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Great story from a dealership

guidry
Explorer
Explorer
This was posted on a FB page:
This was posted on the Ford forum. Comes from Jerry Reynolds of Car Pro. It's long, but hilarious. Thought some of you would like it.

Careful when you go to trade! Funny story:

"One of my duties as used car manager was to appraise and put a value on all potential trade-ins. Salespeople would drive up to my office that was on the far side of the property, have an appraisal form filled out, and I had to come up with a number value.

This was the most difficult part of the job. People would want to trade in all sorts of things, motorcycles, boats, even tractors. No matter what it was, I had to come up with a value. If I overvalued the vehicle, we'd lose money when we sold it. If I undervalued it, I could cost the dealership the sale of a new vehicle.

The Camper

It was around 9:30 AM, seems like it was mid-week, in the summer of 1979, when I looked up and "the camper" was pulling up. I will never forget it. It was an overhead camper mounted to the chassis of a single cab one-ton Ford truck. It was tall, it was wide, and the sleeping quarters were above the cab and actually stuck out past the windshield quite a ways.

The customer who wanted to trade this rig in decided he was going to trade the truck and camper, and get a new truck to pull a travel trailer. Just a little trivia, at that time Ford Motor Company built and sold these campers through Ford dealerships. They were called Goldline campers, but I digress.

My first thought when the rig pulled up was "great-I have NO idea what this thing is worth". No matter what I was appraising, it was protocol to drive the vehicle and I had a certain path I always took. It was about a 3-mile round trip, but there was a long straightaway when I could make sure the transmission shifted properly. I always wanted the salesperson to ride with me, so if there was an issue with the trade-in, the salesperson could explain it to the customer.

The Test Drive

The salesperson's name was Marvin and he was one of the leading salespeople at the dealership. I would guess he was in his early 50s at this time, with thinning hair on top, and he looked like he played football in his earlier days. Marvin hated riding with me on appraisal runs because he said I drove too fast, and there was some truth in that.

When Marvin pulled up with the camper, I said "OK, let's go drive it". Marvin said "oh no, I'm not riding with you in that thing". I said "come on, this big thing probably won't even go over 35". He relented and climbed in the cab. The truck had a big 460 V8 and when I hit the straightaway, I floored it. As if that wasn't bad enough, I started moving the steering wheel back and forth. The big rig leaned hard left, then hard right, and then hard left again, you get the picture.

This was when Marvin lost his religion. He has both hands firmly planted on the dash, his eyes were as big as saucers, he is sweating profusely, and he is screaming, "Slow this thing down!". I'd had my fun, so I slowed down, but when I pulled back into the dealership, I came in a little hot and the camper leaned hard to the left and I came to a quick stop.

Marvin sort of fell out of the truck and looked dazed and confused, muttering something about never riding with me again. It was time to try to figure out what this thing was worth. I had a relationship with an RV dealer, so my plan was to get them to give me a bid on the camper. I knew what the truck was worth, so I'd add the two numbers together and hopefully we could make a deal.

Before I called my RV buddy, I asked Marvin if the camper had a shower or not. Still breathing hard and sweat rings under his armpits, he said he didn't know for sure and I said, "Well, let's look". I open the door on the rear of the camper to climb in, and my heart stopped.

Standing there, inside the camper, was a lady. To make matters worse, she was covered in milk, eggs, and flour. The same substances were on the floor, pots, pans, and bowls were everywhere. There was milk and eggs on the walls, on the couches, pretty much everywhere. It seems she was cooking breakfast for her and her husband while he was inside the dealership.

With a horrified look on my face, I started apologizing, saying "Oh, ma'am, I am so" and before I could get sorry out of my mouth, she said slowly and very determined "GET. MY. HUSBAND. NOW". As we headed for the showroom, Marvin said, "You're telling him, I'm not doing it".

How The Story Ends

I sat down across the desk from the man who owned the camper and sheepishly said, "sir, I have some bad news to tell you about the test drive I took with your truck and camper". He assumed there had been an accident, but I explained that wasn't the case. I gave him some history on Marvin and me going on test drives, and I went through what I had done on the straightaway. It suddenly dawned on him his wife was inside cooking breakfast; you could see it on his face.

Suddenly the man starting laughing, I assume he pictured in his mind what the scene inside the camper looked like. I profusely apologized, repeatedly, and just asked the man this direct question: "Sir, what were you thinking you wanted for your truck and camper?"

He got his price immediately.

This is volume II in the "True Stories From a Former Car Dealer" series I am writing about experiences when I was in the retail auto business." Jerry
11 REPLIES 11

wnjj
Explorer II
Explorer II
It does sound an awful lot like the dinner scene from โ€œThe Long, Long Trailer.โ€ Fact or fiction, still a funny story!

mgirardo
Explorer
Explorer
Seems to me that if the story were true, the woman certainly wouldn't be standing there when they opened the door. A truck camper is pretty small, hard to avoid the flying pots, pans, bowls, etc.

-Michael
Michael Girardo
2017 Jayco Jayflight Bungalow 40BHQS Destination Trailer
2009 Jayco Greyhawk 31FS Class C Motorhome (previously owned)
2006 Rockwood Roo 233 Hybrid Travel Trailer (previously owned)
1995 Jayco Eagle 12KB pop-up (previously owned)

Campinfan
Explorer III
Explorer III
That s an excellent read...thanks for posting....I am still laughing.
______________________
2016 F 350 FX4 4WD,Lariat, 6.7 Diesel
41' 2018 Sandpiper 369 SAQB
Lovely wife and three children

Cloud_Dancer
Explorer II
Explorer II
You wouldn't believe it if you hadn't seen it. Well, I didn't see it....:B
Willie & Betty Sue
Miko & Sparky
2003 41 ft Dutch Star Diesel Pusher/Spartan
Floorplan 4010
Blazer toad & Ranger bassboat

TurnThePage
Explorer
Explorer
:B
2015 Ram 1500
2022 Grand Design Imagine XLS 22RBE

SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Explorer III
That is a good one.... Kudo's.
2015 Backpack SS1500
1997 Ford 7.3 OBS 4x4 CC LB

Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Explorer II
Jerry,

I am sure that this should be posted lots of more places.

Matt
Matt & Mary Colie
A sailor, his bride and their black dogs (one dear dog is waiting for us at the bridge) going to see some dry places that have Geocaches in a coach made the year we married.

LadyRVer
Explorer II
Explorer II
That is so funny...enjoyed it...thanks for posting

Ductape
Explorer
Explorer
:B
49 States, 6 Provinces, 2 Territories...

midnightsadie
Explorer II
Explorer II
wow FINALLY A GOOD POST. LMAO.

steveksfc
Explorer
Explorer
Thank You, That story made me laugh so hard wife thought I had finally lost it. I can just visualize what that site was. Thanks again