HOW (NOT) TO BUY A CAR …!?

Buying a new car is one of the most exciting things. In every possible way. First of all, the big decision which car it’s gonna be. Brand, colour, power, fuel, automatic or stick shift, price. Of course, price might be an issue as well. In my case, my priorities – apart from the car model itself – was plain and simple. White, automatic, diesel. (To the utter amusement of my colleagues who felt responsible for giving me advice on THEIR favourite cars!) Basically, buying a car is quite easy if you keep in mind MY exceptionally good advice:

Trust your car salesmen! Always! They are the most honest people around! Really! I totally and absolutely mean it! They are sooo nice and would be the worst poker players ever! Truth is their second middle name!
Don’t buy your car in your home town! The farther away the better! After all you don’t want to annoy your poor car dealer every time something is wrong with your car. They certainly don’t deserve your anger because your newly acquired car breaks down on the way home. Or you find out that the promised maintenance hadn’t been done at all. Because your car is screaming a few hundred kilometres later that it needs it. Badly.
Forget checking the described equipment and technical features! The online ad description is proof enough. Especially if it’s in German AND English language. One can’t be wrong in two languages, can one? Definitely not!
Please don’t haggle over the price. Your car is worth so much more than it is sold to you for. It’s in pristine condition, polished, smells lovely and looks brand new – until you have it washed for the first time. But who cares about those tiny scratches no one can see anyway?
Car maintenance is sooo overrated! Who cares whether the oil has been changed. Or filters checked. Or anything else. So, there’s no point at all, checking the maintenance schedule and history of your car. You can trust that the previous owners took as good care of your car as you yourself would. After all, your car is beautiful! Perfect!
Leasing cars are the best! Everyone knows that one drives extra carefully with a leased car. Barely using the brakes, driving anything but aggressively, why worry about a bumper accident or lost keys? Insurance will handle it and it’s like brand new.
A painted car hood only means someone scratched it! NOT that the previous owner had a little accident where all the important front parts like cooling system and lights had to be exchanged. What are you thinking? Your car sales man wouldn’t lie to you! After all he wouldn’t want to be sued, would he?
Show how much you want the car! Your car sales man will emphasize even more, trying to give his best to make the best price just for you! AND …
NEVER take anyone with you when buying your car! You don’t need a sensible voice negotiating for every little thing! You are an intelligent woman and don’t need your man / best friend / colleague / lawyer to accompany you just to buy a car. For checking every screw and bolt, searching for damages, asking questions you don’t need to ask …

So, since I have followed ALL this advice myself, buying my lovely Rangey all by myself … well, good luck to you!