The Deal (Set In 1964)

The sales manager glanced toward the opening showroom door. "I'll be right with you, Bruce."

"Take your time, Pete."

Joy focused a burgundy Corvair Monza GT convertible with white top and seats and burgundy carpeting. It was exactly right. Joy immediately opened the driver's door and sat down inside. It was sporty, had a four-on-the-floor and radio with front and rear speakers.

"It's loaded," the 'up' salesman said.

"It's very nice."

"I'm Eddie," he introduced.

"I'm Joy."

"Is that a Kentucky accent?" Bruce interrupted.

"Yes sir. I'm from a little town outside of Ashland. You probably never heard of it."

"I was born and raised in Morgan County."

"No kidding. I'm from around Catlettsburg."

"I have some relatives there."

"Everyone is someone's cousin down that way. For all I know we could be related."

"You may be right."

"So is this the car you going to buy today?" Eddie floated a trial close.

"It seems small to me," Bruce replied.

"Sometimes that's a good thing. I assume the Impala you pulled up in is a V-8."

"Yes," Bruce confirmed.

"This has rear-mounted, air cooled V-6. This model has a four-speed manual transmission. Are you comfortable with that, Joy?"

"She drives my pick-up. It's manual."

"That's great. Sometimes that's a barrier."

"I like having control," Joy said.

"What are we looking at for a price?" Bruce ventured.

"We can make the price work for you. You're not going to pay too much are you?"

"Of course not."

"Well, that's good. We're not about to overcharge our customers. You bought the Impala here?"

"Last year, around this time," Bruce said.

"Who was your salesperson? I mean if you had a good relationship..."

"I deal with Pete. Actually the day that car came in for Mr. Walsh's use, I bought it."

"Mr. Walsh owns the place. He  can drive any car he wants," Eddie laughed. "That Corvette over there was his for a few days but he said it's too flashy."

"That sounds like him."

"Listen, take the Corvair out for a drive, get the feel of it and make sure it is exactly what you want. Then when you get back we can sit down and work out the numbers so Joy can drive it home today."

"I'm not comfortable yet," Bruce replied.

"Well, take your time, Bruce. If there are any questions, please ask. Since you're one of our preferred customers, you can drive it for as long as you want. Take it home and think about it. Let me get a dealer tag for you..."

"We live over fifteen miles away."

"That's no problem, Bruce."

"We'll drive it around town, maybe take it out on US-40 to open it up a bit."

"That's fine. I'll be right back and we can take it outside for you."

Pete had freed himself, "Bruce it's great to see you again. Did you get the brochures?"

"Yes, we did," Joy answered.

"This can't be little Joy?"

"She's going to be a senior?"

"Time flies!" Bruce offered.

"Why, I recall you sitting on your dad's lap when I sold him a pick-up, it was blue as I recall. That was one of the first vehicles I ever sold. You made me work for it!"

"I'm still driving it."

"It's been a good truck, then. I'm glad. I definitely sold you the right truck."

"I have no complaints."

"So, has Eddie been treating you well?"

"He likes to talk."

"It's the nature of the business. You know that, Bruce."

"Well, anyway he's from Kentucky."

"That's right, he is. You grew up there, too, right?"

"He lives close to a couple of my cousins."

"Small world."

"Yeah," Bruce allowed.

Eddie returned to the room.

"Bruce says you've been treating him and Joy very well."

"They want to test drive the Corvair."

"That's great! Bruce is family. He bought Mr. Walsh's car out from under him!"

"That's what he said."

Pete chuckled. "Mr. Walsh ordered five cars in a row that got sold before he got to drive any."

"He has good taste," Joy said.

"Well, that's what I said. If we keep selling his cars maybe he should do all the ordering. Well, let me get the door open for you."

When they returned from their test drive, Joy mentioned something was rattling.

"I'll have our Service Manager check it out it right away."

"Well, it needs to be fixed before we make any deals," Joy said.

"That's exactly what we'll do. What speed did you notice it?"

"Not fast. Forty?"

"I'll get the service manager right on it."

Eddie hurried outside to drive it to the service area, and then returned.

"Was there something else you wanted to look at?"

"No," Bruce answered. "She likes that car. Just the noise..."

"I'm sure it's minor. Thousands of parts and something just wasn't tightened enough. You don't know until you drive it."

"I'm sure you're going to take care of it," Joy said.

"So, how much is it?" Bruce asked.

"Are you going to finance?"

"It will be cash," Bruce said.

"Great! And no trade-in. Makes it simple."

"Pete always gives me a cash discount. Get with him and find out the best he can do?"

"Well, let me get all the information and we can sit down and work out the numbers. How's that?"

"That's fine."

"We can go over here. You need anything: coffee, water, soda?"

"Coffee."

"A cola," Joy said.

"I'll be right back."

When Eddie had delivered the drinks coffee and cola he took his paperwork to Pete's office and waited until Pete excused himself from the customers he was with and stepped outside to talk with Eddie. Pete jotted down a figure and patted Eddie on the back.

Eddie returned smiling broadly, "I think you're going to be very happy. The list is $2556.90 but your price today is $2250."

"That's more than I paid for the Impala."

"Everything goes up. Plus the Corvairs are very popular and that one's loaded."

"Well, there's supposed to be an end of the model year discount."

"There is, Bruce. That's $100 and Pete's doubling it plus an additional $100 for being a preferred customer."

