Keeping Your Faith



 Easy with cats and flowers around. Not so easy when watching the news or dealing with car salesmen or anyone selling a vehicle or diets. I had a friend once who decided to give up smoking, drinking and eating all at once.

I sort of feel like she must have felt. I am trying to follow the trial of Trump, shop for a new vehicle, and lose weight. I believe she took a medical leave. I am writing a blog.

I was worrying about the last on line car deal and whether the car was stolen when my sister suggested I never go to view a car alone. Well, living where I do that definitely complicates matters. Ergo this list of rules on at least car shopping.

1) Do your research up front and know what you are looking for.

2) Ask for information from the owners of cars you are interested in. You have the right to know mileage, major repairs, and vin #.

3) Do your due diligence. Visit vin# sites (usually a fee), Kelley Blue Book (free if you say it is your car and you want to arrive at a fair price), CarFax, Car Gurus, etc.

4) Take notes. I suggest a notebook just for this. You will gather a lot of knowledge you may well wish to check back on.

5) In addition to taking a friend never go anyplace in the dark to see a car. And never give out your telephone number or address. Bonding over car sales is not a dating option.

6) Never, ever override your esp or 6th sense. If you think you are lacking in that I offer a few quick red flags. If the vehicle has ever been in Louisiana or Houston. The seller hesitates about providing you the vin #. If the title is not in the seller's name. He wants to come to your house to show it to you. If there is a huge gap between the vehicle's mileage and what is considered average on Kelley Blue Book: low mileage is not always good. The seller only has one name and it isn't Bounce. And he has not owned the car for more than a week. And they call you Sweetie.

I recently came up with the trifecta of red flags. Vin # showed no sales since
2007. Title was not in the seller's name. Vehicle was 30,000 miles below average. Seller had only owned the car for 5 days and offered no excuse beyond having changed his mind. And I could not reach that owner to see if they had sold it. There are a lot of vehicles out there and you don't have to buy a stolen one.

If you are debating calling the police it is wise to not buy the vehicle.

You can break off negotiations at any time, block them or ignore them. Do not feel guilty for changing your mind. If it is a dealership you can file complaints, and on websites deliver a negative review.

If it all gets too much take a break. Give up the search for a while, go out and get a hot fudge sundae, turn off the news. Stop and pet the cat and smell the orchids.


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