Coffee is for Closers
March 13th, 2002
Recently, it was deemed appropriate to not let Them win by doing some window shopping. Most of it centered around an economic turnaround package of my own: I’m thinking of losing the Lesbian Power Wagon and getting a truck. A butch ass truck. I’m supporting the economy on several levels. I’m helping.
The process seemed simple enough:
- Choose vehicle.
- Find dealer.
- Inspect vehicle on lot.
- Test drive.
This is when various branching algorithms come into play. However, in this situation, we didn’t even get past the third bullet point.
Heading to a local lot, DJ Blurb and fiance were swarmed by Eastern Bloc salesmen who showed the butch ass truck then, when asked for a test drive, refused.
“If you’re buying today, I move cars for test drive.”
“How do I know I want to buy it if you won’t let me drive it?”
“I have to move 4 cars for test drive.”
“…”
“If you want truck, I move cars. You gonna buy?”
“I’m going elsewhere.”
This happened twice in one day on seperate lots. The second sales guy actually saying after refusing to open the door of a vehicle that I wanted to look at:
“Well, this is my big sales day, so I’m going to get back to work. Here’s my cell phone number. Call me when you’re ready to buy and I hope to get your business.”
When we pulled on the lot, this guy was one of twelve sales associates sitting on their asses out front in plain sight. A sea of white golf shirts with the Toyota logo stitched in red over the left breast. There wasn’t a line of people waving $25,000 - $30,000 standing around bitterly eyeing sales people and complaining about lack of help. There were a bunch of people eyeing cars they wanted to drive and salesmen abandoning them on the roof.
The only part of my business this guy is going to get is the view of my ass driving off the lot without one of his cars
Tags: buying a car, driving, los angeles
March 13th, 2002 at 11:29 am
having just bought a car yesterday i know the feeling. At the honda dealership i sat down to talk prices with the dealer i was with who was nice, but when they quoted me a ridiculously high price and i denied it they brought in the big guns. When rasheed brought the price down 3,000 dollars i felt uneasy and i told him i wouldn’t be buying a car today. he stood up and walked away tellin him i was wasting his time. i bought a toyota. click on my name to see my new car.
March 13th, 2002 at 6:24 pm
you know, this is a perfect opportunity to see if corporate head honchos will live up to their reps. Email the car makers, let them know you got treated like merde, and see if you can cause a few headaches for the salesmen.
March 13th, 2002 at 8:21 pm
In a strange pique of synchronicity, tonight I watched Fargo, and tomorrow I’m teaching Glengarry Glen Ross in class.
March 13th, 2002 at 11:44 pm
in the midst of the dot.com heyday, i bought a car using the only method i thought i over would…ONLINE at the now defunct carorder.com. no hassle, no sales people, and communication was all done via e-mail. the low price was well worth the time and energy i would have spent kicking the shit out of a sales guy….
March 14th, 2002 at 8:45 am
Do the environment and the US a favor and get a diesel. Then run it on biodiesel. Supports farmers, keeps waste vegetable oil out of dumps, and doesn’t support OPEC. And, your exhaust will smell like french fries/popcorn/BBQ.