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RICHMOND, TEXAS -- On a recent sweltering Wednesday afternoon in early August, one brave couple was browsing the Price 1 used car lot in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart supercenter 30 miles southwest of Houston. At another Price1 location in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart discount store on the other side of town, another couple was eyeing a selection of 60 used cars and trucks.

Houston in the summer might not seem like the best time to conduct a five-store test of used car lots, but Wal-Mart and the Asbury Automotive Group, the company operating the Price1 stores, may actually benefit from the heat as they look to reinvent the used car buying business. That's because the key to making the experiment work is to get people inside a cool cinder block building, which is painted gray and blue with a red stripe to resemble the nearby Wal-Mart store, so a salesman can explain how the Price1 system works.

"It is a very non-confrontational selling system that we have created," said Jay Joslin, Price1 sales director for the five-store test. "Within the first five minutes, customers can know the price of the vehicle and their approximate monthly payments."

Customers are still greeted by a salesman when they step on the lot, as they are at other car lots, but that salesman's first priority is to educate them about the Price 1 "no haggle" philosophy and process. To that end, customers are brought inside a 1,500-square-foot building that serves as an office and the salesman takes them through a slide presentation. One of the first points made is that the salesmen don't receive a commission, but they are eligible for a bonus if they score high enough on customer service inquiries conducted by telephone with those who purchase a vehicle.

The salesmen also diffuse the typical misgivings people have about buying a used car by explaining an array of benefits unique to Price 1. For example, there is a five-day, "no questions asked" return policy and customers also can exchange the vehicle within 30 days. Vehicles come with a 99-day or 3,300-mile warranty and a 12-month roadside assistance plan. None of the vehicles are older than five years or have more than 75,000 miles.

"What we try to do is give our customers the same degree of confidence as a new car buyer and it is all included in one low price," said David Kahn, a salesman at the Price1 store in Richmond.

# posted by Medical Information : 5:47 AM