We bought a new-to-us vehicle last month. A 2012 minivan with a bit more than 3,000 miles. So, it's still under the manufacturer's warranty.
We bought it for a good deal. In fact, our lender has informed us that we paid about $1,000 less than the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) value.
For the past three weeks or so, every third day or so we've been receiving cheesy form letters in the mail telling us that our manufacturer's warranty is about to expire! We had better act fast, and purchase their extended warranty!
It's apparent to me that this dealer has sold our name to these cheesy companies. It makes me wonder just how much our dealer sold our name and address for.
It's a little bit annoying, but also a little bit funny. It's also sad, because there would be no value to selling our name if the tactic didn't work on a certain number of people.
It would be tempting to add that to the negotiation next time we buy a vehicle - "I'll pay $XX,XXX for this car with the understanding that you won't sell my name to any cheesy companies", for example. Not so much because of the burden of getting these mailings, but more of a "I know what you're going to do" type of a thing.
And I guess, if we were able to buy the van for less than NADA because our name was sold, then so be it. It's not a really big deal. I am sad that it apparently works on so many people, though.
What is the value of my name?
January 23rd, 2015 at 02:55 pm
January 23rd, 2015 at 03:34 pm 1422027285
January 23rd, 2015 at 07:10 pm 1422040237
January 23rd, 2015 at 08:18 pm 1422044287
January 24th, 2015 at 10:04 am 1422093886
January 24th, 2015 at 02:55 pm 1422111340
I too believe that sometimes a company's focus is not on the initial sell but on what they can re-sell your information for. Sometimes the fine print makes that very clear.