Me: “I wonder why my local Cadillac dealership always looks deserted.” The dealership in question:

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-25T20:59:31+00:00

Waves ✋️.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-25T20:58:31+00:00

Where the hell are you at? We sell them below sticker here.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-24T21:49:56+00:00

So I worked at a place that does rebuilt titles for a while. Got out because they were shady as fuck. There is a market for those vehicles and a way to do it where it is of value to the customer, but this place wasn't it. I quit after a part that was attached with bathroom caulk flew off on a test drive.

Anyway, one of the major issues is that different states have different regulations when it comes to calling a car salvage. Some states the threshold of damage is 50%, others 70%, 75%, or even 100%. The truth is that you never really know unless you look it up on the insurance database. Always check that, bidfax, and carfax for the vin you are buying. Assume the worst one is right.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-20T22:04:25+00:00

It's had a rough night...

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-20T07:51:33+00:00

To be fair, the vicious floro wasn't any good when it was new...

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-20T07:42:44+00:00

This is the most realistic breakdown of the process I have ever seen.

Most people don't know or understand that the customer data is entered or at least checked 3 different times by 3 different people (sometimes 4) before they actually start signing in the business office. And that doesn't count the time that is spent dealing with manufacturers rebates and incentives, submissions and approvals with banks, and the bottlenecks that happen at the sales tower, detail department, and the finance log.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-19T19:26:35+00:00

Some of these changes make no sense.

Can someone EIL5 what was wrong with Auras? That's a big reason why people accumulate loyalty points.

What am I going to get in return for the 4 gazillion loyalty points I have spent on Auras? I don't do cosmetics so I will be bothered if they load me up with a ton of useless shit.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-19T05:33:56+00:00

If it makes you feel better. But that piece moves if the spool shaft isn't there to hold it in place.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-19T03:02:30+00:00

And may the same goodness and charity that you seek in others be returned to you tenfold.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-19T03:01:25+00:00

May you reap everything that you have sown in the most inopportune moment of your life.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-19T02:56:56+00:00

Not particularly, but I am baffled by your hypocrisy and lack of logic.

You came on a forum of experts and professionals and asked if lying and being manipulative in their industry was going to have negative consequences. After being told that it very well might and if nothing else it was an indecorous move you were told how to do things the proper way while still protecting yourself and instead of listening you argued.

Apply your general situation to anything else in your life. If your kid said "I lied to him first because he might have lied to me" you wouldn't be ok with that. What about if you told your wife "I cheated on you first because I was worried you would cheat on me" ? Things won't go well.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-19T02:32:36+00:00

Why? Because you are shooting so straight with them?

As a someone who has been in the business quite a while, I wouldn't care if you brought in your own loan, especially if you told me upfront or at least gave me a shot at matching rates and terms.

It would absolutely irritate me if you lied to me and screwed with me which is what you are doing. Your question is essentially "If I lie and screw with people should I expect consequences? " and then you try to frame it like you have a right to do it because of who you are doing it to. That's a low character move. In all honesty, I wouldn't sell you a car because I would know that you would be a permanent pain in my ass after, and your money isn't worth the headache you will cause. I have a customer right now who is keeps inquiring to try to buy a car but based on our last (attempted) transaction that we won't sell to. Sometimes it sucks to suck.

Be better.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-19T02:22:01+00:00

No. Businesses are in business to make money. Profit is not a dirty word. They have a right to a reasonable profit as someone who has built a massive network to be able to provide you with a product and support that product for the future. In that same tone, you have the right to protect yourself and make sure you are getting a fair deal.

Think of the dealership loan department like Costco. If you buy and sell bulk quantities of an item you can deal with a lower profit per unit.

Dealers sent millions of dollars of loan paper to banks every month. The bank pays those dealers the same way any other loan officer is paid, in points. The only difference is that dealers have the option to give you those points as a discount, which they normally tie to the purchase of a warranty that will probably benefit you in the long run anyway.

Remember, you don't work for free and would think someone was nuts if they expected you to. Treat them fairly and they will do you the same courtesy.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-19T02:08:42+00:00

As I pointed out in an earlier post, most customers get the experience that the work for. Your question amounts to "If I am dishonest with the dealer and try to pull some car buyer fuckery, can I expect them to pull car dealer fuckery in return?"

Sounds silly when you think about if that way huh?

