Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

Mr_Shiftright

driver100 said:

Mike, Sounds like quite the party. At least the talk wasn't about health issues. There should be a rule that when people are over 55 they should not be able to talk more than 2 minutes about what is ailing them or what meds they are taking, or how many doctor appointments they have coming up.

JMonroe, I hear great things about the Odyssey...except it is a hard one to spell. People like them because they handle more like a car than a van or truck...and they are relatively reliable. But, interesting story, mainly because it shows what a risk it is for the salesman to let people walk. I guess they have it figured out, by not giving in, they win more times than they lose. It sounds like your son has learned well from his father how to play hard ball with the best of them. Your son may want to keep the door open for the Odyssey, just in case his wife doesn't like driving the Mountaneer. I go along with sticks comments about the two vehicles.

driver100 said:

Mike, Sounds like quite the party. At least the talk wasn't about health issues. There should be a rule that when people are over 55 they should not be able to talk more than 2 minutes about what is ailing them or what meds they are taking, or how many doctor appointments they have coming up.

JMonroe, I hear great things about the Odyssey...except it is a hard one to spell. People like them because they handle more like a car than a van or truck...and they are relatively reliable. But, interesting story, mainly because it shows what a risk it is for the salesman to let people walk. I guess they have it figured out, by not giving in, they win more times than they lose. It sounds like your son has learned well from his father how to play hard ball with the best of them. Your son may want to keep the door open for the Odyssey, just in case his wife doesn't like driving the Mountaneer. I go along with sticks comments about the two vehicles.

I call that "The Organ Recital"

suydam

graphicguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Huge changes coming in the automotive business according to Top Gear - BBC

A few points;

Between the bookends of January and December were major deals that underlined the new adapt-or-die approach sweeping across motor manufacturing.
General Motors bought a small three-year-old San Francisco company specialising in autonomous driving technology, Cruise Automation, for more than $1bn.
GM also invested $500m in on-demand taxi-hailing business Lyft, a rival to Uber, and reportedly tried to buy the whole thing for $6bn.
Why buy?
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles teamed up with Alphabet to collaborate on the development of self-driving minivans.
Ford, whose chief executive Mark Fields now refers to the company that made the first mass-produced vehicle as a "mobility services provider", pushed deeper into connected-car technology.
This included investment in a San Francisco cloud-based software and data analytics company, Pivotal, in which Microsoft also has a stake.

And there is now evidence of consumers deferring car buying because of the growth of taxi-hailing and car-sharing services,

FULL ARTICLE

Sounds as if companies like Uber might have a short life span as yet more people are replaced by machines.

As for me, they won't remove me from my car until they pry my cold dead fingers from the steering wheel.

While this is just an anecdotal observation, given I travel quite a bit, you can already see one industry gasping for breath....that is Taxis. For example, a little over a month ago, I flew into San Francisco (SFO). Just last year, there were taxis swarming SFO. Today? I think I saw just one.

Spent part of last week in Chicago visiting friends and family. Stayed over by the Water Tower area. UBER and LYFT outnumbered Taxis 10-1. Not hard to see why. Parking at my downtown hotel was $70 for overnight. From the same hotel to the Field Museum was $17. Took UBER from the Museum back to the hotel....total cost $8.

UBER and the like are displacing Taxis. Makes sense that the variable in all of this are the drivers. If you can do away with the drivers (which self-driving cars would do), then you'll have total control of the on demand car services.

I don't think UBER, et al will go away. They will be the conduit for GM, Ford, etc to sell more (self driving) cars.

I still don't believe people will give up their own cars for driverless cars. But, you never know.

San Francisco is the home of UBER, so no surprise there. When we were there a couple of months ago, UBER was cheaper than even the bus! And a lot quicker. And most of the cars are rental fleets, not the drivers' personal cars, so they were very nice.

houdini1

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.

2017 looks to be a very interesting year. Here's hoping we are all blessed in the new year !!!

abacomike

carnaught said:

Mike, truly enjoyed your "pre-New Years party" story, and LMAO. Another exerp from a chapter in "a typical day in the life of Mike". I look forward to many others!

My life is anything but "hum-drum" (boring; uneventful; lack-luster; laid-back)! If it's not health issues, visits to the hospitals, keeping up with the neighbors or spending time in a new car showroom or TV Appliance store, I'm at the casino gambling pennies on a slot machine or trying to walk the entire circumference of the Boca Town Center Mall without having to sit down periodically to rest and catch my breath.

