Stories from the Sales Frontlines

fezo

With absolution like that you should have been a priest. Would have kept me in the Catholic fold longer...

sterlingdog

Thanks. That's just like my young friend; always taking care of this old man.

Richard

sterlingdog

"With absolution like that you should have been a priest."

I started out in that direction, but stopped at too many bars on the way. :P

Richard

driver100

Will be trading Chrysler soon for small MB.

Did I read that right? Or do you mean a Mercury Brougham?

explorerx4

I missed your survey, but I would definitely skew the results, seeing that my name is on 5 Fords, soon the be 6.
Can probably claim oldest car bought new with lowest miles.
1991 Mustang with 36,500 miles.

nyccarguy

Don't think for a second that your Mustang doesn't count. That 412 hp V8, RWD, Coupe is IMO one of the coolest rides owned by our SFTSF members!

driver100

While they were doing the job, they discovered that the front brake pads were "nearly" gone. How the hell would I know?

The 535 has a monitor to check brake pads. Touch a few buttons and it comes up on the screen.

Using Driver Dollar Averaging Plan $906 over 2 years. That's about all the repairs right? Less than $500 a year and you have travelled a fair distance in that time.

That's not too bad. Sometimes in an emergency situation you do pay top dollar. But, you aren't going to get a K-Mart battery for an SRX, so you paid a premium to get a good battery in an emergency situation - these things happen!

, and firing a minister who stole church funds has kept me busy.

In this economy that seems to be happening quite frequently. I guess even ministers can have problems during a recession, though I thought their business was recession proof.

driver100

He'll get his when he tries to prove
something to a Mustang GT on the interstate with that 288 HP luxmobile.

Just for the record, it's 300 hp.

nyccarguy

No problem my friend. Your Mustang is the car I lusted after in HS. The 5 spoke wheels totally "made" the car for me.

I've got tickets for tomorrow nights game. Tonight doesn't look good. Baltimore won.

nyccarguy

He was using the current exchange rate. 300 US horsepower is actually 288 horsepower in Canada.

explorerx4

My kids don't have a ton of Student loan debt, but they just don't get how important it is to their financial future to pay it off.
It's good to put money in your savings account, but you aren't making 6.8% on it, so it's better to pay down the loans.

explorerx4

So what was she driving? You left that out.

abacomike

So what was she driving? You left that out

She was "driving" everyone nuts!

But she was behind the wheel of an older Jeep Wagoneer - talk about a "tank". She demolished the front end of his car - I'm sure they had to total it!

abacomike

Will be trading Chrysler soon for small MB

Richard, before you buy that small Benz, make sure you check with me so I can get you some good pricing on a C250 or C300. Might be worth your while. Make sure you check out their conquest money first before buying!

imidazol97

>State inspection should have caught the brakes way before the rivets sounded.

I don't think they have rivets on those. There may have been a metal prong to touch the rotor and make a squealing noise that is meant to act as a warning that pad thickness is low--if the outer pad wears more first as it's designed to do.

imidazol97

>I'm sure that I got ripped off on the price of the battery, and probably got "up shot' on the front brakes.

Actually, for the battery with a bad cell, you didn't have much choice. If a Walmart were close-by, that might have been a good stop. I like their batteries, but I don't know what time of day this was and if their auto repair guys were working. So you did what works; be a pragmatist.

As for the brakes..., you got top quality pads on the front and the rear. They are matched by being both the same brand and same pad materials.

>"Up-sold" on the fronts?

If they truly were low, might have gone another 10,000 miles? Then you would have put pads on of different material at different shop? Or would you have had the mechanic get the same GM ceramic pads or semi-metallic pads? Easiest is what you did. Cost 50% more? But it's done and you've got great brake quality.

stickguy

mike, you should have a full "frequent buyers" card by now and due for a free one, right?

I get that at the local mexican place for a free Burrito. figure it would work the same way.

and I apparently own all the Acura's in the group. and 20% of the Hondas!

I think the RDX still has fewer miles than Mako's Mustang too.

abacomike

We just had a cloud burst and the weatherman said we got 2-1/2 inches of rain in 45 minutes. According to the meteorologist, this is the second wettest year on record. It's been so damp and rainy that our condo association's maintenance department has had to change their grass-cutting schedules from once a week to once every 4 days. Things are sure green down here.

If this continues, I'll be trading in the Benz for a houseboat and begin pairing the critters two-by-two for the onslaught. I thought the rainbow was a reminder to our Lord not to destroy the earth by flood again? Unfortunately, he never promised to save the world from our president. Too bad!

roadburner

But the guy is the one who started it - and the woman was the one who finished it! And boy did she have a mouth on her!

