When Car Sellers Attack!
This all started for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted a car that my ex-wife and her kid had not been in. Second, I drove a sedan for the first time in four years, and it handled really nicely compared to my truck. That particular car, a Honda Accord, was horrendously uncomfortable to sit in, but otherwise impressive. Third, I sat in an Audi A8.
For all of that, the beginning of the story is set in Mishawaka, Indiana. My truck had developed a bad leak, and I wanted to get it fixed. The Toyota dealer in Warsaw quoted me $950 to fix one of the seals (the worse of the two leaks they found) which is quite a lot. My friend Brian suggested that I call around for quotes, which I did. I called the dealership where I bought it, Asian Concepts. They quoted me $700 over the phone, and the deal was done.
I drove my truck up to Mishawaka to drop it off. While talking to one of the service people, he mentioned that he used to work on the German Concepts side of the business, and that the bills tended to me much lower on the Asian Concepts side.
Before I left, I decided to see what was available on the German side. As I was walking around the lot, one of the salesmen saw me and came out to say hi. German Concepts is a dealer I have a long association with. I’ve bought at least three cars from them, and have referred others to the business. I have known the salesman Mark for close to 20 years. In the South Bend area, if you’re interested in used German vehicles, it is the first place you go. While we were talking, I asked if he could get the key for an Audi A8 that was nearby because I wanted to sit inside it.
I have been fascinated by Audi A8's since they first became available. They were at the cutting edge of lightweight aluminum technology when they debuted in the late 1990's and are the largest sedan Audi offers. A8's are luxury cars that are cool.
Mark unlocked the door, and I sat in the Audi. It was a very nice, and very comfortable place to sit. I had plenty of leg room and all the controls were perfectly situated. I was very impressed in the 10 seconds or so that I sat there.
My mind wandered back to that car as I drove home that day, and for the next two weeks. My truck was in the shop for a week, and when I picked it up, I could not take a second look at the Audi, because somehow they drained the battery on my truck. I had to drive it for at least half an hour after they jump started it to recharge the battery. I only had about a quarter tank of gas, and was unenthused about seeing how far down it would go while I drove, and whether I would be anywhere near a gas station when everything sorted itself with the truck. Impressively, the truck made it all the way back to Warsaw despite the last quarter tank typically burning the fastest. By the way, the total bill ended up being $3814 because the inside the transfer case, where it was leaking, was destroyed on the inside more than just the seal. It had to be replaced. Jump starting the truck also knocked out the use of all but the drivers side front window. I’ll spend $4k to put air conditioning in my house that runs constantly, but not turn on the air in my truck.
Being a bit angry with my premium Asian vehicle, my interest in that Audi was raised significantly. I exchanged a few e-mails with the salesman I knew, and on a Wednesday decided to drive up to Osceola and take a test drive.
For a little bit more back story, at this point in August I had worked every single weekend since the beginning of May when I took a weekend off to move house. That includes holiday weekends. The only two days off I had were Memorial Day and the 4th of July. My work day 90%+ of the time is a 12 hour day starting at 3am. The drive to German Concepts is around an hour because of ridiculous traffic and idiots who don’t know that they should move when the light turns green.
I drove up to the dealership, and my salesman wasn’t there. No big deal, there was another guy there and I asked if I could test drive the Audi. He said no, because there was a bad smell to the car and he was going to give it to the service department to fix. He points out the Volkswagen CC next to the Audi, which is certainly a nice car, but has a 2.0L turbo, not the more robust 4.2L V8 the Audi has. We walk around the lot a bit, and he asks me what else I might be interested in. I mention the BMW 7-series, another large, premium German car. They don’t have any in stock. Eventually, he points out the section of the lot with cars they have received but not taken through service and cleaning to put on the proper lot. While we are walking, he focuses on the Mini Cooper they have and mentions it to me.
A Mini! I had come in asking about the biggest car they had on the lot, and he points out the Mini. I am taken aback a little bit, and the first thing that comes to my mind is how ridiculous I would look getting out of that car. Eventually I just leave.
