The SUV had pretty much bitten the dust so Saturday morning we decided to hit the dealership and, one way or another, come away with a good used car at a decent price.
Of course, everyone thinks that before they get there and have to settle for less and pay more. Fewer people these days even consider a new car.
"We're going to get a great deal," proclaimed Suzie the night before. "It's all in the art of negotiation." She seemed so confident I didn't have the heart to tell her she was dreaming.
I called upstairs to see if she was ready and five minutes later she glided into the room in the legendary tight, short black skirt, a dark blue satin blouse unbuttoned way too far and black patent leather pumps.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Car shopping!" She said cheerfully.
"You look like your going to a cocktail party."
"Jim, listen up...it's the art of negotiation."
Over the years I had learned to just shut up and let her confidence lead the way. She hummed along with the radio all the way there. One thing was for sure, that skirt would get us plenty of attention from the salesmen.
I got that right. As soon as we got through the big glass doors of the dealership there was a mad dash to wait on us from at least four salesmen. One guy stepped on another and one beat the pack and that was...
"Hi, I'm Bill. What can I show you today?"
I was about to speak when Suzie gave me the pause sign. "Bill, we were wondering if you could put us in a great SUV for a ridiculously low price."
Scoping out Suzie's cleavage, Bill promised to do the best he could.
Suzie said in a soft voice, "I always do my best and I'm sure you will too. Until we both are satisfied."
She emphasized the last word which wasn't lost on Bill's libido. Bill took us right to the new cars but as I was about to say 'we're looking for a used car' I decided to stifle the words and let Suzie run the show. Besides I'm sure Bill could have cared less what I was saying.
Suzie touched his arm often and kept putting her assets in his sight line. Leaning in to look at the interior of an SUV out of our price range there was little left for Bill's racing imagination. Her panties were on display.
Pulling himself out of the vision trance he said, "Whaddya think?"
"I like it a lot," she said, "but we probably can't afford it. What kind of a deal can you give me? I mean, I really (touches his arm again) want it so it depends on what you can give me and maybe what I can give you." At this point Bill was surely unprepared for a force like Suzie.
Again he had to crawl out of his trance, "Let's go in my office and run the numbers." He had ceased to even acknowledge my existence. He only responded to her.
He 'ran the numbers' and it was a shitload of dough and the monthly was a lot. "That's about the best I could do. I'd probably get fired if I went any lower."