I have only bought three new cars in my life, but I tried quite a few times. Back when they still sold Fastback and Squareback VW, I wanted one. I went out to the VW dealer to look at them.
The salesman was chatting as they do, assuming they are going to impress you. He commented that at times people would boast they had enough money to buy a Porsche, but didn’t want to spend it, so got an ordinary VW. He said it in a manner implying they were lying about having that much money. I guess he assumed everyone spends his last cent on a car?
Well, sadly for him, I did have enough money in the bank to buy a Porsche. And, it was staying in the bank! I saw no reason to take my life’s savings and spend it on a Porsche. So, I walked out on him. His big mouth cost him a sale.
Another time, I went to the Dodge dealer. My brother had a Dart and it ran out very well. So, I thought that would be a good one to buy. A basic Dodge with no expensive options.
The next years cars were on the lot, so I thought I’d check out the price on the older model. I warned him as I usually do that he got one shot at me, give me his best price, because I do not play those games. He did some magic number nonsense and talked to the manager, and offered a whole $100 of window sticker price. With the new models on the lot. I walked and bought a used car from a friend.
Two or three days later, he called me up and offered $300 off sticker price. This was when the stripped Dart would have been not much more than $3000 but I don’t remember the price or year for sure.
I told him if he’d offered that price in the beginning I’d have taken it, but that I had warned him not to play kiddie games with me, and I had bought an old used car.
In 1988, our daughter was starting her last two years of college, and was going to be driving 70 miles a day round trip. A dealer 15 miles out in the country away from our city advertised he had much cheaper prices than in the city.
So, we drove out and looked at a new Nova (the Toyolet type). I gave him the standard speech about getting one shot at me, and not to play games. He priced it at a few hundred dollars under window sticker price.
i drove back into the city and the dealer knocked off several thousand dollars. I took it. We drove that car to just short of 250,000 miles.
A couple days later, Mr. Bigshot called up and offered a better deal, but still a thousand dollars more than in the city. I believe I was not nice.
In 2001, I tired of constant repairs on a Dodge Caravan and went to the Toyota dealer, in those days still in McAllen, now across the city line into Pharr.
We wanted a bottom line Sienna, I think it’s called a CE, with no special options but radio and air.
At that time, October 2001, no one was spending money on cars, as you can remember. So, they offered me the next line up, probably XE, for not much more than the cheaper one would cost.
Whether that 2002 Sienna will be the last car I ever bought depends upon the Wreck Gods, so to speak, and if Mexico changes the import rules. If I can still import that car next year, I may well be the last car I ever own, even if I live a long time. They can do wonders down here for not much money.
Our builder, also a cousin, has a 1976 Chevrolet pickup as his business vehicle, and while it is battered, it runs out okay for heavy hauling. They can keep old vehicles running a long time here.