Thanks to Kathy Mahony of Seneca Valley Senior High School for sharing this activity: 

I found the idea for a car buying skit somewhere else a couple of years ago, wish I could remember where, and I wrote this one based on that one.  I use this as an intro to car buying/leasing. The students have fun acting it out, and then we have a discussion about sales tactics. Here's the script used for the skit. 

The first time I used the skit I let the students volunteer, and the 2^nd time I selected certain students ahead of time and asked if they would volunteer. It just saves some time to ask ahead, and also helps to ensure that the salesperson is someone who will be animated.  I give them 5-10 minutes at the beginning of the period to read through and choose names/fill in the blanks. I could put the names in, but they have fun selecting their own  names. I set up my laptop at a desk for the “salesperson.”

Here were the prompts that Kathy uses to get the discussion started:

• Who has been to a car dealer to look at cars, either for you or for your parents?
• Do any of the phrases used by the salesperson sound familiar to you? 
• Which phrases do you think are most effective? Why? [NGPF question]
• Does anyone want to share an experience you or your parents had at a car dealer?
• What might they have done ahead of time to better prepare themselves?

About the Authors

Guest Post

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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