kirstie...q...I agree. Not putting a price on the sign probably doesn't do me any favors. I just wanted to see what sort of offers I'd get. Well, now I know......zip, Zero, nada!
Probably slap $20K number on it and see how that goes. Or.....wait until the first snow flies around here and then put it in the paper.
Thanks!
My son is turning 21 in a few months. Don't tell him, but I'm thinking of giving him a new car for his B-Day and college graduation. May try a trade at that time.
Anyone want to hazzard a guess as to how much cash I'd get on a trade for a new Kia Rio base model against an '04 4Runner?
Just joshing....I wouldn't put him in a Kia (or would I?).
May try to pick up a Scion tC or Civic for him. I know no deals on Scions, but what about the Civics? Any movement on those, yet?
My son is turning 21 in a few months. Don't tell him, but I'm thinking of giving him a new car for his B-Day and college graduation. May try a trade at that time.
Well I sure hope he doesn't read these forums. :P
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
q....good suggestion. I hadn't thought about the Mazda3. Good car, though. If VW wasn't such a crap shoot these days, I'd look at a Rabbit, too. May as well throw a Yaris and a Fit in the mix.
Just give him the 4-Runner. College age students really need to be able to move cargo around and it's probably about the same price as something new after you factor in the initial taxes, horriffic first couple of years' registration, insurance, and so on.
Took a quick look at the inventory of 4Runners here in Denver. 11 are listed with prices, with a high of $29,3xx (Limited, 44K miles) and a low of $23,8xx (SR5, 30K miles). 5 of the 11 are certified Toyota used vehicles; 1 private party vehicle (SR5, 29K miles, asking $24,4xx).
Of course, being Colorado, SUV's - especially as winter gets closer - become more popular.
pletko....thought about giving him the 4Runner. He's not real fond of it, however. It would be a nice "gift", but I'm not nearly that generous, though (even with my own son).
If I trade it for something like a Mazda3, Yaris, Civic, etc....I'd want some money coming back my way.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm still a few months away from doing anything.
As it stands, I'm "stuck" with my mother's Caddy STS AWD (not a bad car to be stuck with....particularly since I didn't give her any money for it) and my 3 series.
Something has to go. Already tried to move the Caddy. Resale on it is dismal, to say the least.
With VW's it's usually not the engines that cause trouble, it's everything else. I tend to judge reliability by looking at a car that is 6-9 years old with 80-100,000 miles on it. That is the real test.
With VW's it's usually not the engines that cause trouble, it's everything else.
Amen, but I'll also add that VW dealers don't know how to install and adjust a timing belt, so engine trouble is possible there. There are a ton of TDI owners with cold-weather starting problems after a dealer timing belt change--the dealers usually don't advance the timing far enough. There are a ton of little mousetraps like that on VWs, which is why I don't care to own another one.
As many Rovers as I have taken across our off-road course I have never damaged one. Never even curbed a wheel and there are plenty of places to do it.
Our GM On the other hand forgot to remove the hitch adapter from a LR3 and ended up grinding about a half inch of metal off the bottom of it when he was showing a new owner how to use the vehicle.
Luckily we had another one in stock as the guy was planning to tow his boat that evening.
but i'll tell you, this lady had it out for me at first...its a woman thing i think! a woman in power is very skeptical of other women, especially in a non-female friendly field.
by the end of my (and her) time there, she had really gotten to like me! (which is always a good thing!)
My folks don't like to put me in front of their customers too much. Unless.....they've really screwed up (which they don't want to admit) and I need to fix something.
I'm in a very different industry than the car biz, though. Our stuff is very tech oriented. As such, it's also very detail oriented. We talk more with computer and software engineers. Still, someone has to hand us cash in order to get our "stuff". That's typically not an engineer's job.
By nature, I'm very detail oriented. I don't like to leave much to chance. And, my biggest pet peeve, I want to know the answers to the questions before we ask them. That drives my folks crazy. I quiz them relentlessly about what they're doing....where their information came from....how they know if the information is correct....BEFORE I go see a customer. In short, they don't like having to take me with them, in front of customers.
The times I do go, I want to have the decision people there, as well as the people who, for whatever reason, may throw a monkey wrench in what's being done (there's always one). So, our meetings lean more towards "round tables" than sales calls.
