The Sign Says It All

The sign above the car lot read, “Yes we have cars under $1,000.” No big mystery here, we’re talking about basic transportation—not how far or how fast, just that it runs. This is a niche that definitely needed filling  20 years ago.

Bob always greeted people with a smile, like a lot of us who are happy to see people wanting to do business. Most every day, he moved a few cars up front to give the lot a fresh look to the people driving by. Some cars had specific parking places to fit their specific positive attributes, showing the non-dented side to the camera for pictures. The blue station wagon was one such car. It was always parked facing the street, mostly because it had no reverse.

One sunny Saturday on the lot, a couple came in. They told Bob that they had very little money and needed a car. Bob showed them the blue station wagon. It was the right size and the right price, so they wanted to see how it drove. Bob gave them a short route to go on and asked them to park in front. After the drive, they’re all smiles. Bob inked the customers up and away they drove.

Almost two years go by and Bob was on the lot showing a car to a fresh customer when the people in the blue station wagon show up. “Hi, Bob, we’re back,” they said with a smile. Being a one-man operation, Bob was working between two customers now, so he suggested that they take a nice brown sedan for a drive and went back to the first customer. After a few minutes, he noticed they were still standing next to the brown sedan, so he said, “Go ahead folks, take it for a spin,” and went back to the other customer.

It took a few minutes for Bob to realize that they were not taking the brown sedan for a drive, so he excused himself from the first customer and went over to see why they weren’t test driving it. As Bob walked up to them, they asked, “Could you please pull this out for us? We haven’t backed a car up in a couple of years.”

To submit your funny story e-mail Humor@AutoDealerMonthly.com . Each month a winner is chosen and receives a $150 gift card.

Eric Prothro
Sierra Motors
Jamestown, CA

Vol 6. Issue 7