Post by stefan on Aug 12, 2023 10:16:30 GMT -5
Sorry I have been away for a bit this summer. It has been a strange time for us. We have property about 20 miles from our home and haul a tractor up there to brush hog it every couple weeks. Well I had trouble in the spring getting the trailer lights to work with my towing truck (1992 F350 diesel) After running the wire harness no less then 10 times I finally traced it down to a intermittent bad ground in the stupid $20 plug. We fixed it and hauled up to the land only to have the truck overheat on the way home. It took me over 3 hours and a rescue trailer tow from my daughters boyfriend to get the truck home. My wife was ticked off to no end and told me she was done with the "hunk of junk" and that I need to go out and find a dependable truck (in her defense this ford has been nothing but problems and is starting to become a money pit) She wanted something smaller (we love the crew cab but this also had the long bed and dual wheels) and 4WD because we can't back the trailer into the property (the truck just won't make the cut with the room we have on the road and the angle of the driveway-so we end up parking on the road.
So the search began. I found a decent used GMC that would tow what we wanted and ticked all the boxes. Even the price (ridiculously high) was in the current budget (i.e we could swing the cash). I worked out a decent deal and took delivery (or so I thought)
Nice truck right?
We went to finalize the paperwork and there was a problem with the out of state title (basically they didn't have it lol) 2 weeks went by and they called me to tell me they could not get the title. Uggh. We were back at it looking again. I test drove no less than 10 other trucks. Nothing was as nice as this one at the price and mileage. The dealer brought us truck after truck (way too much time spent looking and driving back and forth) We finally found a much newer (MORE EXPENSIVE) lower mileage GMC that would do what we needed and still squeaked under the budget constraints (we could pay cash). I spent 2 days (well over 6 hours) trying to work out a deal. THe dealership pulled out all the stops (including the fake invoice of parts that were never put on the truck yet as it had just come in off of a fresh trade, the We are not making a penny on this fake invoice, the I have 20 other people interested in this truck. and any other high and low pressure tactic they could think of) I played along, even told them I needed to finance it. I walked out on the deal at one point (the bed of the truck was scratched to hell and all I wanted was a repaint or a bedliner- they said no and I walked. I had the GM on the phone with me just begging me to be reasonable. I wasn't and told him I had to go test drive something else at the competition (I didn't, but hey 2 can play that game right?) He said to me I can't believe you're gonna walk this deal over a bedliner. I said same for me. So he finally agreed to a bedliner for free (the price went from $1500, to $1000 to $700, to fine we will throw it in for free.) We went to sign the papers and they had raised the interest rate by half a percent (hmmm). My dad had already given me an interest free loan, but this was my final push so I told him no way I was paying more interest on the already agreed upon prices. I got the typical song and dance about the banks the feds, the state of the economy, yada yada yada. I got a bit P.Oed and said fine- I'm paying in full with a check, WOW the look on their faces was priceless. A lot of stammering and stuttering but they agreed and I left with my newer truck at a way too high of a price, but damn I did have a brand new bed liner in it. So I know it's not as flashy as the red one, but it still is pretty nice (4 years newer and almost 1/2 the mileage
This is the full cab with the 5.8 ft bed vs the crew with the 6.6 ft bed that was in the red. Same engine and tow package (freaking things can tow just over 10000 lbs!).
Well thanks for looking and reading this rather long winded post. Also make sure to do your research and don't be afraid to walk away. This dealership (40 locations in the upstate area) had well over 200 used trucks, and no less than 25 had what I needed. There was no urgency on my part to purchase (that is not always the case for some people) so I could afford to just sit and wait (and walk out if needed). They will tell you that the market is hot (it rarely is) and that there are lots of people looking (yea but few buying lol) and that you have to act fast (you probably don't). If it sells out from under you, guess what? there will be another one that comes along. Put yourself in the position of power by NEVER shopping for a payment. Get the price, interest rate and length of loan first- Then you can work a payment. ALWAYS say you want to finance (even if you're paying cash), and never disclose your down payment (I always choose a stupid small downpayment like $1000) as dealerships make money (sometimes all their money on a sale) on the interest rate. Wait until you are just ready to sign to pull out that trump cards. Most of all DON"T be afriad to play dealerships against each other. They do not want you to go anywhere else. If you are a new customer, they want to earn and keep you, and if you're a returning customer, they don't want to have to replace you.
