New Car Dealers Psychological Sales Tricks

I can give you the shopping tips that will aid you in saving $1000, $2000, maybe even $3000, on your next new car or truck purchased.

You can forget about buying your dream car or truck for dealers cost or $50.00 over cost. Knowing dealers cost is not going to make an idiot out of the dealer. He can't keep that fancy dealership going with $50.00 per vehicle. You have to get real about that. On the other hand, after you have the all of the facts, $50.00 over "invoice" may be too much. "Invoice"..."Cost"...They are not the same. Even at invoice a dealer has a pretty good chunk of profit. More about that later.

Selling has always been a relationship game. The good salesman is friendly, sometimes funny and pleasant to be around. Salesman, for our purpose here, means man or woman. There are plenty of both who are excellent at selling. As competition grew keener, sales trainers grew more crafty and introduced some psychology into their training agenda.

Today's refinements of the art of selling are mostly psychological. Even though they usually hire high school graduates, college drop-outs, and/or retired persons in need of a supplemental income. Some make good salespersons, some don't. The trainers hone the rough edges from these men and women by teaching them some psychological tricks to keep you off balance. But, more about that as we go along.

They begin by teaching the "Seven Steps of A Sale". Some teach ten steps but they are just breaking one or two down further. The Seven Steps came as a result of Sales Engineers breaking down what successful salesmen did to sell cars. After they had finished their analysis, they condensed the salesmen's work to seven steps.

2005 Acura NSX

The mid-engine sports car, the Acura NSX, remains unchanged for 2005. NSX comes with a lift-off "targa" roof panel, a 290-hp 3.2-liter V6, and a 6-speed manual transmission. A 4-speed automatic transmission with manual-shift feature is available by special order and teams with a 252-hp 3.0-liter V6. Standard are ABS, traction control, and 17-inch wheels, plus leather upholstery, keyless entry system, and trunk-mounted CD changer. Side airbags are unavailable.

Acura 2005 MDX:Knee Deep in Cutting Edge accessories

The 2005 MDX offers new colors and features, including HandsFreeLink™ and XM® Satellite Radio. The MDX has upgraded the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA®), Acura Navigation System with Voice Recognition™, OnStar® and Acura/Bose® 6-disc, and in-dash CD changer that is available on all touring models equipped with Navigation System. MDX shares its basic design with the Honda Pilot SUV. Like Pilot, MDX has three rows of seats, but holds seven passengers vs. Pilot's eight, and has slightly less cargo room. MDX shares Pilot's V6 engine that produces 265 hp, 5-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive without low-range gearing. MDX has electronic "drive-by-wire" throttle and a standard antiskid system. 17-inch alloy wheels, front side airbags, antilock 4-wheel disc brakes, rear air conditioning, leather upholstery, and heated front seats are all standard on the 2005 MDX. Uplevel Touring models add a power passenger seat, in-dash CD changer, and rain-sensing windshield wipers. An available navigation system returns with new voice control and 3D graphics, and its dashboard screen now serves a rearview camera, which shows what's behind when the transmission is shifted into reverse. Finally, MDX offers its first rear-seat DVD entertainment option; it includes headphones and remote control.

Vacation Checklist No.2

Even if your have good tires and even if they are nearly new, you should check for possible needed wheel alignment correction. You can do a check yourself by driving the vehicle on a relatively smooth highway and while not meeting other vehicles, turn loose of the steering wheel just for a second. Should the car drift or dart to the left, you should take your car to a shop that does wheel alignment. Without appreciable wind, your car should drift, ever so slowly, toward the right. It is set that way in case you go to sleep or lose control for any reason of the car. It is safer for the car to drift toward the ditch than into oncoming traffic.

Also, at your regular diving speed, pay attention to the steering wheel. Does it visibly shake? Can you feel a vibration coming from the wheel? I so you also should take the car in for a wheel balance.

In your drive way, you can check the air pressure in your tires. This should be done monthly whether you are going on vacation or not. If you don't have a tire gauge, you need to get one. They are inexpensive and can save you hundreds of dollars.

The above three problems can wear out a set of tires in no time. Improper wheel alignment is much like dragging the front tires sideways across the pavement. That is an exaggeration, of course, but you can see that the tire needs to roll straight down the road 90 degrees of the car. Any variation of this causes excessive tire wear.

