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Old 06-28-2014, 02:01 PM   #41
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I encountered this when buying a car as well. The deal we agreed to came back in writing slightly less than what we agreed - in their favor, and each of the three times the paperwork had to "go to finance" for processing it came back with "mistakes" in their favor. Plus long waits for no discernible reason. Maybe if customers have so much time invested they finally cave? My assumption is that this is standard operating procedure and they apologize and "fix the error" if they are called on it, but many people probably don't check and recheck such long documentation every time. A slimy business.
This happened to me, too, when I went new car buying back in 1991. The Mazda dealer wasted a few hours of my time one afternoon with their nonsense. I walked out. A few days later I was at another local Mazda dealership and I happened to mention this problem I had with another dealership (I did not tell the salesman which one or even if it were a Mazda). the guy told me, "Oh, that must be XXX Mazda, We have people coming in here telling us about that all the time. We complain about it at our regional meetings because those annoyed car buyers often end up buying other (non-Mazda) cars." He turned out to be right. I bought a Geo Prism a few weeks later and the salesman and his manager did not do any of that stuff.
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Old 06-28-2014, 02:50 PM   #42
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It doesn't always waste their time. Some fraction of those they try this on will cave and take the reduced offer.
$500 for 1 hour of extra work by finding a dealer willing to pay blue book is like making $1M a year (2,000 hours X $500 per hour) after taxes and without commute, overtime or job stress.

That is not an amount I would ever pass up!
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Old 06-28-2014, 02:51 PM   #43
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That is not an amount I would ever pass up!
No, but you probably don't represent the average car seller.
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Old 06-28-2014, 03:11 PM   #44
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...Salesman was also glowing about the car, appealing to my emotional side. I told him that I don't fall in love with cars. To me a car must get me from point A to point B and I was looking for a sporty, functional car and that it would get a wash once in a blue moon. You'd a thought I kicked him in the gut based on the look on his face .
I dunno.

I have been hangin' around here long enough to see many threads on cars, and so many posters are fairly passionate about their cars.

Just sayin'...
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Old 06-28-2014, 05:36 PM   #45
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Forget about the $5K bottle of booze. I am still building up courage to spring for a bottle of Cognac for $1.5K for my 60th birthday, which is still a while away. I need a lot of prep time to tell myself that for once in my life, I want to see if I can tell the difference between that and the several $150 bottles I have had and still have in my cabinet....
High $$$$ hooch has never lived up to the price for me, good but not logarithmically great. $1.5K on ten bottles along with the chance to discover new favorites would win for me..... birthday last longer too.

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Old 06-28-2014, 05:42 PM   #46
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... $1.5K on ten bottles and the chance to discover new favorites would win for me..... birthday last longer too.

Armagnac, Armagnac Brandy and Vintage Armagnac, Brandy Classics, UK - Buy online Vintage Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, Eaux de Vie from Brandyclassics
As $150 is as high as I have gone (actually my wife has been buying for me mostly), that $1.5K will buy more than 10 bottles. I can line these bottles up and count them, when I get tired of counting my ducats.

But still, should I go to my grave wondering what that $1.5K bottle tastes like? Should I have regrets over something so easily settled, even if it goes against my LBYM? Decision, decision...

Either one cares, or one doesn't. About that expensive bottle, I mean. I can't seem to be able to make up my mind.

And people are spending a lot more money than that for booze. Incomprehensible!
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Old 06-28-2014, 05:44 PM   #47
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Maybe a trip to Vegas, by the glass and a chance to be snubbed.

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Old 06-28-2014, 06:01 PM   #48
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From that Web site:
Jacques Hardy, Private Reserve, Vintage 1777, at $35,000/bottle (there are just 4 bottles in the world)
Wow, a Cognac older than the French Revolution! What a steal compared to the World Most Expensive Cognac at $156,700 according to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011.

Even if they sell by the shot, I wonder if they take payment by installments? What's the interest rate they charge?

