Today there was a system failure in the Matrix as it showed itself to me in a surprising way. One I couldn't have even imagined and one that was an eye opener.
I'm searching for a new SUV because my old one has mileage on it. The base price for the model I'm interested in, $35,000.00 and posted on the internet. I drove my old SUV to the car dealer, met the salesman and we looked at what was available. The model I took for a test drive, according to the salesman, was "selling like hot cakes." We took it around for a spin but I found it was short on power and picked out the sportier version with a bigger engine.
After looking at all the colors and interiors and picking out options like GPS/Navigation system, running boards and remote tailgate option, it was time to sit down and talk.
I waited while he totaled everything up. Without batting an eye he whipped it on me--total vehicle price $52,000.00. "Well", I said, "it appears that car prices just keep going up don't they?" He shook his head sadly, in agreement. (BTW, I talked to a friend after this experience and he told me he bought the same SUV for $35,000.00 back in 2012- interesting). If that is true and there's no reason not to believe him, then this particular SUV has increased $17,000.00 in just 5 years. Talk about inflation.
"And what about my SUV?" "We'll give you $9995.00 for it. So that meant I'd have to come up with another $8,000.00 to pay it off. What they'll do if you don't have the cash on hand (and let's be honest, how many of us have this amount just layin around?) they'll add the $8,000.00 to the $52,000.00 which now brings the total purchase price to $60,000.00. He continued talking for another five minutes and then motioned to the finance manager.
He came over and introduced himself, informing me I qualified for the 0% interest rate for 36 months with a monthly payment of $1500.00 (and this was just on the $52,000.00 not the 60,000.00 so imagine the higher monthly payment). I wanted to reach over and grab him by the collar and shout, "are you people f****g crazy" but resisted the temptation.
He continued, "if you select 48 months at .09% interest your payment will be a little less." (At this point I didn't care how much less it was as I wasn't going to being purchasing any vehicle).
And I have a problem with the word, "purchase." If you take out a loan on something, are you really purchasing something or are you just leasing?"
"Well," he wanted to know, "can we wrap this up today?" I didn't answer but asked instead, "how can young families with a mortgage afford to pay $1500.00 a month for a car?" "Well, he said without missing a beat, " we just extend the length of the loan." Note: If you increase the number of months to pay off the loan the longer you pay and the more it's going to cost you. Obviously this car dealer was raking in the dough and didn't have to worry about their bottom line. And it was now pretty apparent to me that they sure as sh*t didn't care about anyone else's bottom line either.
The dealer was feeling confident that the tantalizing base price (I call it bait price) posted online was instrumental as it was the first step in getting me to stampede to their dealership. They had (or so they thought) accomplished their mission of wining me, dining me and getting ready to sign me until I pointed something out.
"I'm thinking the economy is going to take a downturn." Well that evoked a look of concern. "What do you mean?"
"Just take a look at what happened in Texas and Florida and Puerto Rico with three deadly hurricanes and the billions it's going to take to help them recover. How about all the cars that were lost, the dealerships that went down and the heavy insurance payouts along with the salvage efforts ongoing? Where is all of that going to leave the American consumer? The federal reserve is saying that now they can't even predict where the economy is headed as we've entered a period of uncertainty. People aren't buying homes like they used to. We have people who can't even afford their healthcare. And, how about all the cr@p going on with North Korea? There's even talk that the next bubble to burst is going to be the auto industry as car sales are now tied in with mortgages.
You could have heard a pin drop.
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The moral of this: The Matrix (Power, Manipulation, Intimidation, Control) has turned foreplay into an art form. It has succeeded because it knows our trigger points, what drives us and what turns us on. It's a master at playing on these. It doesn't care about us, it never has. We've been conditioned not to question, that resistance is futile, only to comply. In the movie, "The Matrix," Neo takes the red pill to "learn the truth." It's time we all did. It's time we all unplugged.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=take%20the%20red%20pill
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