Shopping for a car sucks. Yes I know I've already covered this fact, but let me reiterate, it really sucks.For some reason it was taking my wife and I two months to find a reasonably priced used car that wasn't a PT cruiser. We were desperate but not that desperate.
After giving up the search 13 or 14 times, a miracle happened. I'll give ya some background: We had seen a Malibu Maxx hatchback at a dealership at the beginning our our searching. It was $10,000. Too much for my 1/4 jewish blood. After leaving, I called and offered $9,000. They told me they'd get back to me. Then I received a text from them telling me that they had great news! The text said they will do it for 9,250 and they'll even fill up the gas tank and change the oil!!! Oh happy day! I should really be praising the used car lords for these bounteous gifts!
But something about receiving a text from some slimeball younger than me who wasn't willing to negotiate price rubbed me the wrong way. So I decided that I wasn't willing to buy from Murdock Chevrolet. The search continued...
Two months of dishonest people later and my wife calls me and tells me that the very same Malibu Maxx we offered 9000 for was now being sold for 7400 at the very same dealership. I swallowed my pride and called them up. This is how it went.
Smarmy Salesman: Thanks for calling Murdock Chevrolet where UR the heart of our business, the home of no regrets and honest service! How can I best help you?
Me: Hey I'm calling about the malibu maxx. I actually offered 9000 for it a few months ago and i see it went down in price significantly.
SS: Oh, we'd certainly take 9000 for it now!
Me: I'm sure you would. Anyways, I guess I'm pretty serious about getting a car...
SS: Great! Come on in and I'll get the papers ready!
Me: The only thing is, I want it for 7000... (voice cracking)
SS: Well we are already losing on it...I'm not sure if we can go down any further.
Me: It seems that you've been willing to drop the price already, let's see how much further you can go. (false confidence is prominent at this point)
SS: I'll call you back.
So he calls me back and says for 7200 they can do it. I say "Deal!" I'll be by tonight to sign the papers. I then call my wife telling her the good news and she is pumped. After watching American Idol (shameful) I go to pick up our new car. Before I go i clean out my 1996 Maroon Ford Taurus hoping to get a good trade-in value for it.
I get there and the manager greets me and I give him the low down and he offers me 500 bucks for the Taurus! I'm alright with that. It was either that or donate it to a demolition derby. Then my cheesy salesman I spoke with on the phone came over and said "Well we were gonna pull the car up but someone is buying it right now."
WHAT THE F.........
Yeah, so he tells me that some people came in a half hour ago and are signing the papers now. You have got to be kidding me! Unbelievable! Apparently me calling and saying I'm going to buy it is null and void. They said they will call one of their other dealers and try to get the same car for the same price and call me tomorrow. I left their dealership with basically a check in my pocket and no car I was willing to buy.
They never called. When I called them, they said getting another similar car for that price is unthinkable. Then they tried to sell me other cars. See ya later Murdock. Poor poor job.
Now for some great news...We ended up going elsewhere and finding a cool Suzuki XL7! It's awesome. It's too bad that my wife gets to drive it and not me.P.S. The girl at my work isn't having a boy as previously thought. She's having a girl and she informs me that her husband is working on a list of girl's names. So get ready for another great list. I'll let you in on this little teaser...the best name of the lot is "Trinity." Yep, this'll be fun.
6 comments:
oh my good glory..that is ridiculous! but such a wonderful story Ü
I hate those people, I really do. I will never buy a car from them, the only thing is I wish you weren't watching American Idol. Then I would say they were entirely to blame.
They must have offered more than the price you both agreed on. Ironic that agree becomes a-GREED in your story.
- N.S Farao
Glad to know your alive..and that you still are at the same place of work. That is so funny...so now it's a girl huh? I can't wait for the list of names. Car shopping really does suck but I am glad you and Joan found something you like. When we got here in Arkansas we didn't have a car so we only had a week to find one and it was crazy. Everything went well, but when we paid cash for the car the title was no where to be found and we had to wait for 2 weeks for the dealership to get there butts in gear. They didn't care they had there money. Anyways, I miss the work drama, you really need to catch me up when you get time. lilkatiemad@msn.com
Hmmm...I believe my Grandma has a Suzuki piano. If you can make piano's, why not cars?
Amazing what a small world this is. I'm your "cheesy salesman". I was running a google search on Murdock to see what I'd find, and I came across your blog.
I'm sorry you had such a crappy experience. Believe me, when we spoke on the phone, I had the car pulled off the lot, washed up, and parked in front of the dealership. I was excited to sell it and glad to see a returning customer.
Then another salesman asked me if I had a deposit on it, and I had to tell him that I didn't. He also had a young couple call in on the same car, and they had just showed up on the lot before you. I don't remember whether or not I had asked you for a credit card deposit to hold it, but I almost always do.
I wish a phone conversation was a binding agreement, I would have sold a LOT more cars in my career.
Management decided to go with the people who were here first with money in hand. There really was nothing I could do. You lost a car, I lost a sale, and we both went home empty handed.
As soon as another Maxx hit the lot I called and left a message on your voice mail, but you probably already had the XL7. Those are great SUVs, and I'm sure you're enjoying it.
After reading your post I just wanted to apologize that you had such a bad experience here, and I hope you know that we're not all cheesy, smarmy slimeballs. We're just trying to feed our families.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck with your new baby, I love being a father, and I'm sure you will, too!
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