That wasn’t the plan. I didn’t think I was taking delivery of a 2014 Volt until late next week, perhaps later or not at all if negotiations failed. I was working all of last week with one of the big-volume dealers in the Valley, mostly by phone and text, after visiting them on MLK day to check out the fully loaded Volt in their showroom. The exact car I wanted was in transit - a Summit White Volt with a black leather interior. 3000-under-invoice offer that the dealer advertised on the Volt forum. 1000 higher than what I was willing to cough up over the next three years. Coincidentally, the other big dealer in the Valley posted an ad on the same Volt forum. Their posting parroted the Volt lease terms that headlined their weekly sales ad in the local papers, delightfully complemented with a long list of the numerous Volts they had on the lot and in transit.
I noticed that they too had the white-with-leather Volt of my dreams coming their way. I emailed the internet manager of that dealer with the lease terms offered by their competitor on the other side of the freeway. 525 safety package that includes a backup camera, which would be nice to have, but frankly I didn’t want to pay for it. After all, that feature came standard on my Focus Electric, my wife’s Honda Pilot EXL, and her Sienna LE before that, so it just seemed wrong to have it as an option nowadays. I was really close to caving in and taking the deal anyway; fortunately I refrained and told the salesperson that I wanted to sleep on it and that I’d call him in the morning. When I woke up the next morning, my intent was to head down to the Valley to try to negotiate a better deal in person with one or both dealers. Failing that, I would give up on getting a Volt for now and call Dianne at Carson Toyota about a RAV4 EV.
I figured that if I had to blow my budget, I’d blow it big-time on a Tesla drivetrain and lots of cargo space. While I was getting ready to leave for the Valley, a salesperson from the local dealer called… which greatly annoyed me because I was in a rush to leave. 40K. He asked if I would like a white one with a black cloth interior. I told him absolutely not, and ranted even more about how he simply does not have one in stock that I want. I continued by telling him that if I can’t get the lease terms I want from one of the Valley dealers, I’m done with looking for a Volt anyway and will be going for a RAV4 EV. I was on a roll. He tried to interject, but I kept cutting him off. Then, with one very sincere, personal apology, he calmed me down.
