It all depends on the clients you are soliciting. If you work in a rural
area or have a client base of value oriented individuals - it shouldn't be a
problem. If you are selling to people in Brentwood California or anywhere
else rather upscale and affluent, you will stick out like a sore thumb and
that's probably bad for business.

I personally drive a Jeep because it was something I wanted and I found a
great deal. I love it and several of my clients have commented on it that
they used to love owning a Jeep and would like to own one again (men AND
women). It is extremely rare that clients of mine are up tight about the
cars they drive but occasionally they are and I just tell them I'm not a car
person, I got a great deal and since I go camping and backpacking a lot - it
fits my lifestyle better than a BMW. I have a seriously difficult time
believing a client hasn't worked with me just because I pulled up in a Jeep.
Maybe I'm wrong. My Jeep is always clean, in great shape, doesn't make a
lot of noice and isn't one with huge tires. It is something you WOULD find
in some of the better neighborhoods if you just watched (kids of rich people
have Jeeps a lot).


"Tim Williams" <bigbill9111[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2rroo3F1edirbU1[at]uni-berlin.de...
- quote -

- quote -

Here's my 2 cents -

First - 80,000 miles on a 1982 truck means it has been driven, on average,
about 10 miles a day. This is highly unlikely. More likely, the
speed/odo-meter has been replaced.

Second, the loudness can be fixed with the correct exhaust. This may be
nothing more than a new muffler and could cost less than $100 to fix. It
could also need an entirely new exhaust which cost a couple of thousand
dollars. You'd have to check.

Third - you say it's big but you don't elaborate. If this is just a big
truck there isn't anything you can do, but from your post I suspect this
truck has been modified some. Likely it has has a "lift kit" installed and
is running oversized tires. If this is the case, you can make the truck
more normal by have the lift kit removed and putting on regular tires. If
the truck has had a "body lift" it shouldn't take more than a few hours to
remove it. If it has had a "suspension lift" then you'll definitely need
professional help. Suspension lifts also frequently include a TON of custom
fabrication - extended shock and strut supports, modified driveshafts,
repositioned attachment points for much of the suspension. To return a
truck with these modifications to normal requires major time, effort and
money.

Lastly, trucks with these modifications are generally run pretty hard.
Think about it, this truck was jacked up and modified for a reason - to run
off road. If the truck WAS run off road it was subjected to a lot of
twisting and the likelihood is that it has sustained at least some body
damage and possibly some structural damage. The easiest way to check on
body damage is to take a refrigerator magnet and use it to stick a dollar
bill to the body panel on the truck. Then drag the bill around as much as
you can. When you hit a spot with body putty the magnet will have nothing
to stick to and will fall off. You'll need a mechanic to check for frame
damage.

The gist of this is this - I used to have a 1985 Ford Bronco (full-sized)
with a 3 inch body lift kit and oversized tires (35 inchers). The truck was
a behemoth, my wife (who is 5'5" couldn't get in without help). That truck
had 265,000 miles on it and looked PERFECT - mainly because I made sure all
the work was done when it needed it. A lot of folks used to tease me about
the truck being unprofessional but I always came back with "you know, I have
a truck like this so I can make sure that no matter how bad the weather
gets, no matter how much snow or rain falls I can still get into the office
to take care you." That statement shut down and converted almost every
single person I said it to.

Take a close look at the truck and see just how "bad" it really is before
you decide either way.

Gene E. Utterback, EA

Epilogue - Big Blue, as my daughter used to call the Bronco, died a pitiful
death last winter. We slid off the road - forced off by incoming traffic
really - during a bad snowstorm and snapped the suspension and drive system
on the right front wheel. The cost to repair Big Blue was about 5 times
what the truck was worth, so sadly she has gone to that big scrap yard in
the sky.



======================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
It helps to have a tie-in to personal finance on this newsgroup. <grin

If people say "y'all" in the state where you are licensed, I think you
will be okay. Otherwise, you might want to give some attention to
business image.

Winter









"Tim Williams" <bigbill9111[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<2rroo3F1edirbU1[at]uni-berlin.de> ...
- quote -

..and it's big, red, and loud.

Actually the agent in question is me. Recently my only vehicle went through
a series of break-downs (4) until the last one's cost of repair made it not
worth fixing (the vehicle was an early 90s Oldsmobile worth approx. $1700 or
less, and the estimation of repair costs was about $1500).

The cost of the four repairs in a brief period of time has left me with not
more than $700 to put toward new transportation. If I wait another seven
days until I have more income, the amount to work with is approx. $1200.

I've found a 1982 Chevy pickup truck for sale for $600. There's only 80,000
miles on it and it seems to be a solid vehicle. But it's -loud- and -red-
and it looks like it would do very well if it were taken off-road and driven
aggressively in the mud. Just imagine a gun rack in the back window a couple
good ol' boys speeding down a dirt road in deep woods and you'll have a good
idea of it -- YEEEEE-HAAAAWWW!

My concern is that this vehicle may create a negative first impressions on
potential clients. I don't think people expect an insurance agent to drive
such a truck. I imagine myself parking in a client's drive with this big
red loud truck and then hopping out wearing a tie and jacket; it's
incongruent.

Do you think this vehicle will be bad for business?