My recent experience at my local car dealers just proved quite how gullible I am. To be fair I was always the kid in the classroom who would believe the weird and wildly unbelievable stories that the class clown would tell, of you would be flicked in the nose when someone pointed out that I had "got something on my shirt". I was Autel Maxisys MS908CV, and I suppose I still am, far too trusting for my own good. I see the world through rose tinted specs, and it means that whilst most of the time it just leads to amusing stories to tell, sometimes it is far more detrimental! I really need to start taking people with me whenever I am in a position of financial power, as I am bound to believe whatever I am told.

The example in the used car dealership was a classic. I know a little about cars, but I am the first to admit that perhaps I don't actually know much about the useful stuff. I could tell you at a glance if a car looks nice, and I could reel off a list of my favourite cars from a design perspective, but I haven't really been driving long enough to be able to tell the difference between the incredibly subtle engines differences, or to know whether a tire was pulling the car a little to the left. Because of this lack of knowledge, I probably wandered into the dealer atrociously unprepared, hence the set of events that ensued.

Upon entering the showroom, I was immediately approached by a motley drew. Clearly everyone had seen the happy looking lass wandering through the doors, and had seen a number of dollar signs hanging above my head! They converged on me Maxisys Elite, and the first to reach me took me by the elbow and escorted me to his desk. He sat me down, and proceeded to quiz me on what I wanted.

"Oh, just a car" I said, "One that will take me from A to B without breaking down".

His response, predictably, was somewhat ecstatic. He rushed to reassure me that he could definitely meet those requirements, and led me off to what he assured me was the perfect car. I stood looking at the behemoth he had bought me to, and not once did it cross my head that he had led me neatly past the cheapest cars in the room, right through to the expensive end. This car was about £5k above me non-existent budget, but when I raised concerns he let me know that I could get 0% finance for the 1st 12 months if I wanted, consequently meaning that I could afford a car that was a lot more expensive than I had though.

He then proceeded to tell me why I would prefer this car anyway. After all, I couldn't be expected to survive without dual climate control, especially when my boyfriend always likes the temperature hotter than me. I was sold straight away - and walked away £5k extra down and thoroughly confused about what had just happened!

Lauren Cooke is a writer and a car enthusiast. She currently writes for the automotive industry. Here she discusses Car Dealers.
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