Our New Car

We had quite an adventure shopping for a new car recently. I was prepared to haggle and wheel and deal with some car salesman (again) in order to get it done. Imagine my surprise when that didn't happen. We had such a pleasant experience I thought I should blog about it and give credit where credit is due. So here's how it happened:

Our New Car

 

What just happened here? Last week we were driving a dignified old Chrysler Intrepid, a car that was compatible with our own age. It pretty well defined us and our lifestyle. Then I discovered that in order to keep it in top shape, I would have to spend about four hundred dollars in repairs. I HATE spending money! Apparently the missus does too. She says; “You’re not throwing good money after bad! We’ll look into getting a new car.”

WHAT? She won’t spend four hundred bucks on old Victoria, but she’s quite prepared to lay out twenty-thousand smackers or so for a new car? Go figure. Does she know what she’s getting us into? Now we’ve got to go to a car dealership and I’ve been watching TV commercials long enough to know I don’t much like them.

The second dealership we went to was Birchwood Honda on Regent. We’d sort of decided we would look at the Honda Civic because it looked nice. Well if you’re going to get one of these new electronically savvy contraptions, it might as well be pleasing to the eye. Rod Olesco greeted us in the showroom and invited us to sit down with him to outline our wishes. Before we could open our mouths though, he said could he get us something to drink so we could talk comfortably. I asked for gin and tonic. Unfortunately they were just out of gin and tonic but he brought some water instead. What a pleasant experience.

The test car was pointed north and when I lifted the hood, the engine faced east. Regardless, it went exactly where I instructed it to. Well, maybe these new fangled things are a lot smarter than I’d thought. While Rod and I were riding around in the test car, the missus hooked up with Kim Corrigal in the financial department. While they were busy crunching the numbers, the two of them were laughing and joking like two old buddies. When I came in she asked if she could get me something to drink. I said gin and tonic please. Well, they were still out but I could get a coffee or a glass of water.

If that wasn’t enough, after we got our license and insurance transferred we met Abigail Macatbag, the delivery coordinator who didn’t have any gin and tonic either, but instead introduced us to everybody in the whole dang service shop. Then she took us to the car and in rapid fire fashion, explained the whole business to us, sending us on our way.

I have to say I’ve never had such an experience before. See, me and the missus have been in the sales business all our lives and early on we adopted the Rotary Club credo that “Service is our Business”. Obviously the people at Birchwood have the same credo because the most valuable thing we got out of the whole transaction was their knowledgeable service. There’s hope for humanity yet. I’m just sayin’.