I wanted to throw out a car buying tip which is tailored to the ladies. Car salesman will try to take advantage of anyone regardless of sex, age, or creed. Personally I think women are every bit as sharp as men. However there are still plenty of salesman out there that would love to get into their naive pockets. I worked with plenty of chauvenist salesman that viewed women as dumb and being an easy target.
If I was anything as a salesman, it wasn't being one of these jerks. I will be honest in that I have a soft spot for the ladies and usually cushioned things up a bit for them. I was a bit more compassionate than some though and if I was dealing with a woman that was alone it wouldn't take long before I saw my own sister, mother, or grandmother in them. However, you're not always going to get that lucky and find too many people who really give a shit like I did if you are a woman buying a car.
Like I would say to anyone buying a car. First impressions are everything. Woman or not. If you establish that you're no spring chicken. That is going to set the stage for how everything goes down. In other words. If a woman were to come in and after some questions from a salesman spill her whole life story about how she just got a divorce from a man that used to "take care of this stuff" and has never had to buy a car on her own, she can expect the dumb woman treatment. Trust me. If a woman comes in alone. A salesman is going to try to find out real quick why she is alone. Simply for the fact that if there is a spouse or other involved that is not present at the time he knows he cannot really sell them a car until all of the decision makers are there to do business. Therefore, not spending too much time with her and encouraging her to get the other parties involved to come down. These questions are asked for the salesman to determine what angle he is going to try to work on a customer. So telling him you are widowed or divorced and helpless is only going to make him think "cha ching!" Not throwing a salesman too much of a bone about your background will avoid this. Displaying a sense of confidence an independance upon entering the store will help maintain their respect regardless of sex.
Perhaps though you are a woman truly all alone in buying a car and prefer some help. There were many instances where I thought I had a couple I was working with to only find out later that they were only friends and that the car was for her. Don't go in there alone if you don't want to. Bring a friend along to help and listen to everything they have to say. Whether it be a man or woman. When people come in as a group I would say it tends to make a salesman feel like he is under the microscope. If he knows he has more than one person to convince he is going to be a bit more cautious in what he says and what he does. Simply to avoid being caught in a lie and losing a deal. Having someone else with you also puts another pair of eyes on the process and they may catch something that you would not have if you were alone.
Are you a confident and educated woman? If so. You can do this effectively on your own and get a good deal on a car. If this is something that makes you unconfortable and you dread the process as a woman on their own. By all means. Find a friend to go along to monitor the process with you. Alone or not. Your personal level of comfort can be sensed by others and comfort equals confidence. The keyword here is comfort. If you go in with little sense of comfort it is only going to make the whole process seem scary and intimidating.
I want to share one instance in particular where I was confronted with a woman buying a car alone. She had a professional sense about her. Upon test driving vehicles and working the deal. I wouldn't say she appeared to be cold. Rather she just didn't pour her heart out to me and reveal any more details about herself than she had to. When it came down to working the numbers. This gal was smart. I could start to begin to see she had really done her homework. Needless to say. She beat us down to a real good invoice deal for herself. She played dumb through most of the process is what she did. It turned out she was a local college's bursar. If you don't know what that is. It is the top position in a school's financial department. She was a tax and finacial expert. I actually made friends with her and had her do my taxes last year. My point is. Books can't be judged by covers. In this case she played the roll of the paperback and in the end showed she was truly a hard cover copy. I had a lot of respect for her and we are still friends today.
Another distinct situation I can recall was a woman who worked for the Social Security Office. She came in with another lady friend even though her friend never said much. No I don't think they were a couple. However this lady was as hard as a coffin nail and more or less let me know that anything with a penis was a low life. She would have made Buelah Ballbricker from the movie "Porky's" proud. I didn't know what had happened to this woman nor did I pry. She was very touch and go and even burned the hell out of me on a survey later. Even though she got an invoice deal from me and I treated her with the utmost respect. She was a total bitch to me through the whole thing. I am not saying to go in acting like a bitch. She just made it very clear that she as not intimidated by me or the process.
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| Coach Ballbricker showing her love for man |
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| Sex can sell in the showroom. Shake it if you got it. |
In the end. Whether you are alone or not. It is going to boil down to the information you give about yourself and the signals you put out. Your comfort should come first though so it is up to you if want help in buying a car or not.
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