First-time buyers can save themselves a lot of grief by doing their homework
Buying a new car is an exciting time; finding your luxurious new bastion of freedom that either replaces your old beater or gives you knew legs (wheels, actually) to do more than simply get from A to B.
It's also an intimidating process, especially when you are venturing to car lots for the very first time. Finance rates, APR (annual percentage rate) and Freight and PDI (pre-delivery inspection) are all foreign, alienating terms to first time buyers, made worse by the often pushy sales people who are looking to make a quick buck.
It's enough to make what should be an exhilarating experience into a stomach-tightening chore where you have to keep your poker face on at all times.
Diana Eves, sales rep at Precision Hyundai, says the test drive is one of the only things you can't do before you come to the dealership.
Photo: Scott Connell/ Calgary Journal
First, a story of my own experience.
I recently went through the process with my significant other, trying to find a more practical vehicle to replace our sporty coupe. We decided we wanted a small SUV, for the cargo space, fuel economy and the ability to get into more off-road type areas - we are avid campers in the summer and snowboarders in the winter.
We did our homework, researching nearly every automaker in our price range and decided to look at a half dozen models.
But what happened next, made us quite sick to our stomachs.
My fiancée and I went to our first car lot, featuring a reputable automaker, and talked with a salesman and iterated that we were interested in simply taking a test drive and that we weren't interested in dealing that day.
The polite salesman took us for our drive and we were quite happy with the vehicle. He then asked us to come to his office so he could show us some "things" and we politely obliged, all the while assuming our opening disclaimer was understood. He started asking us questions about what we would like in terms of trim levels and options, and we smilingly told him what we had considered before hand. He then asked if he could have a look at our vehicle so he could do an appraisal on it. As before, we thought, "Sure, why not?" Letting our guard down, we handed over our keys as the salesman left the office for around 10 minutes. We whispered quietly to each other and wondered if this guy had forgotten what we had said off the top.
The salesman then came back to us with a deal he said "we couldn't refuse.". His polite, laidback demeanor from earlier began to recede and a pushy jerk was now across the desk from us. We reiterated our hesitance to make a purchase that day and said that we were simply not interested at the moment. The salesman, a younger fellow who actually reminded us of one of our good friends, left the room again. What happened next I'll never forget.
As we were about to sneak out of the office to escape the increasingly uncomfortable situation while the shape-shifting salesman was out, we realized we didn't have our keys. Just then, another older gentleman abruptly came in and loudly said, "What's going on here!" Startled, the two of us just raised our eyebrows and realized immediately that our young, familiar salesman from before had just gone for backup and brought back this veteran seller.
"What do we need to do to get you into this thing!?" the man said on the verge of shouting.
My fiancée and I replied with our earlier disclaimer that we'd told the first salesman on the lot.
"Well how 'bout a free GPS? Free oil changes for a year?" He continued listing other incentives and told us this was a "one-time offer, only good for today."
Realizing we weren't going to get out of this situation without our keys, my fiancée informed the two circling salesman that she wanted to talk to her dad about the deal and we would get right back to them. The pushy older salesman said we had only until the end of the day to take them up on the offer - which worked out to just one hour as it was the near the end of the day. We also had to leave an ominous non-negotiable $500 deposit, which we didn't have to do any paperwork for. My fiancée then grabbed her keys from the first salesman who held them in his hand at the entrance to the office like a sentry.
With our ticket to get out of there, we scurried out the front door as she pretended to talk on her cell phone to her dad about this "great" offer.
We got in our car and sped out of the lot with that sick feeling you have when you have a near miss with what would've caused a five-car pileup.
We didn't look at cars again for another six weeks, though the first salesman persistently called my cell phone three times a day for two weeks afterward. Thank goodness for call screening.
After we had shaken off the shock from that first visit, we went to several other lots and found their vehicles were either out of our price range or had payment plans that just weren't very accommodating - despite several automakers going bankrupt and looking to "reduce inventory."
We had all but given up hope when we ended up at Precision Hyundai in the Calgary Auto Mall. We looked at a Tucson, loved not just the vehicle but the finance plans too. We also had the pleasure of working with a saleswoman who not only knew her stuff but was friendly and personable while remaining frank and to the point.
"I handle sales a little differently than traditional cars sales people," Diana Eves, sales representative at Precision Hyundai says. "I come to people with less pressure and a more knowledge-based approach. I try to put people at ease; there are over 1,600 models on the market and it's a big decision.
"I try to be a salesperson you can trust."
It was a lot different than other experiences. We even told Diana about our experience at the first lot. She got a good laugh out of that and said it was nothing she hasn't heard before.
Buying a new car is tough slog, unless you work with professionals like Diana. Our experience taught us two things: A) Be prepared and knowledgeable about the vehicles. B) Don't put up with pushy jerks that want nothing more than to shake you down for a quick buck.
- INTERESTING LINKS -
http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=533:buying-a-new-car-doesnt-have-to-be-unpleasant&catid=35:local-living&Itemid=54
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