car dealership follies (long)

*Barbie*

took my car to the dealer for an oil change/safety check to prep for our 1560mi road trip to TX next week. Had a coupon for the service - $25 total. 

They tell me it will be about an hour (there were a few people ahead of me) so i sit down to wait. 

In the meantime a family of 5 comes in - mom/dad and 3 kids ages 5-9, two girls and a boy. The parents are shopping for or purchasing a new car. This is not a family activity. Kids see the ~90gal saltwater tank in the waiting area (which opens into the showroom) and proceed to go APESHIT over the "NEMO FISH and DORY FISH." I think I have mentioned before that this is a pet peeve of mine - especially when the parents are saying it too. 

(***I'd like to take a moment here to point out that Dory was a hippo tang. there were no hippo tangs in the tank - nothing even close. there were a few very small blue damselfish in the tank, but nothing that resembled Dory. I resisted the urge to go tell the kids that was not, in fact, a "Dory fish.")

The parents went off with the salesmen and basically left the kids in the waiting room shrieking around the tank. Every time a fish would move they would start yelling, "OMG! DID YOU SEE THAT?! IT MOVED!!!" The parents made one or two halfhearted comments to the kids to be a little quieter, but this went on for a good 30 minutes of my first hour wait....

(of course) they find something wrong that will need to be fixed. something about a boot/leaking and basically if i don't get it fixed soon the axle would probably need to be replaced because it would be damaged. total cost is $260.+ $25 for the oil change. they say that the work will take an hour and a half. I am skipping out on working from home, but i need to get it done so say to go ahead. 

after another 30 minutes or so of the kids running around yelling and shoving each other, I've had enough. I told them to calm down and behave themselves. they got very quiet, walked out of the waiting area, and went and sat with their parents. I did not hear the kids the entire rest of the time the family was in the dealership. 

long story short on the repairs - they broke something on my tire assembly (it's an old car, some stuff was rusted), and are now installing a new hub,  new breaks, etc. at no cost to me. should have my car back on Monday, and got a loaner until then. 

MinM

I imagine hell to be a car dealership. Every time I think about getting another car, I remind myself that I would have to go to a dealership to get one, and then I think about the salesmen, and then I need to take a long hot shower to wash off all of the ickiness.

DG1

We did bring Dexter car shopping last year, mostly because we both wanted to shop/test drive/etc, and there was no one to watch the kid.  But that was 2 parents to one kid, so we were pretty easily able to take turns watching him vs. checking out the cars.  Carseat fitting was also an issue, so we put the carseat in the cars and took him with us on the test drives.  I think we'd be working harder to find a babysitter at this point, certainly if there were 3 kids involved.

Andplusalso, I could tell him 1000 times not to do something and he'd still do it. Stern voice, harshness, threats to leave (which I do follow up on quite regularly). None of it would work. But one comment from a stranger would scare him straight. 

*Barbie*

i think i would actually enjoy that part of the process. they told me that i was the first person that ever actually read the entire rental/loaner agreement. 

i got my car free from my dad, so i'm driving it until it dies or the expense to maintain is too high. it's 14yo, and will hit 100K miles on the drive to TX. 

mrsconn23

I disagree that car shopping is not a family activity.  We thought it was very important to get the kiddo's opinion when we went to buy the Acadia last month.  We wanted his input on the backseat of all the cars we test drove, since he's the one spending most his time there.  He did not run around and shriek or anything though.  Every salesman we met commented on how well behaved he was.  

*Barbie*

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_car-dealership-follies-long?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:fd7082dd-4efa-4f95-bb80-54bee1fdbf66Post:a73a361d-8b5c-4c22-a641-b547edb07e50">Re: car dealership follies (long)</a>:
[QUOTE]We did bring Dexter car shopping last year, mostly because we both wanted to shop/test drive/etc, and there was no one to watch the kid.  But that was 2 parents to one kid, so we were pretty easily able to take turns watching him vs. checking out the cars.  Carseat fitting was also an issue, so we put the carseat in the cars and took him with us on the test drives.  
Posted by DG1[/QUOTE]

<div>DG - i think it's different when you're dealing with one infant/toddler and have a 2-1 parents to kids ratio. These people were basically ignoring their brats for the entire time they were there - probably close to 2 hours. We might be getting a new car within the next year or so and would likely do the same re: carseat. </div>

baconsmom

I'm amazed you got through an hour before telling them to shut it. I would have lasted about 10 minutes. 

My parents took all four of us car shopping when we were 10 and under, but we all had books (coloring, for the young ones), and we knew that we'd have our hides tanned if we stuck a pinky toe out of line. 

And DG, there's a difference between a toddler being a toddler and a bunch of school-aged kids who can't STFU. Ages 5-9 should know how to sit quietly with a book and not bother people.