In the morning, I walk across a bridge from the Oakland Coliseum Bart Station to the Oakland Coliseum, then cut across the parking lot in my morning stroll, Part 2, on the way to work. It truly is amazing the difference in temperature between getting on the train, riding 20 minutes, and getting off 17 miles and $2.95 away. With the price of gas today, it’s about a wash, but when you remember to add money for maintenance, tires, repairs, and what not, I’m actually saving a bit of money by taking the train instead of driving.
Anyway, from the bridge, I can see the used car lot. They can finance anyone, as long as they know where to find you. You know the place. This morning, I had a sudden flash back to the Ford dealer (who isn’t there anymore) who wanted money, but wouldn’t tell me any finance details. You know how it works.
“What sort of payments do you think you can afford, and how much of a down payment can you make?” Then the sales manager takes that to the finance department, they stick it in a spreadsheet, and out pops their “yes” or “no.” Actually, what really happens is they put the amount in, see if it will pay off the loan in the required amount of time, and they take the interest rate from that, and they pop out a payment plan and give that to the sales guy.
“We can finance that,” he comes back.
“What’s the interest rate?” I ask. I saw that on a show once, make sure you know the interest rate before you sign anything at a car dealer. Optimally, get financing before you set foot onto a dealer’s lot.
“They’ll tell you in finance.”
“Weren’t you just there? What’s the interest rate?”
“They’ll tell you in finance.”
I’m looking at what they give me. It looks like a LOT of interest. The sales guy comes back into the room. “While you’re working on that, can I get a check for the down payment.”
“Not until I know the interest rate.”
In unison, they both say, “They’ll tell you in finance.” We left. If they can’t bring a simple number from one department to the other, they aren’t going to get a simple number and my signature on a check. No wonder people hate car salesmen. When I got home, I stuck the numbers that they gave me into my TI-86 Business Calculator. They wanted about 20% interest on a new car. I’ve said it one, and I’ll say it again. Get your own financing before you set foot onto a dealer’s lot. You’re not buying the car, you’re buying the financing.
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This post was tagged with
car,
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