Used Car Forget Haggling

Written by Terry J. Schultz    Monday, 09 February 2009

A customer walks into a brightly lit steel-and-glass CarMax showroom. A re-cent-model used car catches his eye. It's a low-mileage, sporty-looking number with its hood open. The customer looks inside. The engine and other drive components arc spotless, looking almost brand-new. This is a used-car lot? No unctuous salesperson, no patter about how a used car was driven sparingly by an aged schoolteacher. A sales consultant in a bright blue or yellow shin and khaki pants walks up. If the customers have brought their kids on a weekend or an evening, they are invited to drop them off in a supervised playroom. The "consultant" points the potential customer to a freestanding kiosk, one of several dispersed about the room. The salesperson helps him log on to a touch-screen computer and enter his preferences. The computer searches the store's inventor, in the right price range--say $12,000 to $13,000 1992 Toyota Camrys or Honda Accords with about 40,000 miles. Want to think it over? Take a printout with you. Test-drive? Of course. The salesperson accompanies the prospect across the lot. Large blue and yellow banners indicate the whereabouts of the compacts, the full-size cars, the vans and sports vehicles. Here's the car that fits your specs. The salesperson drives the car to the gate, and a scanner registers the car and identity of the salesperson. Outside the gate the customer gets behind the wheel and drives along a test route. Sold? Back in the office, the computer registers all the costs associated with the purchase. Need financing? Circuit City's own finance subsidiary or NationsBank will give you a yes or no in just ten minutes. You can insure the car, too, before you drive it off. Extended service plan with warranty that covers all mechanical and electrical parts? Just sign here. When the customer climbs into his clean, shiny used car ready to drive off, the salesperson snaps his picture with a Polaroid. The whole thing was a pleasant experience, not an ordeal of haggling and doubts about quality and price.

Last Updated ( Monday, 09 February 2009 )