Does That Come In A Can?

It occurs to me that some people do not realise that not all people are fools and where they are not able to discern the difference due to their own shortcomings they sometimes apply a common denominator approach at the lowest end of the spectrum. This, in my experience, is more prevalent with car salesmen.

Yes, I have again ventured out into the world and successfully managed to get myself struck of the Christmas card list of another car salesman. The Starchild screened a different dealership yesterday and gave one of the salesmen the heads up about my previous experiences. Today, I was pleased to find myself talking to a nice young chap, who I will call Jimmy the boy, because his name is Michael. I don't actually think Jimmy the boy would have treated me like an idiot even if The Starchild had not forewarned him and I actually found him to be very nice so was happy to deal with him.

Unfortunately, it seems that in the world of car dealerships, nice people wield no real power so I was soon to be exposed to "The Manager" who within 5 minutes was already using phrases like, "what you have to understand is this", "well, you would want me to lie to you, would you?" and "I'll just go and ask if they can move on the trade-in price but you'd have to be willing to shake hands on the deal first".

Once again, I found myself with my hands clasped in front of me on the table and speaking slowly and deliberately so as there could be no mistake in my requirements AS THE CUSTOMER before dismissing him so that I could progress in my purpose to obtain all of the information that I needed to feel comfortable. I had "The Manager" shaking with frustration at the sheer nerve of this WOMAN sitting before him and poor Jimmy the boy shaking with either fear or laughter, I'm not sure which. I'm hoping it was laughter as he deserves some sort of compensation for having to work with someone like "The Manager" as well has having to put up with customers like me.

Anyways, I got to speak with the head finance guy, as our circumstances are a little tricky with the business being so new, and he was very much a professional. He tried things like giving me a range on the possible interest rates but quickly realised that this little black duck wasn't even going to pay monthly account keeping fees, let alone a starting price interest rate and wanted a 24 hour turn around time on approval. Once that was all worked out it was very pleasant dealing with him also.

So, now I know what I want and how much it will cost, I've put a call into the accountant and pending her advice will decide whether to proceed or not. I'm still half expecting it all to go belly up and to be driving around in my smaller but otherwise perfectly serviceable current car for a few more years. Perhaps I can just get a can of "new car smell" to spray around and I can put an end to this whole frustrating experience.