Stories from the Sales Frontlines

oldfarmer50

"...I am happy to be semi-retired..."

Me too. Now I only work 40 hours a week. :P

oldfarmer50

In this ad does it look like there is damage to the rear corner in the picture bottom left?

http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/2506340944.html

Otherwise not bad looking for a car that old in salt land.

im_brentwood

Where?

Nebraska maybe? Parts of Texas? Florida?

Sure as heck not in Jersey

tjc78

I think it just the picture. I saved a copy a zoomed a bit, and it appears its some sort of reflection because the dark part goes through the tail-light.

As for the car, looks pretty decent. Its a V8 so you don't have to put up with the slow 3.8 V6.

My mother had a 96 Thunderbird (very similar to that 94 Cougar) it was a good car, but hers had the 3.8. She loved it, except when it snowed.

driver100

Well, I just got home after five hours busting my butt at our local Food Bank.

That's an excellent way to spend some retirement time. It helps give your life some structure and you are doing meaningful work.

I have talked to some people who just cannot do volunteer work. They are nice people, just don't get anything out of it. They have to find other activities. Learn Bridge, take a course, have a hobby to fall back on, shine their car everyday, etc. You have to know you can do volunteer work.

driver100

Tomorrow heading up to north Jersey and then driving up to New Hampshire with one brother to see another one.

Your off to visit after spending hours at the hospital. Going to a doctor for a check up, or a dentist for a cleaning completely wipes me out.

Have a good trip.

driver100

And with the US gov't handing out tax credits for electric vehicles I understand they are free.

I wonder if he could make me one that looks like a BMW?

jipster

Good luck with your FSBO but most FSBO's end up getting listed with a real estate agent.

Thanks. The plan is to try to sell it ourselves for about 6-8 weeks. If that doesn't pan out, then we'll go with an agent.

I do enjoy meeting people and trying to make the sale myself, but as you know, the tire kickers and ice cream lickers can be a pain.

jipster

I'm convinced that there's a certain type of person without much of a life of their own, that find it cheap and fascinating entertainment to wander around other people's houses

Yep. Out of the 4 couples that looked at the house, I got that impression from each of them.

jipster

"...I thought he was going to stab me with a carpet knife..."

So it's not just your Edmunds friends who you have that effect on?

The only weapon I fear here is Kristie's Delete-O-Matic 4800. :mad:

require some sort of credit check first. Weed out the lookie-loos.

Part of the story that I referred to earlier, from that one couple who made an offer... was definitely something that needed to be sprayed with Weed B Gone. I initially asked... and they said they had a pre-approved loan. We trusted them. Big mistake. After they used the Jipst method in holding firm to their price, we agreed to go below our bottom line, as the house was to be sold "as is" (only needed about a $1-2kworth of work). Once we accept their price (verbally), all of a sudden they get "cold feet" and could only afford 2/3rds of what their montlhy payment would be. I feel like they never intended to buy our house. They went thru our house though and acted as though it were the best thing since sliced bread. Sure wasted a lot of our time.

jipster

You should do what our nighbor once did. He waited until we had a sign on our lawn from a real estate company. Within minutes he ran into his house and put up a For Sale by Owner sign on his lawn.

Funny you should write that. Neighbors on both sides of me have their houses up for sale.

isellhondas

Not bad looking except for the hideous vinyl top someone installed on it.

isellhondas

So, what did you do to your neighbors?

One side is understandable but BOTH sides?

jipster

So, what did you do to your neighbors?

Older lady in the house to the right of me. She had to move out due to health issues. Her house needs a lot of updating. Her lazy [non-permissible content removed] sons never lifted a finger to help her.

House to the left of me was bought 3 years ago by young unmarried couple. The guy totally gutted the thing, put in new plumbing and electrical. But, he moved so slow in repairing that house, I think he was afraid his girlfriend would be less inclined to dump him if he was still working on her house. It was suppose to be completed in 6 months. She dumped him, moved back in with her mom. The house has been sitting vacant for about 5 months, still needing repairs. I think she felt bad about always having building materials laying around, she gave us a $25 gift card for not calling the cops on her.

fezo

$100,000 starter home in NJ.

Actually this is an old company house. I went out with a girl in college who lived in an identical house a block over.

Middle of nowhere on a pretty poor county but it it $100,000....

bolivar

If anyone is interested,,,, Several years ago, like 15 or more, while giving blood, the Red Cross was pushing the 'Bone Marrow Registry'. Since I've had several family members lost to cancer, I said ok. At that time they just pulled an extra vial of blood and I did some paperwork.

