I Love Car Shopping

I love buying a new car. It’s not the joy of having a new car (ok, it’s kind of that), and it’s certainly not having to shop around for car insurance rates, but it’s the process of buying it. Car salesmen always assume that since I’m a woman, I don’t know much about cars, nor about how to buy one. I walk into the dealership and I get attention right away. There are a few types of salesmen:

The first kind is the overconfident guy who thinks he’s going to charm me into buying a car. He’s flirtatious and makes too many jokes. He’s more focused on trying to create a good vibe rather than actually answering my questions. Few things irritate me more than when I ask a specific question and I don’t get a specific answer.

The second kind is the guy who doesn’t seem to be taking me seriously. It’s like he’s going through the motions but doesn’t think I’m actually going to buy anything (you know, cuz it’s probably my boyfriend or husband who makes the final decision), so he brushes off most of my concerns and seems like he’s waiting for me to leave so he can go sell a car to a man.

Then there are what I call the “good” salesmen. They’re not trying to impress me, they’re not trying to flirt with me, they’re just being friendly and showing me the different features and answering my questions. This is the type of person that I buy from.

I’ve seen female car salesmen but I’ve never actually worked with one. I bet that’s a hard job because it’s such a male dominated industry. I wonder if they have trouble selling to men, and I wonder how they would deal with me.

So the salesmen always try to get me with extra fees and other nonsense when it comes time to deal. We’ll be like $2,000 apart in price and after they “go talk to their manager” they will come back like $100 lower than their original price. I’m like, did you not hear me? I know what your cost is on this car. I know about the stuff you add on to that price. Meet my price or I’m leaving.

Sometimes they actually call my bluff and I leave.

I don’t care. There are many other dealers who will be more than happy to get my business. I’ll even tell them if I get better service than I did at the previous place. “Hey, you know why I’m buying from you rather than from the place in the next town over? Let me tell you.”