{"id":282,"date":"2010-07-19T11:57:43","date_gmt":"2010-07-19T17:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.abonarconsultants.com\/blog\/?p=282"},"modified":"2010-07-19T11:57:43","modified_gmt":"2010-07-19T17:57:43","slug":"my-hunt-for-a-new-car-part-2-the-purchase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abonarconsultants.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/19\/my-hunt-for-a-new-car-part-2-the-purchase\/","title":{"rendered":"My Hunt for a New Car Part 2: The Purchase"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday, I bought a 2004 Nissan Maxima off a dealer lot.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a nice looking car that filled my requirements – price, space, perceived reliability and safety.\u00c2\u00a0 While this is all fine and good, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make for an interesting blog.\u00c2\u00a0 How the deal was made makes for a much more interesting story.<\/p>\n

On Friday afternoon, I decided to move to the next step<\/a> in the buying process.\u00c2\u00a0 I had done the research and test-drove the vehicles I wanted.\u00c2\u00a0 It was time to float some offers.<\/p>\n

I had the search lowered to five vehicles and called in the order of personal preference.\u00c2\u00a0 I asked the first dealer (Bill*) to give me a cash price.\u00c2\u00a0 He told me that he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t budging an inch on price, saying he had already reduced it and was getting ready to retire in 3 weeks.\u00c2\u00a0 He also sold another one just like it that day.\u00c2\u00a0 He was confident that he would get his price.\u00c2\u00a0 If I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it, tough.\u00c2\u00a0 So much for the first choice.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
An artist's depiction of me car shopping.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second choice was the same make and model, with fewer options and higher kms.\u00c2\u00a0 When I called the dealership, the salesman, Jake, turned out to be somebody I knew from years ago.\u00c2\u00a0 After some small talk, I gave him a cash offer for the car.\u00c2\u00a0 He told me he would run it past his manager and would call back.<\/p>\n

The third call I made was to a dealer selling a model a year older than the previous two.\u00c2\u00a0 I made a cash offer, and like with the second car, Tom told me he would run it by his boss.<\/p>\n

The Response<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jake called me back saying his boss accepted the offer but was adding a $250 inspection fee.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 This was within my wiggle room so we made the deal.\u00c2\u00a0 About 20 minutes later, Tom called back and told me that his boss accepted my offer.\u00c2\u00a0 I told him that he was 20 minutes late, and thanked him for his assistance.\u00c2\u00a0 It turns out that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t harm them because he had another buyer interested in the car.<\/p>\n

Lessons<\/strong><\/p>\n

So what did I learn? Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I took from the experience:<\/p>\n