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Car payments until I'm 70... I was at the dealership getting routine maintenance and a manufacturers recall for a heater switch. Knowing that this place is 2+ hours for an express lube, I brought my laptop and a job folder to work on some design drawings. I was interrupted by a guy walking around the waiting room who said he was the used car buyer and his job was to make special deals to buy back pre-owned cars and wanted to know if I was interested. My response was "I'm 2 years into a loan and now isn't the time to change cars" Naturally... he talked about it being the best time as the Auto Expo was going on and Hyundai was offering special trade-in incentives. If you are like me and think it's BS, you are right. Okay, I closed my laptop, packed my things and went for a test drive on another model with a larger engine and automatic transmission. Nice car. They had already appraised my car and ran a credit check to see their side of the deal. Not that there's anything wrong with my car, I purchased it because it was the best 'bang for my buck' in a 6 speed that got really good gas mileage. My fiance knew I was changing cars then and chose it as a work vehicle and not a family car. Had my mindset been on her driving it, I probably would have purchased one with automatic transmission. Having made a recent car payment I had a ballpark of the payoff and shopped yahoo for the street value of my model and they were very close. Yes, I was doing a 'what if' scenario a few weeks earlier! They gave me their best price and I said... "You guys are kidding... right?" Apparently, I was special enough for the manager to come from the pit and assure me he was doing his best to earn my business. They (salesman, assistant, used car buyer and manager) were all standing around me waiting to pounce. Their offer wasn't close. When asked what deal I was looking for, I stated washing out my loan and trade with your incentives and I'll finance the new car with no past debt. The manager looked at me like a deer in my headlights and I guess he though I would go for his offer. We were past the trick of 'How much do you want to pay each month' I insisted on seeing a written proposal. Their numbers proposed 72 months of payments. Needing to go, I stated "I came here 3 hours ago for an oil change... I have no intentions of buying a car. To sign on your terms sucks $5,000 out of my pocket and puts me into car payments until I'm 70 years old. Don't call me, I'll call you." When I got home I apologized to my wife for wasting time at the car dealership, but we got a laugh about car payments until I'm 70 !! |
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wo... that was a typo. It should have read: 75 months of payments. Yeah... 75.
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