Car Shopping

I've been car shopping. Shopping in general is not fun and shopping for cars is worse. The person who tries to sell you a car really wants to sell you a car. It's so much more important to them then selling underwear is to a salesperson at Urban Outfitters. And it is almost impossible to trust a car salesperson (man). As far as I can tell they are all men. A line I got from Nissan, Ford, Subaru, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen is, "No one else does this…" One of the things that no one else does that they all do is have a "no haggle" policy. The other thing they all do that no one else does is look up the Carfax information for you.

The Ford salesman was the worst. I wasn't opposed to buying a Ford or a used car from Ford. This guy went to pains to tell me that he wants me to feel comfortable, feel no pressure, etc. But when I said, "Ok, I have to sleep on it he looked dismayed and said, "I don't know what you have to sleep on? I mean, if you like it you should buy it. I just don't want you to miss out on this." I told him I cannot shop for a car and assume the first car I look at is the only car for me. Then he said, "Well, its clear you want to leave. I don't know what I did wrong. I thought you were here to buy a car." I found my self saying things like, "You did great. Don't worry. You're fine." Then as I drove away I was saying, "What a manipulative jerk." I bought a Volkswagen and I felt fine. I always have buyer's remorse even when I buy groceries. But I did feel happy for not buying from that Ford salesmen. I almost drove my new Jetta over to show him.

I would be a terrible car salesman. I would keep reminding the person that they "do not have to buy this car. Shop around. Are you sure you want this one? It's pretty pricey. Sleep on it."