I Tried to Use My White Dad to Get Me a Discount on a Car

…It didn’t work, but the car dealer tried talking to me in ebonics after that

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-sitting-on-chair-beside-table-834863/, Photo by Leon Ell’ on Unsplash, Edited by Author

I spent the past eight months checking Craigslist, Facebook, and car dealerships to buy a used car noticing in horror that the used car world had changed while I had been living in Peru for the last several years. I had bought my 98 Honda Civic (loved that car to death!) for $4,000 at 73,000 miles in 2009. I handed it off to someone (for a price) after I’d moved to Peru, but I saw it many times at the community gardens in my town and I almost cried.

I moved back home and I needed wheels. First off, I heard good things about this one dealership, and knowing I had economic strikes against me (Black, woman), I dreaded checking out cars. But, since this particular dealer had received awards for the past 10 years for the best customer service, etcetera, I was willing to go check it out, not too worried about discrimination.

I always say a few words are worth a few thousand dollars. And what I mean is, if you’re ever in a situation where you can bargain, do it.

The dealers were kind and polite, also patient, but definitely into selling cars, which why shouldn’t they be, that’s their job. I honed in on a car…