Poor Poor Paul

After months of research and deliberation, my boyfriend finally bought a new truck last night...but all I have to say is poor poor Paul.

Who's Paul?

Paul is the dealer that we dealt with...

My boyfriend did his homework. He checked out the various car sites for reviews on his truck. He did the searches to see what trucks like his are going for around this area. He did his research to see what he could get for his buck. And finally made a choice. A good one at that.

Friday night he went to the dealer to check it out on his own. Saturday he took me there to check it out with him - only to settle on a different model of the same truck. Since he switched models, he felt it prudent to do a little more research online - that meant nothing was being bought on Saturday. He did, however, ask Paul to tell him exactly what he'd be paying for in addition to the car cost. Paul said it would be the cost of the car, the DMV fees and the "doc fee" - evidently, according to Paul "everyone pays those" - even though (also according to Paul), those fees are $299. YIKES! But ok. He gave us those numbers and said "that's it". We had a number in our head and went out the door (all after taking notes so I had it all in writing).

Saturday night, Sunday and all day Monday, both he and I scoured the car sites for more reviews, more pricing, more options. Finally satisfied (or as satisfied as he was going to be given he'd be shelling out a pretty penny), we went back down there last night to make the deal a reality.

Last night, we hiked back down to almost Central NJ to see Paul. We got there and checked out the car again. It had a few minor scratches, but I'd asked Paul on Saturday to fix them, he said it would be a "couple hundred dollars" to do, and on a sale with such a great price it wasn't worth it to them to fix it....that's how it is with used cars. Ok. So when we sat down with Paul to talk numbers, I asked him to take a "couple hundred dollars" off the price of the car because he said that's what it would cost to fix them. So it only stands that if its going to cost us that money to do it, why wouldn't they help us out. Well, I'll be honest, my boyfriend was given such a good deal on the first quote (he was only $1,000 over what the low end of the true market value is in this area - and a good $3,000 less than the high end), that Paul said he was only making $500 over their cost (whatever) so, no. Ok. My boyfriend was ok with that - so I was too. We both thought it was a long shot anyway, but always worth asking for. He said to show him the actual cost breakdown - "show me the numbers".

When Paul brought over the print out, boy were we surprised....and here's where I start to feel just a little bad for Paul. Because Paul caught me in a confrontational mood - and I wasn't going to let it go to waste!

The print out showed us the cost of the car (ok, we knew that) but then we found an additional $199 for window etching and a key replacement program (WHAT?) and $114 for the DMV (when in reality its $71.50 for the registration and $20 for the title cost in NJ) as well as that pesky $299 "doc fee" that "everyone" pays.

First off, the doc fee seemed excessive to us, so I called around before going back to see Paul and most of the dealers in that area were $199. We also found that the doc fees are where the dealership pads their cost. So I asked Paul to explain why its $299 for their doc fee and told him I researched it. He tried every trick in the book....including saying that if you went to Lexus or BMW, their fees are more like $600. I shot back telling him that we're not buying a Lexus or BMW and that I'm not a status person (which, really is why you buy one of those anyway). I drive a Hyundai - so you know I'm not a status person (even though I love my car). He basically told me that's how it is and it is what it is so why question it. So I pointed out that by taking that approach and accepting it for what it is is how we got where we are with our government today. I don't accept it for how it is. If we were going to pay an additional $300, I wanted a breakdown of where the money is going. Long story short, I got it out of him that the cost is B.S. and that it basically lines the boss' pocket, but there's nothing that can be done about it. O...k....

So then I called him on the $114 for the DMV and told him it should be $91.50 total. I made him find out why they're charging us an extra $25 - more money for the bossman's pocket?? He lowered the price after I got a little stern with him. He also tried to tell us there's a tire surcharge (what??) so that was part of the $114, however, we never paid it...it just disappeared - some surcharge, huh?

And then it was on to the $199 for the window etching and keys. The car comes etched and he said we had to pay for it. But its a used car - I pointed out that the original owner would've payed for it, so basically by us paying for it, we're paying twice. But he didn't accept that - it was etched - we had to pay. The car only came with 1 set of keys, but the $199 included a free key replacement (one per year for 3 years) but only from that dealer. I called him on it and said it seemed slimy. But hey "it is what it is" - Poor Paul - doesn't he learn?? (FYI - my boyfriend already said he'd be getting all 3 keys - even if he doesn't need them. Heck, he paid for them!!)

After going back and forth and nit-picking the pennies, I finally told him flat out that I wasn't here to make his boss or the owner money - I was there to make my boyfriend a good deal. My boyfriend then told him to knock more $ off to help him swallow their extra b.s. costs and he did...! Go Paul.

We finally settled on the costs and made it into the finance office and had no problems with Ricardo....the finance guy. I think Paul probably warned him about me! But you know what?? That's ok. Because my boyfriend got a good deal on a great truck and I'm just tickled pink for him!! We finally got out of there around 10:15 or so and by the time we picked up dinner and made it home, we ate at 11:45 and went right to bed. Real healthy, I know. But we were exhausted and our brains were mush - but we were also basking in the goodness of what we did!!

Of course, there's only one hitch - my boyfriend didn't have his insurance card with him, so we have to go back tonight to pick up the truck. But that's ok...its more quality time we get to spend together later on....and that's fine by me!