Cars
And keeping one's word
The wife bought a new car a week or so ago. I’m not quite sure why, as I’m of the ‘buy it new then keep driving it until the doors literally fall off’ school of car ownership.
As an aside, we do have a truck on the farm, a truck I really loved when I was a little kid, that really did just have the drivers side door fall off one day.
Anyway, back to it.
The wife doesn’t believe in driving cars until the doors fall off, so she bought a new car to replace her last car that isn’t all that very old. And it’s not really any of my business, because I figure that her money is her money.
What’s interesting about this though, is the wife’s negotiation for purchase of the new car.
You see, she negotiated for the regular stuff. And she negotiated for real tires from a real local tire store.
Because when she bought the last new car we had a devastating blowout of the left rear tire when the car only had about one hundred miles on it. Following that we learned just how difficult it is to get a car dealer to replace a brand spankin’ new, but defective, tire. So, she negotiated for good, locally sold tires to replace whatever junk the manufacturer put on the thing.
But she also negotiated to have her old car detailed.
Because she’s decided that I should have her old car, instead of us selling it.
Now, I’m of the ‘let the moss grow on the thing, it helps to keep the doors from falling off’ school of car washing, but the wife likes to have a clean car.
So, she wanted the old car detailed before I turned it into the Deathmobile for my continuing adventures.
The dealership she bought from owns a detail shop, so they agreed to her terms.
The appointment to get it detailed was last Friday, first thing in the morning.
At close of business Friday afternoon, she called to inquire if the car was done and ready to be picked up.
‘Well, we had it washed by our lot person, but we’re not sure if we could really say it’s detailed. Anywho, come on over and pick it up.’ Was the word she got.
‘Nope. I don’t need it.’ She communicated back. ‘Keep it and get it detailed on Monday.’
See, smart wife.
She knew that they had agreed to detail the thing as a part of her new car purchase, but were trying to get away with just a car wash and vacuum.
Monday we got no word.
She called Tuesday.
‘Well, maybe we can get it done on Wednesday.’ Was what she heard.
So, she got a wee bit forceful, on to the game, and they decided that they’d get it handled for real. We picked it up a bit ago, and let me tell ya, it looks and smells like a new car! An excellent job.
Once they decided to quit jerking her around and actually do the job they agreed to do.
I relate this story because it points to something really important I think.
It points to the importance of keeping one’s word.
Her salesman guy didn’t really keep his word. He tried to wiggle out of what he promised.
She only drives one brand of car, and she always buys from the same place. She’ll probably buy another new car at some future point, long before the doors fall off of this one.
But, will she buy it from that same salesman? Or did he blow his future commissions?
The fellow made an attempt at a small, but quick, short term gain. And harmed his credibility into the future.
Ultimately, if we hope to succeed, in any endeavor, we’ve got to keep our word.
I see the comment thread turned into a pickup forum, so I’d better return to your topic…
“It points to the importance of keeping one’s word. Her salesman guy didn’t really keep his word. He tried to wiggle out of what he promised.” Almost as bad as the famous “Muffler bearing” salesman. It’s amazing how this kind of behavior can still leak into an established dealership. You’d think the competition would be great enough to where a truck salesman wouldn’t dare try that stunt out of fear of getting promptly bounced and replaced by one of a line of applicants for the position.
Our family has not purchased a new car since 1988. That being said, all the vehicles we own are either first or second owner. The newest one we have is the commute car I use, and it’s a 1999, 27 years old.
For quite a while, our good Brother Jerry Vaudrin had dabbled in government surplus vehicles, purchasing them at auction, cleaning/repairing them, then re-selling them on the civilian market. It’s kind of a side-hack for him, and he also gets some pretty cool vehicles that he uses as his daily drivers. My family has two of them. One was owned by the Elma School District, and the other one was owned by the City of Auburn. And yes, when we purchased them, for $600 each, they needed some work. They had about 130,000 miles on them, give or take. That being said, the School District car (which I commute with) now passed 267,000 miles and still gets the same fuel economy it did when I purchased it. I still have less than $5,000 in it, not counting the repair from damage caused by crashing into a curb on the Yelm highway, which was NOT the car’s fault. People were telling me I made a mistake by not buying a new car. They’re not saying that anymore, and the more miles we put on those two cars, the less inclined I am to purchase a brand-new car. I consider it cash in the trash.
“But wait, Clayton, you’re a grease-monkey on the side! That’s not fair.” Okay, yes, I did replace the brakes on both cars, and did some driveline work and bearings on the commute car, as well as ignition system work on the other car. But I also had the entire front suspension replaced by a shop after the accident, so I didn’t do 100% of the work on the car. I’m still WAY ahead of the costs of a new car.
So what happens if one of those two cars gets unrepairable due to a collision, etc.? That’s easy. Back to the auction. If it’s the commute car that falls apart, I’ll likely get a Prius due to the fuel economy. New? No need to. I know better now. But I want to see how far I can get with this car. I’m curious! Reliability? Sheesh, with these new cars lately and the stories I’ve heard from not a few, but several mechanics and tire/alignment shops, my car and the new cars are almost a push as to what’s more reliable. And that’s a shame. We’ve really fallen from 20-30 years ago.