Car Dealers

It so interesting going to a car dealership and just experiencing how they treat you. We went there yesterday to look for a van (since the Suburu Outback was too small for the instruments) and the dealer came right up to us, we shook hands and then it got started. The first dealer didn’t use our names a lot but he was very positive and supported everything we did. We found this Mazda MPV van and we gave it a test run. Since the parking lot got repaved, our feet were jet black so we got our shoes. . . not that it would make a difference anyway ’cause our shoes just got dirty. It was a nice ride. Mama asked the salesman if he was ever nervous about being in a car that somebody’s test driving. When the guy said, “well, funny you should mention that,” we thought that he was talking about Mama’s driving (she’s a chamionship winning parallel parker mind you!) but he didn’t say that. This is what he said (and pay attention ’cause it’s a great story and I think he was telling the truth. you can never be too careful but he didn’t look that slimy) “well, funny you should mention that, about four months ago, somebody came in and wanted to try out a car. I came with him. suddenly he pulled up his shirt and I saw a gun there. He went over 100 miles/hour and I was hostage. It turns out he was a felon and had warrants out from all over. He drove all the way to Salinas and I finally bailed out at 60 miles/hour. I beat up my knees bad but he stopped to get me so I jumped and ran between houses and backyards and just kept running. Since the car had OnStar tracking, the nabbed him 15 minutes later.” Whoo! What a trip!

We came back the next day to look at the van and we got another salesman. He used our name a bit but not too much like those slimy salesman who say, “well joe, what kind of car are you looking for joe? joe, do you want a nice car, joe? Joe! you can get approved financing for Joe! . . . I mean for 56,000 G’s! Doesn’t that sound great Joe!?” I don’t care for people that slick. This guy wasn’t. I could tell when he used some salesman charm. We decided to keep the car overnight so we went inside to fill out the paperwork. I noticed that somebody did a horrible parking job. When we went inside, several cars were in the building! I mean come on! I may not have my license but I can do a lot better than that! I mean they weren’t even in the parking lot, they were in the building! I’m suprised I didn’t see any broken glass where the car broke through! Anyway, we signed some paperwork and then when he signed his name, some salesmen magic appeared. His last name was . . . well, let’s just say it’s associated with a tart fruit of some sorts. Mama said, “boy, that’s an unique name!” A nearby salesman thought Mama was talking about her (Mama’s) name said, “oh, that’s not as unique as mine!” and a lady said “oh, that’s not nearly as unique as mine!” and then the original salesman said, “well, hey!” (in a happily suprised expression, not a annoyed) AAAAAAaaaawkwaaaaaaaardDDDDD! It’s interesting to see how the salesman work together. It’s like a few years ago when we rented a car from Hertz. We saw a car we wanted and a Sman (salesman) was pulling it out to pick somebody out so our Sman ran to get it. Another Sman said, “I never seen him run that fast before!” Sure, it was funny but that made the customer subconciously think, “Boy! He’s doing that specially me! . . .Wow!”

When we took it out for another test drive, the guy opened the door for me and said, “hop in, boss!” I was thinking about playing with him. you know, acting all suprised, looked after and feeling all good from the praise. I didn’t of course ’cause I was gonna say, “I’m on to you!” or something suspiciousy. I dunno, Smen are too positive to be comfortable around. . . For me at least.