Now does that sound like I'm hard-up for something to do? Of course not!

abacomike

Speaking of walking and visits to the appliance store, I almost walked the entire circumference of the mall without having to sit and rest - just sat one time. Who knows, maybe I'm getting stronger.

On the way home, I stopped into that same appliance store that I visited yesterday. I picked out a SONY 55" 4K HDTV ($999.00 on sale) and a bracket to install the TV on the wall. When the salesman told me that I would have to pay $300.00 to have it installed on my wall in my bedroom, I shriveled up - literally! With tax and the usual incidentals, it came to over $1400. I couldn't imagine spending that much money on a TV mounted on my wall - but the guy said there was an additional charge of $50.00 because the wall is load-bearing and concrete. Lots of drilling would be involved. Just what I need - drilling! If I want drilling done, I can make an appointment with my dentist and he can drill for hours for less money (I have some insurance for that).

So I decided to take a wait and see attitude about moving on the TV with installation. Maybe there will be better sales as we get closer to Super Bowl, as one of our posters suggested. And this is coming from a guy who will spend thousands on a new car in an instant! It is what it is - my life, that is!

suydam

Does it have to be mounted on a wall? There are some very nice TV stands for flat screen TVs that don't take up much room.

abacomike

suydam said:

Does it have to be mounted on a wall? There are some very nice TV stands for flat screen TVs that don't take up much room.

I checked into that - my bedroom cannot accommodate anything like that.  Besides, the screen has to be pretty high up on the wall.  I will probably end up going with that SONY or the LG - I just have to get used to installing this on that wall with the labor costs.  I'll get this figured out with you guys advising me.  Thanks all - keep the ideas coming. 

abacomike

Here's wishing all my friends here on Edmunds a Very Happy New Year - may all your dreams and wishes come true along with hopes for a year of health and prosperity!!! 

qbrozen

What is your ceiling made of? Could get fancy and hang it from a couple of cables.

I know it sounds odd, but those are the kinds of weird things I wind up doing to solve a problem. You also have to keep in mind that these new TVs are so incredibly light. Most wall mounts are overkill anymore. I will say I did get a really cool mount for the TV in our gameroom. It extends, tilts, and rotates, so I can push it up against the wall or pull it out and tilt it down for the kids to sit in beanbag chairs to play games.

sda

abacomike said:

Here's wishing all my friends here on Edmunds a Very Happy New Year - may all your dreams and wishes come true along with hopes for a year of health and prosperity!!! 

Nicely said. X2

ab348

Mike, you should think about getting the power and cable outlets moved so they are behind the TV if you are wall-mounting it. It drives me crazy to see the wires snaking up from floor level when the TV is wall-mounted. May seem minor now but when you live with it for a while it can drive you nuts.

The other issue with wall-mounting is how to handle the DVR and cable box, assuming you have one or both. Sometimes they will require the wires to hang from the TV and again, that makes your fancy wall-mount look like crap.

fintail

Uber and a competitor or two are definitely here to stay. There's just too much of a market for them in popular cities with deficient public transit (hello, west coast). For the parking reasons you mention, they will also compete with rental cars, and rental agencies will end up in the business of renting/leasing to these hire drivers (If automakers don't all have direct plans, themselves).

I am not sold on autonomous vehicles, too many unanswered questions and legal issues. Maybe at some time in the distant future, but I am not yet too worried about some faceless cradle to grave "for your own good" public policy hypocrite taking my keys.

graphicguy said:

I don't think UBER, et al will go away. They will be the conduit for GM, Ford, etc to sell more (self driving) cars.

I still don't believe people will give up their own cars for driverless cars. But, you never know.

explorerx4

@Abacomike, That Sony TV is probably the same one I bought a few months ago. Pretty nice TV for the price.

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

Uber and a competitor or two are definitely here to stay. There's just too much of a market for them in popular cities with deficient public transit (hello, west coast). For the parking reasons you mention, they will also compete with rental cars, and rental agencies will end up in the business of renting/leasing to these hire drivers (If automakers don't all have direct plans, themselves).

I am not sold on autonomous vehicles, too many unanswered questions and legal issues. Maybe at some time in the distant future, but I am not yet too worried about some faceless cradle to grave "for your own good" public policy hypocrite taking my keys.

graphicguy said:

I don't think UBER, et al will go away. They will be the conduit for GM, Ford, etc to sell more (self driving) cars.