So the search began. I found a decent used GMC that would tow what we wanted and ticked all the boxes. Even the price (ridiculously high) was in the current budget (i.e we could swing the cash). I worked out a decent deal and took delivery (or so I thought)
Nice truck right?
We went to finalize the paperwork and there was a problem with the out of state title (basically they didn't have it lol) 2 weeks went by and they called me to tell me they could not get the title. Uggh. We were back at it looking again. I test drove no less than 10 other trucks. Nothing was as nice as this one at the price and mileage. The dealer brought us truck after truck (way too much time spent looking and driving back and forth) We finally found a much newer (MORE EXPENSIVE) lower mileage GMC that would do what we needed and still squeaked under the budget constraints (we could pay cash). I spent 2 days (well over 6 hours) trying to work out a deal. THe dealership pulled out all the stops (including the fake invoice of parts that were never put on the truck yet as it had just come in off of a fresh trade, the We are not making a penny on this fake invoice, the I have 20 other people interested in this truck. and any other high and low pressure tactic they could think of) I played along, even told them I needed to finance it. I walked out on the deal at one point (the bed of the truck was scratched to hell and all I wanted was a repaint or a bedliner- they said no and I walked. I had the GM on the phone with me just begging me to be reasonable. I wasn't and told him I had to go test drive something else at the competition (I didn't, but hey 2 can play that game right?) He said to me I can't believe you're gonna walk this deal over a bedliner. I said same for me. So he finally agreed to a bedliner for free (the price went from $1500, to $1000 to $700, to fine we will throw it in for free.) We went to sign the papers and they had raised the interest rate by half a percent (hmmm). My dad had already given me an interest free loan, but this was my final push so I told him no way I was paying more interest on the already agreed upon prices. I got the typical song and dance about the banks the feds, the state of the economy, yada yada yada. I got a bit P.Oed and said fine- I'm paying in full with a check, WOW the look on their faces was priceless. A lot of stammering and stuttering but they agreed and I left with my newer truck at a way too high of a price, but damn I did have a brand new bed liner in it. So I know it's not as flashy as the red one, but it still is pretty nice (4 years newer and almost 1/2 the mileage
This is the full cab with the 5.8 ft bed vs the crew with the 6.6 ft bed that was in the red. Same engine and tow package (freaking things can tow just over 10000 lbs!).
Well thanks for looking and reading this rather long winded post. Also make sure to do your research and don't be afraid to walk away. This dealership (40 locations in the upstate area) had well over 200 used trucks, and no less than 25 had what I needed. There was no urgency on my part to purchase (that is not always the case for some people) so I could afford to just sit and wait (and walk out if needed). They will tell you that the market is hot (it rarely is) and that there are lots of people looking (yea but few buying lol) and that you have to act fast (you probably don't). If it sells out from under you, guess what? there will be another one that comes along. Put yourself in the position of power by NEVER shopping for a payment. Get the price, interest rate and length of loan first- Then you can work a payment. ALWAYS say you want to finance (even if you're paying cash), and never disclose your down payment (I always choose a stupid small downpayment like $1000) as dealerships make money (sometimes all their money on a sale) on the interest rate. Wait until you are just ready to sign to pull out that trump cards. Most of all DON"T be afriad to play dealerships against each other. They do not want you to go anywhere else. If you are a new customer, they want to earn and keep you, and if you're a returning customer, they don't want to have to replace you.