I want some sort of committment from any meeting with the customer. It's going to sound egotistical, but I'm not going to jump on a plain, fly somewhere, get to a meeting, only to find out it's little more than a "meet and greet" session (kind of like "tire kickers" for you folks). I want them to have money set aside, and for an imminent purchasing decision to be part of my meetings when I'm involved (sound familiar?).
Technology changes so rapidly in my industry, that if a potential customer is months away from making a decision, it's senseless to talk to them at a time when products will change twice, maybe 3 or more times, by the time they're in "buy" mode.
One customer I had recently....sales person and his manager had a large electronics manufacturer, in Chicago, ready to make a large buy (so, they said). That large buy lingered...one month...two months...3 months with no movement. Every month, I'd ask the manager..."where's the order?". Reply was always the same..."it's coming this month". "That's what you said last month, and the month before that".
Finally, I wanted to get a first hand view of what was going on. I tell the sales manager and the sales person to set up a meeting between the electronics firm and me.
I get there. We've got us (sales person, his manager, tech manager, and me). And there's them (their tech people, and their purchasing people)....at the meeting. They do their product presentation. We do ours. Powerpoints flying every which way. All the time, I'm sitting quietly, listening. So are the electronic firm's purchasing people.
Finally, I ask (rather bluntly, which makes my sales guys cringe)..."everyone seems to think we've got some synergy here...we're ready, you're ready...yet, no one wants to make a decision. Is there something I'm missing?".
Purchasing people finally speak (after two hours of power points) and state that our terms are unacceptable....specifically, our terms are "full payment net 10". They want 45 days to pay. Long and short of it, that's the only "gotcha" to the deal. I agree for 1/2 the purchase to be paid at time of order, 1/2 to be paid 45 days after the order. Deal's done. I even wait until they issue the P.O. before we leave.
Simple lesson learned....one simple, blunt question.."what's holding this up?" would have yielded the large order 3 months sooner. I had to fly 600 miles, round trip, to get the answer to that simple question.
Don't worry too much about what you get him (within reason...such as avoiding VWs or deathtrap rust buckets). It is a gift afterall, and if you raised him well he will be quite thankful. In any case, I'm not sure what he prefers in terms of make, but you probably can't go wrong with a Japanese make for someone his age. As a 23 year old, I understand the need to have something with space and economy, so that's why I got a Mitsu Lancer Sportback (wagon) demo dirt cheap. The thing had only 8,000 miles on it and I picked it up for $11,200. Since Mitsu got their stuff together at about the year 2002 I believe, this car has been great and reliable for me so far. Point is, look for a slightly used demo and I know that Mitsus are decent cars, at least now they are, which are cheap as sin. It can't hurt to try. Also, best of luck.
Like others have said, you could give him the Caddy, but the best deal is to sell the 4-Runner and keep the Caddy for yourself. It may be un-fun, but it's reasonably relaible and makes a nice "beater/commuter" for the next decade.
Now you have $20K.
Get a one year old Grand Prix with the 3.8 engine in it. It's a nice semi-sporty car and handles decently well. The engine is bulletproof and it's a pretty decent car - one of the few GM makes.
$12-14K for one with 10-20K on it, and a couple of years left on the warranty. You pocket 6-8K and he gets a nearly new car without having to settle for a tin can econobox.
Yeah - don't back out. I need a new car and for the money, a used GM is fantastic. 20K on it, a year old... and you can get, what - a Yaris for the price of something with a 200HP V6 in it?
I switched dealers briefly for a month and a half, and at my new dealer backed our demo Civic into a post. About $500 damage but the manager wasn't upset.
You lookin' for "Graphicguy tells all"? I think Jipster would be mighty jealous, since we didn't give him his own discussion. Since I don't want to deal with the wrath during the soon-upon-us holiday season (and my xxx0-th birthday to boot), we're gonna take a pass :P
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name. 2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h) Review your vehicle
Galves represents trade-in values only. They don't do retail, so there's room for mark-up by the dealers. It's not a free service, but you can find more information at http://www.galves.com.
Very good client comes in 7:30 am on a Tuesday with his '04 MB S class - yeah .. The BIG sedan. The land yacht. "Hey Skip, I have a low beam left failure message on the dash." No problem Mr. customer, it's simply a light bulb .. have it done in less than 20 mins. Here, sign the RO and I'll get it done pronto.