I still don't believe people will give up their own cars for driverless cars. But, you never know.

One thing I don't like about Uber is that it probably will increase traffic in dense metro areas, some of which are already unbearable.

tjc78

@qbrozen you are so right. The TVs are much easier now. I hung a 60" Panasonic plasma for a friend years ago and that thing took two of us and a third "spotter" to make sure we were hitting the right places on the mount. That was a heavy sucker. I used heavy 3" lag bolts into two studs and two toggle bolts in the middle just in case.

A 55" Led LCD would probably be fine with just toggle bolts if needed, although I'd still want to hit studs

fintail

Possibly, but I don't know if that will be via Uber et al, or via population and tourism growth. I don't know if Uber is now taking orders from people who would otherwise sit at home or in a hotel room, rather just replacing the taxis and private cars used by those people when they want to get out and do something. I think a lot of Uber cars are filling the same spot on the road used by taxis and private cars, so it might not be a huge net gain. Population growth on the other hand - the west coast is still painfully trendy with healthy employment prospects, and we are a leading destination for sketchy real estate investment, which creates traffic too. The painfully slow to almost zero growth of viable transit (and pedestrian-friendly areas and laws) doesn't help either.

Mr_Shiftright said:

One thing I don't like about Uber is that it probably will increase traffic in dense metro areas, some of which are already unbearable.

carnaught

abacomike said:

Here's wishing all my friends here on Edmunds a Very Happy New Year - may all your dreams and wishes come true along with hopes for a year of health and prosperity!!! 

Thanks Mike.

Same to you, and all...Happy, healthy and peaceful New Year!

jmonroe

Follow up to Son #2's purchase to replace their totaled Kia van. I think this is a better story than what he went through to make this purchase.

They went to get the '09 Mountaineer and everything went as planned. My DIL drove it and was satisfied so they now have it. Case closed on that.

But the best part as far as I'm concerned is how he went about getting the insurance settlement check. Although the accident was not my DIL fault their insurance company gave him the check for the totaled Kia van value and then they go after the other insurance company.

Here is how it played out and since there was a back and forth conversation, I took my usual notes:

Insur. adjuster: I did a search for a replacement and found one at dealer XXX for $XXX. So, this is how much we will settle at.

My Son goes on line to see the van. Then calls the Insurance adjuster.

Son #2: That van is not in the shape of the van we had. It has 10K more miles and the trim level is not the same.

Insur. adjuster: That's the closest I can find.

Son #2: I found one that is almost identical from a dealer in the Cincy area and it cost $xxx.

Insur. adjuster: Yeah, but that is not around here.

Son #2: But that van is as close as you can reasonably get to the one I had.

Insur. adjuster: Are you going to go to Cincy to get it?

Son #2: Sure, that is the same dealer I bought my van from a few years ago. So, making another trip to get another one won't bother me.

Insur. adjuster: I see but that van costs $700 dollars more than the one I found. I'm not sure that I can go that high but I'll look into it.

The insurance adjuster calls back.

Insur. adjuster: You do know that the price of that van can be negotiated don't you? So, I will give you $375 less than that dealers asking price.

Son #2: That is not good enough. I'm not a good negotiator.

Insur. adjuster: You could have fooled me. You don't seem to have a problem reaching into our wallet.

Son #2: I have been with you guys for 21 years and other than hitting a deer about 5 years ago, that cost you guys about $800, you have not had to pay me anything in all those years.

Insur. adjuster: Yes, I see your record and it has been pretty good. So how do we settle this?

Son #2: Give me another $100 and that will do it.

Insur. adjuster: OK, OK. It's a deal. You will have a check in 2 days. Keep up the good work.

Son #2. Good work driving safely or good work negotiating.

Insur. adjuster: Both.

I just got this info today when he came to the house after he bought the Mountaineer and like I said, I think this is a better story than a bland car purchase.

jmonroe

imidazol97

abacomike said:

...or spending time in a new car showroom or TV Appliance store,

May I respectfully suggest you've spent enough time in the car showroom for now--LOL, just my 1 cent's worth.

stever

@jmonroe, this is the only part of your story I don't understand:

Son #2: I have been with you guys for 21 years

I shop insurance quotes every two or three years if not more often. Is Son #2 with a mutual company and the dividends are offsetting any rate increases, or is he with USAA?

imidazol97

jmonroe said:

Son #2: That is not good enough. I'm not a good negotiator.

