I almost forgot this experience. We were in the market for a minivan in the late 80s, when we went on a relaxing Sunday drive.
We came across the local Toyota dealership and saw the funny looking Toyo van. In case you don’t remember it it looked like this:
We honestly were just curious about it, so we stopped to take a look.
Unfortunately, we did not realize the dealership was open on a Sunday, and we were soon approached by a salesman who, before we knew it, gave us the keys and told us to take it for a spin.
So we did. It was just a weird driving it as it looked because the driver is literally sitting over the front wheels. Steering took some getting used to.
We laughed about it and soon brought it back to the dealership. We thanked the salesman, who invited us inside where we met the sales manager and the finance guy.
Wait, what? Before we had a moment to think we had lease papers in front of us. I’m serious. We never gave any indication that we intended to purchase or lease. But all they needed was our signatures. I don’t know how they got all of the other information on the papers, but I’m assuming it was from our car that was left on the lot while we went for a test drive.
A pen appeared in my hand, and I was about two-inches from the signature line, when all of a sudden I blurted out “Wait! It’s a Sunday! I can’t buy a car on a Sunday. That’s against my religion.”
The sales manager was quick on his feet, “But you’re not actually buying it. You’ll be leasing it.”
Then I looked down and said “Oh no, I’m wearing shorts. There’s no way I can sign these papers wearing shorts. I need to go home and change.”
And we left. To their credit they never bothered to contact me again.
It pays to be a little crazy when dealing with a crazy business.