After WWII my dad used the G.I. Bill benefits to get the education he never had. He worked selling new and used cars for a Ford dealer while doing so, although those three years were the only time he sold cars. Most of his adult career was in various types of sales. He taught us kids that an honest sales perdon finds out what the customer needs and helps them buy appropriately. That means understanding not only what product or service is needed but what financial limitations the customer has.
Typo…perdon = person. 
Agree. A good salesperson doesn’t “sell” but allows a person to buy or assists them in the purchase. One thing that ticks me off is when a guy asks me how much I can or want to spend. Sometimes I’m more interested in the value of the product than the cost, and besides that’s my business what I want to spend-which of course is nothing, but that’s usually not possible.
Many years ago, I thought to buy a VW square-back. I went to look at the new ones. A big mouth salesman said he had people come in who said they had the money for a new Porsche but simply chose not to spend it. He said it in a very negative, insulting way, implying no one with money to buy a new Porsche would fail to buy one, therefore those people must be lying.
The problem was, I also had the money to buy a new Porsche and also chose not to buy a new Porsche. I walked out and continued to drive used cars for another zillion years. As you suggest, how much money I have and how I choose to use it is not a salesman’s business.
MG McAnick: Surprisingly the MG Midgets could supposedly accommodate drivers/passengers up to 6’4". Of course in practicality there are variables such as leg length, torso length, and shoe size.
“Surprisingly the MG Midgets could supposedly accommodate drivers/passengers up to 6’4”
I’m not 6’4" . . . but I’ve got a big belly
Would the MG Midget accommodate THAT . . . ?! 
I have size 15 feet. On a lot of smaller cars I have to lay my foot sideways and press on the gas and brake with just the tip of my foot.
It seems like most used car sales folks are if not necessarily dishonest, they’re not usually people you’d want for your best friend anyway. When we were looking for a car for my gf, one place didn’t want to let her test drive the car she was looking at. I sarcastically said, “Do you really think we’d buy a car we can’t even test drive?”, at which point the sales guy relented. And I have had innumerable other bait n’ switch and other kinds of runarounds. I can’t even fathom what goes through the mind of a person like that.
On the other hand, I bought a used car from a small “mom n’ pop” kind of lot and they were great. I discovered the car had a transmission leak a few days after purchase and had it repaired, then they reimbursed me for the repair with no hassle. They also reimbursed me for the missing nav system DVD which I purchased off ebay. This almost restored my faith in used car dealers until they tried to upsell me the warranty and said they changed the oil when they plainly hadn’t.
is getting my size 14 feet in and out of one
Dang!
Those are some big treads.
Can’t imagine those on three dinky little pedals…must be quite the challenge.
@db4690 The Midget MIGHT accommodate a 6’4" person, even with a big belly. The problem is getting in and out.
When I took my MGA to my 20 year high school reunion, the group ran out of ice. I volunteered to go the the local stop and rob for another 10 lb bag. A friend of mine went with me. When we were getting back into the car, with the ice in the boot, she said "You know, this thing was easier to get in and out of when we were 18.
MG McAnick: Yes climbing “up” to the ground might be problematic now days. My Mazda Miata was not difficult but that was 16 years ago.
'climbing “up” to the ground might be problematic now days’
Last year, I decided to sit in a Subaru BRZ (same car as the Scion FR-S), and in addition to the accommodations being a bit…narrow…for me, the big problem took place when it was time to get out of the car. I wound up–literally–crawling onto the floor of the showroom. It was either that or wrenching my back by trying to rise up from that very low seat.
:-((
No its time inside a maximum security jail or prison(even at some of the small "regional jails you never get to see the sun) the reason the jails are maximum security is so they can hold the Doc people,due to the over crowded prisons ,you get some "bad fish " mixed in with the town drunks,some DOC candidates do their entire sentence in the jails,due to prison overcrowding ,but you have to give VA credit,they do their best to make sure you are exposed to gangs and hard core prisoners .( scabies ,anyone ?)
While there are clearly dishonest people in every industry, including used car dealers, I believe the major reason they get a bad rap is simply because of the product they deal in… used cars.
Most late model used cars are out there because they’ve either developed a problem that the original owner either can’t get fixed or can no longer live with getting fixed over and over and over… or a problem that has caused the original owner to lose confidence in the safety of the car. Or they’re been in an accident or a natural disaster.
Most older used cars are on the lot because they’re getting old, and parts are starting to wear out or rot out. In many cases expensive parts. In some cases the body or chassis itself.
Often neither of these is as obvious to the dealer when he acquires the car as one would like to think, and they can pass on these problems unknowingly. I know of one used car dealer that gives every vehicle a good “going over” and offers those that he discovers have problems as “AS-IS; NOT ROADWORTHY”, with a summary of why on the window sticker. If someone chooses to purchase the vehicle (he sells them dirt-cheap) and try to make it roadworthy again, it’s can be an opportunity for them… or a learning experience.
IMHO perhaps 80% of the cars on any used car lot can be expected to have something wrong with it, except perhaps for “certified” used cars cleared by a new car dealership and kept for resale. But there’s even a chance that those aren’t going to be 100%. I know a lady who bought a one or two year old “certified” used car from a new car dealership and developed an incessant CEL that the dealer could not seem to fix no matter what he did or tried. And I believe he really tried.
I bought my last used car from a Volvo dealer . . . it was a Toyota, so it was clearly a trade-in
It was several years old, and did have a “problems” . . .
The headliner was starting to fall down
rear plastic speaker grilles crumbling
bumpers had some scrapes . . . not worth addressing, IMO
1 floor mat was missing
I immediately headed to the Toyota dealer and bought those speaker grilles and a set of factory floor mats. It was less than $50 for the grilles, and it took me about an hour to replace the grilles. They’ve been holding up well, and that was already several years ago. The factory floor mats were a little pricier, but well worth it, IMO
I decided to live with the headliner, until it got to the point that it significantly blocked vision out the back window. I recently had it redone at an upholstery shop for $225, I believe. They appear to have done a respectable job. If you hadn’t known my car before, you’d never know it wasn’t the original fabric
When I bought the car, they hadn’t really done anything to make it look presentable. I washed and waxed it, and thoroughly cleaned the interior, including a good vacuuming. It came out pretty well
It did have a nearly new set of tires when I bought it. Good tires, CR rated them tops at the time. No complaints there.
The car salesman didn’t specifically point out the car’s flaws, but he didn’t try to hide anything, either. It wasn’t advertised as mint condition, near-new condition, or anything like that. It was sold as is, no ifs ands or
I could have paid less, if I had bought from a private party, but to be quite honest, I wanted a relatively quick transaction. And that’s exactly what I got at the dealer. What I can’t stand about private party sales, is that a significant portion of the sellers are actually licensed car dealers, who are selling a car on the side, off the books, etc.
And they usually don’t confirm this, unless you ask them point blank.
Loved the photo. I had an opportunity back in the '70s to buy a white MGTF. I needed something reliable instead, but man, what a cool car. Lots of TCs and TDs were imported, but not many TFs.
I had a friend who restored a TD and I had always wanted to drive one. I could get either my left 14d down the tunnel or the right., but I could not get both down at once. I was only 6’ 3" but have unusually long legs for that height. For example, I can’t get my knees between the rungs of a ladder because my kneecap is exactly the same distance from my feet as the space of 2 rungs of a ladder.
“only 6’ 3” . . ."
Stop complaining . . .!
I’m not even 6’ even . . . and I’ll bet some of the other regulars are in the same boat as me 