Dealer has offered to "buy back" my 3

Alright, just got back...that took all of about 10 minutes.

The only way some kind of trade was going to be done (since they said they were looking to put some money in my pockets) is if they pay off the rest of the balance owed in addition to the 20 payments I've already made. Fat chance.

So anyway, I walk in and the manager says "You must be vaca22," and invites me to sit down. He starts telling me how all the guys in the garage like working on the car because it's always so clean. It's true, my car is usually spotless and brilliantly shined...but I wonder how many other people he's used this line on.



So I ask him what the call was all about this morning. He asked me if I was interested in all in trading in the car. I told him that I honestly wasn't, but I wanted to come in and hear what he had to say about this whole swap thing, since the lady that called me was saying that there was such an aggressive "buy-back" program going on. So he asks me how many miles I have on it and how much I still owe, and disappears into the back room as most dealers usually do. A few minutes later he comes out and says, "well, based on the amount you owe and the mileage, I don't think this deal can work in your favor that much. See, we've got '06 Mazda6's that have a $4000 rebate, and the book value for your car is $11,750 so really all you'll be able to get is about $500 or so. The 07's don't have that much of a rebate, so that was out of the question." At this point I really wasn't paying attention to any math.

So I start asking questions.

"Is this something you usually do?"
"Well these cars are in such high demand... I mean, look at the lot out there."

I turn around and look. There are no 3's in sight...I can't believe I hadn't noticed.

He continues.
"I don't know if you've heard, but a while ago there was a cargo ship with Mazdas that flipped over. A lot of those cars were destined for arrival here."
"Oh right, I remember hearing about that on the news."
"Right. Well basically we've got customers who have been waiting for a long time and we're looking to see if existing owners are willing to trade up to a different vehicle."
"Sounds nice and all, but I waited 4 months myself to take delivery of this car because I had it ordered exactly the way I wanted it. It has just under 25,000 miles, I get oil changes every 3,000 miles, and there is not a single squeak, creek, or rattle. Positively zero issues...plus of course the sentimental value it holds."
"Oh I totally understand. Well we really want to thank you for coming in. If you ever decide to change your mind or if your needs change, please let us know."

And that was that.