My dad was 57 when he bought his first brand new car, the HR wagon. I was 58 now.
For my children, Sarah and Nicholas, they both enjoyed new cars at around the time they graduated from university, in their early 20s.
My first new car
I like the shape of the TS Astra. GMH was my favoured manufacturer; my best man Darryl had one after all.
I chose the CDX model. It was meant to be top of the range. It had leather seats, leather trim and all the latest equipment, including heated seats.
It was actually a run out model, near the last of its shape, as the next model was starting to appear in showrooms. This is a buying technique my father in law, Les, often recommended as his proven way to achieve favourable prices for a new car.
Doing the deal
One would rarely know if a better deal could have been struck, however, I did have fun trying to come up with a deal. The usual run around looking for the rock bottom price and the final acknowledgement that “Yes sir. These are the best prices you can expect.”
At that point, I turned to the internet to search out the exact car I wanted; a far change from the techniques I employed when I first started buying cars.
I found the exact car I wanted in a Melbourne dealership.
With a phone call I established could buy a car out of Melbourne, with a month’s registration and some costs to drive it back home. These costs plus the full South Australian registration, would total up to an amount just shy of $28,000.
Armed with this information I did the rounds of the Holden dealers again. The deal was $28,000 drive away 12 months rego and a tow bar fixed and fitted.
Some dealers said “no.” One dealer asked “how I had arrived at that figure…? Did I have the GMH employee discount?”
“No. My deal was carefully calculated,” I said. My deal included the price of the car plus, a one-way flight to Melbourne, taxi fees, a tank of fuel and lunch at the Bordertown Bakery.
If they were prepared to match price, I would buy the car right there and then.
The art of the deal
So eventually, the salesman said “Yes.”
There was a small catch, I had to wait until they sourced the car from the plant. For this extra waiting time, I wasn’t too fussed. Because I had saved myself a busy trip to Melbourne.
This was in fact, my first opportunity to do a deal on a new car.
I tried action all the advice I have been given over the years, and I felt I had a stuck a good deal.
It was my first new car and a new car experience. Driving the car away from the showroom with the odometer in single digits and feeling the esteem of buying from a new car show room. Who can forget the new car smell and the smell of fresh leather seats.
In the first few months, I would wash and vacuum the Astra several times a week.
It was a clean machine. A nice, clean shape and an excellent design. I drove firm and tight on the road; the first car I had owned with low profile tires and cruise control.