Insur. adjuster: You could have fooled me. You don't seem to have a problem reaching into our wallet.

The adjuster said that? Wow.

jmonroe

ab348 said:

Mike, you should think about getting the power and cable outlets moved so they are behind the TV if you are wall-mounting it. It drives me crazy to see the wires snaking up from floor level when the TV is wall-mounted. May seem minor now but when you live with it for a while it can drive you nuts.

The other issue with wall-mounting is how to handle the DVR and cable box, assuming you have one or both. Sometimes they will require the wires to hang from the TV and again, that makes your fancy wall-mount look like crap.

If Mike got weak kneed at the cost to mount a TV on a concrete wall, he will no longer be with us when he gets a price for installing new outlet boxes.

If it is truly concrete or even concrete block it is nearly impossible to do that without knocking down some if not most of that wall. And on top of that, I'm sure his condo will not allow that.

jmonroe

jmonroe

stever said:

@jmonroe, this is the only part of your story I don't understand:

Son #2: I have been with you guys for 21 years

I shop insurance quotes every two or three years if not more often. Is Son #2 with a mutual company and the dividends are offsetting any rate increases, or is he with USAA?

He is with the same insurance company that I am with. It is a very good company and is regional. Their rates are a little higher than some but lower than most the last time I checked but this company has an excellent rating for service. I think I can save maybe a hundred or two at the most going with someone else but I don't want to take the chance given no one has a better track record than the one I am with.

Now having said this, when Son #1 moved into his second home about 2 years ago he went with another company from someone he knows that is an independent insurance agent. He still does not know why his brother and I have not switched.

jmonroe

jmonroe

imidazol97 said:

jmonroe said:

Son #2: That is not good enough. I'm not a good negotiator.

Insur. adjuster: You could have fooled me. You don't seem to have a problem reaching into our wallet.

The adjuster said that? Wow.

I took that as being said somewhat jokingly.

I'm pretty sure the adjuster knew he was going to have to give a little...part of the game I suppose.

jmonroe

tjc78

stever said:

@jmonroe, this is the only part of your story I don't understand:

Son #2: I have been with you guys for 21 years

I shop insurance quotes every two or three years if not more often. Is Son #2 with a mutual company and the dividends are offsetting any rate increases, or is he with USAA?

I was with Geico for 15 years. They were "stunned" when I dropped them to save over $1000 a year with Liberty Mutual. I will be shopping much more often.

stever

I switched a month before my wreck. The new company hasn't blinked (yet) at adequately handling my claim.

Funny, I didn't switch for any savings this time, just didn't feel good about the company or my agent.

isellhondas

I have NO IDEA how this has happened but I AM BACK!

This makes me so VERY happy! I just hope it doesn't happen again!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

jmonroe

isellhondas said:

I have NO IDEA how this has happened but I AM BACK!

This makes me so VERY happy! I just hope it doesn't happen again!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Good to have you back.

Maybe if you pay your dues on time you will have no problems in 2017.

jmonroe

isellhondas

Thank you! It's good to be back! As soon as they send me a bill for my dues, the check will be in the mail!

stever

WB @isellhondas - it was all my doing.

(And if you believe that, I have some swampland not all that far from Mike that I'll be happy to unload on you. )

ab348

@isellhondas welcome back! Only 931 posts until you reach the magic 20K mark.

abacomike

imidazol97 said:

...or spending time in a new car showroom or TV Appliance store,

May I respectfully suggest you've spent enough time in the car showroom for now--LOL, just my 1 cent's worth.

Haven't been in a new car showroom in 2-weeks.  I have no desire to enter one for any reason whatsoever.  But visiting an HDTV showroom - now that's a different story.  

abacomike

isellhondas said:

Thank you! It's good to be back! As soon as they send me a bill for my dues, the check will be in the mail!

Now that "isellhondas" handle with no numerical suffixes is definitely a "horse of a different color"!  Looks good on you isell! 

28firefighter

Welcome back @isellhondas!

oldfarmer50

Isell reclaims his birthright and I have a car sales story...it's a Festivus Miracle!

