My LAST Major purchase: FINALLY!!
Well, i bought a Pacifica last nite. I really like it, altho i haven't driven my exact car that is in my driveway yet, i really like thee cars. Now, dealing with these car guys is a whole different story.
I actually liked my sales guy...Dan taylor, a 20 year old college student from emu that is also a car salesman. VERY polite, very helpful..and most of all the kid was honest. Wasn't full of crap trying to lead me down paths i had no interest in going..well, he tried somewhat..i swear carsalesman are told to feature dump on customers instead of really digging for what they may want. But he was cool when i told him i wasn't interested in things..here's how the negotiating went.
Me: I can get a basic model pacifica from Naylor for 244/mos...nothing down..so that's our starting point. Cueter was CONFIDENT they could beat that..well, of course, they couldn't. So, they came back with a model that was 900 bucks more and had some extra features on it..radio controls on the steering wheel..luggage rack, nicer tires..etc..basically things i didn't care about. So, they asked if i'd buy that car for 260. i said "why would i pay more for a car with things on that i don't want?" They agreed..and asked.."what would you want to buy this car?" I told em' to throw in a dvd player. They asked if they did that would i buy the car right then? i said "no, tomorrow".
So, the manager comes out..this is where it FINALLY gets serious as the poor salesguys have zero negotiating power..they just angle deals toward the mgrs to try and close...i hadn't seen the mgrs come out all nite for anyone, so i knew i was onto something here...Steve, the mgr goes "josh, i really want you to buy this car" i said "good, cause i've been here 3 hours and want to buy one (smiling)". He said..listen....is there anyway you can do 260 on that car? i said no. he said if we put the dvd player in that's a 950 dollar upgrade..i can't eat that much ..we have you at cost right now (my eyes were rolling)...can you do $280 if we throw in the dvd player? normally you'd be at 295? I said "no" i'd get a trailblazer then. he said "alright, alright...what if we met you half way..the nicer model pacifica, the dvd player..for 272..would you do that?" finally, i said yes.
The DVD player pushed me over the edge. it was something i'd thought about before in the past for the girls..but they ain't cheap. And my "mental budget" coming in was 300 bills or less a month...and i was still well under...but bottom line is i *knew* this would make the girls LOVE the car and i need to score all the points i can with them right now to help them thru this transition still. So it made it worth it.
however, the negotiating still wasn't done! I was ready to sign everythign but the final agreement ( i wanted to get a solid insurance quote..i only had a ruff number) when the owner delivered a message to me..john cueter himself..apparently from Dexter..wanted me to buy the car right then and said if they knocked off another $3/month from each payment would i buy it right then? i did the math..figured it would be a free $108 and said you bet.
So, i'm payin'..$269 for 39 months on a car i really like with nothing out of my pocket AND a dvd player for the girls they will absolutely LOVE. I'm really happy with it. Plus, i have some things i can take with me next time i buy a car for negotiating...go to the end of the month...put it off for one more day...and they'll cave in for you.
Other good news: I got my rens security deposit back today...all 900 bones..PLUS an extra 173 bucks for the 9 days early that i left. So not only did the landlord let me break my lease early..but he PAID ME TO DO IT! Good guy. Really happy with that.
Second, i signed up my insurance today with Terry at Palmer insurance and it came in $268 a year cheaper then she estimated initiatlly..so i'm up like almost 4 bills today!! Great start!!
Bad start is my furnace is broken already..they are coming out to fix it this afternoon tho...these builders are VERY prmopt. They called and gave me a phone survey last nite and i gave em' all "10's". Great company Centex....
That's 10 paragraphs of text above this one...i'm leaving work early today since we hit our goals and cleaning up the pad a bit while they work on the furnace..oh, and probably take a nap