I would be snubbed for sure in these places. Worse, even after paying up to get a shot, I still would not know for sure whether that Cognac is supposed to taste like that, or if they have cheated and poured me some off-the-shelf XO that I can pay $5000 for the whole bottle. I could never be sure, could I?
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Old 06-28-2014, 07:53 PM   #49
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As $150 is as high as I have gone (actually my wife has been buying for me mostly), that $1.5K will buy more than 10 bottles. I can line these bottles up and count them, when I get tired of counting my ducats.

But still, should I go to my grave wondering what that $1.5K bottle tastes like? Should I have regrets over something so easily settled, even if it goes against my LBYM? Decision, decision...

Either one cares, or one doesn't. About that expensive bottle, I mean. I can't seem to be able to make up my mind.

And people are spending a lot more money than that for booze. Incomprehensible!

I don't wonder what the $1500 bottle tastes like. I don't care. It may or may not taste better to me than a 20/50/100 dollar bottle, and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that I would have buyer's remorse pretty quickly. Instead I delight in finding the bargain that punches above its weight class. I was pretty happy the day I found a bottle of whiskey from y favorite distillery on the closeout shelf for $5. Only problem was it was the last one...
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Old 06-28-2014, 10:02 PM   #50
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Have not noticed if I've been snubbed yet. But now that NW approaches $4M and investment accounts top $3M, and the fact that I dress for comfort whenever I can, it will be fun to be snubbed. If that happens, I can laugh myself silly.


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Old 06-28-2014, 10:49 PM   #51
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I haven't been snubbed yet. I've gone into luxury car dealers and McMansion model homes nosing around while dressed like a slug, and I've received better treatment from these upscale sellers than I do from those selling things that I can afford.
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Old 06-29-2014, 04:26 AM   #52
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Gee I dunno, I've read quite a lot about the 2015's, and I'm just not sure that is a car for a girl. On the other hand, Toyota has some nice wheels..
Have to say my husband's 1995 Corvette Indy Pace is a "girl" car. He loves it. I call it the "Barbie Doll" car.

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This happened to me, too, when I went new car buying back in 1991. The Mazda dealer wasted a few hours of my time one afternoon with their nonsense. I walked out.
Is that a typo or did you really let a dealer waste "a few hours of my time"?
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Old 06-29-2014, 06:44 AM   #53
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Story about "Rompin' Ronnie" Hawkins, Arkansas expat who's spent most of his life in Toronto, and mentor to 'The Band'........I worked with a feller who had been moonlighting as a bouncer at the time, and who said he was one of two guys who accompanied Ronnie on this escapade:

Earl McRae: Last Boogie in Sturgeon Falls

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The stories were outrageous and often true, one of the more famous being about the time he bought his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. He walked into the dealership in Toronto dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, a windbreaker, and with hair to his shoulders. He walked up to the car and kicked the tires. The sales, man was horrified. "How much?" asked Hawkins. "I doubt if you can afford it," the salesman sniffed. "This RR on the front here, guess that stands for Rock 'n' Roll, right?" The salesman nearly collapsed. "Is that dashboard real wood?" Hawkins asked. "Of course it's real wood," snapped the salesman. "Is there a termite warranty?" asked Hawkins. The salesman was edging him toward the door. "I'd sure like this Rock'n' Roll car, I'll be back later."

He went to Honest Ed's discount store, got a shopping bag. Then he went to his bank, withdrew $18,500 cash. Then he went back to the dealership. The salesman turned white when he stomped in. "How much is this Rock'n' Roll car again?" he persisted. "Eighteen thousand, five hundred," the salesman sighed wearily. "Fine," said Hawkins, "I'll take 'er." He dumped the bag of money on the floor. The salesman's jaw dropped, his eyes popped. "Tell me," said Hawkins to the sales manager, who had come running up at that point, "how much commission would your salesman normally get on this deal?" The sales manager swallowed hard. "About $1,500," he said. "Good," said Hawkins, "then I'll just take back $1,500." He reached down, scooped it up and moments later drove the Rolls out of the showroom.
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Old 06-29-2014, 06:51 AM   #54
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Shortly after graduating from college and starting our new engineering jobs ($$$), DH and I walked into an upscale department store dressed, well, like New College Grads on the weekend. I can't remember what we were shopping for, but when two $10/hour clerks took one look at us and turned their backs, we just laughed at them and walked out.

