Auto Talk From Quroa

Special From Quroa

Nathan Mowrer

E-7 at U.S. Air Force (2006–present)Jun 7

Say I walk into a car dealership with the funds to pay in full. I walk up to a salesman, point to a brand new car on the showroom floor, and say: "I want that one." No test drive, no trade in. How long would it take before I'm driving it off the lot?

Years ago, I was a salesman for Toyota. An old lady walked in and said “I want to buy a Camry.” I said great, and started asking all the questions you normally ask to find the right car for the person. She said “no, just take me on the lot, let me walk around, and I'll pick one.”

I said okay, and showed her where the Camrys were. She spent 5-10 minutes walking around, then called me over, pointed to one, and said “I'll take that one.” I said “Great! Let me grab the keys and we'll take it for a drive.” She said “no, I don't need to test drive it. My sister and daughter both have Camrys. I know how they drive.” I asked if she was sure, and she asked “will it drive any differently from theirs?” I said “probably not.” She said “okay, then I don't need to test it.”

I sat her down at my desk and went to the sales office to grab the paperwork, and my sales manager asked what I was doing. I told him “I'm selling her that Camry.” He said “Why didn't she drive it?” “Because she didn't want to.” “But she wants to buy it?” “Yep.” He didn't believe me, went and chatted with her for 5 minutes, came back to me in the sales office, “Well what are you waiting for? Go sell the woman the car!”

She wrote a check for about $25k, signed some paperwork, and that was it. In and out in under an hour, drove home in her new Camry.