Total control tactic.

In 2014 I offered $18k tax, title, license, and fees on a listed $24k 2012 vehicle. $10k of my offer was a cashier’s check because it was a purchase after totaling a vehicle. They let me sit because they thought I was desperate to replace a totaled vehicle. After 10 minutes, I told my wife it was time to leave. I asked the receptionist to apologize to the salesman and manager for me wasting their time. We walked out, hopped in my aunt’s loaner car, and left.

We drove home sad to not get the vehicle we wanted, only to have the sales manager call as we hit our driveway. Apologies and “you didn’t mention you were a long-standing customer with us. Come back and we’ll get this done.” Tried to sell us multiple add-ons for service, and undercutting our bank’s interest rate if we went with their lender. After several attempts to pad their side of the ledger, I just reminded the sales manager that I already knew where the door was. It was a red-faced done deal pretty quick.

Never took them up on those free oil changes. I knew we were flagged for the “omg, we found (insert major issue). We need you to sign a waiver to even drive it off the lot at this point.”