Time rocked by. They sent an inquiry out every year or so to see if you were still out there. This triggered, each time, my thoughts about whether or not I would be able to go thru with a donation, having heard it's not the easiest thing in the world to do.

I never got a call. When I hit 62 years old, I got a notice that I had 'maxed out' and they removed me from the registry.

driver100

,Good tires all the way around,everything works as it should,

I am suspicious about that sentence. Normally you would just say the car is in excellent condition. I think this is a code for "everything works individually, but put them all together and this car is pretty crappy and I am tired of trying to get it to run".

The vynil roof is a negative but overall not a bad looking car for $2k. I somehow think it won't have much "feel of the road".

driver100

I never got a call. When I hit 62 years old, I got a notice that I had 'maxed out'

Does that mean your shelf life is over at 62? You're so old no one even wants your blood any more?

driver100

They went thru our house though and acted as though it were the best thing since sliced bread.

A lot of people, especially neighbors love to go to "Open Houses". Real estate agents have told us when they have an open house a lot of the people on the street always go through. I suppose people are curious and they want to gauge what their house would be worth.

I don't think agents can stop people from stealing things like jewellery. The thieves know how to distract the agent while they go through drawers etc. Best not to leave anything of value around.

Like the comedians say, now with these virtual tours thieves don't even need to case your house any more, they now know where everything is!

driver100

Middle of nowhere on a pretty poor county but it it $100,000....

This one is about $20,000 more but it looks like a better value for the extra $20k. (Florida)

fezo

Using a place in Florida is cheating. You can pretty much toss a rock and hit a $100,000 house in Florida.

About to hit leg one of the trip which is driving up in the Ody two hours, meeting my brother up there and then taking off for NH in his 01 Saab 9-3 convertible.

See you Sunday.

On 62 - they will take stem cells from older folks under some circumstances. They are testing a 71 year old friend of mine. Even if you are the donor they don't go in the bone anymore, They take blood from you, get the cells they need and put teh rest back in. Amazing.

driver100

Using a place in Florida is cheating.
Sure, change the rules after the contest has begun.
then taking off for NH in his 01 Saab 9-3 convertible.
Isn't that the car you are looking for? Tell him you heard they are found to be unsafe and you will buy the car from him though, because you care.
They take blood from you, get the cells they need and put teh rest back in.
Sounds easy, do they give you coffee and donuts after donating?

Have fun. You need a Netbook or iPad to take with, so you can check in while you are away. You might miss something important.

mako1a

Knowing what this is can be useful on this forum.

stickguy

after massive hemmoraging of money, the contractor starts ripping my kitchen and master bath apart monday. This, after I spend the weekend ripping out the kitchen tile (only about 350SF of it!) this weekend, when the heat index is supposed to be 110+. Poor timing, I have always had that!

I have decided that looking at household stuff (appliances, bath fixtures) is 10x worse than looking at cars. Price variances, not knowing what you are getting, sleight of hand, etc. Plus, about a billion too many choices. Overwhelming.

Expensive too. I think I have blown past an X3, and am closing in on a 5 series now!

anyone want to buy my old kitchen? Clean (well, not really...), low miles (well, not really..) but 100% complete turn key!

oldfarmer50

"...except for the hideous looking vinyl top..."

Yeah, I'm not a fan of those either but I could live with it on an otherwise nice car. For me, the ideal bargain car is first, mechaniclly sound, second has low milage and third is pretty. If it has the first two I can put up with a whole lot of ugly.

oldfarmer50

"...Knowing what this is..."

That's an insert you put in your 45 singles so it fits your record player spindle. How is that of any use here?

Are you suggesting that this forum is full of old farts?

What next, asking us to explain the difference between 78s and 33LPs? :P

stickguy

45?

mako1a

This is my 45.

stick, the last time I wanted to redo the house, we took the easy way out.

Moved from Virginia Beach to the mountains of Southwest Virginia. (2004)

Got a better house for 100k less. All appliances included and only 4 years old.

michaellno

stick, I sent you a PM with a couple of flooring questions .. we're looking to replace the carpet in our house with carpet and tile.

What is this about next door neighbors having their house up for sale? One of my next door neighbors is trying to sell her house.

Like us, she bought the house new when they were built 11 years ago. She's 91 now - she first voted for Herbert Hoover! - and her niece and nephew have a basement apartment she will live in.

The house has been on the market for a few months now. I talked with her about it a few weeks ago and she says she's had some interest, but no offers yet.