So my buddy and I drive out to a Chevy dealer in Amsterdam to look at the 2012 Mustang GT Premium I posted about before. List price $19,999. 35,290 miles. First thing I notice was that the color was different than the ad. Instead of Race Red it's Candy Red which looks more like my dark red car. I like it better. Buddy goes in and asks for salesman #1 with whom he made the appointment. "He's off today" we are told...great. Not a good way to begin but salesman #2 gives us the keys and says "keep it under a hundred". Off we go on the test drive.

First thing I noticed was the great exhaust note. A check under the car showed the previous owner had replaced the resonator with an H pipe. I made a mental note to get me some of that for my own car. The last owner also installed a strut tower brace but no other crazy mods, not even a cold air intake. Car drove nice and rode nice. My buddy was hooked.

Back at the dealer he says he likes the car but wants to know how much wiggle room. The salesman seems to be a straight shooter and tells my friend that he hates walking and would like to bring only one offer to his manager. He then proceeds to pull out a 'four square' sheet and I almost fell off the chair. He must have noticed the look on my face and told my buddy to just write an offer anywhere. Buddy writes down $15,000. I was sure we were going to get thrown out but the sales man takes the offer to his manager. He comes back with $17,000 as the bottom line, won't take a nickle less counter offer. Buddy say he'll come up to $16,000 but no more. Returns to the manager and comes back with $16,700 telling us how he was losing money at $17k so this is the absolute final offer. I suggest that my friend split the difference at $16,500 but he loses his nerve and accepts $16,700.

The deal is done except for a delay while the salesman tries to contend with his 17 yo son who is throwing a party in his home while mom and dad are at work against parental orders. Phone calls back and forth, a few threats to the kid etc. before the drama ends

We were then wisked to F&I for the real drama as they tried to sell an extended warranty. I thought of the driver100 method as the guy tried to tell us "$1300 is only $300 a year. Can you get anybody to fix your car for $300?". I was waiting for him to break it down to the cost of a cup of coffee a day before my buddy politely declined.

All in all an enjoyable day of spending someone else's money.

jmonroe

isellhondas said:

Thank you! It's good to be back! As soon as they send me a bill for my dues, the check will be in the mail!

Hey MODS, when you send @isellhondas his bill send him mine too. He deserves a bonus for getting back in here.

jmonroe

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 said:

Isell reclaims his birthright and I have a car sales story...it's a Festivus Miracle!

So my buddy and I drive out to a Chevy dealer in Amsterdam to look at the 2012 Mustang GT Premium I posted about before. List price $19,999. 35,290 miles. First thing I notice was that the color was different than the ad. Instead of Race Red it's Candy Red which looks more like my dark red car. I like it better. Buddy goes in and asks for salesman #1 with whom he made the appointment. "He's off today" we are told...great. Not a good way to begin but salesman #2 gives us the keys and says "keep it under a hundred". Off we go on the test drive.

First think I noticed was the great exhaust note. A check under the car showed the previous owner had replaced the resonator with an H pipe. I made a mental note to get me some of that for my own car. The last owner also installed a strut tower brace but no other crazy mods, not even a cold air intake. Car drove nice and rode nice. My buddy was hooked.

Back at the dealer he says he likes the car but wants to know how much wiggle room. The salesman seems to be a straight shooter and tells my friend that he hates walking and would like to bring only one offer to his manager. He then proceeds to pull out a 'four square' sheet and I almost fell off the chair. He must have noticed the look on my face and told my buddy to just write an offer anywhere. Buddy writes down $15,000. I was sure we were going to get thrown out but the sales man takes the offer to his manager. He comes back with $17,000 as the bottom line, won't take a nickle less counter offer. Buddy say he'll come up to $16,000 but no more. Returns to the manager and comes back with $16,700 telling us how he was losing money at $17k so this is the absolute final offer. I suggest that my friend split the difference at $16,500 but he loses his nerve and accepts $16,700.

The deal is done except for a delay while the salesman tries to contend with his 17 yo son who is throwing a party in his home while mom and dad are at work against parental orders. Phone calls back and forth, a few threats to the kid etc. before the drama ends

We were then wisked to F&I for the real drama as they tried to sell an extended warranty. I thought of the driver100 method as the guy tried to tell us "$1300 is only $300 a year. Can you get anybody to fix your car for $300?". I was waiting for him to break it down to the cost of a cup of coffee a day before my buddy politely declined.

