I got my Toyota Corolla detailed inside and out and drove to Downtown Subaru to trade it in on a new Outback 3.6R. I wasn't expecting a great deal on my old car - I was hoping for $8,000 to make the numbers work on the purchase. .
I walked into the store and announced to the first sales guy I saw that I was looking to do a deal that day and that I was prepared to buy. I was the type of customer sales guys dream of: I new the make, model and colour I wanted and I had money. The sequence of events that ensued causes me to suspect that this dealership hires exclusively from the CAMH on Queen West:
The sales guy showed me a number of cheaper models I was not interested. "That's nice..." I would say, "but I really want a 2013 Outback 3.6R in graphite." He would half-recognize my 'objection' and then lead me around to another floor model I had no desire to buy. By this time my girlfriend is looking at me like we were involuntarily a part of a Monty Python skit.
"We want a 2013 Outback 3.6R!" It was almost getting confrontational. I said we had a trade-in, but it was dark and rainy outside and the sales guy was adamant that we come back when it was nice out. Crazy talk...
So we settled on a test drive of a 2013 Outback with the smaller engine (which I did not want) and the ride was dominated by the sales guy's misrepresentation of the product. He kept Insisting that the car I wanted was available in a manual transmission. I had done my research and I new it wasn't so I politely corrected him. He wouldn't give. I decided to go Freud ninja on this guy and said, "ok, let's go back to the dealership and I will buy the model with the standard transmission."
We head back inside and the guy heads over to his desk and thumbs through some papers. "Hey, guess what - you were right." he tells me. "Come back when it's nice out and I'll take a look at that Toyota."
I bought a fully loaded 2013 Subaru Outback 3.6R from Budd's Subaru in Oakville. It took me an hour to get there and ten minutes to get my car.
The worst part is that I am sure Downtown Subaru has a whole slew of competent people on their roster and they have suffered for this one guy's desire to keep me from my Outback...