I heard a similar story in district court, and it is somewhat car related:

It was a very minor assault case- the victim only had a few cuts and bruises- no medical bills; the victim testified that he was on the phone arguing with the defendant when the defendant said, "I oughta just whip your a##."
To which the victim replied: "Well, you just come over and try- if you're man enough."
Whereupon the defendant went over to the victim's house and did indeed whip his a##.
After everyone had testified I announced that I was dismissing the case pursuant to the Toyota Doctrine: You asked for it- you got it...

explorerx4

That definitely completes the picture!

abacomike

mike, you should have a full "frequent buyers" card by now and due for a free one, right?

Funny you should mention that. I have a Mercedes Benz American Express card with 2900 points built up ($2900 off my next Benz) + I am a member if the Mercedes Benz Club of America which gives me a coupon worth $1000 toward the purchase of a new Benz after January 2013. Add to that my USAA incentive of $2000 below invoice and my Mercedes Benz Credit loyalty of $2000, my next Benz will be a fantastic deal at $7900+ below invoice - cheap at half the price, no?

roadburner

The BMW Car Club used a picture from the 2011 Oktoberfest's Casino Night to promote this year's event. My son(in the orange golf shirt) was 16 at the time and beat all comers at Texas Hold 'em- his mom was SO proud:

driver100

He was using the current exchange rate. 300 US horsepower is actually 288 horsepower in Canada.

lol......except the Canadian dollar is worth $1.02 U.S. giving me 306 hp. Of course with exchange fees, it would be about 277.

driver100

$1000 toward the purchase of a new Benz after January 2013. Add to that my USAA incentive of $2000 below invoice and my Mercedes Benz Credit loyalty of $2000, my next Benz will be a fantastic deal at $7900+ below invoice - cheap at half the price, no?

I feel another car coming on. HOw can you turn all that money down? Soon, they will be paying you to take one off their lot.

robr2

I was wrong - it's not 3-5 hours a week. It's 3-5 hours a day.

IMHO, it disingenuous to call oneself "Fox NEWS" when the vast majority of the hours are spend on OPINION.

And yes, I do watch Fox News to get the other side of the story. But I find that their opinions tend to do only one thing - create further division in our country.

abacomike

that definitely completes the picture

I had a feeling it would. When I think back (16 years now), I don't think the damage to her Wagoneer was that bad. But when I looked at his car (or what was left of it), it looked like he hit a brick wall. Come to think of it, a brick wall hit him!

abacomike

Soon they will be paying you...

That's doubtful, but there is always hope!

BTW, I noticed you posted a picture of a CLS550. That car has less headroom, legroom, hip room and cargo space than an E350 and costs $20,000+ more. I almost bought one, but after sitting on it and driving it, it was just too tight for a 240 lb., 6'2" guy like me. I felt like I was in a coffin, honestly.

abacomike

Fox NEWS...

*robr, I am not going to respond to you only because I have respect for your right to have an opinion. I am not going to let politics stand between our otherwise positive relationship here on our forum.

graphicguy

nyc....wait a minute......I didn't know there was a survey.

'11 BMW 335ix coupe-mine....all mine!

'12 Ford Fiesta-son's, but I still have some financial interest in it.

'13 Audi S4-GF's, but one I have a big financial interest in

Loved the road rage vid. I guess that makes me a sick voyeur.

This was many years ago. I'm driving on a 4 lane road....2 lanes east, 2 lanes west. It was a Saturday and crowded. Had a guy tailgating me. But, with heavy traffic, I had no way to speed up with all the traffic in front of me. I decided that as soon as I could get over on the berm, I would let him get in front of me, vs running the high probability of getting rear ended.

Well, given I was driving a Tahoe at the time, and the person tailgating me had one of those short lived Saturn convertibles. I was already only about 6 feet from the car in front of me. And, while the brakes on the Tahoe were good, that's a lot of mass to get stopped.

I found some open berm and pull over. The guy in the Saturn was in a huge hurry, given he sped up even before I could get entirely on the berm.

He couldn't see traffic in front of me stopped since the Tahoe's girth was blocking his view. He barely missed from side swiping me as I pulled over. But, he did rear end the person that was sitting in front of me.

Seeing bad traffic getting worse, I decided to drive on the berm and came up to Mr tailgate (who's car was now spewing coolant out of it's crunched front end) and rolled down my window....

"You want me to call the police for you on my cell phone?"

I didn't wait for a response.

driver100

a picture of a CLS550. That car has less headroom, legroom, hip room and cargo space than an E350 and costs $20,000+ more.


You are observant. I posted that model because most people move up a model when they buy a new car. I agree, that new look is too jazzy for me.

When we were looking at Passats I tried sitting in a VW C.C. It looks like a mini CLS550. It costs a lot more than the Passat but it was very uncomfortable, with very poor vision.


When I was getting my oil changed I saw one of these at the BMW dealer, a 640 4 door coupe. I thought the same as you, very uncomfortable. Once again the outward vision is not great, and I don't even like that new age styling.



