Buying a car. Part 1

I can't believe that I haven't written this yet. In fact, I thought I had written half of it last year and never bothered finishing it. Damn. Time does fly.

Last October, when the car engine blew, I looked into getting a new car. I had rented one, a Chevy Cruze for the week my car was in the shop. The day I rented the car I went to a local Hyundae dealer, O'Reagan's Hyundai on Baker drive in Dartmouth, to look at the Elantra and Accent. They had an ad in the local paper for getting a new Elantra for $102 bi-weekly. It intrigued me.

The salesman I dealt with was nice enough. I let him know the price range I wanted ($250-300 a month) and how high I was willing to go, $350 a month. For some strange reason the Elantra was not available at the price in the paper. That was fine, the Accent was good enough. We looked at a couple and he said he would put the paperwork through to see if I could get financing. The financial officer, Saprita (sp???) took my information and suggested I go get a coffee and come back.

I actually didn't expect much to happen because my credit rating was 0. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good. 10 years abroad with no credit history at home can do that to you. On top of that I really wasn't looking to drive away with a new car that day. I had never bought a new car before and wanted to be cautious.

When I got back they had good news. I was approved but the price would be $370 a month. I am an impulse buyer and the impulse said what the fuck. $350 ... $370 ... close enough. Unfortunately, the car sold while the financing was being checked. What the fuck?  But they had a 2012 Accent available. A model up but a year older. Strangely at the same price. (At the time that seemed strange. Looking back it feels like they were fucking with me.) I said sure. Why not.

Uh oh. Unfortunately, they couldn't bring the car up in the system. So they couldn't sell it until that was fixed. That was fine by me, I hadn't planned on getting one that day. That is when the pressure started. All of a sudden I could get an Elantra. It will probably be the same price as the Accent, but not the $102 bi-weekly they advertised. If I could get the Elantra for the price of the Accent sure. It was the car I wanted more anyway.

Saprita went to work on the financing. She has all the paperwork ready for me to sign, before mentioning the price. I asked her how much. According to her it would cost me $207 bi-weekly. What happened to $370 a month? $102 bi-weekly?

Now I started to feel like I was being jerked around. I said "That is $414 a month ... way higher than I was comfortable going. How much would it lower the payments if I put $5000 down?"

Saprita replied "It wouldn't lower it that much. You would be better off keeping the $5000 in the bank for monthly payments."

That reply seemed strange. I said "That is a lot of money every month. I am not really sure I want to do it."

Saprita looked at me and said "You won't get a better deal anywhere else. You should do it. Do it! DO IT!"

I was gobsmacked. While you hear stories of pressure tactics from sales people you still have some doubt about them being exaggerated. This fucking asshole wasn't just trying to pressure me, she actually yelled at me. I don't respond to shit like this well.

"Destroy my information and go fuck yourself." was my reply.

I walked out of there extremely pissed off and went home. As I drove home I mulled over the events of the afternoon. Maybe it was just because I was pissed off but it felt they had jerked me around from the start. Looking back, yeah they had jerked me around from the start. I had an offer in, just needing financing, and they just happen to sell the car in the time it took to have a coffee? The next car is available but not in the system? Which lets them push a different, more expensive car at you? Then to have some piece of shit try pressure tactics and yelling. Fuck O'Reagan's!

It would be a while before I looked for a new car  again. And it will be a fucking cold day in hell before I EVER go to O'Reagan's looking for any kind of car again. I would encourage you to only go to them for a new or used car as a last resort.