going back, although the doc did want Toby to make an appointment for several months down the road. Pfft!

Of course we did some running around while in The City. We found the Brew Shop and bought some gadget for Toby and Jes' hard cider project. We stopped by the Sun, Ski, Sport for some tennis shoes and major suck-up from the salesmen who were bored on a Wed. afternoon. Toby bought some bicycle gadget while we were there, too. Then we moved on to the car lots. Yep, we have been looking at cars. My Camry is ten years old with 180,000 miles on it. It still runs great, and I love it, but it may be time for something new. Anyway, we have been looking.

Through the years of our marriage, we have had some pretty funny experiences with car dealers, who may be one step above vacuum cleaner salesmen. I have very little control over Toby when it comes to dealing with these guys, and I have learned to just sit back and go with the flow. Toby has been known to say and do outrageous things - he seems to thrive on it. Once, back in the day, we were looking at a big, nice, expensive four-door pick-up truck. The car salesman asked Toby what he did for a living. Toby replied, "I'm a trashman." Actually, he was the general manager of several trash companies in Northern NM and Co, but you should have seen the salesman's face when Toby said "trashman."

I could go on and on with Toby stories. You see, Toby has a slow West Texas drawl and he looks like a good ol' boy. He is a man of few words - rather quiet. Car salesmen seem to underestimate him and never pick up on his sense of humor. Sense of humor? More like evil mischief!

So, while were test driving a vehicle yesterday, I get a text from Jes saying that Frank had been locked in the barn all night and most of the day - bless his little heart. I shared this with Toby and the car salesman. Toby said, "Great for mouse control." Pause. Then he added, "Frank is the cat; not the neighbor." The salesman didn't see that one coming.

We continued to torture the salesmen, check out the new cars, and had a great day. It is kind of a test to see how sharp the salesmen really are and if they have any personality at all. Could we break their slick salesman persona? The kid at the Toyota place was not even worth the effort - poor thang. We will not go back there - being "babysat" by a kid just out of high school was ridiculous. We did not buy a vehicle, but we have a better idea of what we want.

8 comments:

Dale said...

I hate dealing with a car salesman! Shelley will set there and not say much unless she really wants the car then I have to do battle with a crazy salesman and a wife that really really wants something!

My truck is at 188K and 13 years old but still runs great. I told Shelley I would get a little car to be better on gas if she would let me keep my truck. The jury is still out on that one.

joyce said...

I wonder if we can rope Bob into this one. Bob goes about it scientifically. plays a game called quota something. gets the dealerships to bid via email, and then goes with the lowest bid after one more call on a designated day to beat the bid. It is a hoot to watch. Bob got a good deal on our toyota van and James' truck thataway.

Buck said...

Dang. The Green Hornet will be 11 this year and she only has 60K miles on her. I guess I don't get out much.

The roles were reversed in my marriage: Paula was the Hell On Wheels car buyer and I was the "I want this NOW" kinda guy. I think she got her attitude (about car dealers, anyhoo) because she worked as a car salesman for a short while after college. She lasted a month before she quit in disgust.

wv: jolopse. I am NOT making this up!

Bag Blog said...

Buck, Car salesmen are like some other breed or maye they are aliens from another planet. Whatever it is, I don't get it.

Joyce, Maybe Toby should deal online rather than in person with these car guys.

Dale, Toby thinks about trading off his truck, but I don't want him to do it. Sometimes you just need a truck - even if it is a beater.

Andy said...

Buck, my Pam is the brains when it comes to buying "anything." I'm the "let's just get it, and get on with it" guy, too.

Our Sable is now 14 years old, with 130k. We don't get out much, either. Most of those miles were looooooong road trips. We probably don't put 300 miles a month on her unless we're going cross-country.

As to the car salesman deal...yeah, a teenager would put me off. But, everybody's got to start somewhere. At least he's not out robbing liquor stores, or laying up at the house asleep.

Bob said...

If Toby wants to get the best of a car salesman, I can't help. But if he wants to get the best deal on a new car, you might have him read this.

Bag Blog said...

Andy, I can't really explain it, but it was like making this kid "twice the son of hell" as the big car dealers are.

Bob, Toby does pretty well with the dealing and price. He does his homework ahead of time. He knows what he is willing to pay. We have changed dealerships and gotten the same car when a dealer was being difficult. Toby just likes to tease them - poke them a bit.

Jo Castillo said...

We just got a new Escape. Pretty nifty. We drove it to NM. Don't recommend for comfort on a long trip, the Explorer is better. We got 26 mpg on the way against a headwind and probably 35 on the way back as we were blown home! It has SINC and sunroof. Sporty and more than we needed for our run around car. Hope you find something nifty for you, too.