Now, our store is on a main blvd. The entrance to the shop is on the back side, so basically you have to go around the block by making a right, then another right into an alley and now your at the shop entrance. The quickest way is to enter from the WEST (the method I choose), the SAFEST but longer way is to come in from the EAST (not the way I entered the shop) The entrance to the shop (coming from the WEST) is like making a hairpin turn, pretty easy unless someone parks the parts truck against the wall, in which case you kinda have to do one of those "K" type turns you learned in drivers ed .. which no one does .. EVER. I'm rushing, I figure NO K turn needed if I swing wide enough, I wont "rub" the truck .. no harm .. . no foul.
Wanna guess what happens?? .... SCRRRREEECCCHHH..
OH, ^%$^ there goes my employment. I'm screwed! I jump out of the car, assess the damage and start panicking. Now, mind you, the WHOLE shop - techs, foreman's, porters .. EVERYONE has gathered around to see what Skip has done. Comments like "your pink slip will be waiting on your desk" to "time to dust off your resume" are echoing out. I'm freaking and all I can think about is that Mr. Customer is gonna be late for work or want my [non-permissible content removed] on a sliver platter.
I compose myself, move the car into a stall, jump out, tell the tech it needs a light bulb. His response it that it needs MORE than a light bulb, it needs a bodyshop! Yeah, no doody sherlock. His next retort is "will payment be by cash, check, charge or payroll deduct? ... which do you prefer?
Shadup and put the bulb in it.
I go upstairs and tell my manager what happened, how I damaged the pass side rear door of an 80K car (probably 55K now, with depreciation) of a CUSTOMERS car who was waiting for a simple lightbulb. Manager just asks why was I taking the car down and not a porter? I answer. He asks if I have told the client yet. I answer NO. He asks, don't you think you should tell him you just screwed up his car? I tell him I just wanted him to know first. He acknowledges my "report" and instructs me to tell the client what happened and to ask the client if he would like to get a car while we send his car to the bodyshop to repair "lot damage" My client was extremely understanding, acknowledged that mistakes and accidents do happen. "That is why they call them accidents" was his reply and he apprciated that we were willing to "jump" on it and get his car fixed ASAP.
Bodyshop took 2 weeks to complete but it was an awesome job.
To this day, Mr. Customer has been a loyal client. He & I occasionally "break bread" together (ie: have lunch) and every now & then when he stop in for those "quickie" repairs, I have a lot porter drive his car down to the shop. He jokes that anyone except Skip can drive his car.
You know, to this day, I still won't drive an S class MB into our shop. I'll leave it to our lot porters OR I'll take the extra time to come in from the EAST.
I've read all four postings on the Z4 and I didn't catch how much she actually paid. If I remember correctly, you wanted $23,500 and she was willing to pay $23,000.... SOOOO, what was the outcome?
If you let her take it for $23,000 and fixed the invisible bra, then I believe grinding is the way to go.
You have told so many stories about how people offering WAY low and that you WILL NOT TAKE that price but eventually do. :mad:
So, what's the skinny on the Z4? :confuse:
Happy LR3 owner, Mark156
PS. I received my LR back from the dealer and drove 230 miles to Las Vegas... got 18.2 mpg on the back twisty-somewhat-hilly road route from the desert. Maybe the computer update "flash" will help my MPG's.... I hope the city mileage will be better than my 11.3 avg. But, it's one awesome vehicle!
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
Yeah, I understand that...I use them. Was commenting that I usually find their trade values much lower than other books that are used outside the northeast.
moo....my own Mother doesn't want to have all GG, all the time. I even get tired of myself, sometimes.
Thanks for the thought (blush), but no thanks.
Kirstie, tidester and kyfdx would all end up clubbing me like a poor defenseless baby sea lion after a time.
And....all those who have made suggestions on what my son should be driving, thanks! But, I'm not even close to making a decision. He gets none of my vehicles (they're mine....all mine....bwaaaahhhaaahaaa).
Yes, my son does have a Hyundai Elantra ('03). It's going on 4 years old. Not sure what his mileage is right now, but it's got to be close to 65K-70K miles, as he's commuting back and forth to college since he lives here at home.
Can't say enough good things about the Elantra. I make him religiously change the oil (every 5K miles) and do the scheduled maintenance on it. No repairs. No warranty work. Just routine maintenance, by the book. He's got a couple of scrapes and dings. The interior looks like a pig stye, but mechanically, it's very sound. It's due for brakes (originals brakes are on it). Already put tires on it. It's probably due for a new battery sometime in the next couple of months, too. That's it. Great car that's serving him well.