And even Audi has one, the A7;

driver100

"You want me to call the police for you on my cell phone?"

LOL.....Good story GG....sometimes there is justice!

How is your girlfriends/and your Audi working out?
In the case of my wife's A4 (doesn't quite compare to an S4) she always liked it but had some adjustments to make compared to the bmw 335. However, now that she has got used to the controls, she really likes the Audi. I am very happy she likes the Audi this much, I was getting a little nervous about that at first.

imidazol97

The negatives on Fox News can't stand because they are so biased, so I'll comment since others have been able to give their opinion:

>Fox news

Gives both sides of the story. Many times I cringe because they report negative things about the republican candidate, to wit the 47% who will never vote for the Republican. This is opposed to watching the GE/Comcast-owned NBC which only has operatives giving Saul Alinsky type comments.

> their opinions

As for creating division, if anyone thinks FoxNews is doing that, take a look at MSNBC all day long (except on weekends wehre they spend their time featuring people in jails). Or take a look at the video of the BO speech back in 07 when he was creating division in a talk at Hampton.

Which exemplifies the MSM's technique of NOT covering all and of omitting things that are inconvenient for their POV, but covering all the little details if it's the opponent's negative.

I see all this division from the last 5 years as dangerous to our county even to including the foreign policy failures of the last few deaths.

abacomike

The negatives on Fox News can't stand...

No Comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oldfarmer50

I was in Saratoga Springs yesterday at the state park and in front of the car museum they had a bunch of new Chevys (probably a dealer promotion). They had a Volt on display.

It's not a bad looking car, a little bigger and slightly more stylish than a Cruze but that price! $40k before the government bribe...er...rebate? For a car that only goes 40 mies on a charge. This must appeal to a very limited market. I hope they can improve on this type of car before we're all forced to buy one.

They also had a Camaro and a Vette. The Camaro was $37k ouch! There was no price on the Vette because if you had to ask you can't afford it.

robr2

Fair enough.

jmonroe

If you are an Independent like me, it is impossible to find the truth in all the news media.

I’m not necessarily proud of this but I am like you. :shades: In fact, I’m a “registered” Independent in the state of PA. I have no idea why anyone would want to call themselves a Democrat or Republican. I’ve been called many things in my day but as long as I’m not called one of those I’m happy.

jmonroe

robr2

Here in MA, one cannot register as an Independent because there is a recognized Massachusetts Independent Party. Rather we may register to vote and declare as "unenrolled".

jmonroe

There was no price on the Vette because if you had to ask you can't afford it.

That bugs me when they do that. How do they know I don't have enough ink in my pen.

jmonroe

abacomike

I’ve been called many things in my day but as long as I’m not called one of those I’m happy

IMHO, it really doesn't matter what you register as because I know many, many registered democrats down here in our retirement community who are so disgusted with the last 3 years that they are voting republican this time around, most for the first time in their lives. Even my Dad, who always votes democratic is voting "not for Romney", but against the president. In fact, he is doing the same thing with Senator Nelson - voting against him by voting for Connie Mack, the republican.

I used to be a democrat, but the Democratic Party of 15-20 years ago is not the Democratic Party of today. The party is so far to the left extreme that I can no longer, in good conscience vote democratic any longer. That is why I became an independent. I vote for the best candidate and if there is not a good candidate, I vote against the worst candidate - the lesser of two evils.

graphicguy

Hey driver....I was just wondering the other day how your A4 is working out. Well, I hope.

While not involved, I did see a guy get out of his car right in the middle of the street to yell at the guy behind him, presumably for tailgating him. The unfortunate part, I have to sit there, waiting for them to get their argument over with.

GF and I have probably swapped what we drive the most.....her in the BMW, me in the Audi. That's based on preferences over the last few months.

She probably would give the nod to the 335i. I give the nod to the S4. As smooth and strong as the 335i is, the S4 trumps it in both areas. I like the sport seats in the S4 over the flat seats in the 335i.

The S4 feels a whole lot stronger than 333HP it is rated. The 335i feels a whole lot stronger than its 320HP rating suggests, too (I put the BMW performance kit in). The S4 is still faster. As good as the 335i is in the handling dept, the S4 is better.

We're at 15,000 miles on the 335i (1st oil change was in June) and 5,000 miles on the S4. Both have had no issues....haven't even had to add air in the tires. Both are rock solid, with nary a squeak or rattle.

So, given that I prefer the S4, but technically it belongs to my GF, and she likes the 335i, but technically it belongs to me, I think we've officially swapped cars, as our daily drivers. :shades:

abacomike

I was reading in the papers today that automobile sales are again booming - especially Toyota and Chrysler. AutoNation's new car sales at its dealerships have been increasing at the rate of 15%+ each month this year.