All in all an enjoyable day of spending someone else's money.

Nice car but just like @driver100 your buddy gave away $200. Don't worry, the guy needs the FAIR profit to cover his son's party.

HAPPY NEW YEAR guys.

jmonroe

explorerx4

@oldfarmer50, You get the 'Coach of the Year' award.

explorerx4

@Isellhondas,
How do we know this is the real you and not someone hacking your account?
Answer this question that only the real Isellhondas will know the answer to.

What is your favorite automotive brand?

stever

lol. Remember, he saw the light and drives a Toyota now.

The real question is how did Isell get back? Did he reboot his computer? Turn off his caps lock key? Have the 12 year old next door log in for him?

ab348

I feel bad. I was warming up to the imposter who was posing as isellhondas4. Now he won't be able to come back.

stickguy

whatever it was, Isell better write down his password this time.

Farmer, nice deal. That seems like a much more reasonable price for a 2012. 20K seemed out of line to me. But, what do I know?

abacomike

explorerx4 said:

@Abacomike, That Sony TV is probably the same one I bought a few months ago. Pretty nice TV for the price.

Thanks for your input. Yes, it seemed like a fair price. I'm just worried about drilling into a poured concrete wall in my bedroom to install it. The Condos in my community were all built with pre-formed concrete walls (not concrete blocks), ceilings and floors. Only two short walls in my apartment are not concrete. The rest are all support walls. So, it is a dilemma (dilemna as driver100 would spell it) for me right now and is the only thing keeping me from going ahead with the purchase.

What I need to do is discuss this with others who know about installation into concrete walls or who have done it in their condo units. Just want to do the research (like I do when I buy a car) to make sure I am making the right decision.

graphicguy

oldfarmer50 said:

Isell reclaims his birthright and I have a car sales story...it's a Festivus Miracle!

So my buddy and I drive out to a Chevy dealer in Amsterdam to look at the 2012 Mustang GT Premium I posted about before. List price $19,999. 35,290 miles. First thing I notice was that the color was different than the ad. Instead of Race Red it's Candy Red which looks more like my dark red car. I like it better. Buddy goes in and asks for salesman #1 with whom he made the appointment. "He's off today" we are told...great. Not a good way to begin but salesman #2 gives us the keys and says "keep it under a hundred". Off we go on the test drive.

First thing I noticed was the great exhaust note. A check under the car showed the previous owner had replaced the resonator with an H pipe. I made a mental note to get me some of that for my own car. The last owner also installed a strut tower brace but no other crazy mods, not even a cold air intake. Car drove nice and rode nice. My buddy was hooked.

Back at the dealer he says he likes the car but wants to know how much wiggle room. The salesman seems to be a straight shooter and tells my friend that he hates walking and would like to bring only one offer to his manager. He then proceeds to pull out a 'four square' sheet and I almost fell off the chair. He must have noticed the look on my face and told my buddy to just write an offer anywhere. Buddy writes down $15,000. I was sure we were going to get thrown out but the sales man takes the offer to his manager. He comes back with $17,000 as the bottom line, won't take a nickle less counter offer. Buddy say he'll come up to $16,000 but no more. Returns to the manager and comes back with $16,700 telling us how he was losing money at $17k so this is the absolute final offer. I suggest that my friend split the difference at $16,500 but he loses his nerve and accepts $16,700.

The deal is done except for a delay while the salesman tries to contend with his 17 yo son who is throwing a party in his home while mom and dad are at work against parental orders. Phone calls back and forth, a few threats to the kid etc. before the drama ends

We were then wisked to F&I for the real drama as they tried to sell an extended warranty. I thought of the driver100 method as the guy tried to tell us "$1300 is only $300 a year. Can you get anybody to fix your car for $300?". I was waiting for him to break it down to the cost of a cup of coffee a day before my buddy politely declined.

All in all an enjoyable day of spending someone else's money.

Very Cool! He's going to like that car. Very similar to my '05. That one was bulletproof.

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

Isell reclaims his birthright and I have a car sales story...it's a Festivus Miracle!

So my buddy and I drive out to a Chevy dealer in Amsterdam to look at the 2012 Mustang GT Premium I posted about before. List price $19,999. 35,290 miles. First thing I notice was that the color was different than the ad. Instead of Race Red it's Candy Red which looks more like my dark red car. I like it better. Buddy goes in and asks for salesman #1 with whom he made the appointment. "He's off today" we are told...great. Not a good way to begin but salesman #2 gives us the keys and says "keep it under a hundred". Off we go on the test drive.