"It's still more than I want to pay."

"Let's work on it. You tell me what you think is fair and I'll present that to Pete and we'll see. It can't hurt to try, right?"

"I was thinking $2000."

"Let me jot that down. If we can get it down to $2000, you're ready to buy?"

"If you can do that."

"What about $2050? Is that doable?"

"See about $2000."

"Okay, just do me a favor, initial this to show it's your offer."

Bruce obliged. Once Eddie was out of earshot Bruce whispered, "He made a mistake but he's pretty good. He's working us, though."

"I kind of got that."

Eddie's smile was even broader as he returned, "I think we're there. Pete said he'll gas it up, polish it, and give you your first oil change on the house."

"How much?"

"$2150."

"Well, thanks for trying," Bruce started to stand. "Tell Pete thanks. We tried."

"We can still make this work. Don't give up on it yet."

"$2000."

"Let's try that number again. You're sure there's no play. I mean we're close to a deal."

"$2000 cash."

"Well, I know he wants to see Joy in that car today."

"Look, I really appreciate you working with us," Bruce said. "I want you to earn some money, too. But I think $2150 is too much."

"Well, Bruce, $2000 is pretty low. That's the hard part. If you could meet us halfway maybe that could work. Say $2075 or $2100?"

"What about $2000 to $2025?"

"You want me to try $2025?"

"No, $2000. If that is never going to happen just tell me."

"Let me work on Pete. Okay? You're a loyal customer. I can't guarantee anything but let's try."

Behind Eddie's departure, Joy whispered, "Is $2000 reasonable?"

"That is doable for me. I think Pete's still training the new guy, letting it go this far."

Eddie wore a confident smile when it returned again. "Because it's you, Bruce, we can do it for $2075. That's at dead cost. But Pete said he'll do that for you."

Bruce started to stand, again.

"Wait, let me ask you this. Is there anything you don't like about the car?"

"The noise," Joy said.

"We're taking care of that. What I mean is like anything we could add on?"

"What good will that do?"

"Well, as you may know there's more play with the price of accessories. Maybe we can strike a deal with just a little bit more money and bury cost in the price of the vehicle."

"I'm getting the car for $2000 or no deal."

"Let me tell Pete that."

"We're just about finished," Bruce whispered as they both watched Eddie returned yet again to the Sales Manager's office.

"I really like the car, Daddy."

"Pete will make a deal. He always has."

Pete returned with Eddie and sat down across the table from Bruce and Joy. "This will be your first car," he said as he focused upon her eyes.

"That remains to be seen, Mr. Cook."

"It's always Pete, Joy especially when you're buying your first car from me."

"We don't have a deal."

"We will. I promise. Bruce and I have been haggling over prices for years. Isn't that right, Bruce?"

"We've done some trading."

"Bruce and I were just talking earlier. One of my first sales was a truck he still drives," he explained to Eddie. "That was probably the hardest sale I ever made and one of the first but I also learned a lot."

"I see," Eddie said.

"So, Eddie says we're close here. Seventy-five dollars is close."

"It's still a lot of money," Bruce said.

"Sure it is, Bruce but it's like less than 4% of the cost. It's like we're haggling over the sales tax!"

"What do you need for a deal?"

"Eddie, this is what you needed to learn. You needed to get to the point of asking Bruce what he just asked me. Bruce is a very fair man. He's tough as a negotiator, though. His father Ben taught him all about horse-trading. Car deals aren't much different. I hope you didn't mind helping me train Eddie."

"I figured that was what I was doing. It was kind of fun," Bruce said with a smile.

"I thought so."

"Joy learned, too."

"That's always a good thing."

"Is $2000 doable?"

"That's very low, Bruce. Mr. Walsh would have to approve that because he wouldn't make anything on the vehicle and Eddie would get what we call a flat, just pay for his time."

"His draw."

"Exactly. That happens sometimes. It's not good for a salesman on commission but Eddie's learning. So be it.  What I need is to see Joy driving that car. I'm in the kind of business where I can make people's dreams come true. Ever since I realized that I never wanted to do anything else. You taught me that, Bruce."

"Let's do it this way," Bruce began. "I would like Eddie to make more than a flat. He's worked pretty hard to get the sale."

"I know. It's just he didn't close the deal."

"I'll bet the next deal he will close without your help."

"I think I owe you a little consideration for doing that for him and me. I threw him a curve letting him negotiate with you. So, let's make a deal for $2050. That way Eddie can show a small profit and make a little over the flat on the deal."

"Let's do it for $2075, tax, title and all. And you throw in a tank of gas; shine it up really good with three coats of wax and two free oil changes. That way Eddie makes a little more profit."

Pete smiled broadly, offering his hand across the table to Bruce, "You sign the check and I'll draw up the paperwork. Eddie can deliver the car to your house when they are all done with it. I'll have the Service Manager do the same inspection we give to a trade-in just to make sure everything is right and tight. How's that?"

"That'll be fine. I'll give Eddie a ride back. I'm thinking of trading that old blue pick-up you sold me if you have something I like."

"Well, if that's the case, then sure. We can do that. Eddie can drive back in the pick-up with you and do the trade-in evaluation on the way. Let me get all the paperwork together and in the meantime why don't you go ahead and take a walk out onto the lot and see if any of those trucks catches your eye."