Cheap Used Car, or Cheap Repairs?
In the car business, when a dealer gets a used car ready to sell, it gets “reconditioned.” That’s a big word that means, “we fix all the things that the previous owner didn’t.” Sometimes that’s just an oil change for a low mileage car in great condition, but most cars need more love than that.
This week I was reminded of the different beliefs about reconditioning from one dealer to the next. We had a customer at our store who was very interested in a 2012 Chevrolet Tahoe. He loved the vehicle after test driving and we had offered our best price. The only problem was, he had seen another 2012 Tahoe about 200 miles away that had similar miles and equipment, but was priced $ 2,000 cheaper!
He couldn’t pass up seeing that Tahoe, and I couldn’t blame him, so we didn’t reach a deal.
Two days later he was back at our store, but he wasn’t driving that other Tahoe. I asked him what happened, was it already gone? He said the salesperson at that dealership showed him a list from their service department of what needed to be done, but that all these items had been declined by the sales manager. He had the option of buying the Tahoe “as is” or they could complete all the repairs for an extra $ 3,500!
So….he had come back to buy our Tahoe that had new brakes, new tires, no check engine lights and a fair price, financing rate, and trade-in value.
He drove away happy, and I hope we earned a loyal customer.
You can expect better from a car dealer and get it.