The next day I tell my friends at work about my crazy experience trying to test drive a car. One of my friends jokes that I would need to put my hand on the ground to steady myself when exiting the car. I told the story to my friend Sherry, who is familiar with the dealership. She told me that she had also been to that dealership on the same day, only earlier in the afternoon. She described the salesman perfectly (he had a very yellow shirt on) and told me that she had asked about the same car. The salesman had told her that the car was sold!
Now I have two stories about the same car, from the same guy. It’s not even 7am the day after I attempted to test drive the car. At around lunch time, I get an e-mail from my salesman. He had been in New Jersey on Wednesday at an auction. He asked if I had gotten an opportunity to test drive the Audi.
At this point, I just had to throw my arms up in the air and be done with it. Actually, I wish that I had. There was something deep inside of me that was pulling me, though. I was up to three stories about the same car now. One, that it was unavailable because of a bad smell. Two, that it was unavailable because it had been sold. And three, that it was still available and perfectly fine, waiting on me to test drive it. I could decline and walk away, or I could drive ANOTHER hour plus back to the dealership to confront them on all of this craziness. I chose the second option.
At 3pm I texted Mark, my salesman, and told him I would be there in about an hour and set off, once again, for Osceola, Indiana. When I got there, they were both busy with closing a deal on a car, so I went outside to look at the cars. While I was outside, I got an email from Mark, sent 20 minutes earlier, saying that the car had gotten a deposit put on it earlier that day, and that he hoped I hadn’t left for the dealership yet. Now I was up to four stories on the same car.
Eventually Mark came outside and we spoke. I went through all of the stories I had been given on the car. Mark did his best to wrap them all together, and even added a fifth, that the car had a mis-fire and needed to go into service for that, too. It was all too ridiculous for me. We spoke about their program where they search auctions for a car with your specifications, and then I left. As I was leaving, I saw the other salesman showing the Audi to someone else! They had the hood open and everything.
On Saturday, I had my first day off since July 4th, and my first full weekend off since May. I visited my stepmother, who is looking better but still in a bad way, then on the spur of the moment (since it was raining) decided to drive to Ft. Wayne to shop Audi A8's. On the way there, I made a stop for lunch and did a web search on my phone for Audis in Ft. Wayne. After a lot of scrolling, I found an A8. It was blue and had just under 100k miles.
I found the dealership and took the car for a test drive. It was unbelievable. The difference in dealerships that is. I called ahead to get directions, and when I arrived there, a salesman came out and asked if I was the one who called. The Audi was parked in an obvious spot and was already unlocked. After all the official stuff, we got in the car and took it for a test drive. It was that easy. I arrived, and within 10 minutes I was driving the car. There are a few issues with it that will need addressed. New A8's start at around $90k and go straight up from there. This one has had a couple of owners, and has depreciated to a much more affordable level. With all of that, though, I was incredibly impressed with the car. It is comfortable, handles well, and the engine is strong. After some negotiation, I agreed to purchase the car.
The deal was supposed to be wrapped up on Monday, but with the complications of me being in Warsaw working, and them being in Ft. Wayne it was not to be. My mom helped me quite a bit, coordinating for the car to be checked by a third party. I had a dentist appointment that day, too, which screwed things up. Everything got wrapped up, though, from the negotiation to the loan, by a little after 5pm. All that was left was to pick up the car the next day and give them the check. I called in to work to see if I could take Tuesday off. Due to their absolutely ridiculous HR time off rules, I was told that I would essentially be punished if I took time off with such short notice. Remarkably, that includes sick time, so I actually need to schedule colds at least a full day (24 hours) in advance. It would have been nice to drive up to Ft. Wayne in the morning and get the deal wrapped up around lunch time, but that was not to be. I went to bed.
The next morning, I had a text from the salesman at German Concepts. The buyers who put down the deposit had fallen through, and their car was available again! I politely declined.
