Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Smart Shopper Stories from the Sales Frontlines
47834 messages, Last post on Nov 22, 2009 at 3:03 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
|
Replying to: oldfarmer50 (Jul 06, 2009 7:37 am) Had a repeat customer call me cause he wanted to switch out of his compact car and into a small SUV cause he "needs the space". He said he wanted it so that he can go camping. He's a single older guy so to me it didn't really seem like he needed an SUV but, that's not for me to decide. He wanted an SUV I will be there to assist him. The car he was trading in was bought used a year ago from me and financed at a high interest rate because of his past credit issues. The payments were very small and the car very reliable, so once again he didn't really need to change it. Before he came in I tried to tell him to pay down his loan a bit more or have money down, but he had nor wanted to do any of those. Anyways we get a good pre approval at half the rate he was paying, so he comes in, we look at some vehicles and he picks one. We do the numbers and there's about $5k of negative equity that needs to pe put onto the new loan. I come back and serve payments which were about $80/month more than what he wanted to spend, and about $230 more than waht he was currently paying on his car. He looks at them, does some calculations in his head, thinks about it some more. He says to me: "It's little bit more than what I wanted to spend, but I like the car. I think I'll go for it" He then says to me with a sigh: "Ok, I'll get it, but the car payment will have to be a priority over food. I should be ok in the summer months when I have the second part time job, but for 6 months in winter time I'll be a bit poor"  I thought he was joking at first so I laughed, but he wasn't. I told him that if he was going to be "poor" then he'll need to wait for a used version of his SUV to come in, or he's going to have to stick with his current car for now. He said not to worry about it as he has a lot of overtime coming to him. He does make good money at his very secure job. When I told my sales manager that, he said he doesn't want to sell him a car then. I came back and told the customer again, that he's gotta make sure that he can afford the payments or we'll find him another car. I told him to take as much time as he needs. He said he just wanted this car, and he'd like to take delivery of it right away. Finally the deal was done and he did take delivery that day. But I was just shocked how some people will put things like a new car ahead of necessities like money in the bank or in this case food on the table. Or even ahead of having some financial freedom and not living paycheck to paycheck. Maybe to some a new car means more freedom than cash in the bank, but then his previous car wasn't all that bad or old anyways. I see it all the time though. People with negative equity trading into something bigger, newer and more expensive. When I serve them payments, right away they will talk themselves into being able to afford that vehicle without me having to convince them. Then you see folks driving around in new cars, not being able to afford to put gas in the tank 
|
|
|
Replying to: boomchek (Jul 06, 2009 10:10 am)
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: boomchek (Jul 06, 2009 10:10 am) Man, you people in Canada are NICE! Some of the car lots I've been to down here I had the feeling that if I dropped dead in the parking lot they would go through my pockets for loose change and steal my shoes.  Of course, you know that if you didn't sell that guy his car he would have gone down the street and got it there. |
|
|
Replying to: boomchek (Jul 06, 2009 10:10 am) What a sad pathetic story, but interesting. It is interesting to see how some people manage their life. I still cannot get over how people are more concerned with the monthly payment, than the actual cost of the car, and then they wonder why they have negative equity. I wonder how many cars you would sell if the big print says just $100 a month, and the small print says over 240 months. Thanks for the insight!
|
|
|
Replying to: boomchek (Jul 06, 2009 10:10 am) It seems that this kind of thinking isn't just limited to the USA. It's gotta be a continent thing.  I can't even begin to think like that but that's just me I guess. jmonroe
|
|
|
Replying to: houdini1 (Jul 06, 2009 10:40 am) Add me to those who can't believe it. boomcheck, you're a good guy. Looking forward to the next 3. |
|
|
Replying to: driver100 (Jul 06, 2009 12:33 pm) Probably a ton more!!! It seems like some people don't even care how long they'll be paying for the car. They just want instant gratification every 6 months. |
|
|
Replying to: jmonroe (Jul 06, 2009 12:42 pm) Yeah it must be common wherever there's a lot of freely accessible credit.
|
|
|
Replying to: boomchek (Jul 06, 2009 2:28 pm) And, until recently, that has been more or less universal. tidester, host SUVs and Smart Shopper |
|
|
I will admit that when I bought my Genesis in March I’d probably be asked a question or two about the cost of it. I mentioned a few posts back, I went to my brothers for July 4 th. I found out just before I got there that a retired cousin of ours from Florida just happened to be in town and was invited over also. No sooner did we say hello, he says, “I hear you bought a Genesis” (Son #1 told him about this back in March). He’s the cousin who liked my 05’ XG 350 and was going to look at the 07’ Azera but said his wife didn’t like the idea of telling people they bought a Hyundai so they bought an Avalon instead. My agitator Son said, when he mentioned that he wanted to test drive it, “don’t do it. You won’t like the drive back to Florida in your Avalon if you do”. He insisted, so I let him drive it. I didn’t go but his wife did and so did my Son. My Son was sure to point out all the high points and there are a few. Well, he hands the key back to me (really a proximity thingy) and says, “I’ll definitely look into one of these in a year” and his wife says, “yeah, we should”. My son says, “we heard that before” and he says, “this time I mean it”. My Son says, “you mean it makes a big enough statement even though it’s a Hyundai”. Couz says, “I really like the ride and everybody knows they aren’t cheap”. Now I think he’s serious. Since things come in bunches, just today a few guys were walking the parking lot (it was a great day for a lunch time stroll) and one stops to look at my car and says to the others, “this looks like a pretty nice car”. One of the other guys tells him it’s mine. As soon as they get back from their walk he comes over to me and says, “they must be paying you consultants a ton”. I said why, “you weren’t worried when I was driving my other Hyundais, nothings changed. I’m the same ole jmonroe you’ve known for years”. Believe me this guy is paid pretty well and he’s damn good at what he does but has always judged others. Like I said, I figured this was going to happen sooner or later but I can’t stop doing what I want because some people will now judge me differently. It’s pretty sad when people can’t be happy with what they have and are always looking at others. jmonroe
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Smart Shopper Stories from the Sales Frontlines
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
