4/16/06--Regarding the purchase of my new toy

So, truth be told....I really didn't go into a dealership last Friday night with the intention of buying a new car.  The wife and I were sort of doing the old....."preliminary search" for potential new vehicles.  And then, lo and behold, I end up being roped in with the
"if we can come up with a deal that just blows you away, would you buy a car tonight?"
routine.  I mean, don't get me wrong...I'm totally satisfied with the 4-Runner and all....its a car I've wanted for a long time....but I played the situation wrong.  My brother used to always tell me that when you go into buy a car, that you have to treat the salesman like a piece of garbage.  The person that's going to make you happy is the sales manager--or his boss.  What I really should've done is just walked my big ass right out of the dealership that night and told them that I need to think about it.  I guarantee that my monthly payments would have gone down around $25 a month if that had happened.
Live and learn...ya know?  But...I wanted to tell you about the really interest part of the evening--negotiating for my satellite radio.
Now, as some of you know, I have a Sirius Satellite radio.  Like I said, I hadn't gone into the Toyota dealership that night planning to buy a car, it just ended up happening.
So as we're drawing up the final contracts, I mention that I need to get my radio returned to me.....and the problems began.

"Uh...well....the guy that does that has already gone home for the night."  (it was around 10pm so I'm sure he was telling the truth--at least here)
"Well, if I have too, I'll come back tomorrow to get it returned."
"Well, we're probably going to have to charge you to have it taken out."

Uh...say WHAT?  I'm thinking at this point....that I just signed a contract on a car that retails for $28,000 and these guys are going to nickel and dime me about taking a radio out of my trade-in?

So the next day I come back to the dealership and the salesman from the night before goes with me to the service area where we are joined by the service writer and the technician that's going to remove my radio.  Now, mind you....the evening before, the salesman....old Mr. "I sold 30 cars last month and I am doing FANTASTIC at this dealership"......had told me that he was going to speak to the technician and see if he could "call in a favor".  Now, the next morning, all of a sudden it was.....

"Uh....I think you're going to have to pay something to have the radio taken out."

At this point....I really just wanted my radio back.  I had made an appointment with Best Buy to have it installed in the new car and figured that time was wasting.  So I leave the dealership, with the intention of returning in about an hour or so and picking up my satellite radio, the antenna and the various wires used to install it.  I go up to the service writer....

"Okay," he tells me.  "That will be $100.00."
"$100??!!??  For what?"
"Well.....its $85.00 to remove the radio, $5.00 tax, and a $10.00 service fee."
"Service fee?  For what?"
"Well....its something that we have to charge anyone who uses the garage facilities."

Lovely.  I sort of give the guy the disgusted "whatever" look and go off to pay the cashier...who was smoking hot but had a total attitude.  Hey baby, you're nice looking, but you're working at a CAR DEALERSHIP.....so don't act like you're all that and a bag of chips, ya know?  Anyway, at this point the service writer comes up to me with a big smile on his face and announces to me that they had waived the service fee.  Isn't that nice?  They waived the fee that I shouldn't have been charged to begin with!

Anyway....so I get my equipment and take everything to Best Buy.  The guy there couldn't be nicer, which is actually a big improvement from the first visit I had there.
This guy is explaining everything about how he's installing the satellite radio and how everything works---the first time I had the radio installed, the person who did the installation that day acted like he was doing me the world's biggest favor. 
So as the radio is being installed in the new car, I'm telling the guy how the dealership had charged me for taking out the radio from the old car.  He sort of laughs and tells me that they would've taken it out for free and only charged for the installation.  That made me even more upset with the dealership.

So a couple of days go by and I decide to call up the dealership.  They have one of those big signs saying that if you are not 100% satisfied.....to call the owner of the dealership.  So I call up...and asked for the owner.  I explained my situation to him, mentioned what Best Buy had said about taking the system out of the old car and he says to me....

"So you sort of have a badtaste in your mouth about the end of the deal?"
"Well.....yeah.....yeah, that's a good way of putting it."
"Okay....I'll mail you a check for $100 today."
"I don't want $100.  I want $91.03.  That's what I paid...that's what I want."
"You got it."

This past Thursday....I get a check.   $91.03.
Squeaky wheel gets the grease sometimes folks.....squeaky wheel.

Later,
Jeff