First public day of the NAIAS - the biggie, the Detroit Auto Show. Today's winner of the stupidest question award goes to the gentleman who asked:
"Is this price in American dollars?"
I don't know why exactly he could have possibly thought it was in any other form of currency. I really spent a few minutes afterwards racking my brain, trying to figure out why he could have possibly thought our prices would have been in anything BUT America dollars.
I came up with a few possibilities:
A) He had a Russian accent, and it is cold in Detroit, so maybe he forgot where he was and became confused about the whole rubles/dollars thing.
B) Cobo Hall is right across the river from Canada, so maybe he thought due to proximity we might quote prices in Canadian dollars.
C) He's a dumbass.
I'm going with C.
Stay tuned for more stupid auto show quotes as the week progresses!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
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(Not having heard the actual interaction, the following merely constitutes a possible explanation.)
ReplyDeleteIt's an old joke. In fact, it is an old car joke.
It is meant to call attention to the fact that the person asking the question feels the price is too high to believe.
It is often used by car dealers to bring some humor into an interaction with potential customers who are trying to trade in a used car.
Dealer says, "So, what do you want for old Betsy here?"
Customer replies, "10,000".
Dealer, laughing as he says it, "American dollars?", like maybe the customer is talking about Lira, or Yen.
It is an indication that the questioner thinks the price is way out of line with any sort of realistic market value for the car.
Or, quite possibly, that the questioner is a dumbass.
A good comeback would have been, "No, that's in Euros. The price in American dollars causes too many people to pass out."
ReplyDeleteIt depends on what car it was. If it was a new FIAT badge as a Chrysler is a valid question, because some car news magazines and blogs say the price of the car in other currencies if they are actually sold outside the market.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to hear about dumbasses, just think of all the American tourists that come to Canada and ask whether the prices are in American dollars or not.
ReplyDeleteHa! Touchè! ^
ReplyDeleteEven if it is a joke, it gets lame. I used to hate when you explain stuff to the people, 'yes if you want a Sunroof on your H2 you have to get the entertainment package which in turn quadruples the the price of lone sunroof' their response "in American Dollars?" Me Baffled that I didn't know Atlanta had its own currency? Yes dumbass, your already looking at a vehicle the only 33% of the population can afford.
ReplyDeleteIf i knew they were being stupid on purpose and giving me a hard time, I would look them right in the eye and say "If this puts it out of your price range, maybe you should consider getting one pre-owned." and walk away. Oh that was like kicking some dudes in the nuts sometimes. ::le sigh:: Oh how i miss it sometimes.
It's not a stupid question, especially if it was a foreign car. The guy may have visited other shows in other nations having weaker currencies. So the prices weren't necessarily posted in local currency.
ReplyDeleteConsidering your profession you must still be pretty young. One of the first things you'll learn in adulthood is that most people are not stupid. Not genius, but not stupid either. If someone does something you don't understand, just assume it's above your head; 98% of the time that rule of thumb turns out to be valid.
Well i've been to a show in LA once and there was a sweedish supercar and the price was in.. taaadaaa... euro's
ReplyDeleteGuys, when there is a DOLLAR SIGN $$$ next to the number I think it is safe to assume the price is not in Euros. Come on, now.
ReplyDeleteDollar sign is used not only for the american dollars but other currencies. Also currency called dollar is not exclusive to the US. Provided he had an accent, that is a pretty valid question, especially for Chrysler that will be bringing new Fiats/Alfas/Lancias
ReplyDelete