Car Salesman Rant...

Ok, so I'm out killing a couple of hours on a Saturday. I've been kicking around the idea of getting a new car, but I have no idea what's out there, how much they cost, and what my suit the family. I headed out to the local Honda dealer since it's the closest to the house. Ok, I hate buying cars. I enjoy the game of negotiating, but some dealers are sort of pushy. You know the ones - more interested in selling you something NOW than you getting what you want.

Ok, at this dealer, I parked and there were about a half dozen salesman types hanging around the front of the dealership. Buzzards. I got out of the truck and headed out into the lot, hoping they might leave me alone. Nope, not this time. The guy comes up and starts all of the usual chit-chat. I cut him off and say something along the line of "I'm going to be completely honest with you now (something they clearly don't understand). I'm not buying today. I am thinking about a car, but just want to see what's out there, how big the front and back seats are, how big the trunks are, what features are available, etc." He says fine, and asks me how much money I want to spend. I repeated that I'm not buying, so cost is irrelevant at this point, I just want to look at the cars.

Man, these idiots are too busy working up their sales pitch to listen. All of the cars are locked, so he needs to get the keys to one to let me look in it. He comes back a few minutes later with the managers demo. Admittedly, it's a nice Accord with leather, V-6, all of the bells and whistles. I start to look around it and he insists on a test drive. What the heck, it's your time to waste. I drove it down the road and back, with him telling me all of the reasons I need to buy that particular car today. I repeat, I'm not a prospect today, I'm just looking here, and afterwards, I'll be looking at the offerings of 4 or 5 other brands. I also tell him that I might decide not to buy at all for another year.

Man, this guy is still not listening. We return to the dealership, and he proceeds to tell me all of the freebies on this car since it is the demo, and available at a great price. I get a little short with him and tell him that this car likely will be sold when I get around to buying - not for a few weeks if at all. All I really want is a brochure I can take home and stick in the bathroom, to be perused at my leisure later. Once inside the showroom to get a brochure, he keeps trying to get me into one of those negotiating rooms. I'm starting to get a little more short, and refuse. About that time, his manager comes out, to try to put the hard sell on me. I tell him I'm not buying today, and may not be buying at all, just out seeing what is available.

Now the kicker... The manager guy tells me that with the cost of gas, they likely won't have any cars to sell in another month. What? Yes, you better buy today, in another couple of weeks, we'll start running out and we'll be getting $1,000 over sticker, but today we can negotiate a little bit. Out of cars in a month? He expects me to believe that a dealership would let itself run out of cars? Jackass.

Well, friends, If (BIG IF) we decide to add a car to our family, I think it's safe to say that it won't come from this place.