Lynn and I planned on hitting a couple of estate sales yesterday, so headed out early for the first one. On the way to our second stop, we happened to pass by the local Toyota dealer. My truck is due for service ('07 Tacoma which just rolled over 12,000 miles on Friday). So, I told Lynn to pull in and I'd hit my salesman up for a coupon. The dealer gives me a free $25.00 coupon every other month that I can use for anything in the dealership, so basically, our service work is "free". Heck, a lube, oil & filter change is only $12.95 so the $25.00 will pay for an oil change and tire rotation at least. It's a nice little perk and they know I'll be dropping into the dealership regularly. Heck, my buddy and "private" mechanic works there, so I'd be going anydamnway, but what they don't know won't hurt them.
Anyway, I have a GREAT relationship with my salesman and we get along well. In fact, he still owns the '05 Tacoma I traded in for my present '07. Problem is, he also knows my weak points and will not hesitate to exploit them. As soon as we walked in he said, "Oh great! You have Lynn with you!" I KNEW I was in trouble. He told us to come with him as he said he had something to show us. Let me state one thing ... it's DANGEROUS when your salesman knows persactly what you like ... from colors down to particular options ... and he has them all locked into his memory banks. The problem is, Lynn and I have different tastes in some areas ... so each car has to have it's compromises.
DAMN if that SOB didn't nail it yesterday. He took us straight to "our" car and we both fell in love with it ... a 2013 Avalon. We never even glanced at anything else on the lot as it was love at first sight. (they're totally redesigned this year) "Somehow" we ended up in the "rubber room" and I could see where this was headed. Ok, I'll nip this in the bud right quick. I threw him an "impossible" number and told him flat out, if he could hit that number, we'd drive it home today. I had that shit-eatin' grin knowing there was no way in Hell he could meet my price and we'd be walking out in about 10 minutes, but he went to work anyway. He had Lynn's '07 Avalon appraised, fiddled with some figures, met with the Sales Manager and came back to ask if we could put an extra $1000 down? "Nope"! He did some more figuring, consulted with the SM and came back with, "How 'bout $800"? "Nope" He got with the used car appraiser, beat him up a bit and came back with a better appraisal on the trade-in. The final figure was about $75.00/mo. higher than the max I gave him. "Nope ... we have an estate sale to catch ... we really have to get going."
He asks for a few more minutes, meets with the SM again and comes back to the table ... writes a figure on his sales sheet ... slides it over to me and says, "If that will work, just put your initials next to the figure." I'll be damned if he didn't hit it within $6.00/mo. I looked at him and said, "Damn you Daniel, how did you get that?" He told me the Used Car Manager owed him a favor, so he jacked up the appraisal ... plus he gave up his commission on the sale. I told him to quit playing the sympathy card with me 'cause it wasn't gonna work ... why would he go to so much trouble to sell a car if he was making nothing for his effort? He explained they have to meet sales quotas or they get kicked to the curb, so even though he makes nothing on the sale, the sale alone is as valuable to him as the commission, so it's a win-win for both of us.
I'll be damned if we didn't drive out'ta there in a new Avalon yesterday! Heck, I like it so much, Lynn hasn't even driven it yet.
Anyway, we've been doing without so much the past few years and have sacrificed more than anyone even realizes to get our budget totally readjusted ... it was time for a "pick-me-up" and there's NOTHING in the world like that "new car smell" to get the "feel good" senses kicked back into gear. To justify it, we've always had two car payments in the past, but my truck's paid for and I have no plans to replace it anytime soon, so what the heck? Here's some (net) pics of our new baby. Nuttin' on earth like the smell of new leather seats.
Here's one of the compromises I mentioned earlier. Lynn LOVES heated seats. IN FRIGGING FLORIDA! But, she freezes if the temp drops below 75 degrees, so I let her have 'em. The trade-off? I FINALLY got a car without a sunroof which I think is the silliest frigging option available. I think they run about $1800.00 and she's had a sunroof on EVERY car we've owned in the past 28 years. I doubt they've been opened more that 28 times in those 28 years! FINALLY, we have a car without a useless hole in the roof! (the pic is just the heated seat switch)
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