This Car Sux! is part memoir, part how-to guide, and part history lesson on the American car business. Author Randy Pressgrove walks through his forty-plus years in dealerships and corporate roles, from the showroom floor to the inner world of factory finance, while explaining how cars move from assembly line to dealer lot to driveway. Along the way, he breaks down sales tactics, add-on products, financing tricks, the role of banks and in-house lenders, the impact of recessions and oil shocks, and even the chaos of Covid, all threaded with road stories and character sketches from a lifetime on the road.

I felt pulled in by the voice right away. The writing has a straight-ahead, front-porch style that fits the subject. Pressgrove sounds like the seasoned rep who has seen every stunt in the book, and he is not shy about calling people bastards, bandits, and bozos when they earn it. The stories about “protection packages,” disappearing trade-in keys, and finance managers squeezing every last dollar out of a deal had me half laughing and half wincing, because they feel very human and very plausible. At the same time, he steps back often enough to explain the mechanics in plain English, so even when he gets into loan terms, floor planning, or leasing, I never felt buried in numbers. The pacing does sag a bit in spots, especially when he follows the history of interest rates and factory politics in detail, but the next colorful anecdote usually arrives just in time to wake the reader back up.

Pressgrove is tough on dealers who prey on unprepared buyers, yet he is just as blunt about customers who walk in with no research, no budget, and no plan, then complain later that “this car sucks.” That balance resonated with me. I liked how he connects personal horror stories to bigger themes, like how easy credit traps both buyers and dealers, or how manufacturer incentive programs change behavior on the ground. There are moments where the book leans on nostalgia for the old days. Older readers will relate, while younger readers will still be able to appreciate it.

I came away feeling both entertained and better armed. I would recommend this book to anyone who is about to buy or lease a car and wants to walk into the showroom with eyes wide open, and to people thinking about working in sales or management at a dealership who want a candid look at the culture they are entering. It will also land well with readers who enjoy behind-the-scenes business stories told by someone who lived the job, not by a consultant from the outside. If you want a technical finance text or a dry academic history, this is not it. If you want a sharp, funny, occasionally grumpy tour of the modern car circus from someone who clearly cares about the trade, This Car Sux! is worth your time.

Pages: 328 | ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FVB8W9SM