I suspect that this is because she's got the house priced too high - she's asking $185K, and her model is the smallest of the 4 in the collection that was built. Ranch style home and she's landscaped the backyard with a nice deck and trees, but no grass at all, which may limit the pool of potential buyers.

oldfarmer50

"...45?..."

As in 45rpm records? Don't you young whipper-snappers know anything? :P

oldfarmer50

"...This is my 45..."

That's a very fancy version of the old model 1911. Not real accurate unless you've had a lot of training but it will put a hole in anything about as big as that in an old 45 record. :surprise:

I prefer the .223 AR-15 ammo. Or a good old Mosberg pump.

driver100

She's 91 now - she first voted for Herbert Hoover!

I am surprised she admits to voting for Hoover, he was a dud. According to Wikipedia "The consensus among historians is that Hoover's defeat in the 1932 election was caused primarily by failure to end the downward economic spiral. As a result of these factors, Hoover is ranked poorly among former US Presidents."

Might have worked out better with Democratic candidate Al Smith.

(Just joking around...I don't know)

michaellno

I am surprised she admits to voting for Hoover, he was a dud.

Come to think of it, I may not be remembering the conversation correctly. She's probably got a sharper mind than I do. And, even though her hearing is not what it used to be, she did notice that we got a new dog as she heard a bark of a different pitch.

She's a great neighbor; we're gonna miss her when she moves. Am just hoping the new neighbors are just as nice.

stickguy

if it was an email to my profile, i will see it later at home. If there is some other kind of PM function on this site, news to me!

will be happy to opinionize, having just spent way too much time on flooring options. Money too, but much better than crappy carpet.

michaellno

Yep, email to the address in your profile.

tjc78

I wish Edmunds would start a PM system.

IMHO there are waaaaay too many choices involved when remodeling. Just choosing the granite color was a major pita. We went to the distributor and actually picked our slab. That place must have had 1000s on display.

driver100

She's a great neighbor; we're gonna miss her when she moves.

91 year old neighbors are the best....no wild parties, no teenagers, no late night splashing around in the pool, no reving up engines, no motorcycles.....

jmonroe

I somehow think it won't have much "feel of the road".

Not everyone wants it either.

When my brother (the one that is now retired in Florida) was in the market to replace his leased ’08 Chrysler Sebring HT convertible in February 2011, the first place he went to after he couldn’t do a deal for an ’11 Sebring was the BMW store. He didn’t even finish the scheduled test drive course. He turned around and headed back to the dealership with the disappointed salesman. He just didn’t like the way it rode and he was driving exactly what he wanted in the way of options and colors.

Next stop was the MB store. He would have bought but they didn’t want to go fetch the color he wanted. Then onto the Infinity place, same thing…”take what we have or leave”. He left. He was almost out of places with hard tops but he went to the Volvo store. Totally different way of dealing and they had one of the colors he wanted. He drove away with a White C70 HT which he really likes and the deal was a lot better than the other stores. I drove and rode in this car and it was OK as far as I was concerned but I’m not a convertible guy so what do I know? I think I have way too much hair for convertibles. My younger brother who was there visiting with us thought it was just pretty blah.

I have a feeling they make different cars because not everyone wants or likes the same things when it comes to cars.

jmonroe

michaellno

As my wife likes to say - "that's why there's chocolate and vanilla ice cream".

What works for one won't necessarily work for another.

The "feel of the road" is a plus for folks like driver and rb, while others prefer a more cushioned ride.

driver100

He drove away with a White C70 HT

Smart choice for your brother...not much feel of the road.

Volvos are good strong cars, nicely finished, perform competently, but not a driver's car (not me necessarily but you know what I mean).

Some people don't really want the feel of the road, the steering will be firmir, not as light, and you are going to feel the bumps more. Seats are lower so not easy to get in and out of. Certainly not for every one. Enthusiasts need only apply.

The ice cream analogy is right on, some prefer chocolate some vanilla, and I prefer peanut butter and chocolate!

jmonroe

As my wife likes to say - "that's why there's chocolate and vanilla ice cream".

I've said the same thing several times myself. But, to be perfectly honest about this, I have no idea why some people opt for vanilla.

jmonroe

stickguy

tile was a chore, and I spent waaay too much time at granite places. You are correct, your head swims with choices up to the point you don't want to pick at all.

we are pretty much done picking. Just have to decide on a design and material for the kitchen backsplash. everything else is ordered or picked out ready to go.

except for paint color of course. That shouldn't be too bad, and is the one thing that is easily changeable!

isellhondas

In a lot of markets, dealers that sell the same brands hate one another and do NOT do dealer trades so it may not have been a case of not wanting to "Fetch" the color he wanted.

