On Honesty, Loyalty, Car Buying, and Church

I should have known better.

I really should have.

I should have gone to my dependable car dealer right away when it came to the purchase of my Mustang GT.  I shouldn't have even bothered with anyone else.

But...(there's always a "but" isn't there?)

My local dealer never had one on his used car lot that was in my price range.  I should have listened more closely to the guys when they told me they would get me what I wanted even if it would have meant I'd of had to wait a little for it.

But I was stubborn, and I wanted my Mustang.  So I shopped around at a few other dealerships. 

Big mistake.

You know, I try to be an honest person.  I try to do the right things.  I try to make sure I slight no one, and if I make a mistake, I readily own up to it.  I expect to be treated in the same manner--even when purchasing a car.

You can stop laughing now.  I've actually experienced such a phenomena.  Ryan Ford Mercury offered me such an experience when I bought my 2009 F150 Supercrew.  I guess I was holding other dealerships to the same standard.

Big mistake.

When I tried to work with other dealerships, I received the same treatment.  Low ball trade tactics--even though I had printed out Kelly Blue Book and the NADA values for my truck.  An unwillingness to even come close to considering the value of my truck when I balked.  Stalling tactics trying to get me to invest more of my time so that I'd be willing to take less of a deal.  One clown even was so assured I'd break, he smoked in my pickup.  That sent me into a new level of ticked-off-ness that I had never experienced.  I had a very difficult time applying Luther's explanation of the 8th Commandment in that particular instance!!

Dejected with the experiences I had, I returned to Ryan.  I wasn't even thinking of putting together a trade because they didn't have what I wanted on the lot.

In a matter of moments, the sale's guys took me inside to talk to the purchase guy.  He said, "We just got one in!"

Minutes later, they allowed me to take a test drive even though they hadn't cleaned it up yet.  "We normally wouldn't let anyone do this, but because you are one of our customers, you get a chance to look it over before we've gone over it," they explained.

I left my truck keys so they could look it over while I was test driving. 

When I came back, I asked, "How much do you think you can give me for the truck?"

$23K.  A couple hundred dollars OVER Blue Book value.

"Let's get the deal going!" I almost shouted.

Smooth as silk after that.  The deal was consummated.  They treated me right.  I received a check from them for over $4000 because my truck was paid off.  There was no hesitation on their part.  They just did the right thing.

Honesty on their part has strengthened my loyalty even further now.

I'm not sure I'm even going to look at another dealership next time I'm looking to purchase.  (That will be a long way in the future, BTW.)  This dealership's honesty, integrity, and willingness to treat a person right won the day for me yet again.

If only other dealerships operated in the same manner...

Churches too for that matter.

How many of our congregations are honest?  How many pastors are willing to tell you exactly where they stand on an issue instead of offering platitudes?  How many congregations have the integrity to say, "Yes, we really want to grow and get new ideas from new people?" or "Yes, we'd like to grow, but we really don't want any new ideas.  We like what we are doing just fine."  Either way, at least honesty is ruling.

How many of our congregations breed fierce loyalty?  How many of us take pride in the congregation of which we are a part and then invite others to come check out how they will be treated?  I know I have referred no less than three folks who I know are interested in car buying in the two weeks I've been looking at/driving my Mustang after working with Ryan.  Do we do such things with our congregations?

Do we expect our congregations to be places of honesty, integrity, and "value" so-to-speak?  Or do we expect far less?  Do we, ourselves, when we see unfamiliar faces in church try to offer such things ourselves?

Some thoughts to ponder.