5.24.2004 Zoom Zoom

Yeah, I freakin rock. I prematurely bought a sports car - a Mazda RX-8. A silver one.

I state prematurely, cause it really is. I wasn't supposed to buy a car until I was in Houston full-time, which would be about the July timeframe. So now, the zoom-zoom-mobile sits quietly in Elizabeth's parents' garage collecting dust. I take it out on the weekends and give it a quick spin, but that's pretty much it for the time being. And also, I'd like to mention that I'm contributing to the economy cause while in the midst of raising gas prices, I go out and buy a premium gas guzzling zoom-zoom-mobile. Also, needless to say, this will probably be my last big ticket purchase for a little while. It seemed somewhat justifiable, because I wanted to get something like this all the time while in New York, but of course, wasn't going to do so, and of course, I needed a car anyway, sooo.. yada yada yada.

There I was with Enem, Elizabeth's brother, sitting in the dealership. We were supposed to go over and just test drive the car and come home - nice and simple. I had been researching this car for over a month, but never had yet had a chance to try it out. Needless to say, this is one step closer to my Go-Speed-Racer fantasy. There we were weaving in and out of traffic on the highway doing about 93 when I realized that this car is not even pushed to it's limits yet - it was merely getting warmed up. Well, it was fun. Not like I drive like that normally, but something about that calms my sense of manhood knowing that I can (that's what it says in my manly man manual anyways).

So, there we were sitting there in the dealership, and I was going to excuse ourselves when of course, the salesperson wants to talk money. I guess I had the upper hand to a certain degree, cause I really wanted to leave.

   "Well, gotta go," I said, "Got things to do."
   "Hold a second," he mentioned, "What if I can meet a price. Would you be willing to purchase this car today?"
   "Um... yes," I said. Really, how could I resist that. And of course, I know that this is when the fun begins.
   He writes a figure on a paper, which really is the list price for the vehicle, slides it over to me and asks me to sign that I agree.
   "You got to be kidding me," I said.
   "Why would I be kidding you? It's a hot car."
   "Okay,” I start to press up on my chair's armrests, "It's clear this is going to be a waste of my time..."
   "Hold on," he interjects, "Let me check with my manager." He gets up from the table and walks away.
   I look to Enem and said, "I hate when they do this - go talk to their manager. Go check with their mommy or something."
   The salesperson quickly returns and sits down. "Okay. What number do I need to meet to see that you drive away with this car today?"
   "I don't know. Really. I wasn't prepared to buy a car today. What number do you have?"
   "You must have a number in mind..."
   "Yeah," I answer, "I do. I just want to see how close your number can match my number." I figured it was important at this time to somehow gain control of the conversation, or at least cause some friction to sway the control.
   "C'mon Peter. I know you want the car."
   "Actually, yeah, you're right, but I don't want it today."
   "Okay, how about just a hint of a number."
   I look at him quietly and pause and think of a number that I know is a little lower than reasonable, "Okay, how about 10 rupies." (It's not really rupies, but you get the idea).
   "10 rupies?! How can that be? Just 10 rupies? We're now talking about a base model RX-8."
   "Yep," I confirm, "I'm looking in my pockets and there are just 10 rupies in there. If I was going to buy this today."
   "But we have costs to consider. That is just way too low. I'm not even sure if that is above dealer invoice or not. Do you know if it is?"
   I was really surprised to hear him ask me that. It was obvious he wanted to check if I knew what I was talking about. I sat back for a moment and hesitated for he was correct. I did not have any bearing or credentials to back this up. So, I had to think quick, "Hmm... you may be right. I didn't do any research. I have no idea what the dealer invoice is on this car. But you know something? And I don't want to sound rude, but ... it's really to none of my concern. Really. It's not my problem. I'm not sure if I really care what the dealer invoice is."
   "Okay," he says, "Let me check with my manager." He walks away.
   I look to Enem and said, "See? I guess 10 rupies is reasonable to them or he would’ve never walked to his manager."
   He comes back moments later and we haggled a bit more. He wasn't going to allow just 10 rupies that easily, but I was pretty stern. After about three more manager visits, he had agreed upon the 10 rupies price. I knew this was a great price, but part of me said this was too easy. I needed to see what I could do. "You know something? I wasn't supposed to buy a car today. And my wife is waiting for me at home. And if suddenly I came home with a new car, it may not be so peaceful for a while. So, if you'd excuse me, I'll need to make a phone call."
I step away from the table and I figured this has to have the same effect as walking away to see the manager. I call Elizabeth briefly and tell her the good news. "Yeah, I can't believe they're going to give me the car for 10 rupies. They must be pretty desperate."
   "Hmm," she says, "You know what? See if they'll go down to 9 rupies, cause what the hell? Why not?"
   I get off the phone and sit back down at the table quietly and nodded nonconfirmly. "You know what fellas? I'm not sure if I can do it for 10 rupies. I spoke with my wife. And I don't want to make her sound like the bad guy, cause she does have a lot of good input, especially when it's regarding both of our finances here. And I can't bring this car home. Not right now. Unless ... it's for ... 9 rupies and not a rupette more. I'm sorry."
   I start to mimic that the deal is over and the salesperson hesitates. He makes about two more trips to his manager, which prompts me to call Elizabeth twice more on my personal phone. And we stick to the 9 rupies price.

Moments later, we shake hands on the deal.

Jason, the salesperson, who is actually a pretty cool guy (I know I made him sound like a snake), says to me, "Peter. You got yourself a car. And off the record, man, you're good. I need to take you with me when I go get my next car."

Weeee... errr... A-hem, I mean Yeeeee Hawwww (I have to get that right). Zoom Zoom.

Note - I was actually prepared to pay 11 rupies :)