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Years ago we bought a Honda S2000 and did pretty much that...
Salesman was giving us the hard luck story and refusing to drop his price.
So I said not to worry, we'd go to another Honda dealership which was only slightly farther away from home and see if they could do a better deal.
He almost begged us not to leave, but I pointed out that he had just told me that that was his best possible price - and I couldn't possibly believe anything he said if he was not to tell me he could do better.
Wifey phoned the other dealer on the monday morning, explained that the original dealer wouldn't drop to our price.
He agreed the price, threw in floor mats and a coupe of other bits and pieces, drove to her office with the paperwork and we had bought a car before the day was out.
I now use the same technique whenever we buy a car. I decide what price I want to pay, for what model, with what options, go to the dealer, tell them, and if they can't do it, leave. The last time (only a few months ago) the dealer had called me back twice while I was still on my way home, leaving messages that "his manager had agreed that they could possibly do a better deal."
In that particular case, the deal they negotiated with me was so good, nobody else could beat it, so they did get my business & I saved nearly $3k on a $13K car! (how times have changed since the S2000!)
MVVM # - I did it My Way
___________________________________________
Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011
.\\axxx
(That's an 'M')
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_Maxxx_ wrote: I decide what price I want to pay, for what model, with what options, go to the dealer, tell them, and if they can't do it, leave.
That's the way to bargain for everything. Only after you've determined that no vendor will meet your price point do you come up. By all means, let them make an offer first, just in case you can get a lower price, but always have the upper limit in mind, and don't go over during a bargaining session no matter what.
Currently reading: "The Prince", by Nicolo Machiavelli
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In 2001, I was shopping around for a new car. Knew exactly what I wanted, so I went around to the Chevrolet dealerships around Denver, asking them for a price on this model with these features. Told each of them I'm buying on Monday of the following week, get back to me before then.
I (naively) thought that the dealer would see this as the easiest money ever: call GM, ask how much to get what I wanted, add their acceptable profit, and call me back. Can't possibly take more than 20 minutes.
I got exactly one response. I actually had some guy at the dealership < 1 mile from my house tell me that he'd have to put in an order for the car before he could give me a price. Yeah, let me get right back to you on that...
Hopefully things have changed since then. It shouldn't be this difficult.
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We bought a Prius a few months ago. The sales guy was trying to explain that they (he) did not want to come off of the MSRP because we would save so much on gas money. My wife and I said "Ridiculous!", we are already paying more for this vehicle due to the hybrid. We had been keeping our eye on a particular car for the last few months and knew that they had not been able to sell it.
We ended up paying $100 over invoice which I thought was an acceptable price. I have been liking it so far. I am getting ~45 MPG without trying or ~50+ MPG if I try to hyper-mile it.
Another posting could be done on the inflated numbers shown by the car's instantaneous MPG as well as its trip MPG readings vs. my own calculations when I fill the tank.
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There was a lawsuit recently where a lawyer sued one of the car companies because she wasn't getting anything like the stated mileage. She lost. Wish I could recall the detail.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
Those who seek perfection will only find imperfection
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
me, in pictures
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this.
On the phone & can't even figure out what to search for anyway. Leslie Neilson if you must.
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On my Crimbo list. BTW, Mr DD has the same picture on his FB timeline...
speramus in juniperus
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Reform ECPA[^]
Quote: Reform ECPA: Tell the Government to Get a Warrant
Americans are deeply concerned about NSA surveillance.
But the NSA’s not the only problem. An outdated law says the IRS and hundreds of other agencies can read our communications without a warrant.
That law, known as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), was written over 25 years ago, before the services we use today even existed.
Right now, several bills in Congress would fix this by updating ECPA to require a warrant, but regulatory bodies are blocking reform in order to gain new powers of warrantless access.
We call on the Obama Administration to support ECPA reform and to reject any special rules that would force online service providers to disclose our email without a warrant.
Protect our privacy! Make the Government get a Warrant!
Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.
- Mitchell Kapor
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Yeah, that'll work. 
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Doing nothing will work better?
Take the democratic route, and sign if you wish.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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The 4th Amendment is the 4th Amendment... it doesn't say "except for electronic communications". I agree they should need a warrant. But then again, this administration doesn't follow any rules of any other amendment so why would they start now LOL.
Randy
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rriegel wrote: it doesn't say "except for electronic communications". I agree they should need a warrant
It does however make it rather clear that that possession is part of it. That is why the government has the right to search your trash. And you don't have possession of your email when it is moving between one part of the world and another.
And many forms of electronic communication are not in fact owned by the individual but are instead owned by a corporation. And of course the corporations are rather adamant about protecting their right to look at your electronic communication for absolutely any reason they want to.
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The analogy between trash and electronic communication is invalid. The consideration is more so ownership than possession. When you throw something in the trash you are giving up ownership. When you send something electronically you aren't. Otherwise, your argument could go against copyright. No, there's still ownership whether that ownership is transferred or shared by the recipient is another thing.
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Ownership and possession are not the same thing at all. When you create an e-mail, you initially both own and possess it. To my mind, once you've sent it you still 'own' it even though possession has been transferred to your ISP, intermediaries, and then the intended receiver of the message.
Software Zen: delete this;
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tgrt wrote: When you throw something in the trash you are giving up ownership
Wrong. That is not what the Supreme Court made the decision on. It was based on giving up a reasonable expectation of privacy.
tgrt wrote: Otherwise, your argument could go against copyright.
Nonsensical argument. Copyright doesn't protect the content from access, it only protects it from commercial use.
tgrt wrote: No, there's still ownership whether that ownership is transferred or shared by the recipient is another thing.
And as I already said, the companies are quite adamant that they own it.
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That may be true for you, but doesn't apply to the rest of us -- our e-mails aren't trash.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Mark_Wallace wrote: our e-mails aren't trash.
The Supreme Court case the one which allowed searching trash was based on the notion that the person had given up a reasonable right of privacy.
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From what I know all this has been going on rather longer than "this administration" has been holding the steering wheel....
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can.
“We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone
"The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
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Brisingr Aerowing wrote: (USA Citizens Only)
... which is not me.
Perhaps you meant USA taxpayers only?
... which is me.
Windows 8 is the resurrected version of Microsoft Bob. The only thing missing is the Fisher-Price logo.
- Harvey
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I'm not a USian but you'd really need to get rid of homeland security and the Patriot Act (or whatever it is called) as well. They don't need to monitor your electronic communications when they can arrest and detain you for looking sideways at someone at the airport or wherever and then water-board you into confessing to whatever they like....
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can.
“We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone
"The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
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Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.
- Mitchell Kapor
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I smell an enraged nerd, after someone took his lunch money 
modified 20-Oct-19 21:02pm.
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Thanks for reminding me of that site - I hadn't visited for months!
MVVM # - I did it My Way
___________________________________________
Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011
.\\axxx
(That's an 'M')
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I fully understand that this will be quite different between different countries, but that's also why a reason why I'm curious.
Mine is "O Helga Natt[^]" (Oh Holy Night). Especially when sung by Jussi Björling. (Pavarotti can take a hike).
Politicians are always realistically manoeuvering for the next election. They are obsolete as fundamental problem-solvers.
Buckminster Fuller
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