Stories from the Sales Frontlines

nyccarguy

...And people complain about car salespeople & dealership service departments trying to rip them off

Due to the high cost & low benefits of dental insurance, my Dad decided to drop dental coverage a few months ago. Being homeowners & parents of young children, my wife & I are always looking for ways to cut our expenses. Not having dental coverage means that now dental care for my wife and I (and eventually our 3 children) will become very expensive.

My wife gets one of those LIVING SOCIAL DEALS or GROUPONS for a dentist in our area. They do adult as well as pediatric dentistry. $50 for a dental cleaning and X-Rays. What does she have to loose?

The X-rays come back and she gets a call saying she has 5 cavities that need to be drilled & filled for a total cost of $2000. Now my wife has a cavity once a year once every 18 months or so. She was shocked when she was told she has 5! They told her it was due to her recent pregnancy that she lost a lot of calcium.

I tell her to get a copy of the X-Rays. I email them (I know, dentistry is high tech nowadays) to my dentist who I've been seeing since 1988 (I was 12).

My dentist calls me at home from his house to talk cars. He's got an '02 Audi A4 Quattro (3.0 V6) that has 40K miles and is in showroom condition. His wife wants him to get something new (She drives a 2011 Audi A6). He wants to know what I think about the Audi Q5. I tell him what I know and also casually mention that he also look at the BMW X3.

At the end of the car conversation, he tells me that my wife has 1 cavity, 2 legions that can be taken care of by flossing, and 2 very old fillings. By no stretch of the imagination does she have 5 cavities though.

driver100

LIVING SOCIAL DEALS or GROUPONS for a dentist in our area. They do adult as well as pediatric dentistry. $50 for a dental cleaning and X-Rays.

More "hucksters"! Guys selling bankrupcy cars, numerous get well clinics in Florida, not to mention free ear cleaning clinics, foot clinics, consultations with naturalpaths, hearing clinics, etc., . There is a need, but when I see "free" or a "very low price" I don't bother. Just too many scams these days. I say if you need something done go to a qualified person and pay them what they are worth.

tjc78

I have 13,000 songs on my iPod

Showoff

Good luck with everything!

fezo

Thanks. Amazing stuff.

My brother and friends are starting fundraising because there will be a lot of cots even with insurance. Anyone that wants to help out feel free to contact me. Among costs are wacky drugs that my prescription plan doesn't recognize, child car - lots of things. Oh, and once I'm out of the hospital but still in NYC they way they transport is.... taxis! $25 a pop each way. Oy!

explorerx4

We have Sirius, but it's really SIRIUSXM, so maybe XM has the same multi receiver discount. One receiver is getting the 77/91 deal and the other is 236 for 2 years.

sterlingdog

"I have 13,000 songs on my ipod."

I wouldn't live long enough to listen to 13,000 songs!

"There goes my hair."

I could use the hair if it is the right color and texture.

"The backup is a guy outside the US..."

Does this mean that your future posts could be in Chinese or Swahili?

"The backup to the backup is a woman..."

Ah, a transplant and a sex change operation all for the price of one. :P

"It will also have his DNA..."

Let's hope that he hasn't committed any crimes and that you end up in prison.

Seriously, I wish you all success in surgery and recovery. You'll definitely be on my March pray list and beyond.

Richard

fezo

A friend has offered (and I'm accepting) use of his spare iPod. It has 30,000 songs on it. I could stay awake the whole 100 days + and not hear the same song twice.

You WOULD come up with the idea that he could have committed a crime. I was thinking I could get away with one.

Given that they say my taste for food will change to be more like his I hope he likes things like fig newtons and veal parm. Just my luck he'll like sardines....

driver100

hope he likes things like fig newtons and veal parm. Just my luck he'll like sardines....

Hope he doesn't hate convertibles and loves to drive Ford Windstalls.

Wouldn't that be ironic?

bolivar

Wow, average of $400 a filling. I know you are in the Big Apple and I am in the sticks, but I just got a filling done. A '3 surface' filling, white composite or whatever they use, where the dentist uses a light to make it harden. On a 'wisdom' tooth that is only partially grown in. Also did a bit of cutting away of flesh to get to all the tooth. $165. That is 'full, retail price', not an insurance negotated price, because I also do not have dental insurance.

driver100

A '3 surface' filling, white composite or whatever they use, $165.

That's tremendous value. Does your dentist have a car he is trying to sell?
It costs me $100 just to open my mouth at the dentists office.

We have to head back to Canada today, 2 days early....family matter. We love being in Florida for the winter. There is lots of new construction starting up in the Tampa Bay area, builders are thinking the economy will really pick up next year, and baby boomers will want to be in Florida. Unfortunately, they have guessed wrong before, but I hope they are right this time.

We are coming back for the last 2 weeks of March. In case you were wondering, owning is much better than renting from the stand point you are part of a community and you make lots of new friends. As a renter you are on the outside looking in.

I got the laptop, so will check in occassionally. 24 hours of driving time, seems to take 2 and a half days if all goes well.

sterlingdog

"Due to the high cost and low benefits of dental insurance..."

Whether to have dental insurance is always a debatable issue. My wife has so much dental work done each year that she decided to carry the insurance when she retired. The premium is $276 per year. They pay $500 on a $1,400 crown per year, plus full pay on the $107 annual cleaning. Last year, my wife had two crowns and a cleaning---total bill $2,907. Insurance paid $1,107. If you subtract the premium cost of $276 from $1,107 that puts her at a savings of $831. In her case, it is worth it. As for me, I have had one cavity during my life. It was filled in 1958. I had to have it filled again last year. I definitely don't need dental insurance. I suppose that it just depends on the individual.

Richard

fezo

In case you were wondering, owning is much better than renting from the stand point you are part of a community and you make lots of new friends. As a renter you are on the outside looking in.

Not to mention you can leave all your stuff in the place for a month and not worry about who is in there while you are gone - well, except when I'm in there.....

fezo

One cavity? I think I'm supposed to hate you....

I have to have a root canal done one one tooth and have to cut a root on another all in prep for the transplant. My teeth were great (but with lots of fillings) until age 35 when the inflammation I'm prone to knocked out a molar. Since then the molars haven't done well. Everything else is OK.

Had nice dental insurance when working. Now pay for a plan with my wife's employer but it's not as good.

sterlingdog

"...for mighty Jipster...has struck out."

I'm crushed. My hero has failed on the field of battle.

I have a feeling that you will recover to continue making good deals. Your third book can now be "Failure in a Perfect World".

Richard

oldfarmer50

"...There goes my hair..."

Hair is highly over-rated. I did away with it years ago and I still get as many women now as back then (1).

"...It will also have his DNA..."

Reminds me of an old "All In The Family" episode when Archie got a blood transfusion from a black guy and became distraught. If you have to get the donor from overseas you're not going to start typing in French or something are you?

I would have wished you well earlier but it been almost impossible to log on here lately. Yesterday I found all posts missing back a week and got that "Try Again Later" notice all day. :mad:

jipster

I have a feeling that you will recover to continue making good deals

Thanks richard. The " Carl Casper/ New Car Show" is in Louisville this weekend. Maybe the dealerships will be taking in some good trade-ins I can take a "swing" at. :shades:

In looking thru Craigs list for an hour or two. I've noticed there are very few people out there who know how to advertise a car... very few specifics. i.e "decent shape, it work good, moving out to farm... $9k will get er done"
I called one guy about a Nissan Sentra. I ask if he's a dealer, first says no... then yes. A lot of cars that look too good to be true... pass. Some the owner will admit a rebuilt title, others, "No known accidents".

oldfarmer50

oldfarmer50

Boy this is frustrating. Edmunds just wiped out a fairly long post and the screen freezes.

