My wife has a 2003 Honda Odyssey, which we lease. We got a letter in the mail from a local Honda dealer which said that they had a high demand for this model and would like to buy it back from us. It also said that we'd be able to get a new 2005 model for little or no money down.
My wife called the dealer to ask how they do it. They said that they pay off the remainder of the lease, and they would offer us a new vehicle, as if we were making a first purchase. It sounded like a good deal, so we cleaned up the car and went down to the dealer.
I told the sales guy that we pay around $325 for the car now, and didn't want to go much higher than that. He went off, took a look at our car and said that they'd give us $18,000 for it. The pay off on the car is $22,000, so we were $4,000 short right off the bat. But they told us on the phone that they'd pay it off no matter what we owed and wouldn't add it to the price of the new car.
So he goes off to make some calculations. He came back and told us that he could put us in the new car - TODAY ONLY - for $588 per month with $4000 down! I nearly fell out of my chair. I asked him why it was so much, he told us that the new car was "much more car" than we currently have. I told him that I didn't want to pay more than the $325 I'm paying now and got up to leave. He asked me why I even came down, there was no way I'd be able to get a new car for that. I told him that we came down since we got a letter saying they wanted our vehicle, not because I wanted to get rid of it.
He flipped over the paper he was writing on and wrote up something that said I wanted a new car, with the options I asked for, for $325 per month. Then he drew an 'x' and a line, told me to sign it. I asked him why I had to sign it, he said that he couldn't talk to his manager about it unless I was "serious", and my signature - plus a credit card would show I was serious. I told him I'd give him a nice firm handshake to show I was serious, but that was about it. Then he wanted to know if he was able to get his manager to agree to this deal would I even want to buy the car TODAY, I told him I wasn't about to make any deals today, I'd want to sleep on it.
Then he told me that if I wasn't serious about it - if I wasn't ready to make a deal TODAY, he couldn't help me. He handed me his card and said if I changed my mind I should call him. I told him that if I changed my mind, I certainly wouldn't be coming back to him, as he was the worst salesman I'd ever dealt with, and probably wouldn't even come back to this dealership. He said "thanks for coming down anyway", I gave him a crooked smile and said "go f**k yourself", gathered up my wife and son and walked out.
I hate car dealers, especially ones that try to pull a bait & switch me.
My wife called the dealer to ask how they do it. They said that they pay off the remainder of the lease, and they would offer us a new vehicle, as if we were making a first purchase. It sounded like a good deal, so we cleaned up the car and went down to the dealer.
I told the sales guy that we pay around $325 for the car now, and didn't want to go much higher than that. He went off, took a look at our car and said that they'd give us $18,000 for it. The pay off on the car is $22,000, so we were $4,000 short right off the bat. But they told us on the phone that they'd pay it off no matter what we owed and wouldn't add it to the price of the new car.
So he goes off to make some calculations. He came back and told us that he could put us in the new car - TODAY ONLY - for $588 per month with $4000 down! I nearly fell out of my chair. I asked him why it was so much, he told us that the new car was "much more car" than we currently have. I told him that I didn't want to pay more than the $325 I'm paying now and got up to leave. He asked me why I even came down, there was no way I'd be able to get a new car for that. I told him that we came down since we got a letter saying they wanted our vehicle, not because I wanted to get rid of it.
He flipped over the paper he was writing on and wrote up something that said I wanted a new car, with the options I asked for, for $325 per month. Then he drew an 'x' and a line, told me to sign it. I asked him why I had to sign it, he said that he couldn't talk to his manager about it unless I was "serious", and my signature - plus a credit card would show I was serious. I told him I'd give him a nice firm handshake to show I was serious, but that was about it. Then he wanted to know if he was able to get his manager to agree to this deal would I even want to buy the car TODAY, I told him I wasn't about to make any deals today, I'd want to sleep on it.
Then he told me that if I wasn't serious about it - if I wasn't ready to make a deal TODAY, he couldn't help me. He handed me his card and said if I changed my mind I should call him. I told him that if I changed my mind, I certainly wouldn't be coming back to him, as he was the worst salesman I'd ever dealt with, and probably wouldn't even come back to this dealership. He said "thanks for coming down anyway", I gave him a crooked smile and said "go f**k yourself", gathered up my wife and son and walked out.
I hate car dealers, especially ones that try to pull a bait & switch me.
