What is CAR FU?

Posted by P.W.R. in December 31st, 2008

Like the great martial arts of the Far East, the aim of Car Fu is self-defense and the achievement of serenity and inner calm. Tension and stress drain us of our life-force and bring pain to those we care about the most. There are an infinite number of horror stories from car buyers, and there are millions of people who are driving their cars long after they no longer want them to avoid enduring the sales process of an auto dealership. The problem is that the goal of the dealership will not, cannot, ever be the same as the goal of the buyer.

Unlike most other retail transactions, there is nothing that is not negotiable, and the list of products and potential hazards is endless. Just when one feels as though they have negotiated a good purchase price, they relax -just a bit- and find themselves buying thousands of dollars of additional products in the finance office. Many of these products they are learning about for the first time, and they sure do sound essential to their health and well-being!

This is because the Finance Manager has been working car deals for years, maybe decades, and he or she knows very, very well how to close a sales prospect. Those who are successful in the car business over the long haul are the superstars, the Delta Force, of sales people. Real estate? Pshaw! In what other business are you expected to sell a thirty thousand dollar product to a complete stranger, TODAY? Right. Now.

The income and livelihood of dealership employees depends on selling you products that you may or may not need. The amount of pressure on them is enormous, and their value to their employer can be measured by this months production. Last month was sooo…last month!

CAR FU prepares you not to do battle, but to assert your influence as the buyer in order to maximize the value of your purchase and minimize the amount of your precious time that is spent on it. It is not about “beating the dealership”, because that is a ridiculous and self-defeating approach. Please trust me on this: If the dealership sells you a car, it is because, after careful consideration, they have decided it is in their best interests to do so. Period. I have never heard of a dealer coming out into the showroom, hat in hand, to bow before their conqueror. It just ain’t gonna happen. Additionally, if you are thinking of “beating” the dealership going in, your serenity is already shattered and you are already losing.

It is impossible to measure the value of our personal and family time, and for those who want to negotiate, please tell me: What sort of negotiation takes place at one parties place of employment during the other parties time off? The leverage of time is everything and can only be applied by one party in that scenario.

Unlike many martial arts, one does not begin CAR FU with a white belt that progressively gets darker as more is learned. In CAR FU, one begins with NO belt, and their pants down around their ankles…