And hello Subaru Outback! I had a feeling everything would work out on the test drive when the salesperson, Rion Spears, asked me if I knew where Orchard School was in Rio Linda, and then if I knew principal Paula Roach. Rion taught school at Orchard for a few years, but he kept getting laid off in the spring and rehired at the last minute in August. So he became a car salesperson.
When I gave him the name of a friend for the application, he whipped out his phone to show me a name in his contacts – his mother’s name is Phyllis Thompson. Working with car salesmen has not been a good experience for me in the past, but Rion was excellent to work with. And so was the rest of the Maita sales team.
I have to give Justin a big thank-you for helping me. He is definitely Ed’s grandson. After our first visit, as soon as he got home, he downloaded a car-buying app, consulted a few other online resources, and started filling out post-it notes with information. He compared invoices with actual selling prices from surrounding dealerships to figure out what the average discount was.
I went in the second time by myself but with a definite range and clear instructions to walk out if my max price could not be met. And that’s what I had to do. About a half-hour later, I got a phone call from the sales manager,
“Can you pay just $100 more than your max offer?”
I don’t know. I’ll have to call my son and get permission.
“But at $100 less, you don’t need to get permission?”
No.
“Alright then, you can have it for your price.” Fist pump and a big smile!
arletelouise 