If others hadn't been having similar problems I'd think my computer was screwed up. :mad:

fezo

If you have to get the donor from overseas you're not going to start typing in French or something are you?

Oui.

jwilliams2

Slow and buggy here as well. Probably not your computer.

mako1a

jip, craigslist is free. Free to sell, swap and give away. Originally started as an apartment finder/furnisher. Only lately has it become a haven for less than honest car sellers.

Try ebay. Autocheck provided by ebay on all cars circa 1992 and newer is what craiglist sellers may be avoiding. I like it better than carfax. That feature alone eliminates a lot of the less than desirable cars. Auto Trader...not really a fan.
Just one experienced car buyers opinion.

oldfarmer50

"...looking through Craigs list..."

Maybe the glitches were a good thing. As I caught up on posts I see kirstie_h and others gave the same advice I was trying to give so all is well.

The only thing extra I would suggest is to use the CL search feature to run the seller's phone number if they advertise as "owner". Sometimes you will find an owner "owns" between 2 and 20 different cars. These are either stealth dealers like the one you mentioned or curbstoner scammers who are selling junks or flipping titles.

The crooks always have some good stories like "I'm selling it for a friend" or "I'm leaving the country to fight in Iraq".

Lot of war heros selling cars on CL. :lemon:

oldfarmer50

These should be in Jipster's book:

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef2201f/21#MSG21

driver100

ou can leave all your stuff in the place for a month and not worry about who is in there while you are gone

That's a great advantage of owning. We have left copies of all clothes and shoes in Florida. We are flying back and staying for 2 weeks at the end of March. We just need a carry on suitcase...we got everything there. We went with a full car, and are coming back half empty.

Started at 1:30 today and we are an hour south of Macon GA...in Perry GA. There's a big rodeo here tomorrow....we'd stay but have to get back.

driver100

Oui.

éclaté de rire à voix haute, LOL

explorerx4

Post the specifics of how to help out with fundraising.
Can I pay you to shovel the snow from my driveway?
That's sort a patronage job this year.

fezo

Yeah. As long as it doesn't actually snow I'm good!

Today I was driving around with the top down. Sweet.

On fundraising - if anyone is actually interested drop me a line. My E-mail is in my profile. There's a ton of expenses that insurance doesn't touch so everything helps. Not the sort of thing you really expect to happen....

BTW - to anyone who talks of eco-weenie tree huggers the reason I have this is exposure to lead and mercury from a factory where I grew up. Swell.

sterlingdog

"Edmunds just wiped out a fairly long post and the screen freezes."

I've had that happen to me several times. I figured out a way to get it back. Hit your back button in the top left hand corner of your screen. Then hit the forward button. That seems to work for me.

I've encountered another problem. I'll be reading today's posts and end up with some from yesterday at the end. The darn system is reversing the dates. It's strange. Also, Spell Check works at times and not others. I've experimented with it to see. What gets me is the time it takes after you hit "post" until it finally activates itself. We may have to petition for a dues reduction.

Richard

jipster

mako1a, oldfarmer and friends... after another 1-2 hours of looking through craigslist last night, you do indeed need to be very careful. A lot seem to be the"curbstoners" oldfarmer spoke of. They generally attach no personal remarks to the vehicle... just the cold hard facts. Original owners will usually give more personal info and be real specific. i.e bought new, regular maintence records, just put on new brakes, etc.

This guy selling his Honda Civic looked legit, but he gave a link for more photos of the Civic. But included in album were photos of two other cars. I assume he is selling. To me, unless you identity yourself as a private car dealer, you are being dishonest.

Looked at a2009 Ford Focus SE ($12k),a 2007Corolla C ($10.5k) and Nissan Versa (10k) the other day at the dealership. The Corolla sounded a bit rough in engine dept, interior a bit ratted out. Drove pretty good.