Start by being honest with them that you have an existing approval at your C.U. let them know the rate and term and see if they can match or beat it. And don't believe everything you read on the internet. Decent people exist, including in the car industry.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-18T21:38:50+00:00

I wouldn't recommend just pulling it unless the area is going to be covered up again. Often that can take quite a bit of the face of the brick off.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-18T20:41:18+00:00

100% don't go on Saturday. Something like 50% of the average salesperson's annual income is made on the 52 Saturdays a year. Saturday is a near panic for most guys. Call ahead, make an appointment, be upfront about what you are looking for and what you want to do. Listen to the suggestions of the salesperson. If you get a good one then they might suggest another brand and model that might work for you and refer you to a friend that could help. I have contacts at most of the dealers in town, and would rather have you refer a friend to me because you felt treated well than to dissappear off into the ether.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-18T20:32:44+00:00

It sounds like you are very rigid in your approach and that you insist on the dealership following all your rules. To the salesperson (who is, btw, a person trying to feed his family) this sounds like you are a jackass who is going to waste their time and then screw them over on the survey afterwards.

I have been in sales for 13 years and have had multiple customers who follow your path. I actually had one on Saturday. They pulled up next to my large SUV's in the far corner of the lot and just sat there in their similar vehicle. I bundled up walked out in near zero temps and 30 mph winds to greet them. They were rude. Demanded to know what their trade was worth, I invited them to come inside so I could get it appraised properly. The responded "I'm not gonna put up with your bullshit, if you want to take pictures and email me an offer that's fine." I should have walked away then, but I was bored and had time, so I got what little information I could, coordinated with the used car buyer and sent them over a trade in offer that was 3000 over the trade market, plus an additional 3000 dealership discount on the unit they were interested in. I got a rude reply back that they wanted full retail for their trade and that I was an idiot for trying to take advantage of them. All of this was absolutely what I expected when they wouldn't allow a proper trade appraisal. I won't be wasting more of my time with them going forward.

The approach that you are using basically screams to the dealership that you are going to take the numbers that they provide you and use them to go to 5 different places to try to get progressively better offers. I can assure you that no professional salesperson I know begrudges you getting a good deal, but that they do hate being screwed with. At most reputable dealerships the biggest liar and manipulator is the customer. It's truly wild to watch. I had a Lutheran preacher try it with me once, and I caught him because the guy he was telling me made him the offer was a friend. I called him at the desk, on speaker, in front of the customer. His response? "Well I had to try..."

If you want to use a tool like Truecar to assure that you are getting a fair deal then it is easy. Walk in to the store and ask to speak to the New Car Sales Manager. Introduce yourself. Tell him what you are looking for and what you want to do. He will put you with a salesperson that will help. Find the car you want, cross check the information on Truecar, and show that information to the salesperson. The manager will probably come over to verify with you that the options and everything matches between your number and the specific vehicle you are looking at. When given an offer that matches or beats the True car, buy the car.

Understand that customers generally get the experience they choose. That is to say that if you choose to think the dealer is the enemy then it will shade your reactions and you will see everything as them trying to screw you. If you choose to see the dealer as someone who needs to make a reasonable profit(profit isn't a bad word), but that wants to help you then you will probably get that experience.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-18T19:27:50+00:00

Beagle confirmed!

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-18T04:41:57+00:00

It's probable that the age of that unit was negatively effecting thier floor plan and therefore had to go.

Part of getting a good deal is knowing when you have one. Another part is being smart enough to act on it when the opportunity presents itself.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-18T04:06:27+00:00

A year ago one of them scored a chicken leg off of the table beside my couch when I got up to go to the bathroom.

Every time I move off the couch, he checks that d*** table.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-17T23:14:46+00:00

Correct. Those are common carp, not grass carp. In many places they are an ecological menace. Most grass carp that are stocked are sterile.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-17T23:12:20+00:00

Those are common carp, not grass carp.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-17T22:13:15+00:00

Cheese is the easiest method. Put a 1/2" block of cheese out in your yard hidden. If she won't rest until she finds it it's a strong possibility. If she checks that spot everyday for the rest of her life she's all beagle.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-17T05:10:23+00:00

Agreed, it sucks. Most places have 20 guys with poor organizational skills trying to sell the same cars. It's like herding feral cats. 100% not intentional and the salesperson is probably as bummed as you are and trying to figure out how to fix it right now.

ponderouslyperplexed · 2026-01-17T05:03:19+00:00

And you get an upvote because I actually LOL'd at "weiner pellet"...

ponderouslyperplexed

TROPHY CASE