According to the news source, the spurt in sales is due to the fact that people have held off buying new cars for several years and now those people are taking advantage of incentives and interest rates and are trading their cars in for more ecomical models. Leasing continues to be "flat" while purchasing cars at rates between 2-3% APR have increased.

Let's hope this surge in car sales helps to lift our economy out of the doldrums. The real problem we are facing is gasoline prices. They are $2.00 a gallon above where they were three years ago with no sign of relief in sight. And if the Middle East continues to get worse - Syria, Iran, Egypt and Israel, gasoline could easily double in price at the pump.

Sure would be nice to have a foreign relations policy that someone could delineate. It's a mess that's going to blow up at any time now! Mark my words !

imidazol97

>negatives on Fox News can't stand...

No further comment.

graphicguy

Mike...gas prices have little relationship to the Middle East. That's been proven over and over. They make a good whipping post for oil prices. But, until the rules change for dealing in oil purchases, there will be price manipulation, which is what's been happening for the last 6 years, or so.

If oil traders were actually required to take delivery of the oil they buy, prices would be back to that $2/gal range.

As long as I've been driving (over 3.5 decades), I've heard all the excuses for gasoline prices.....

-we're running out of oil....we have more oil reserves now than any time in the last 35 years

-middle east tensions threaten oil supply....know what? We've had Middle East tensions since the Shah of Iran was deposed. Never, and I mean never, has the supply of oil been interrupted. That amount of money....oil money....is not going to be interrupted

-demand is going up.....no....it's going down, or has plateaued. Even with China's economy, there's a genuine worry that their economy will overheat, and is being curbed. Add to that, there are huge economy gains being realized with new technologies adding to oil demand malaise.

Mike.....if anything, oil prices will collapse. It will be worse than the mortgage mess, too. Frankly, a few people and a few countries will lose a whole lot of money in that collapse. The average American...not so much.

abacomike

We've had Middle East tensions since the Shah of Iran was deposed. Never, and I mean never, has the supply of oil been interrupted

*graphicguy, nothing would give me more pleasure than to have your opinion be 100% correct! But the spread of war in the Middle East would give the speculators a reason to double the price of oil or an attack on Iran by Israel would have the same effect.

If Obama had signed the pipeline deal with Canada, that, in and of itself would not reduce oil prices, however the rest of the world would have seen that the US was doing something about our dependence on foreign oil. The same thing would have happened if drilling was expanded in the Gulf and offshore, but Obama refuses to allow that.

IMHO, I believe Obama is in cahoots with the Saudis. Notice that they increased oil production last month when oil prices rose over 100 dollars a barrel? And now that prices dropped a little, the Saudis reduced production

Think about it!

fezo

I'm with gg on this one.

I'd be hard pressed to think of the last president who wasn't in cahoots withe the Saudis.

explorerx4

We'll probably go on Saturday.
The rebate on the Escape just went up $500, so that's in our favor.
My wife has been driving the '02 Explorer, so I know it's killing her, especially no bluetooth. 70% of her normal fuel mileage doesn't help either, so I'm thinking she's ready to buy.

oldfarmer50

"...if anything oil prices will collapse..."

They already have. From a recent high in the high $90s crude was down to near $88. Normally that would result in a good gas price drop but there has been a rash of refinery fires and other problems resulting in a gas shortage.

They are saying gas could jump 30 cents in the next month.

abacomike

They are saying gas could jump 30 cents in the next month

Quite frankly, I'd love to see gasoline prices jumped to $5.00 a gallon in the next week or so. It would give those undecided voters something to think about in the coming weeks!

billy3554

Actually I believe most reasoned people would categorize the Democratic Party as more centralist than the Republican Party. The evidence is clear with the influence of the radical Tea Party on the GOP. You are correct that today's Democratic Party is not the same party as existed twenty years ago. Today' s Democratic Party is far more central. However, today's GOP is far more radical than it was under Regan. In fact, Regan would likely be branded a socialist by today's GOP.

The truth, not reported on Fox, is the vast majority of Democrats are very happy with the party. The same cannot be said for Republicans. The evidence is in the reduction in the number of people who consider themselves Republican.

The fact is the country is getting younger and more diverse each year. That does not bode well for the GOP.

driver100

I prefer the S4, but technically it belongs to my GF, and she likes the 335i, but technically it belongs to me

That is kind of funny, I guess you can't just swap cars. It goes to show 2 great, but different cars, yet people like one over the other for certain reasons.

It is hard for me to define why I like the Audi more than the 328 or 335. I would say handling is slightly better (feel of the road), manual transmission works nicer - except reverse, interior nicer, no run flats, more comfortable, better outward vision, costs about 10-15% less - but I would have chosen an Audi if they were the same.

That's not to say the BMW isn't a great car, just that I prefer the Audi and in this case my wife does too!

It will be interesting to see what you buy next time around, though I know that is a little ways off.