Kate, bargaining is totally what happens at car dealerships. As far as I know, never having bought a car. But remember the general rule of bargaining: start low.
Every planet has its own weird customs. About a year before we met, I spent six weeks on a moon where the principal form of recreation was juggling geese. My hand to God. Baby geese. Goslings. They were juggled.
Wash ,'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
Natter 67: Overriding Vetoes
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, nail polish, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Jesse - Jan 28, 2011 9:33:53 am PST #19739 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Amy - Jan 28, 2011 9:34:12 am PST #19740 of 30001
Because books.
Oh, Animal House. Yeah, lots of those quotes around here, too.
Daisy Jane - Jan 28, 2011 9:35:47 am PST #19741 of 30001
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Animaniacs: "Elelator go UP!" is in my head every morning and "Elelator go DOOOWN!" every evening when I leave work.
Also quotable Pulp fiction is useful: "I'll be down in 2 shakes of a lamb's tail" "Zed's Dead" "What's no country I ever heard of! They speak English in What?" "Say 'what' again, motherfucker!" "Does Marcellus Wallace look like a bitch? Then why you try to fuck him like one?"
erikaj - Jan 28, 2011 9:37:36 am PST #19742 of 30001
"already on the kiss-cam with Karl Marx"-
"Yes. No! Maybe."- From the Wire. A lot of old stuff from Hill Street Blues that has been a family thing forever that it would take a lot to explain. "Serpentine, shel," "What's your childhood trauma?" "Take your tie off, Frank. I'm hot just looking at you," from H:LOTS "Night of the Dead Living"(It's hot here...I use this a lot.) "D'oh...stupid traumatic childhood1"
WindSparrow - Jan 28, 2011 9:41:59 am PST #19743 of 30001
Love is stronger than death and harder than sorrow. Those who practice it are fierce like the light of stars traveling eons to pierce the night.
I think I'd feel easier about it if we were buying from some guy's backyard; the idea of bargaining in a place as "official" as a car dealership somehow feels totally weird to me. But I think I just have to get over that.
If the car was a trade in, they probably didn't give much at all to the person who traded it in. (ie the cars on the lots for $2000 were $500 trade-ins.) Dunno what the margin is for used cars bought at auction.
Kate P. - Jan 28, 2011 9:42:45 am PST #19744 of 30001
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love
But remember the general rule of bargaining: start low.
Then they'll laugh at me! OK, probably not.
I think what we need to decide before we go in is (1) What's the most we're willing to pay for this car, and (2) If they won't go as low as we want, are we willing to just walk away? Once we settle those questions, and can present a united front, I think I'll feel better.
tommyrot - Jan 28, 2011 9:43:49 am PST #19745 of 30001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Also good. It just reminded me of a Governator quote I use even though I've never seen the movie (must be said in Ah-nuld!voice): "It's not a too-mah!!!!"
I like to quote Jesse Ventura in Predator: "I ain't got time to bleed!"
tommyrot - Jan 28, 2011 9:45:05 am PST #19746 of 30001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
(2) If they won't go as low as we want, are we willing to just walk away?
This is important. You should always be ready to walk away if they won't accept what you're willing to offer.
Jesse - Jan 28, 2011 9:46:53 am PST #19747 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Then they'll laugh at me! OK, probably not.
Probably not, but if they do, it's just a tactic, and they will still counter-offer. I also know this from all of my real estate shows.
Typo Boy - Jan 28, 2011 9:50:09 am PST #19748 of 30001
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
If you are NOT willing to walk away, then that is not as little as you are willing to pay. Your lowest price is the one where you will walk away from the car if you don't get it. Also, don't start with an offer. The deal wants to sell the car. Make the dealer give the first offer. If it is too far away from what you are willing to pay just say "that is not really even in the range we were expecting. Please, can you double check and make sure that is really the asking price for that?" Be really really nice, but also extremely shocked. The dealer should come back with a different price. "No that is really the asking price, but just for you we'll let it go for." And then you make your counter.
And you have to be willing to lose the deal. I mean what if they asked $50,000 for the car and would not budge? You would totally walk away. And really there has to be a price a lot less than $50,00 where you will walk away. So agree on that. Become a united front. And agree that if you don't get that you will walk away. And agree that you will not change your mind on the lot and that if the sales person starts trying to make you feel guilty you will walk a way. Set a price where you will walk away if you don't get it, and really do it.