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Published on GoldenTimes.com on March 07, 2007
AUTO BUYING - Hidden Agendas, Directions, and What Ever Happened to Red?
By Lynette Loomis

This is the second reader panel issue on car buying and leasing, clearly a topic with which most of us are familiar. “One thing I’ve noticed now is that after you think you’ve negotiated the deal, the salesman starts to add on rust proofing and extended warranties. At this point you have no bargaining power left. It used to be you bargained for the whole package. By the time you leave the dealership you’ve spent a few thousand more than you had in mind and in your budget.”
He who hesitates is lost…and broke…sometimes
“My daughter and son-in-law wanted to buy a used car and they found a great deal. My son-in-law said ‘I’ll let you know tomorrow.’ Although my daughter told him to call back right away, he didn’t, and by the next day the car was sold. Not wanting to be blind-sighted again, he rushed into another car purchase. The repair bills are totaling more than he paid for the car, (which is why they came to us for a loan.) I think you’re better off working with one car dealer. They are less likely to cheat you because they know you’ll come back.”

What color is it?
“While I understand the auto makers make more money by limiting choices, it has gotten ridiculous. You have ‘lots’ of color choices – beige, ivory, white, off-white, gray, and slate. In the parking lot of Marketplace in the winter, they all look like one color to me. So I get my exercise walking up and down the parking lot looking for my beige or whatever-the-heck-color-it-is-car. What ever happened to red, green and blue?”

Can’t We Stop for Directions…Please?
It is a classic scenario – they’re lost, he won’t ask for directions, she doesn’t understand why trial and error is preferable to framing a basic question. The grandkids are tired and hungry and grandpa is looking at the position of the sun and the location of moss on trees. She wonders how their marriage survived 40 years of this seeming insanity. Help is on the way.

A recent report states that married, active older adults are twice as likely to buy, or plan on buying, an in-car navigational system than other age groups. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of dozens of satellites that can track the location of a vehicle and display a map or present a voice to help you navigate your travels. They are available on many new cars and can be purchased by after-market retailers and AAA. (Do you think these could become an effective tool in marriage counseling?)

Never again.

“I have worked with Bill Long (Auto Buyers Service) for my past four cars, three purchases and a lease. He does all the parts I hated about buying a car. One time I knew exactly what I wanted, Bill found it, he negotiated the price and I signed the deal. Another time I was much less clear in what I wanted. Safety was important and so was price. Bill recommended several choices, went with me to test-drive the cars, negotiated the deal, I signed the papers. Despite my male friends all thinking ‘I know someone,’ Bill ‘buys’ hundreds of cars a year for customers so clearly he gets a better deal than my well-intentioned friends. Never again will I ‘do it myself.’ It isn’t worth the aggravation.”

For our next issue we want to know – “What do you do to stay healthy?” and “If you had it to do over again, what would you change?” Send me a letter with your opinion to Lynette Loomis at: The Marketing Strategists, PO Box 663, Mendon, N.Y. 14506; or e-mail me at: marketingstrategists@rochester.rr.com. I am glad to include your name with your opinion.

Lynette M. Loomis is former vice president of Preferred Care Gold and is a long-standing advocate of mature consumers.