When I was driving the Gremlin (boy, I thought I was cool!), I found a car on a lot that I really, really wanted. It was a 1976 blue, two-door Monte Carlo with a landau roof. I looked it over, drove it, fell in love with it, checked with my banker to see what the book price would be, then found out that the used car dealer was asking a little more than I thought he should or than I could afford.
Turning to Dad, I asked for his advice. “You have to be willing to walk off the lot,” he told me. I asked him what that meant and he explained. When you buy a used car, the salesperson will always try to get you to buy at a high price first, then if you don’t buy, they will come down on the price to try to get your business. But… not buying is not enough. You have to be willing to leave to show that you are not willing to pay the price.
“But, Dad, I really want this car! What if someone else buys it?” His reply was that sometimes you have to take that chance to get what you want. Occasionally, you miss one, but you get a better deal on the ones you get. So, I walked off the lot. I don’t remember exactly what happened, except that the day or two I waited seemed like one of the longest periods I ever had to endure. Each day, I drove by the lot to see that the car was still there. Finally, we got together and I bought the car.
As it turns out, this is one of the really big tricks to buying a used car. I’ve heard “stories” of people saving big money by walking off the lot and the salesperson calling the next day with the deal of the century. Of course, it works, Dad told me it would.
In life, we have to be willing to walk sometimes. This rule seems to apply to not only cars but jobs, friendships, just about anything in which two people face off. If your salesperson, opponent, friend, boss, whatever, thinks that you will do anything to keep your current position or situation, then they have no reason to change, even if the change would be good for them and you. Sometimes, “walking off the lot” allows that person to see themselves, look up the costs, and make a change. Sometimes, it means losing what you had. But if what you had was not good, did you really need it?
I had a dorm roommate in college once who moved out on me. When I asked him why he said: “You treat me like you think you’re my mother.”
Unfortunately, it was true. I was dating a girl at home, traveling the hour and a half each way on the weekends to be with her, and totally abandoning any social life at school. Whenever my roommate went somewhere, it was like the Spanish Inquisition: “Where are you going?”, “Who are you going with?”, “When will you be back?” My genuine curiosity came across as motherhood.
As he left, he made the statement, “I think we will be better friends if I leave.” I could hardly believe it. By the way… he was right.
When a new roommate was assigned, I was quite a different person, and my ex-roommate and I did become better friends. In my opinion, this method should never be used just to get your way. That just makes you a big baby. Rather, when you can get someone’s attention who is really being unreasonable, and help to make a change for the better, it is a good alternative method. Unlike cars, people require a LOT of love when you deal with them. If you fail to use it, you’ll end up hurting everyone involved.