Same thing with the wheel balance. If wheels, (tires) are vibrating, they are jumping up and down on the pavement and wearing dished spots on the tire.

The tire pressure is also important. An over inflated tire wears the center of the tread faster than the outer because the over inflation causes a rounding effect and the outer tread does not carry it's part of the weight. Under inflating does just the opposite. The outer tread wears first because the low pressure causes a concave configuration of the tire and the center does wear evenly with the outer tread.

If you want to be extra careful, have your repairman put your car on a lift and inspect the exhaust system for leaks (Can be very dangerous), pull a wheel and inspect brake pads, disk brake rotors, as well as the brake hydraulic system, which includes the master cylinder, wheel cylinders and hoses, for leaks.

Have a nice, safe vacation.

Harold

Vacation Ahead? Here's a Check List

It's vacation time.

Before you load the family and the accompanying suitcases in the car, and drive away, there are a few things that should be attended to, which will vastly improve your chances of having a trouble-free vacation.

There are many things owners can do, even in their driveways, that can prevent possible breakdown.

1. Inspect the drive belts. Grab the belt with your fingers and twist it over and examine it. (This would be a good time to kill the engine.) Examine the belt for cracks, brittleness and glaze. If any of these symptoms exist, put it on your list of things to have done.
2. Examine all hose. With a rag or gloves, squeeze the radiator hose. If the walls of the hose give in easily you should have this looked at also. Watch for evidence of previous leak stains. You car may be leaking while running. Check the vacuum
hoses for brittleness.
3. Check the windshield wipers and determine if they are brittle or hard. Clean them with a good detergent.
4. Fill the windshield washer bottle reservoir with a mix of solvent and water.
5. Check the tire pressure in all tires, including spare. If you don't have a tire pressure gauge, you should get one. Long tire life depends on proper tire pressure.

VISIBLE CHECKS CAN BE PERFORMED BY THE OWNER

I will have more checks to be made at the repair shop at the next posting.

Harold

Cars Reveal a Lot About Their Owner.

When someone says to me, "Boy, these new cars are sure ugly. When are they going to make cars like they used to?" my first inclination is to say, "From an engineering standpoint, I hope never."

Take my 1939 Ford 4 door convertible that I had in 1949. It was just like the one that Franklin D. Rosevelt rode in to his inaugeration. It had horsehide seats. We didn't know what Corinthian leather was. We never had a saddle on a Cornthia. Ford just advertised it plain and simple, "It's horsehide."

In order to get that car up to the acceptable styling standards of the day, I had to make a few modifications.

First thing I bought was a "suicide knob". It was a steering knob that clamped to the steering wheel so that you could slide around sharp corners on those country gravel roads with that power steering-less car, with one hand. Or while cruising downtown, you let your bent left arm hang out the window to showcase your bicep. As you cruised along you could see your reflection, bicep and all, in the plate glass windows of the store fronts.

After the steering knob, you had to have fender skirts. It gave your car that sleek and speedy look. It was great styling.

As to styling, I have always been against the baby shoes, foam dice or garters hanging from the rear view mirror. That's plain white-trash tacky. Same goes for the fox-tail, or anybody's underwear flying half-mast from the radio antennae.

A functional spark plug mounted four inches from the end of the tail pipe is a must. You will never be without one once you see that blue flame leap from the tail pipe when cruising after dark.

I didn't want my AM radio to have big loud speakers. They might drown out the sweet, rich, mellow tones of the gutted mufflers that was to die for.

In the heyday of my 1939 Ford 4 door convertible, heaven was idling down main street at five mile per hour, at dusk, and listening to those gutted mufflers "blurpty blurpting" back at me from the very buildings whose plate glass reflected the total image of driver and car.

Of course, the final touch, of which no car of the late forties would be complete without, was the ever popular "Wolf Whistle". The guy that could operate that vacuum marvel to perfection had his pick of female companions. And why not? What girl wasn't just dying to hop in the car with a strange guy that had that delicate touch to extract a raucous "Whoooee Wheeeoo" from a vacuum driven mechanical horn?

What more need a girl know about a guy? This was the kind of stuff from which Hollywood love stories were made.

Oh my!

Harold