First thing I noticed was the great exhaust note. A check under the car showed the previous owner had replaced the resonator with an H pipe. I made a mental note to get me some of that for my own car. The last owner also installed a strut tower brace but no other crazy mods, not even a cold air intake. Car drove nice and rode nice. My buddy was hooked.

Back at the dealer he says he likes the car but wants to know how much wiggle room. The salesman seems to be a straight shooter and tells my friend that he hates walking and would like to bring only one offer to his manager. He then proceeds to pull out a 'four square' sheet and I almost fell off the chair. He must have noticed the look on my face and told my buddy to just write an offer anywhere. Buddy writes down $15,000. I was sure we were going to get thrown out but the sales man takes the offer to his manager. He comes back with $17,000 as the bottom line, won't take a nickle less counter offer. Buddy say he'll come up to $16,000 but no more. Returns to the manager and comes back with $16,700 telling us how he was losing money at $17k so this is the absolute final offer. I suggest that my friend split the difference at $16,500 but he loses his nerve and accepts $16,700.

The deal is done except for a delay while the salesman tries to contend with his 17 yo son who is throwing a party in his home while mom and dad are at work against parental orders. Phone calls back and forth, a few threats to the kid etc. before the drama ends

We were then wisked to F&I for the real drama as they tried to sell an extended warranty. I thought of the driver100 method as the guy tried to tell us "$1300 is only $300 a year. Can you get anybody to fix your car for $300?". I was waiting for him to break it down to the cost of a cup of coffee a day before my buddy politely declined.

All in all an enjoyable day of spending someone else's money.

OF, I almost fell off my chair here at my desk when you said the salesman pulled out a four-square and they started writing numbers on it - back and forth. Good grief, I thought those went out with cloth seats in a Cadillac!

abacomike

@isellhondas:

You sure made an astounding "re-entry" into our forum, isell! When I didn't see the "4" at the end of your handle, I thought for sure one of our gracious moderators was pulling our legs - like, "...we can do anything we put our minds to..."! Obviously, they can achieve true miracles. Nice job whichever moderator fixed this for isellhondas - who knows, maybe it was that "MODERATOR IN THE SKY" who came through for you, isell.

stever

I kind of like them, since I never use anything but the one square.

Good idea about Isell writing his password down somewhere. Maybe in a post here, so he can always find it....

oldfarmer50

Isell reclaims his birthright and I have a car sales story...it's a Festivus Miracle!

explorerx4 said:

@oldfarmer50, You get the 'Coach of the Year' award.

We must have looked like we were pretty close because the salesman wanted to know our "relationship" with each other. I guess "coach" is better than "significant other".

28firefighter

fintail said:

Uber and a competitor or two are definitely here to stay. There's just too much of a market for them in popular cities with deficient public transit (hello, west coast). For the parking reasons you mention, they will also compete with rental cars, and rental agencies will end up in the business of renting/leasing to these hire drivers (If automakers don't all have direct plans, themselves).

I am not sold on autonomous vehicles, too many unanswered questions and legal issues. Maybe at some time in the distant future, but I am not yet too worried about some faceless cradle to grave "for your own good" public policy hypocrite taking my keys.

graphicguy said:

I don't think UBER, et al will go away. They will be the conduit for GM, Ford, etc to sell more (self driving) cars.

I still don't believe people will give up their own cars for driverless cars. But, you never know.

I agree - they are not going anywhere. I think the only thing that might hurt Uber is its corporate culture/policies, but the reality is that as long as someone is willing to drive them and their fares continue to be 30-50% less than the cab companies, they're going to be around. I find them far more reliable both here in Seattle and in other cities when I'm traveling. Not to mention, the completely touchless transaction is nice - I get in and get out, receipt is emailed to me.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

whatever it was, Isell better write down his password this time.

Farmer, nice deal. That seems like a much more reasonable price for a 2012. 20K seemed out of line to me. But, what do I know?

Funny thing, as we were finishing up the salesman mentioned some trouble he had with a grinder with out of state plates last week. Said the guy walked in with a sandwich and shouted "who wants to sell me a car...TODAY". He said they broomed him out real quick as he shouted about $200.