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“I get only a $100 commission on a deal like this”

We continued to buy 4 door sedans even when mini vans became popular. We rented mini vans for our family vacations, justifying that the money we used for rentals was part of the savings we achieved by buying sedans. The sedans we purchased were sometimes the less popular models. This enabled us to get some big discounts.

In July, 1998, it was time to replace my 1988 Cutlass Ciera. I didn’t want anything fancy. Just wanted basic transportation. I always focused on one model to purchase after doing research and making test drives. This allowed comparison among dealers and prevented dealers from switching us to a different model. I started a spreadsheet and kept track of prices for awhile. My car ran ok so I wasn’t in a hurry.

I focused on finding a used 4 door Chevy Lumina this time. During the summer and fall of 1998, used Lumina’s (18 mo old) were priced at about $12,500 with 35k miles. New Lumina’s were advertising for $16.5 – $17.5 with MSRP’s of $19k to $20.6k. I preferred to find one with under 20k miles. In Spring, 1999, a 1998 with 16k miles was priced at $14,850.

In May, 1999, my 1988 Ciera developed a loud, grinding noise in the engine or transmission. I took it to 3 new car dealers. They said different things including 1) #1 piston knocking and ok for 1-2 years and timing gear is noisy but normal, 2) timing gear is causing it and costs $350 and 3) bad rod bearing or main bearing and can evaluate for $225 or replace the motor for $2800. My purchase time frame just became more urgent.

I looked at many used Lumina’s with 8,000 to 18,000 miles.    I made the following offers:

As you can see, we were $500 apart on one and usually about $1500 apart on making a deal. I was getting a bit frustrated. I thought, “Maybe I can find a new Lumina for only about $2,000 more than a used.”

On 6/19/1999, we were driving thru Springfield returning from vacation.   I got a newspaper for the ads and found an ad for a new 1999 Lumina for $15,500. It was the base model that I wanted. Also, it was time for the new 2000 models to come out, so dealers were pushing to sell their 1999’s. After arriving home, I called and talked to that dealer and found out that it was still available to sell.

On Monday 6/21/1999, I drove into Morse Chevrolet on my way home and found a new base model Lumina on their lot with MSRP $19,337.   The sticker was from McCarthy Chevrolet in Olathe.  I found a salesman and told him I was interested in the 1999 Lumina from McCarthy Chevy. He didn’t know what I was talking about. He checked and then apologized and got the car ready for me to test drive. He started it and pulled it over by the door.

I restarted the car. I told the salesman that I wanted to see if it had anti-lock brake system (it shows on the display when starting). He said, “This does have anti-lock brake system.” I said, “No it doesn’t.” I pulled out my Lumina brochure and showed him where the base model Lumina does not have ABS but all of the other trim levels have the ABS. He said, “Oh, I stand corrected.” I said, “You can’t know everything about every car, but I know a lot about the base model Lumina.”

I completed my test drive and told him I’m ready to make an offer. I showed him the ad from Springfield and told him it’s still available. I told him I’d be willing to buy this car now for $15,500, same as this ad. He was gone for a bit and came back saying, “We can’t sell for $15,500, but we can sell for $16,000.” I said frustratedly, “I didn’t think you could sell it for that so I won’t waste any more of your time. And I WANT MY AD BACK!” He was gone for a bit more getting my ad and returned.

He didn’t have my ad. He said, “We can sell it for $15,900.” I was getting mad. I said, “What! That wasn’t your best offer? Look, I’ve walked away from deals for less than $500. So, either you want to sell the car or you don’t. I’m not going to stair-step my way down to $15,500.” He was gone awhile again. He came back and accepted my offer.

At this point, I told him I have a trade in. We went outside to look at the 11-year old 1988 Olds Ciera with 141k miles. I was hoping he wouldn’t start it. I told him I wanted $1,000 for it. This was reasonable for this model and year. The outside looked good. Since it would just go to auction, he didn’t start it. He said, yes, we’ll take the trade but has a question. “Do you care how much the paperwork shows for the trade and the sale?” I knew what he was doing. If he increased the value of the trade, then he could also increase the value of the new car sale. I said, “I don’t care, you can give me $2,000 for the trade in if you want!” They ended up giving me $1500 for the trade and selling the new one for $16,000.

During the paperwork preparation, I said we’d be paying by check, and the salesman said, “Oh, so you won’t need this finance application.” I replied, “That’s right.” At the end of the purchase, the salesman told me, “On a deal like this, I get only a $100 minimum commission.”

I didn’t tell them this, but Morse could have got more from me for the new Lumina. The ad I gave them from Springfield was for a Lumina with a lower MSRP (in small print in the ad) than the one I bought . They could have justified increasing the price above $15,500 for the difference. But, they didn’t ask for that.

This car ended up having lots of maintenance costs at lower mileage than prior vehicles. I decided to research most reliable brands and found that Honda and Toyota had the best reliability and this was confirmed by my mechanic. I decided just to focus on those makes going forward. Honda I also found out had the lowest cost for maintenance due to the layout of their engines.

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