"What's the matter with your car?" Gus Wilson asked his partner Joe
Clark as the latter arrived this morning on foot. "I could answer a
lot easier if you'd ask what isn't the matter with it," Joe grumbled as he
hung his hat and overcoat on the door of the tiny office in the Model
Garage. "I'm afraid the time has come when I've got to dig into the
old bank roll and get me a new car."
"It's about time," Gus chuckled. "I've been wondering how much longer
you were going to keep that old wreck."
"I could fix it up easy enough, if I wanted to," retorted Joe.
"Sure you could," Gus agreed. "No car ever gets so old that it can't
be put in good running order - if you're willing to spend money; but there
comes a time when its parts begin to lay down one after another and it
doesn't pay to try to fix it. You've had your money's worth out of
your car; now you'd better turn it over to the junk man. What kind of
a car are you thinking of buying?"
"Whoever will give me the largest allowance on the old bus gets my order,"
replied Joe. "You say all cars are almost alike, so I'm going to shop
around and see how much money I can save."
"And probably get stung doing it," predicted Gus. "I declare, Joe, you
certainly don't show much sense sometimes. When did I ever say that
all cars are exactly alike? What I said was that any modern car will
give good service - and that's all I meant. Some cars are much better
buys from a price point of view than others. And you'll generally get
the biggest allowance offers from the dealers who sell the worst bargains.
"The dealer who has the hardest time selling his cars usually is the most
liberal with trade-in allowances. Besides some manufacturers put a
fictitious list price on their models just so the dealers can make bigger
allowances. The thing to do is pick your car first and then find the
dealer who'll give you the best allowance. Hello! What's that? -
"
Gus broke off suddenly as the front door of the garage closed with a violent
sound. "I tell you you're cuckoo!" growled an angry voice from the
shop. "That car's a lemon if there ever was one!"
"G'wiz! You don't know what you're talking about!" came another
equally heated voice.
"More grief!" whispered Gus, after peeping out the office window.
"It's my cousin from up Winchester way. Another morning shot to pieces!
Hello folks!" he called out as he snapped the last buckle on his overalls
and stepped out into view. "What's all the row about?"
"Well, you see it's this way, Gus," began one of the two as he fished a
bundle of automobile catalogues and circular out of his pocket. "Ben
and I have decided to buy new cars this spring and I've been trying to get
Ben to take my advice but he's so darn pig-headed he won't do it."
"Pig-headed, am I!" exclaimed Ben. "Maybe I am - because I know I'm
right –but your dome sure is made of solid concrete - "
"That's no way to start a visit," interrupted Gus, "but I suppose the
argument is what bought you here, so let's go in the office and get it
settled.
"I gather," he continued when they had settled themselves around the table
with the literature spread out before them, "that you've each chosen a
different make. What cars are you thinking of buying?"
"I could pretty near have guessed right on both of you," Gus smiled after
they had belligerently announced their choices. "You still working in
the test room at the Manly works, Hank" he inquired, turning to the man who
was wearing the flannel shirt.
"You bet," Hank replied, "I'm foreman now." "And you, Ben, I suppose,
are still the leading legal light of Winchester?" "I'm still
practicing law," Ben corrected him.
"Have it
your own way," grinned Gus. "Anyway, each of you is an expert in one
particular line. But you've driven all the way down here just to get
my opinion on a bus that neither of you is expert in - automobiles.
"The car you've picked, Hank, is fast. It's got lots of pep on the
hills. It doesn't ride any too easy unless you fit it with shock
absorbers and keep them adjusted just right. The motor will give good
service if it gets just the proper care and there are a number of other
things about the car that require touching up every now and then if you want
good service. But, balancing the advantages against the disadvantages,
I'd say it was a mighty fine car."
Hank grinned triumphantly, "Told you so!" he snickered.
"On the other hand," Gus went on, "the car you're going to buy, Ben, is not
so good. It isn't much as a hill climber. It's sluggish on the
pick-up. It needs overhauling perhaps a little more often then other
cars in the same price class. And it needs quite a lot of servicing.
Judged strictly on merits as a car, I'd say it was inferior to a number of
others I could name."
"Humph!"
muttered Ben. "Then I suppose you'll sat I ought to follow Hank's
advice eh?" "Not at all, said Gus. "The quality of a car - any car -
is only a part of the story - and sometimes a mighty small part at that."
"As a matter of fact you fellows could have saved yourselves the trip down
here. You're both right! Each of you has picked out the car that
I could have recommended."
"I don't see how that can be," argued Hank. "You've practically told
Ben he's picked a lemon and yet you tell him to buy it. What's the big
idea?"
"Well," said Gus, "the point is, I know you two birds. You're a bug on
machinery, Hank. You'd take care of a car as well there wouldn't be a
chance for any real trouble and if you do have a breakdown you'll fix it
yourself. Chances are after you're done bought your car you'll never
go near the dealer again."
"Now, Ben, you're a lawyer. You don't give a whang-doodle about
anything mechanical. You don't know what goes on under hood of a car
and you probably don't care. All you want is a good looking bus that
will stay on the job and get you from place to place without worry."
"But why shouldn't I take Hank's advice?" questioned Ben.
"I've good reason. Ben," Gus replied. :"The dealer who handles
the car Hank favors is as I happen to know, a slick article. He'd
stick you for a wad of money every time you poked your nose in his door
looking for a little service. That doesn't make the slightest difference to
Hank, because he'll never have occasion to go near him. The second
reason is that the dealer who handles the car you've picked out would sooner
go out of business than take advantage of anybody. Maybe his car isn't
quite so good, but he'll keep it on the job for you and that's what counts!"
"When you're buying a car," Gus summed up, "don't let a high trade-in
offer stampede you into buying a car you really don't want. Pick your
car solely on the best of mechanical merit if you expect to do all the work
on it yourself; but if you expect to let somebody else do the work for you,
choose the car that is represented by a dealer who is older and willing to
give you better service."
END