It was a base model, no options. Came with A/C and power windows/locks, that's it. It's a mannual tranny (which I taught him to drive). IIRC, I paid a little less than $10K for it, new. Couldn't find a better $10K car, as far as reliability, for the money. That said, it's probably not worth "squat", now.
fortunately (or unfortunately) we didn't have many people coming in on the Quest. as much as i love nissans, they really didn't think it all out when they made the Quest. there are some really neat features, then there are the stupid ones...its too bad though.
but yeah next time i had to move one of those i drove very slowly, and took the turn almost absurdly wide to avoid hitting anything!
as far as not missing the business...there are things i miss, and things i dont. i dont miss the cranky know it all customers. i do miss the flexiblity and the fact that you arent stuck behind a computer in a cubicle all day.
It's 40. No harm in admitting it, as denying it doesn't actually change the fact!
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name. 2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h) Review your vehicle
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kirstie...q...I agree. Not putting a price on the sign probably doesn't do me any favors. I just wanted to see what sort of offers I'd get. Well, now I know......zip, Zero, nada!
Probably slap $20K number on it and see how that goes. Or.....wait until the first snow flies around here and then put it in the paper.
Thanks!
My son is turning 21 in a few months. Don't tell him, but I'm thinking of giving him a new car for his B-Day and college graduation. May try a trade at that time.
Anyone want to hazzard a guess as to how much cash I'd get on a trade for a new Kia Rio base model against an '04 4Runner?
Just joshing....I wouldn't put him in a Kia (or would I?).
May try to pick up a Scion tC or Civic for him. I know no deals on Scions, but what about the Civics? Any movement on those, yet?
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Well I sure hope he doesn't read these forums. :P
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
i've been saying this alot lately it seems ... but what about a mazda3?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Of course, being Colorado, SUV's - especially as winter gets closer - become more popular.
The good part? $16K MSRP with alloy wheels..
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Just sold a car to a very nice laydown. God bless her. I needed to sell a car in November.
-Moo
-Moo
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;b
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
If I trade it for something like a Mazda3, Yaris, Civic, etc....I'd want some money coming back my way.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm still a few months away from doing anything.
As it stands, I'm "stuck" with my mother's Caddy STS AWD (not a bad car to be stuck with....particularly since I didn't give her any money for it) and my 3 series.
Something has to go. Already tried to move the Caddy. Resale on it is dismal, to say the least.
With VW's it's usually not the engines that cause trouble, it's everything else. I tend to judge reliability by looking at a car that is 6-9 years old with 80-100,000 miles on it. That is the real test.
im tryin' here!
:-P
-thene
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
:P
You took the words out of my mouth!
Amen, but I'll also add that VW dealers don't know how to install and adjust a timing belt, so engine trouble is possible there. There are a ton of TDI owners with cold-weather starting problems after a dealer timing belt change--the dealers usually don't advance the timing far enough. There are a ton of little mousetraps like that on VWs, which is why I don't care to own another one.
If you're going to look at the Yaris, you may as well look at an Accent or an Elantra, even.
Sorry Thene,
Thanks for the story earlier. It has never happened to me before. I'm sure you were rather mortified.
Keep 'em coming!!
-Moo
Our GM On the other hand forgot to remove the hitch adapter from a LR3 and ended up grinding about a half inch of metal off the bottom of it when he was showing a new owner how to use the vehicle.
Luckily we had another one in stock as the guy was planning to tow his boat that evening.
Teehee!!
but i'll tell you, this lady had it out for me at first...its a woman thing i think! a woman in power is very skeptical of other women, especially in a non-female friendly field.
by the end of my (and her) time there, she had really gotten to like me! (which is always a good thing!)
-thene
My folks don't like to put me in front of their customers too much. Unless.....they've really screwed up (which they don't want to admit) and I need to fix something.
I'm in a very different industry than the car biz, though. Our stuff is very tech oriented. As such, it's also very detail oriented. We talk more with computer and software engineers. Still, someone has to hand us cash in order to get our "stuff". That's typically not an engineer's job.
By nature, I'm very detail oriented. I don't like to leave much to chance. And, my biggest pet peeve, I want to know the answers to the questions before we ask them. That drives my folks crazy. I quiz them relentlessly about what they're doing....where their information came from....how they know if the information is correct....BEFORE I go see a customer. In short, they don't like having to take me with them, in front of customers.
