The Blogg

Yesterday I visited at least half a dozen dealerships and used car lots in the early afternoon, finding essentially the same thing that I had seen in online inventories. (That is, vehicles approaching the end of their first decade with nearly 100,000 miles on them and prices in the $6000 – $7000 range.) I did not see anything that I really wanted to buy at that price, but a few that I felt I could live with. The salespersons at each of these businesses were friendly and helpful, but not at all controlling. My next stop was at Alexander Kia on Lycoming Creek Road in Williamsport, where a salesman showed me a 2005 Kia Optima LX with 38,000 miles on it that would have the remainder of the factory warranty transferred to the new owner. While a little larger than I was hoping for, it had my required features (four doors, automatic transmission, cruise control, air conditioning) and appeared to be in excellent condition. It had just arrived, so he did not have a price. I expected that it would be too expensive for me, but agreed to wait while he and his manager worked up a price.

At this point he started getting pushy, making me wait a long time, trying to turn the interest that I expressed into a declaration that I would buy it, trying to get me to say that my $6000 budget was just what I wanted to finance in addition to a $2000 down payment, getting permission to run a credit check and work up some financing numbers even though I was not nearly that far along in my decision, etc. When he came back with a price of $7988 I responded that it sounded like a good deal but that I was looking for something a bit older, more heavily used, and thus lower priced.

Then the manager came over and started the real high-pressure job: “What, you don’t like my cars?”. After I explained that I did but they were out of my price range and that I might be back if I found nothing cheaper at his competitors, “I don’t have any competitors”. I very quickly became annoyed with his attempts to strong-arm me into taking a test drive and doing whatever he could to keep me there, and was ready to leave when he asked me what I wanted to spend, then if I would buy that day if he could get the price down to $6000. The possibility of getting a vehicle with much less wear and tear than those I had been considering at that price was enough to keep me there, and once he confirmed that price I took it for a test drive, called my wife to talk it over, and decided to purchase it in spite of the borderline sleazy tactics.

After a bit of research they determined that the vehicle did not have a 10 year / 100,000 mile warranty, but only 5 years / 50,000 miles, which would end on January 3, 2010. This was not a bait-and-switch; I actually believe that they had been sincere about the warranty the entire time. This was disappointing, but did not change the fact that I would be getting the car at a very nice price. (While on the phone with Rachel I had asked her to run it through the Kelley Blue Book, which gave a suggested retail price of $7415 for one in excellent condition.) I tested all of the features I could think of during the test drive and glanced over the engine compartment afterwards. Not that I would really know what to look for, but it was clean and lacking any fluids that might have been leaked during the drive. Based on that and the immaculate body and interior, I think it is in at least close to excellent condition.

I am very satisfied with the decision I made to buy the car, but will probably regret this next decision that I made. It was the warranty that attracted me to the vehicle in the first place, after my last car left me as a nearly worthless hunk of scrap metal. Knowing that the factory warranty would be expiring soon, they offered me an additional 4 year / 100,000 mile warranty for $1800, and I chose to purchase it. I find extended warranties on most products to be a waste of money, and spending nearly a third of the value of something to insure it is probably over the top. Still, I am glad to know that if anything happens to it in the next four years I will have no further costs.