Detailed

Another car lot story for DA. Bored car salesmen are dangerous; idle hands and minds can create major mischief.

At the time of this story, Mel S was a 70 year old salesman and weird beyond even car salesman standards. He drove a bright yellow VW diesel powered Rabbit pickup that appeared dark brown as it had never been washed in the five years Mel owned it. Mel lived at the end of a three mile dirt road.

We were working an off site sale at a race track parking lot. Business was slow and the group was bored. A couple of lot men were standing around. Mel's filthy pickup was parked nearby. A collection was taken up and the two lot men were put to work detailing (cleaning) Mel's VW. They did a great job!

At the end of the day, Mel came for his truck. He stood in front of it a good three minutes yelling about his truck being stolen; who did it, who saw it, etc. before it sunk in. After finding his key opened the door of a shining yellow truck, he started cursing. He was proud he never washed any vehicle he owned from the day he bought it to the day he sold it. The more he damned the group, the louder the laughs. Bored car salesmen = danger.

Sorry DA, you needed to be there.

Dirty Al Gets Spun

Dirty Al had a diesel powered Mercedes with low compression. To turn the engine fast enough for it to start he had the trunk full of batteries. At every opportunity he plugged in the block heater. Our dealership had two building across a busy four lane street. The building across from Al's had an outlet in the parking area that was also covered by a large deck. The area served as a smoking area. This was the owner's wife's reserved parking spot. When she left for the day he would move his car to her parking space and plug in his block heater and multiple battery chargers.

One evening I told Al, "Dan (the GM) just called and he is hot! Someone is parked in L's space and he has called a tow truck". Al goes crazy shouting, "I was told I could park there when she isn't here", and runs out the door. Crossing the four lane street took time; you needed to go to the corner and wait for the traffic light.

That gave me time to alert the GM.

The GM had been taken in by Al's spin to the point he had called his wife with the news. Payback time.

When Al came puffing up to his car, the GM was nearby smoking. "Dan", Al called out, "I need to talk to you"! "Not now', was the reply, "I'm waiting for a tow truck". The more Al protested, the more insistent the GM was he didn't have time for, "Your silly little problem". Ah, revenge.