Our store did a lot of trades with nearby stores but there were some stores that we just refused to do trades with due to bad blood.

oldfarmer50

Recently I was lamenting about how much my wife's PT Cruiser had depreciated. Edmunds says it's worth mid-10s after 2 years and only 12,000 miles.

Imagine my surprise when today a local Dodge dealer sent me a mailer telling me that this car was "in high demand" and they needed it for their inventory. They quoted a value of $10,600 to $14,600 based on an estimated 24K miles.

What do you think guys and gals? Are you all just dying to get your hands on a PT Crusier?

If so, maybe we can work something out on a private-party basis.

Seriously, where do these dealers come up with these figures? The low end seems about right but $14K+ for a car that I paid under $18K for without much effort over two years ago? That's just crazy talk.

qbrozen

Volvos are good strong cars, nicely finished, perform competently, but not a driver's car (not me necessarily but you know what I mean).

You obviously never drove an 850 T5R, early S70 T5, or S60R. 300hp, 6-speed stick, and electronically adjustable suspension with a track setting has no choice buy to be a "driver's car."

driver100

Seriously, where do these dealers come up with these figures? The low end seems about right but $14K+ for a car that I paid under $18K

Well, they'll find a few things that will bring the value of your PT Cruiser down. Then they will charge you full MSRP on the new vehicle, with a small discount so you won't THINK you are being taken advantage of. It isn't the value of the trade in that counts, it is the difference that matters. You can make statistics say anything, and you can do the same with so called trade in value.

It might be fun to go in and say you were thinking of trading. How much will the new one be and how much are you going to give me for the trade in? Maybe your wife would like a Challenger!

isellhondas

Oh sure. they'll give you that much against the full price of a new one.

When PT Cruisers first hit the market, people were paying thousands of dollars over MSRP and waiting in line.

Then the novality wore off and sales tanked.

Making it even worse, Chrysler sold them to the rental companies in huge quanities. These were dumped en masse on the market when they decided to move on. The auctions were loaded with them and they sold for thousands of dollars back of book.

And, that is where they remain today. VERY hard to sell cars. Not "bad" cars, just yesterday's news.

I have to hand it to Chrysler. They took a Plain Jane Neon and stuck a retro body on it and watches sales (for awhile) soar through the roof!

Trust me, that Dodge dealer doesn't have people kicking down their doors for your trade in. Read the fine print.

jmonroe

Our store did a lot of trades with nearby stores but there were some stores that we just refused to do trades with due to bad blood.

I've heard you say this before and I believe you. My brother lives in the infamous car sales snake pit region of South Florida (Delray Beach to be exact) and from what he tells me that place has earned its reputation for being a bunch of snakes. Like I have said a few times, he would have been more than happy buying another Sebring, he really liked the '08 that he had. He said the two Chrysler places that he has tried to deal with in the past down there are the worst of the worst. So bad that the '08 he had was purchased in the dead of winter when he visited the Burgh in February of '08.

He decided to just try the local Chrysler Pittsburgh market and found the convertibles were just taking up space at one place and he got a pretty good deal because of that. Good enough that he was going to hire one of those agencies to drive it back to Florida because he didn't want to waste the plane tickets back home that he had for him and his wife. He really lucked out here because when my cousin and nephew heard about this they decided to drive it down there and then stay at my brothers Florida place for a couple weeks. Then just buy a one way ticket back home.

This was the classic win/win situation for all three of them.

jmonroe

imidazol97

My sister-in-law is a flight attendant and has a couple decades experience. She flew in last week to visit. She was talking about how great the Malibu was that she rented. But she had to race another lady to get to it. With this agency, they tell you pick a car in the lot. She saw the one Malibu and the others were PT Cruisers. She hates them and literally raced to get the Malibu!

mako1a

What do you think guys and gals? Are you all just dying to get your hands on a PT Crusier?

Tell the dealer you just want to sell him the (much in demand) cruiser.

You'll be back later to decide what to buy. That will determine PT's value.

I never could understand it when I asked about my trade-in, the salesguy always wanted to know "trade in on what?" What difference does it make?

Or the old customer bait and switch. I'm trading on Cadillac xyz. Get the trade number and OOPS, I meant I'm trading on that Pinto in the corner.