The Time I Made My First Deal

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
06/11/2014 at 00:19 • Filed to: None

Even though the internet was on the rise in the early nineties, the plethora of information we take for granted today wasn't yet available. I was also saddled with a dial-up connection, giving me all of the 56.6k bandwidth I could stand. So when it came time to make my first deal, I did my research the old-fashioned way - with the newspaper, magazine reviews, and the best of all - test drives!

I took a trip to the Big City and drove everything I could get my hands on. Full-size trucks were still king of the hill and commanded top dollar, but they were outside both my budget and my needs. Dodge was producing the first "mid-size" truck, the Dakota. I wanted one bad. I found the mid-size truck also had a mid-size price, placing it firmly outside the budget of someone working their first job out of college. Compact trucks were everywhere and were reasonably priced (within my budget). There were options from Ford, Chevy, Mazda, Nissan, and Toyota.

In the end, I thought the Ranger met all of my needs. My goal was to get an extended cab and a 3.0 V-6. Having little experience with the luxuries, anything else was just gravy. I decided to buy local if I could get the right price, so the next week I visited my local Ford dealership. Perhaps I didn't have the right look, perhaps it was just a bad day for the salesman. Maybe he just wasn't happy to sell a Ranger when there were bigger sales to be had. Whatever the circumstances, that one salesman put a damper on my fire and I decided to keep looking.

Just down the road, they had just opened a new Mazda dealership. Although I was set on the Ranger, I decided that I should see what Mazda had to offer. I knew they were in a partnership with Ford as my old B2000 had Ford stamps on a lot of its parts, but I didn't know that the new Mazdas were rebadged Rangers! The salesman led me around the lot, showing me all of the options. Then he said the magic words, "bring any vehicle down here and we'll do a side-by-side comparison." I thanked him for his time and promised to come back when I was ready to buy. It was then I hatched a plan.

The next day I went back to the Ford place and asked for another drive in the Ranger. The salesman (same one) tossed me the keys and told me not to wreck it. Since he didn't bother to come along for the ride, I immediately drove it to the Mazda lot. I told the salesman there that I wanted to take him up on his offer. His confusion cleared when we walked out of the showroom to find a brand new Ford on his lot. Once he stopped laughing, he told me that nobody had ever taken him up on that offer before. He found the keys to a comparable model and brought it around for the side-by-side comparison.

There were just a few differences to be found. The Mazda had "sport" mirrors, pop-out rear quarter windows, a sliding back window, and a tachometer, all features the Ford lacked. The biggest kick was the price - all of the extras were available for a few hundred less than the sticker on the Ford! The decision was clear. It was time to buy another Mazda.

I didn't buy that day and the Mazda I wanted was sold. When none of the other options would do, he took me over to the used lot. Hiding there was a two-year old B3000 with all of the options except cruise control. For less money than new I could get more! Sport seats with inflatable lumbar support! Power windows! Power steering! A snazzy sport stripe and premium wheels! Five speed! I was SOLD!

Although this one looks just like mine, it isn't mine. I'll try to get a decent shot of my truck and update this post with the actual truck. In the meantime, thanks AutoTrader!

DISCUSSION (6)

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > TheRealBicycleBuck
06/11/2014 at 00:37

My middle school shop teacher drives his. He has a purple one, with aftermarket wheels. He drove a 130 mile round trip commute daily. One day, one of the wheels actually broke. I barely saw that car in downtime except for that time.

Garrett Davis > TheRealBicycleBuck
06/11/2014 at 00:43

Good read! Just curious, why did you want the 3.0 over the 4.0? Price? Mileage?

TheRealBicycleBuck > CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
06/11/2014 at 00:45

My commute was 160 miles round-trip for a time. After doing that four or five days a week for a year, I was lucky enough to reduce the trip to two or three times a week for the next couple of years. My next job was less than 10 miles from home. The truck didn't see much action, but my bike sure did!

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > TheRealBicycleBuck
06/11/2014 at 00:46

Nice. what'd you ride?

TheRealBicycleBuck > CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
06/11/2014 at 01:07

I had a Cannondale R600 for nice days, a no-name steel mountain bike for bad. The mountain bike was more forgiving on the rough roads even though it had no suspension. One-inch slicks beat out 23mm racing tires for comfort any day of the week.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Garrett Davis
06/11/2014 at 01:12

Both, really. It also had something to do with a used 3.0 being on the lot for the right price.