The 2009 Ford Focus I drove this time I really liked (the 2008 I drove a few weeks ago had bad motor mounts). Handled really well. A nice growling from the engine and muffler on hard acceleration, which I liked. Engine a tad loud at cruising. Interior and exterior very nice. Dark red exterior with black fabric interior.

The Nissan Versa... cheapness in every corner. I felt right at home. :sick:

Salesman and sales manager were nice. Going back in a bit to look at a 2008 Hyundai Elantra.

tommister2

In your opinion, do you think you need to be more careful in these situations? I mean about the vehicle - it goes without saying that you need to be careful about meeting someone about anything on CraigsList.

I think buying a car requires the same attention no matter who you are buying it from (dealer or private party). Look the car over carefully and/or have a third party inspect it. Check the paperwork carefully. Ask lots of questions. Am I missing something?

oldfarmer50

I took the wife's PT Crusier into the Chrysler dealer for an oil change and tire rotation today. I asked them to check out a rumble from the rear drums that I hear on hard braking at highway speed.

Just got a call from them suggesting that I replace the FRONT pads and rotors because...get this..."You don't drive it enough". What the heck? Ok, the car is 21/2 years old and only has 15,000 miles on it but it's not like it sits for weeks at a time. The wife or I drive it 4 or 5 times a week so the longest it sits is a few days; no where near enough that the rotors would get more than surface rust. What a crock!

This has to be one of the most obvious upsale attempts I've seen in some time. Luckily for me my wife claims "Your first instinct is to refuse to do anything anybody wants you to do". A less cantankerous person might might have been taken advantage of. :mad:

stickguy

well, someones. Saw this beauty on CL.

"im selling a 97 saturn sl 4 door for 1,200 i just put the engine in the car along with a rebuilt trans with 20,000 miles on it ,new rotors,brakes,new clutch car has no rust or dents grate tires no leakes or smoke grate little 4cyl grate on gas has heay and ac but it need charged any?s call or text rob "

fezo

Just FYI, I officially started mt Caring Bridge Site.

roadburner

Thanks richard. The " Carl Casper/ New Car Show" is in Louisville this weekend. Maybe the dealerships will be taking in some good trade-ins I can take a "swing" at.

My son and I are going. Probably won't be anything there that interests me...

verdugo

You mean like not honoring a receipt for a return of a watch?

(just had to throw that in here - ducking and running now)

LOL Exactly!

stickguy

Where's the "dontate a BMW to get accrosss town" button?

seriously though, good luck with all of this.

jmonroe

Would have been better off, on buying the Sentra, if it had no reconditioning, as I could have jmonroe do the work for a 6 pack of beer.

There you go cheaping out again. A 6-pack of beer won’t get it done. Make that a 6-pack of Woodfords Reserve and it’s a deal. Plus, you might get a two fer with that offer. ‘GG’ would probably show up for some repair work for that stuff too. That could get 3 of us Edmunds guys together at one time which would probably be a first and also qualify us for a dues reduction to go with it. You in?

jmonroe

jipster

I think there are more unsavory characters amoungst the private car dealers (curbstoners) than in dealerships. Dealerships generally don't put suspect cars on their lot. If I'm buying from a dealership, I'm probably not going to need a 3rd party inspection. The less experienced buyer is really the one to be more aware.

jipster

A 6-pack of beer won’t get it done. Make that a 6-pack of Woodfords Reserve and it’s a deal.... you in?

Yeah... I'm there. You bring the shot glasses, I'll bring the Woodford for you and gg. I'll stick to my Friday night card party favorite... honey whiskey. It must be good because I can't even remember the brand. :sick:

Looked at a 2008 Hyundai Elantra (gasp!) an hour ago. Inside seats looked like prior owner had shot off fireworks inside it. Multiple burn holes on drivers side and in back. Sales guy said they were gonna fix it. Looked pretty good on outside. Interior didn't look right. Scratches on roof liner... gruffy looking all around. If I recall Carfax correctly, it was a repo.

