The first time I bought a brand-new car, I brought my parents with me — mostly because I was hoping I’d potentially be able to walk off the lot with the new one but didn’t think I’d be able to trade in my old one. Plus, I wanted their opinions on a couple of options I was considering. Before we went to the dealership, I called my credit union and went through them for the car loan (because they got me a much better deal than the dealership and so that I’d have a better idea of my budget). I already knew what model I wanted but was mostly waffling on color and some of the extras.

The entire time, I did almost all of the talking, although my dad did add things a couple of times when he was giving opinions on the options. But again, I was doing the talking. This was for my car. For me. Going to my house. Paid for with my money/loan. We got things decided on which car I wanted, and the salesman brought us inside so we could go over the paperwork.

Salesman: *Glancing at my dad* “Okay, we’re going to need her to fill out this paperwork here, and we’ll go talk with our finance guys and see what kind of deal we can work.”

My dad just kind of gave the salesman a look.

Dad: “It’s her car; talk to her.”

Me: “And we don’t need to talk to the finance guy. I’ve already got approval from [Credit Union] for [amount]. You can call them at [number] on this card.” *Puts the information on his desk* “Please don’t run my credit, because I’ve already run it through them and know that I’m approved to get this car. Can we just get the paperwork figured out?”

[Salesman] again glanced at my dad, although to his (minute) credit, he seemed to catch himself and then looked at me.

Salesman: “Okay, so we’ll still need to check with the finance guys on this.”

Me: “Why? I’m already approved for [amount about $3,000 more than the price of the car], so you know that it’s covered. We don’t need to run credit or talk to them, unless you were going to take my old car as a trade?”

[Salesman] did go back and talk to finance. I had to remind him again not to bother checking my credit because I wasn’t financing through them and was already approved. He came back and told me they could do $500 immediately on trade-in and I took it. (That was probably a little less than its value, but I was just happy to get rid of it.)

We finally got the paperwork filled out, and [Salesman] said that he’d take care of the loan side and I would get a notice and be able to pick up the car on Wednesday. (This happened on Sunday.)

Wednesday came around and I hadn’t heard from him, so I called him.

Salesman: “Thank you for calling [Dealership]; this is [Salesman].”

Me: “Hi, [Salesman], this is [My Name]. I came in on Sunday and worked with you about the Crosstrek?”

Salesman: “Hi! How can I help?”

Me: “Well, it’s Wednesday, and I haven’t received anything that said I could come to get my car.”

Salesman: “Oh, yeah, about that. Because you’re not financing through us, you’ll need to send in [specific documents] from your credit union.”

Me: “But you said you were going to reach out to them for that. You have all the information.”

Salesman: “I’m sorry, you’ll need to call them.”

We ended the call. I called my credit union and got all the paperwork sent over to the dealership. It took me about twenty minutes, and half of that was spent on hold just because they were busy. I did finally get my car, and I love it. I probably won’t go back to that dealership any time soon, though.

I have been a tech for about six years at this dealership. We have very high-end cars: Aston Martin, Land Rover, Jaguar, etc.

I am walking from the garage to the service writer area. Oddly, no service writers are there, but there is a customer, very well dressed, screaming at the top of his lungs at the girl working the cashier counter.

Customer: “This piece of s*** car I just bought doesn’t f****** work!”

The cashier has no idea how cars work, and other customers who are waiting for their cars are also witnessing this. I feel I should do something, so I start walking over and he spots me.

Customer: “Hey, you! You work on these pieces of s***! Why the f*** do you people sell garbage to honest people like me?!”

Me: “What’s wrong, sir?”

Customer: “I just bought this motherf****** car for 45,000 and the f****** A/C doesn’t even work!”

Me: “Okay, let me go look at it.”

We go to the car, and I jump in the driver’s seat, him in the passenger, while he is still swearing like a trucker. I turn on the car.

Customer: “Look!”

He turns on the fan blower speed to full blast. Hot air comes out.

Customer: “See?! This car is a piece of s***!”

I calmly point to the little push button next to it that says “A/C”. I push the button. Ice-cold and refreshing air flows out.

Me: “Sir, you have to push the button that says ‘A/C’.”

He looks dumbfounded and goes quiet.

Me: “Is there anything else I can help you with today?”

Customer: “Umm… no.”

Me: “Are you sure? You have my full attention.”

Customer: “No…”

He left in silence after feeling like a dumb-a**.

I am a graphic designer handling complete design-to-print service. A Bentley automobile garage director calls me up.

Garage Director: “Can you design a tailored good-quality brochure promoting the latest Bentley launch?”

We discuss what he wants and how he needs it customised to suit his garage.

Garage Director: “I’m also open to any suggestions you might have about any other marketing ideas. We don’t have much of a budget.”

After he tells me the budget, I state that I can’t work for that low an amount.

Garage Director: “Well, maybe you can add a small imprint and logo of yours to the back page? Everyone who sees your creative design and print work will be in touch with you, meaning more business for you!”

As many graphic designers must have heard this old line many times, I reply with what I think is a better idea.

Me: “Okay, then, and you can loan me a new Bentley to drive around in with your imprint and logo in the rear window, and everyone who sees that will want to buy a new Bentley from you!”

Garage Director: *Click*

My wife and I had two cars: my Jaguar X-type, which had low mileage for its ten-year age, and my wife’s newer Hyundai Sport. We had retired, and I was no longer driving long distances we needed cars that could carry stuff, so we decided to trade in both cars for Fords.

We went in my wife’s car to the local Ford dealer, walked in, and started looking at the cars. We never buy new as it costs you a few hundred pounds in resale value just to drive it off the forecourt. We were casually dressed — jeans and sweatshirts — and were ignored completely even when trying to get some attention. That was it. We left.

On driving home and thinking we would try again another day, we passed the local Honda dealership. Although we had not considered it, we thought we would have a look. The sales lady there was relatively new with Honda, but she had car sales experience. She asked us exactly what we needed, and we agreed to go back and look at a couple of cars they were getting in a couple of days.

Because of her helpfulness, we ended up buying two Hondas — a one-year-old Insight and a two-year-old Jazz — and traded the Jaguar and Hyundai with a very good deal.  

It is now time to change the Jazz. Guess where we will be going to trade it in!

I have a small car lot. I used to sell to the public. One customer had an issue with the air conditioning on a twenty-year-old SUV.

Me: “Come back tomorrow and we’ll fix it, including putting in all-new AC components if necessary, at no charge.”

He took it to another place the next morning and they promptly broke the system. He drove it broken for two weeks until it finally broke the belt, which caused the car to overheat and stop running. He wanted me to pay for towing and fix everything that was broken.

That’s when I quit selling cars to the public and only sell to other dealers. I make better money and get no complaints.