Ok, maybe not a "super skilled master" but I am kind of proud of myself. My sister has been looking for cars for about 6 months now trying to build up as much money as she could after her last car broke down. I LOVE looking at cars and talking to dealers and all that unlike some people who don't like the hassle.
She missed out on a decently priced car for about $1600 that was pretty nice plus it had a/c. People brought money like, 20 minutes before she did.
I found the listing on Craigslist (she bought her last one through it and the guy selling it was creepy btw, whole different story) for a Ford Escort '99. But not just a regular boring Escort. It's a Ford Escort Zx2 Sport and is super cute. It has power everything and a sunroof. It's a black coupe. Paint still looks good and it has a few scuffs but overall looks great.
Here is what really gets on my nerves: when car dealers or personal owners do not even bother to clean out the insides of their vehicles. I mean, if you want to sell it you would at least want to have it detailed, or cleaned yourself right? I have seen this too many times with used cars and it just really aggravates me. This car was actually clean on this inside with little to no staining. I understand it's the inside that counts but it makes me think that it wasn't maintained well overall.
Back to the story: We looked it over and test drove it, and I knew the approximate dealer price for it. Sis really loved it and I liked it too. So I then told her to possibly ask for a lower price. She then said, "But I don't know how to do that!" So I had to ask myself if I would want to try for a lower price, even though it seemed that the price was about right for the vehicle. We went inside the office and I said, "Well, she does like it, but we were wondering if there was any room in that price?" All smooth like. I expected the lady to go down 1 or 2 hundred. She automatically went from 2300 to 2000 all because I asked nicely. I thought that was a VERY reasonable price plus that left my sister with extra money for insurance. Yay!
Maybe I should start a car negotiator service kind of like William Shatner in the Priceline commercials. CAR PRICE NEGOTIATOR!!! That would be fun.
As far as my own car goes, once I get a chance to get to the credit union I will then owe approx. 1300. I forgot how to update the side of the blog though. Also this week I have picked up 62 cents off the ground, mostly coming from a car wash that had change laying all over the parking lot. It was very exciting!!
Hope everyone on SA has a great weekend!
I am a super skilled master car price negotiator!
May 28th, 2010 at 05:07 am
May 28th, 2010 at 10:08 am 1275041323
May 28th, 2010 at 10:52 am 1275043949
Have a great weekend too !
May 28th, 2010 at 03:17 pm 1275059853
Jerry
May 28th, 2010 at 03:23 pm 1275060231
2 of my co-workers just got steals on some really nice used cars (in the $4k range). It's a good time to buy.
May 28th, 2010 at 05:46 pm 1275068795
May 28th, 2010 at 11:34 pm 1275089657
MM- it does seem like a great time to buy. Next time I have to buy a car I'm going to look at places other than major car dealers.
dmontngrey- definitely sounds like a great plan for next time! Don't let your husband wimp out on you