Adventures in Car Buying (or Now that is Chutzpah!)

From 2010 buying a car was important. We ended up with a Toyota van, which served us well. I hate the process of buying cars, and all the games involved. The vehicle that was replaced was the reason we bought a long-term warranty.

Mrs. C8j and I have been hunting for a new family vehicle for a while. We have had many discussions about what car we wanted to purchase. I think we will not need a van for much longer, and she agrees but thinks we still need one for the short term, so we should get one, and after a great deal of consternation consultation, we decided that a van would be the best way to go. I must admit that we did try a few SUVs, and while they felt OK, they did feel a bit “truck-ish” for my liking.

We have been dealing with a smaller dealership that had in stock the van we were hoping to get (used) a Sienna from Toyota (please don’t treat this as me endorsing this model or that I have received any compensation for this story). The salesman at the dealership seemed a friendly, personable chap, although maybe a bit slick for my liking, but we thought that might be where we wanted to make our deal.

Before we got too far into this process, we decided we would purchase a used vehicle this time (we purchased a new one last time, but I chose a used car as the way to go). We borrowed from the Ottawa Library the Lemon-Aid books and saw that the Sienna from ’07 on seemed a good choice. If we were going to buy a used car, I would have my mechanic, whom I trust in these situations, look at whatever we might choose to buy (I do not trust dealerships that much).

I mentioned to the salesperson we were dealing with that we wanted to take whatever vehicle we were buying to my mechanic to look at it. The sales guy got twitchy (i.e. tried to dissuade us), but eventually relented, figuring that he might lose a sale if he disagreed (smart guy).

I then called my mechanic and said I would like him to look at a vehicle, and he said he would, and he asked who I was thinking of buying from, and when I mentioned the name of the dealership, my mechanic hesitated. After a short pause, he said he had had some dealings with the dealership and gave me some advice about possible issues getting the van off the lot and to his garage. When my mechanic makes that kind of statement, the hair on the back of my neck starts to rise. I thanked my mechanic and said I’d call back when I had decided on a specific van.

Time passed, and eventually, we decided (after consulting CarFax online) on a specific Sienna that our original salesman had on his lot. My wife called to talk to our salesman, but he wasn’t around, so she spoke to the “Owner” of the dealership.

Now this is Chutzpah

My wife asked, “What do we need to do to take a van to our mechanic to have him inspect it before we buy it?”.

After a short pause, the Owner’s answer was classic chutzpah, “First you buy the van, and then take it to your mechanic and whatever he may find that needs fixing, we’ll fix.”. This is most definitely not what had been discussed previously (we had been told no worries, it should be fine, you can have the car inspected BEFORE you buy it).

Let’s analyze this fantastic piece of chutzpah. You want me to give you a large amount of money, have the car licensed into my name, and then once I am the owner of the vehicle and my mechanic finds something, I should trust you that you will fix these problems? I realize that in Ontario, new rules are in place for used vehicles, but I am also not naive enough to believe that they will somehow protect me in this situation.

I guess it all comes down to who(m) I trust, a car dealership that I have never dealt with (that I have heard some odd stories about), or do I trust my mechanic, who has fixed my cars for 20 years? As you can guess, we did not call back this dealership.

We have since found a similar vehicle with a more prominent dealership, which may cost a bit more. Still, they are fine with us taking the van to my mechanic (if I leave a deposit and my current vehicle) and will abide by whatever my mechanic says (and will find another van if my mechanic finds an issue with the van). The CarFax report on the van suggests there should not be a problem.

Financial Moral of the Story?

None really, just that I am a very untrusting person and if you try to sell me things, it doesn’t take much to get me to go elsewhere, or completely walk away from the purchase.