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Drive

Help us buy a car - please!

By SCOTT LONG, Drive editor
Published January 22, 2007

She loved her Ford Probe. My wife adored it so much that even when she found herself swiping her Visa at the mechanic more often than at the gas station, she still couldn't bear to part with it.

It seems convenient, then, that while the Times was preparing to debut Drive, a new weekly page devoted to giving you news, reviews and tips from the automotive world, that I found myself trudging from lot to lot on U.S. 19, looking for that one perfect car that could pry the woman I love away from the vehicle she loved.

What we found was that the hunt for a car remains challenging, frustrating and slightly amusing even in this era of the Internet, extended warranties and "no-haggle" pricing.

So listen up, car dealers. Here are some tips for you:

SKIP THE BORAT IMPRESSIONS: You know it, and I know it. Not every car on your lot is "very niiiiiice." As George Carlin might say, a few are cute, a few are ugly and the rest are somewhere in between. When I'm on your lot, you're my expert: Don't try so hard to put me in every car; try harder to put me in the right car.

PUT THE #%@&$! PRICE ON THE WINDOW: Menus help me decide. Sure, the steak sounds good, but does it sound twice as nice as the chicken? Not always. So why should you force me to salivate over the Cadillac when I can only afford to taste the Cobalt? Put your best, bottom-line price on the stickers and save us both some time.

TORCH THOSE TRICKY ADS: The asterisk should be against the law. It saddens me that people are so easily duped by the big type that screams "$9,999!" and miss the itty-bitty bottom-of-the-page disclaimer that whispers "after $3,000 cash or trade equity."

If you can't be honest about your price, my guess is there's a whole lot more you can't be honest about.

STAND BY YOUR CAR: We were seduced by these 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranties. Peace of mind is huge when buying a car. And I know you know it, too, because many of you told me you'd never drive a car that didn't have a warranty - and then showed us plenty of your cars that didn't.

In the end, my wife smiled when she saw the pearl white 2001 Ford Focus. It was just as advertised, down to the price. And not one glitch, from shaking the salesman's hand to driving off the lot. Now, that's the way to sell us a car.

Scott Long can be reached at long@sptimes.com or 727893-8556.

[Last modified January 21, 2007, 09:26:33]