I've never had a problem with service at the nice jewelry stores, even when I was a penniless college student. I guess they're smart enough to know that even if you can't afford it now, you may be able to in the future, and they want you to remember them well. But now I feel kinda bad for misleading them, since I don't have a single piece of jewelry over ~$150, except my class ring.
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Old 06-29-2014, 09:12 AM   #55
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Is that a typo or did you really let a dealer waste "a few hours of my time"?
I did not know that Mazda dealer was wasting my time until, after spending a few hours at the dealership, taking a test drive, and waiting for the salesman and manager to huddle over my counteroffer and having the manager accept it originally, the salesman told me, "My manager made a mistake, he wants another $800 for the car (his original offering price)."

THAT is when I realized they were just playing games with me so I walked out. Until that moment, I thought all of my negotiations were going to pay off and I would get my car at my price.
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Old 06-29-2014, 10:31 AM   #56
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Story about "Rompin' Ronnie" Hawkins, Arkansas expat who's spent most of his life in Toronto, and mentor to 'The Band'........I worked with a feller who had been moonlighting as a bouncer at the time, and who said he was one of two guys who accompanied Ronnie on this escapade:

Earl McRae: Last Boogie in Sturgeon Falls
Late FIL always dressed like he wanted to. Comfortable sometimes tattered clothes, if the sleeves of a favorite shirt were bad just cut them off.
Back in the 70-90s when he went car shopping he'd dress down, but had his pockets full of new $100 bills. If anyone started giving him bs he'd just pull out a wad of cash and thumb through it. Suddenly how he dressed became less important.
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Old 06-29-2014, 01:22 PM   #57
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That's one of the (few) great things about shopping here in the Bay Area. Most of the salespeople I've encountered don't care what you look like. They know a prospective customer could be dressed in ratty clothes, but could still be a multi-millionaire able to buy anything in the store several times over.

I walked into one of the high-end car dealerships on Van Ness in San Francisco not long ago (Bentley dealer) dressed in my weekend getup of high-top Converse, jeans, some old shirt, baseball cap, and a week-old beard and was practically treated like royalty. No way I could afford anything in that store, but they didn't know that. As far as they knew, I was just another tech millionaire maybe looking to drop a few hundred thousand on a new car.

I rather like this approach...wear what I want, and keep them guessing.
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Old 06-29-2014, 01:49 PM   #58
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I did not know that Mazda dealer was wasting my time until, after spending a few hours at the dealership, taking a test drive, and waiting for the salesman and manager to huddle over my counteroffer and having the manager accept it originally, the salesman told me, "My manager made a mistake, he wants another $800 for the car (his original offering price)."

THAT is when I realized they were just playing games with me so I walked out. Until that moment, I thought all of my negotiations were going to pay off and I would get my car at my price.
We had that happen, too. In our case I even had the price in writing ahead of time, and in small print they said that was the price with all applicable rebates. After they handed us the keys and had the contract with a price increase in front of us to sign, they said applicable rebates meant active military duty and some other program that only applied to a small number of potential buyers so, we didn't qualify for their initial quote.

We told them they actually had the best price even with the increase, which was true, but we were concerned about their ethics and honoring warranty work, so we were going to leave and instead buy the same car for a higher price from a dealer that had given us an honest price quote upfront.
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Old 06-29-2014, 03:56 PM   #59
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I guess they're smart enough to know that even if you can't afford it now, you may be able to in the future, and they want you to remember them well.
I still remember a Ford dealer's staff being polite to this HS kid coming in once in a while to drool just look at the cars. No way was I buying a car then, but 5 - 8 years down the road might be a different story.

This was also the dealership that donated the cars to the HS driver's ed program.

I never did buy a Ford, but if I'd been in the market for one that would have been my first stop.
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Old 06-29-2014, 06:36 PM   #60
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We told them they actually had the best price even with the increase, which was true, but we were concerned about their ethics and honoring warranty work, so we were going to leave and instead buy the same car for a higher price from a dealer that had given us an honest price quote upfront.
Wow, talk about sticking to your principles, unlike Groucho Marx.

"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them, I have others." - Groucho Marx
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