Mr. Jones and Me

Searching for a car to buy is weird.  You're sort of comparing apples and oranges with each one, because the pros and cons over here might be totally different than the pros and cons over there, so which pros and cons matter most?  But then it starts to get fun.

I'm pretty proud of Jed and myself, because we've already gotten into negotiations for two different cars, and we are Negotiation Royalty!  I wrote a little while ago about how we want to be really wise and circumspect when we make this new purchase.  We don't want to be swayed by impulse, by "coolness," by what the Joneses are doing, or definitely by what amount of debt we could squeeze ourselves into and still get by.  We are the Joneses, and we'll decide what's best for us based on wisdom, and we do not want any unnecessary debt.  ANY.

The first car is this one, a Chrysler Town and Country (read: minivan), and sorry the picture's terrible:

So, we sat down to make a deal with this guy, George, and he was young and possibly still learning the ropes with this whole car sales thing.  We want to trade our Impala for whatever we get, and it's an awesome, fully loaded car the trade-in value of which we're fully aware from the Kelley Blue Book people.  So when George told us what he'd give us for it, I told him that was unacceptable and that I was not in love with his van.  He needed to do better, because Kelley Blue Book told us we could get so many dollars.

"Well, there's your problem right there," George pointed out to me. 

I'll pause here to give you some helpful information.  Of all the pregnancy moods I could've been in, I was not in a jovial or weepy or emotional mood.  I was in a no-nonsense mood.  I was not desperate to get a new car for all my precious cargo, as most salesmen would likely have assumed upon seeing my globe of a stomach precede the rest of me through the door.  On the contrary, I was ready to hold on to our money until someone bent over backwards for us.  But George told me I had a problem.  Poor George.

One more helpful point:  I asked Jed if we could play "good cop, bad cop" with these guys, and could I please, please, please be the bad cop.  Suffice it to say, I don't think George was quite prepared.

Jed said there was only one moment when he almost hopped over the desk to sit with George and defend him, but he assures me the rest of the time I was friendly enough, though firm.  It had something to do with the extended warranty, I don't know. 

But George told me about the Kelley Blue Book thing that that was my problem right there, listening to Kelley Blue Book.  They there at the dealership go through N.A.D.A. to get their quotes, because that's what the banks use, yada yada yada.  And N.A.D.A. gave them a quote that was two grand less than ours.  Like I said, unacceptable.

So after I punished him ever so slightly for telling me I had a problem at all, he did the whole Salesman-Rides-A-Merry-Go-Round routine where he kept going "to the back," then coming back with "OK!  Well, we can knock another $243.17 off this price!!!!  That is THE BEST I can do," just like he said every other time.  Though it was slightly exhausting to watch, it was most humorous.  Every time, we were like, "Well, you know what we can do, and that's not it, so....no." 

To which George retorted, "OK, well what?  If I got that monthly payment down to whatever-amount, would THAT make you happy?" Poor George.  After I punished him ever so slightly for that attitude, he went back to the drawing board. 

Honestly, the final deal was a great deal for some family, just not for ours.  And despite our most valiant efforts at repeating and clarifying for him what we were able to do, and him continuing to come back with something different but equally NOT what we could do, we finally ended George's agony and reached a stalemate.  Because the deal was decent, he was dumbfounded.  About the proposed monthly payments, he almost whined, "I mean, come on, it's not like it's $600 dollars a month!" 

You see, George is used to seeing people fall in love with cars, get emotionally involved in the negotiations, then see George return from "the back" with "the greatest deal ever," and see people thank him for coming down on the price so much, figure out a way in their minds to justify that little monthly payment they hadn't intended to adopt, and sign on the dotted line.  Most people George sees love debt.  They're glad for that little bit of indebtedness to walk out the door with that great deal on that car.

But somehow, Jed and I got this revelation that there are plenty of cars out there to choose from.  And we are not desperate for anything even if we will have to finagle a little with what we have once Roxie comes, if she comes before we can find what works for us.  We are in every way ready, willing, and able to hold our line. 

So we walked out.  George was a mess, and he called Jed about 12 times the next day to tell him another couple was taking it for a test drive, to tell him maybe he could work something else out, to ask him if we'd be stopping back by... 

Meanwhile, we found another car that I was out test driving that next day while George was calling Jed.  This one we like even more.  It's a Chrysler Pacifica and is a better price to boot:

When Jed told George I was out driving another car we liked, George really went into overdrive.  When Jed also told George that we researched the trade-in value of the Impala with N.A.D.A. and came back with a better quote than the one from the Kelley Blue Book people, George really changed his tune and came back with an offer very close to what we want. 

So now, with the Pacifica people, we told them we'd like to try and work something out, but their salesguys are on vacation till Monday, so we'll have to wait and see.  Jed's sending in the big guns all by myself to work this one out, and after the George Incident, I think Jed feels pretty confident I'll do an OK job.  The guy helping me with my test drive must have been just an office manager or something, because I walked in and told him we were interested and this is what we wanted, and he just said, "Yeah, I don't know why that wouldn't work out.  Sounds like a great deal!"  When I checked in with him later, he reported that he'd talked to the salesguy on vacation who nearly panicked at the thought of settling so easily.  He came back with his usual jabber about what they could actually do, so I'm gearing up for a good time with him Monday morning. 

So we "Joneses" apparently know exactly what we want, and meanwhile we still have George salivating on the sidelines. 

Poor George.