Car Sales Stories – The Lincoln

In my last blog about my short time selling automobiles, I told you about one of the easiest sales I ever made, an older gentleman who took a taxi to the dealership and drove out with a new truck and did not want to waste any time negotiating, he just wanted the sticker price so he could write a check for it and be on his way. This time around, I’ll tell you about another easy car sale. So easy I was confused during the whole process and afterward.

I worked in an auto mall for a mega-dealer that sold several different brands, and one day a fellow showed up in a pickup truck and said he wanted to see the most expensive Lincoln Continental on the lot. I started to show him a couple of different ones and he said, “I don’t need to look at a bunch of cars. Show me the most expensive one you have, and I’ll buy it. But it has to cost over $28,578.”

That sounded strange because most people want a deal, and it seemed like this man wanted to spend money. It took me a few minutes to find the most expensive Lincoln on the lot, and as I recall, it was somewhere around $28,400. He told me that wouldn’t do. It had to cost more than $28,578. It took a bit of head-scratching, but I came up with some aftermarket options we could include, bringing the price up over what he demanded. He didn’t want to test drive the car, he just wanted to buy it. We went inside and I told him I would speak to the sales manager and see if there were any discounts available (there are always discounts available, no matter what the salesman tells you). He cut me short and said, “I don’t want a damn discount, son. I want to buy a car, and I want to spend over $28,578.” And just like that, he wrote me a check for $29,100. I remember that figure very well because it was the most expensive car I had ever sold.

As he wrote the check, he said, “I need one other thing, I need you to drive it and follow me to my house, and I’ll bring you back.” No, he didn’t want to drive the new car, he was going to drive his truck. Okay, whatever. I followed him to a very nice house in a very nice subdivision in the foothills of Tucson, and when we got there, his wife and several ladies were playing bridge in the screened-in Arizona room. He said, “Honey, I bought a Lincoln, and it costs more than Eddie’s did.” She said, “great,” and went back to her card game. She never even looked up at the Lincoln.

He drove me back to the dealership in his truck, and when we got there, I told him I just had to know what the story was behind this deal. He said his brother-in-law Eddie was an absolute jerk and always had to have the best of everything and then lorded it over everyone else in the family. Eddie had just bought a new Lincoln for $28,578 and was crowing about how it was the most expensive car anyone in the family owned. So my customer decided it was time to one-up Eddie, and he did. He said he didn’t even like Lincolns, and as far as he was concerned, the damn thing could sit in the driveway forever and he would never get in it. But it was worth every penny just to shut Eddie up once and for all.

Don’t you wish you had that kind of money to be able to spend it like that just to make your point? I wish I did, though I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t do it anyhow. I spend my money on things I like, and I don’t care who it impresses or not.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.