I’m in the market for a new car. Well, not necessarily a brand new car, but a good late-model used car to replace my current purple car. I drive a 1994 Chevy Cavalier Z-24, which I bought in 1996. I’ve put 145,000 miles on it in the 12 years I’ve had it and it’s been a decent enough car, although I’ve had to spend more and more on repairs as it got older. When I came back from spring break a month ago, the turn signal flasher stopped working for the fourth time (I replaced it a year ago three times in the space of two months). Combine that with the fact that I accidentally broke the mirror off the passenger side and the driver’s side door latch failing from the inside (which requires me to open the driver’s door from the inside), I have probably put off getting another car for a few too many years.
I’ve been looking around for a new vehicle for a little while. Not having a car puts me at a serious disadvantage when it comes to going out on weekends. I take the train to work, so I wouldn’t need a car to commute to work. But, after a while, Netflix weekends start to get old. I could move to San Francisco, I suppose, and I may at some point in the future, but the climate in the city is quite cold, the apartments are tiny and expensive, and I enjoy having plenty of room. So, it’s off to the car dealers for the really pleasant task of finding another car.
My short list includes the Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Matrix, and (remotely) Honda Fit. I drove a Dodge Caliber last month on spring break and a Chevy Cobalt last year. I’d consider one of those if the deal was extraordinary.
I’ve been to a few of the car dealers around Sunnyvale and none of them seem ready to take their customers on test drives. They’re happy to answer questions, ask for the sale, and discuss financing options, but few of them default to “Why don’t we go for a drive and you can see if you like it?” They, to a person, wanted to give me brochures and a business card, dismissing me with a curt “When you’re ready to buy, let me know.” Uh, dude, I don’t hang out on car lots recreationally.
When I bought my Cavalier in 1996, the dealer came out, greeted me on the lot, led me around, and asked “What catches your eye?” I pointed out the purple car and he hollered, “Well, hell, kid, let’s take it fer a drive!” “Okay!” And on the test drive, “Well, you got more gas pedal. This thing’s got a V6 under the hood. Open her up and see what she’ll do!” He threw in a bunch of stuff with the car and really made me want it.
So, today, I headed down the street in my admittedly broken car, this time heading up the Peninsula to see what was in stock in Redwood City, San Mateo, and Burlingame. Hopefully, I could actually test drive one of my target automobiles. In Redwood City, the salesmen ignored me because I parked in the movie theater and walked over (the theater is between four car dealerships). In Burlingame, I skittered away from the Toyota dealer to find a soda machine and headed back because he tried to catch me.
I test drove a 2007 Toyota Matrix. This guy really tried to get me to buy today, but understood when I told him that tax day wasn’t nice to me. We took the low mileage matrix out on the freeway, I stepped into it, passed a couple of Priuses (I’d get one of those if they didn’t cost $150 million and top out at 45 mph), swung it around a freeway offramp, and basically just noodled around in it. It’s nice, but a little more expensive than I thought it would be. He offered to throw in an iPod connection to the stereo (seriously, why is the Cobalt the only car in that class to offer this as a standard feature?) and a retouch of the cosmetic scratches. I may consider this car, but I’d need to reduce the price significantly. Paying $350/month for a Toyota seems a little ridiculous.
Next, I headed a block down to the GMC Pontiac dealer. That salesman was solid as well, making an effort to find the 2008 Pontiac Vibe that had just come in a couple days before. We took it out on the freeway as well with a “Why don’t we take it for a drive?” and it was as nice as the Matrix. The sticker’s pretty high, but depending on my negotiating mojo, I could probably talk a few thousand off the price. Nice car, certainly on the list.
Third, I went next door to the Honda dealer, who pounced on me immediately and tried to sell me a brand new purple (bonus points for the color) Fit, but didn’t seem to want to take me on a test drive or have any used cars. “This is going to be gone tomorrow. Come on, man. You don’t want to drive home in that Chevy. We’ll make you a deal right now, come on.” Dude, I don’t buy any car I haven’t driven at least twice and I don’t have a 20% down payment today. I’ll consider the Fit, but it’s a distant third and I won’t be buying one here.
Finally, just to see if the Honda dealer in Sunnyvale was any different at all, I stepped in half an hour before closing and the sales guy did the old “here’s a brochure and my card” laziness. I like that the Fit is economical and available in purple, but if you are going to make a commission off me, you’re going to work for it. Maybe it’s a cultural thing in the Silicon Valley to talk in abstractions, but “when you’re ready to buy” means you’re not serious about making the sale or establishing a relationship with me.
My housemate is a hard bargain kind of girl, so she advised me to go to Gilroy, where she bought her new Corolla. That seems like a good idea for next weekend. Don’t worry, I’ll rent a car before I drive 70 miles to look at more vehicles. Incidentally, she’s right. When I was buying my current car, I lived in Moscow, Idaho, a college town, where the salesmen wouldn’t let me drive anything. They weren’t serious about making the sale, figuring me for a dumb college student without any money. In Lewiston, Idaho, I bought the car in cash. I’d have liked to have kept the commission local, but if you flunk at salesmanship, someone else gets the money.
Where did you buy your car? What do you drive? Would you buy it again? What would you buy if you were shopping today?
