4/03/2007

Toyota-Honda car sales soar. Big 3 tank. I think Cramer hit the nail on the head when he said, "If you haven't been screwed by an American car company, then it's because you've never bought an American car." A sorry, but too accurate, appraisal of not only the old quality of American cars, but the outrageous sales practices of their dealers. I used to sell cars and we'd move heaven and earth to jack up the price of the cars we sold. We'd add stereo, LoJacks, special wheels, you name it, til the customer didn't have a clue as to the base price of the car. And trading in? Job One was to "de-horse" the mother fucker (grab the keys to his car so he couldn't leave), job two was to try to find more things wrong with the car than anyone could imagine. I don't know the Japanese dealer practices now, but they used to be very straight forward; pay the sticker. If you wanted special equipment then it was handled on separate invoices. Oh, well, another triumph for the UAW.

No comments: