How to sell your used car....quick.

Dien......your mention about "Selling Cars" brings to memory waay baack in 1979 in Carter's last year.....I was living in the Aspen Co area and a guy in my church asked me if I'd come work for him 30 days to see if I could "come up with some Marketing Ideas" to help his sales.

If you remember, the last year of the "Carter-Regime".....Interest Rates on most everything, especially Vehicle Financing, went thru the roof.....over 20%. So....until Reagan got in and began bringing things "back to normal" and out of the hands of "Lefties".....times were VERY TOUGH in the car biz.

So....the guy offered to pay me a Nice Chunk PLUS the use of an "All Terrain JEEP" I could plow around Aspen with.

I came up with 2 things that he continued to use for years after;

1) Since the Dealership was in Glitsy-Ritsy Aspen.....I KNEW that the Rich would try to camouflage their Richness by wearing somewhat "shabby" or "mundane" clothes.....HOWEVER.....I knew that the "rich" ALWAYS took care of 3 things; Their Teeth....their Fingernails AND....THEIR FEET!

So.....my 2nd day on the Lot, in walks a guy wearing a shabby T-Shirt and Levi's....BUT.....his teeth were Sparkly White when he smiled....I couldn't see his fingernails BUT....he was wearing a pair of $1,500 Tony Lama cowboy boots!

So....it wasn't my "UP" (That's car sales lingo for, "My Turn") and the sales guy whose turn it was, looks at the "prospect" and asks me if I'd take this "Up". I said, "Sure! Not acting too excited)

I proceed to sell the guy THREE TRUCKS at FULL PRICE! His name was "Leon Uris" the guy who wrote "Exodus" which also became a movie.

2) I also noticed that when anyone brought their older vehicles in to trade, their MAIN purpose was to get as MUCH as they could....even though the thing was a "Bucket of Bolts" or had been in a wreck...etc.

The sales person would look at the vehicle....get in and start the engine and maybe drive it a block or 2.....with the owner sitting in the passenger seat .

They'd come back and the sales guy would try and negotiate DOWN while the owner would negotiate UP. This brought my little brain to think: "I wonder if there's a way to get the owner to "FESS-UP" to everything that had happened to the vehicle while he had it.....or....just not be so intent on "getting Top Dollar".

The answer came to me the next time I got in a "Trade". I got in the driver's seat and the owner got in the passenger side. I turned on the engine....revved it up a few times THEN (Cialdini ought to include the following in one of his books)....at the same moment I switched off the ignition I YELLED....VERY LOUDLY....INSIDE....."WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?"


I almost scared the owner "out of his pants"! (I have a BIG Voice)

When he settled down....he proceeded to tell me EVERYTHING that was wrong with the vehicle. One guy even told me his insurance co had Totaled it when it was in a wreck and he and a buddy "fixed it up" to try and sell it on a trade.....even though he had been PAID by his insurance co.

So.....the dealership began making Good Money on Trades and began to pay close attention to "Camouflaged Rich Buyers".

Thanks for letting me bring this up off a "Memory Hook".

Don Alm