The times I do go, I want to have the decision people there, as well as the people who, for whatever reason, may throw a monkey wrench in what's being done (there's always one). So, our meetings lean more towards "round tables" than sales calls.
I want some sort of committment from any meeting with the customer. It's going to sound egotistical, but I'm not going to jump on a plain, fly somewhere, get to a meeting, only to find out it's little more than a "meet and greet" session (kind of like "tire kickers" for you folks). I want them to have money set aside, and for an imminent purchasing decision to be part of my meetings when I'm involved (sound familiar?).
Technology changes so rapidly in my industry, that if a potential customer is months away from making a decision, it's senseless to talk to them at a time when products will change twice, maybe 3 or more times, by the time they're in "buy" mode.
One customer I had recently....sales person and his manager had a large electronics manufacturer, in Chicago, ready to make a large buy (so, they said). That large buy lingered...one month...two months...3 months with no movement. Every month, I'd ask the manager..."where's the order?". Reply was always the same..."it's coming this month". "That's what you said last month, and the month before that".
Finally, I wanted to get a first hand view of what was going on. I tell the sales manager and the sales person to set up a meeting between the electronics firm and me.
I get there. We've got us (sales person, his manager, tech manager, and me). And there's them (their tech people, and their purchasing people)....at the meeting. They do their product presentation. We do ours. Powerpoints flying every which way. All the time, I'm sitting quietly, listening. So are the electronic firm's purchasing people.
Finally, I ask (rather bluntly, which makes my sales guys cringe)..."everyone seems to think we've got some synergy here...we're ready, you're ready...yet, no one wants to make a decision. Is there something I'm missing?".
Purchasing people finally speak (after two hours of power points) and state that our terms are unacceptable....specifically, our terms are "full payment net 10". They want 45 days to pay. Long and short of it, that's the only "gotcha" to the deal. I agree for 1/2 the purchase to be paid at time of order, 1/2 to be paid 45 days after the order. Deal's done. I even wait until they issue the P.O. before we leave.
Simple lesson learned....one simple, blunt question.."what's holding this up?" would have yielded the large order 3 months sooner. I had to fly 600 miles, round trip, to get the answer to that simple question.
You're right...it's a gift. I know he'll be appriciative, no matter what it is.
And, to the rest of you.....no Caddy for the son.....no BMW, either.
I think I'm being very generous just CONSIDERING a new car for him for his college graduation/b-day. I may not even do it...... :P
Now you have $20K.
Get a one year old Grand Prix with the 3.8 engine in it. It's a nice semi-sporty car and handles decently well. The engine is bulletproof and it's a pretty decent car - one of the few GM makes.
$12-14K for one with 10-20K on it, and a couple of years left on the warranty. You pocket 6-8K and he gets a nearly new car without having to settle for a tin can econobox.
Oh great, so now you're considering backing out?
He's going to hate you when 'snake' sends him these posts!!
I wouldn't do it if I were you.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
I switched dealers briefly for a month and a half, and at my new dealer backed our demo Civic into a post. About $500 damage but the manager wasn't upset.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
How bout telling us how many bottles of Malox you needed when you had to pull one of those big boys around for another customer.
Aren't you glad you don't have to do this anymore?
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Once again, thanks for the post. This example can definitely be used in our line of business. (and it's a great post)
Host - I'd be interested in having a graphicguy only thread. Thanks!
-Moo
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Very good client comes in 7:30 am on a Tuesday with his '04 MB S class - yeah .. The BIG sedan. The land yacht.
"Hey Skip, I have a low beam left failure message on the dash." No problem Mr. customer, it's simply a light bulb .. have it done in less than 20 mins. Here, sign the RO and I'll get it done pronto.
Now, our store is on a main blvd. The entrance to the shop is on the back side, so basically you have to go around the block by making a right, then another right into an alley and now your at the shop entrance. The quickest way is to enter from the WEST (the method I choose), the SAFEST but longer way is to come in from the EAST (not the way I entered the shop)
The entrance to the shop (coming from the WEST) is like making a hairpin turn, pretty easy unless someone parks the parts truck against the wall, in which case you kinda have to do one of those "K" type turns you learned in drivers ed .. which no one does .. EVER.
I'm rushing, I figure NO K turn needed if I swing wide enough, I wont "rub" the truck .. no harm .. . no foul.
