Get it in writing

I had managed my way through two years of higher education on a bicycle and in Vermillion, S.D., a bicycle could only get you so far. I had visions of visits to the big city – Sioux Falls or even Sioux City, Ia. I knew I had to start hunting for a permanent job to coincide with graduation and I had to have a car to get to those interviews wherever they might take me.

Well, let’s be honest. I just wanted a car so I could broaden my horizons. My bike had been with me since the third grade. It was time for something with four wheels.

I was a junior in college. I had convinced my dad that I needed a car and he convinced me that I had to pay for it. So we worked out a deal even before going on the hunt that entailed me making monthly payments to him as soon as I was out of school and was getting a steady paycheck. Of course, I had visions of making thousands and thousands of dollars so the idea of paying rent and buying food never entered my mind, let alone the idea of the cost of gas and maintenance.

So off we went on a shopping expedition. Dad was a Ford man, that is, all he ever owned in my memory were Fords and maybe one Lincoln. How we ended up on the Plymouth lot escapes my memory. I don’t remember him asking me what I wanted. I’m not sure I knew. But when my eyes beheld that brand new 1973 Plymouth Duster he must have known this was the car for me.

He began to deal.

My heart was racing. Honestly? A Plymouth Duster? So cool!

I waited in the parking lot and Dad emerged from the dealership walking determinedly. I remember he said they wanted too much for it and he told me to get into his car and we were leaving. My brief dreams of seeing the country and being seen by the country in such a trendy vehicle were brief and dashed.

As we opened the doors for his car, my face hanging in dejection, the car salesman came literally running out of the dealership calling my dad’s name. The two men talked briefly, shook hands, and the deal was done. $3,000. Dad has closed the deal for $3,000 for a brand new 1973 Plymouth Duster.

It didn’t have a lot of bells and whistles. But I wasn’t even thinking about bells and whistles in those days. There was no carpet (carpet was not necessarily standard on new vehicles). But it had a radio that got AM stations. That’s all I cared about. A radio to blast my favorite tunes from the ‘60s and ‘70s and fashionable four wheels to carry me to parts unknown.

It was about a year later when Dad demanded that I start making payments to him for that car. I had signed a note, after all, guaranteeing him that I would pay him back. $3,000. That plus my student loans, my rent, and my cans of Spaghettios and wieners pretty well ate up my paycheck. I think my first job paid about $8,000 a year.

After that, I was on my own for buying vehicles and while I had thought the hard part was paying them off I soon discovered the horrors of getting a fair price on a car. Dad always began the process of trading for a new vehicle at 50,000 miles. So when I hit that, I began to look around.

There were no personal computers yet and no readily accessible information on what other people were paying for the vehicle of my choice. It was agony. As I recall, my next car had both carpet and an AM-FM stereo radio so I took a step up in the world. But even though my Duster was completely paid off, I found myself burdened with more and even larger monthly car payments.

Since that Duster, I have personally bargained and paid for six vehicles. Oh, they all stretched beyond 50,000 miles. My last vehicle, which I sold outright in August of this year rang in at 157,000 miles. It was a black 2006 Ford Five Hundred and I loved that car. The high mileage can be attributed to my church work rather than seeing the country and having the country see me.

So as time approached to begin dealing on a new car this time around, I initiated my research back in April – seven months ago. I started reading reviews and taking test drives. I learned about crash tests. I studied color palettes. I listed options and packages that contained everything I wanted (and some things that I didn’t care about but were included in the package). I compared prices and trade-in values. I commenced contacting dealers not only in my region but in my hometown 400 miles away. Most of my research could be done through the Internet. Some of it was done through email and some using our home fax machine. It was through that process that I concluded that I would be much better off selling my Five Hundred outright and using that money toward payments on a new vehicle. By selling it outright, it would be clearer to me exactly what I would be paying for a new car. In essence, I reduced the number of shells in the shell game.

After taking bids on exactly the same car from several dealers, I settled on two and let them outbid one another. I was satisfied that I had gotten the best possible deal.

And then a little added bonus: Ford began offering for a very short time, 0 percent interest on the car of my choice. Having already negotiated the price, I could reduce my payments significantly without impacting the price of the car. It was a winner for me all the way around.

The deal was done. I went to the dealer to sign a purchase agreement on a special order of a 2015 Ford Edge Titanium, metallic white. Before signing, I asked the salesman to confirm in the purchase agreement the zero percent interest. The car was ordered.

Nine weeks later the Edge arrived at the dealership and I got a call from the salesman saying it would be ready for me to pick up the next day. But, he added, he had bad news. The zero percent interest rate wouldn’t apply to this vehicle (for a multitude of reasons).

I had visions of my dad walking out of that Plymouth dealership back in 1973. Man oh man, I didn’t want to do that, but I knew I would if I had to. When I reminded the salesman that we had the zero percent interest in writing, he said, “I know. I’m just sick about this.” So I told him I would call him back. He was sick about it! I had seven months of hard work put into buying this car and, what’s more, I had sold my other car so I was completely without wheels (had it not been for the sheer generosity of a man who loaned us his 1999 Dodge Stratus to get us through the past nine weeks). I was the one who was sick.

Interestingly, the next call the salesman and the dealership got was not from me but from a friend who happens to be an attorney. Within a few hours, I was promised the car at the agreed upon terms at zero percent interest. Terry and I stopped in to sign the papers the next day and after two hours of what I can only describe as training, I drove off the lot with my 2015 Ford Edge Titanium.

Oh, and an apology. I got several apologies from the salesman, an apology from the general manager, and absolutely no apology from the sales manager who had approved the original deal and who remained hidden from my view. I was thinking disparaging thoughts about someone who had so little courage (and it did take some courage to endure my wrath).

It’s a beauty. Every car I have owned has been nicer than the last, but this one beats all. It’s going to take me the first year to learn how all of the options work. And, yes, it has carpet and every other bell and whistle we both had wanted. Terry and I are going to see the country and the country will see us.

The irony of all of this is that in so many ways it has become easier to know what to pay for a new car, what is fair to both buyer and seller. But unlike the way my dad always did business in his day, in his insurance agency, and even when buying a car, it takes much more than a handshake. Get it in writing. And have a friend who is an attorney.

 

3 Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good repute
in the sight of God and of people.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.  – Proverbs 3:3-8

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