roadburner

"im selling a 97 saturn sl 4 door for 1,200 i just put the engine in the car along with a rebuilt trans with 20,000 miles on it ,new rotors,brakes,new clutch car has no rust or dents grate tires no leakes or smoke grate little 4cyl grate on gas has heay and ac but it need charged any?s call or text rob "

Check out this barely sentient C/L fool:

"This is a CLASSIC 77 and a 1/2 Porsche 924. It is a manual, 4 cylinder, black on black with snap off moon roof (absolutely no leaks) and all original. The tires and rims are new and the body and paint are in good condition. There were only around nine thousand of the half models made so you definitely wont see many of these babies on the road. Car has 50,000 miles on it and has been sitting in garage. Interior is pretty immaculate other than the seats are somewhat split. So if you're interested in a sweet fix up (easy to trick out) this car is perfect and quite a head turner.

*No Rust in floorboards, solid carriage & wheel well (non-rotary engine) . . . grrrrreat restoration project!

*Could easily drop a 4.7 liter 6 cylinder mustang engine in it which would make it all American and handle like the newer porsches today!

*Please keep in mind that the car is being sold as is . . . with a blown head gasket.

If interested please contact Sue @502-445-7548 (I prefer calls and or texts and would gladly meet up with you anytime to show car).

$2500 . . . OBO!!!"

tjc78

We were just talking about my Fiance's 08 Elantra in another thread. It has been a good (albeit boring) car. It too small for my tastes, but other than the CD player in 32K hasn't needed a dealer trip (not counting the 9K body work).

tjc78

Interior is pretty immaculate other than the seats are somewhat split

So it's clean but still a mess.

Could easily drop a 4.7 liter 6 cylinder mustang engine in it which would make it all American and handle like the newer porsches today!

Other than the obvious (that there never was a 4.7L V6 Mustang) how in the heck would that make the car "All-American"?

roadburner

Other than the obvious (that there never was a 4.7L V6 Mustang) how in the heck would that make the car "All-American"?

Like I said, barely sentient...

stickguy

I was all in on it until got to the blown head gasket.

oldfarmer50

"...like I said,barely sentient..."

Those aren't as bad as some I've seen. At least you could get a general idea of what those posters were trying to sell. I've seen ads where there was no mention of milage or even the year of the car. My favorite is where the picture they post is obviously not the same year they say it is.

oldfarmer50

"...until got to the blown head gasket..."

That's just a $20 part....easy fix. :P

michaellno

That could get 3 of us Edmunds guys together at one time which would probably be a first and also qualify us for a dues reduction to go with it.

Sorry, Mr. Monroe, but I have been part of two different occasions where 3 posters on Edmunds have met up together. Once in NJ, with our own Fezo and a former host of these boards.

The other was in Michigan, where two former posters (one from MI, one from NY) and I got together for dinner.

And no, there wasn't a dues reduction with either.

kyfdx

Before I was a Host, I had two meet-ups....

One out-of-town with a Host.... and, one near my home with another member who was in town to pick up a car...

Since they couldn't reduce my dues twice, they just made me a Host..

stickguy

I met 4 or 5 at one time at the Philly auto show a few years back.

driver100

Left Tampa area at 2 pm on Wed, drove for 5 hours to Perry Ga. Thurs drove 12 hours to Findlay Ohio. Drove 5 hours from Finlay to Toronto.

The 535 was a perfect highway car....if I ran for President I would see that every citizen who paid their taxes and kept up their mortgage payments would receive a new 535!

The navigation system is remarkable. Even gives you estimated arrival time based on your speed, and the number of miles left. Even though we took I-75 the whole way, there are lots of times when you have to get over to take the right or the left lanes. The signs don't give you enough time, but the nice lady in the GPS unit tells you to bear right or left about a mile before.

The big surprise, I carefully checked gas mileage at each stop. 30 mpg (U.S. gallons) which I think is remarkable for a heavy car with 300 horses. Very comfortable too, and having satelite radio was a pleasure.