Wanna guess what happens?? .... SCRRRREEECCCHHH..
OH, ^%$^ there goes my employment. I'm screwed!
I jump out of the car, assess the damage and start panicking. Now, mind you, the WHOLE shop - techs, foreman's, porters .. EVERYONE has gathered around to see what Skip has done. Comments like "your pink slip will be waiting on your desk" to "time to dust off your resume" are echoing out. I'm freaking and all I can think about is that Mr. Customer is gonna be late for work or want my [non-permissible content removed] on a sliver platter.
I compose myself, move the car into a stall, jump out, tell the tech it needs a light bulb. His response it that it needs MORE than a light bulb, it needs a bodyshop! Yeah, no doody sherlock. His next retort is "will payment be by cash, check, charge or payroll deduct? ... which do you prefer?
Shadup and put the bulb in it.
I go upstairs and tell my manager what happened, how I damaged the pass side rear door of an 80K car (probably 55K now, with depreciation) of a CUSTOMERS car who was waiting for a simple lightbulb.
Manager just asks why was I taking the car down and not a porter? I answer. He asks if I have told the client yet. I answer NO. He asks, don't you think you should tell him you just screwed up his car?
I tell him I just wanted him to know first. He acknowledges my "report" and instructs me to tell the client what happened and to ask the client if he would like to get a car while we send his car to the bodyshop to repair "lot damage"
My client was extremely understanding, acknowledged that mistakes and accidents do happen. "That is why they call them accidents" was his reply and he apprciated that we were willing to "jump" on it and get his car fixed ASAP.
Bodyshop took 2 weeks to complete but it was an awesome job.
To this day, Mr. Customer has been a loyal client. He & I occasionally "break bread" together (ie: have lunch) and every now & then when he stop in for those "quickie" repairs, I have a lot porter drive his car down to the shop. He jokes that anyone except Skip can drive his car.
You know, to this day, I still won't drive an S class MB into our shop. I'll leave it to our lot porters OR I'll take the extra time to come in from the EAST.
If you let her take it for $23,000 and fixed the invisible bra, then I believe grinding is the way to go.
You have told so many stories about how people offering WAY low and that you WILL NOT TAKE that price but eventually do. :mad:
So, what's the skinny on the Z4? :confuse:
Happy LR3 owner, Mark156
PS. I received my LR back from the dealer and drove 230 miles to Las Vegas... got 18.2 mpg on the back twisty-somewhat-hilly road route from the desert. Maybe the computer update "flash" will help my MPG's.... I hope the city mileage will be better than my 11.3 avg. But, it's one awesome vehicle!
Thanks for the thought (blush), but no thanks.
Kirstie, tidester and kyfdx would all end up clubbing me like a poor defenseless baby sea lion after a time.
And....all those who have made suggestions on what my son should be driving, thanks! But, I'm not even close to making a decision. He gets none of my vehicles (they're mine....all mine....bwaaaahhhaaahaaa).
Yes, my son does have a Hyundai Elantra ('03). It's going on 4 years old. Not sure what his mileage is right now, but it's got to be close to 65K-70K miles, as he's commuting back and forth to college since he lives here at home.
Can't say enough good things about the Elantra. I make him religiously change the oil (every 5K miles) and do the scheduled maintenance on it. No repairs. No warranty work. Just routine maintenance, by the book. He's got a couple of scrapes and dings. The interior looks like a pig stye, but mechanically, it's very sound. It's due for brakes (originals brakes are on it). Already put tires on it. It's probably due for a new battery sometime in the next couple of months, too. That's it. Great car that's serving him well.
It was a base model, no options. Came with A/C and power windows/locks, that's it. It's a mannual tranny (which I taught him to drive). IIRC, I paid a little less than $10K for it, new. Couldn't find a better $10K car, as far as reliability, for the money. That said, it's probably not worth "squat", now.
but yeah next time i had to move one of those i drove very slowly, and took the turn almost absurdly wide to avoid hitting anything!
as far as not missing the business...there are things i miss, and things i dont. i dont miss the cranky know it all customers. i do miss the flexiblity and the fact that you arent stuck behind a computer in a cubicle all day.
its a neat field to try if you like cars!
-thene
Lets see three x's and then the zero? Your over a thousand years old?
Ducking and running
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
It's 40. No harm in admitting it, as denying it doesn't actually change the fact!
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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