treeguy64
Hari Om, y'all!
- Location
- Austin, TX.
I'm not so sure this topic is of much interest to most Seniors, but it may have some relevance, to you. I have often been called upon to negotiate prices for friends and family wanting to buy new cars. (I'm good at it, having made my living as an on-the-road diamond salesman, right after I graduated from college. That position comes with lots of wheeling and dealing.)
Thing is, I'm appalled by a pattern I have seen in these sales: The salesman and you finally get to a great, OTD price, you shake on it, and then EVERYTHING changes in that office where a new company employee writes up the sale, and has you sign the papers. Hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars suddenly appear on the sale price. I'm not talking about added-on nonsensical processing fees, which I always refuse to pay. I'm talking about how the price you agreed to is something else when you sit down in that office. You MUST refuse to sign anything, demand that your salesperson is called into the office, and stick to your guns on the agreed, OTD price. This is not a phenomenon peculiar to a specific dealer or car brand. They ALL do this!
Also, this same thing happens in real estate sales. Once, when I had an agent who was asleep at the switch, the seller tried to tack on a balloon to the sale, at closing, even though we had NEVER discussed such a thing, and I would NEVER agree to it. At closing, I was suddenly confronted with agreeing to coming up with a lump sum twenty-five thousand dollars, in two years, to pay off the seller's second on the note! I was trembling with anger as I took my agent outside and asked him how he could sit by and not catch that line on the closing papers. Had I not caught it, my life would have been very stressful, two years from the closing. We went back in, and I refused to sign the papers until I struck out and initialed the balloon line. Everything was fine, then.
Be careful, if you're planning on buying any big ticket items, in the future. Seniors fall prey to what I described above, more often than others, if what I've read online is accurate. When you agree to a price, write it down on a sheet of paper, so you don't forget it when you step into that closing office. Best of luck to you!
Thing is, I'm appalled by a pattern I have seen in these sales: The salesman and you finally get to a great, OTD price, you shake on it, and then EVERYTHING changes in that office where a new company employee writes up the sale, and has you sign the papers. Hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars suddenly appear on the sale price. I'm not talking about added-on nonsensical processing fees, which I always refuse to pay. I'm talking about how the price you agreed to is something else when you sit down in that office. You MUST refuse to sign anything, demand that your salesperson is called into the office, and stick to your guns on the agreed, OTD price. This is not a phenomenon peculiar to a specific dealer or car brand. They ALL do this!
Also, this same thing happens in real estate sales. Once, when I had an agent who was asleep at the switch, the seller tried to tack on a balloon to the sale, at closing, even though we had NEVER discussed such a thing, and I would NEVER agree to it. At closing, I was suddenly confronted with agreeing to coming up with a lump sum twenty-five thousand dollars, in two years, to pay off the seller's second on the note! I was trembling with anger as I took my agent outside and asked him how he could sit by and not catch that line on the closing papers. Had I not caught it, my life would have been very stressful, two years from the closing. We went back in, and I refused to sign the papers until I struck out and initialed the balloon line. Everything was fine, then.
Be careful, if you're planning on buying any big ticket items, in the future. Seniors fall prey to what I described above, more often than others, if what I've read online is accurate. When you agree to a price, write it down on a sheet of paper, so you don't forget it when you step into that closing office. Best of luck to you!
