Best and worst used car dealers?

[amandagall5]

Our last three cars since 1999 came from Eskridge Honda. Two used and one new, the new one in 2004. Before we bought the new one we went to Hudiburg Toyota and Fowler Honda, both were high pressure sales and tried to talk us out of what we wanted, so we went back to Eskridge. It was much more relaxed, but we were pre-approved for financing before we went so that might have had something to do with it.

[Thunder]

I bought mine, a Dodge Stratus coupe, at Express Credit Auto.

That place is a bit too high. You can't try to talk the price down. The interest rate is sky high.

Overall, it was best for me at the time and I love my car. The only problem I had, after buying, was discovering that the heater was not blowing warm/hot air, so they repaired it without the hassle. Everything else is just fine.

The finanical part, they are very shady. They had made my brother angry recently when the balance was stuck at the same numbers and not going down as it should had been and he always been paying for it. After a year, they took off interest, so the balance should had already gone down to zero by now, but it is stuck around 2k.

When he got the car, the contract, all that stuff, the car to be paid in full within 2 years. Well, it is taking more than 2 years, so they are shady on that part.

[jsibelius]

That IS the trouble with those "buy here...finance here" places. But when your credit's less than stellar, but you need to get around and the bus service doesn't meet your needs, what are you gonna do? Bite the bullet and take the hosing, pretty much. Hopefully, things will be better for the next go-round and you (and your brother) can use a regular bank with better terms. If not, at least you know what to look out for. If you know you're going to have to deal with these places, it's probably best to read up a little and know your rights and know what their tricks are in advance so you can outmaneuver them at least a little.

[Thunder]

I requested my full payment history and it looks interesting.

The payment each time is always the same, but the amount of interest paid is in flux (up and down). It seem that the earliest that I pay, the less in interest I pay. Interesting. One time, I paid 7 days in advance and interest was 45 bux. Interest is higher if paid the day before, which is usually my payday on a Friday and date dued on a Saturday. The interest is even more skyrocketing if I decide that I don't feel like driving out after work on Friday and pay the payment on Saturday, on the due date. Weird place.

[jsibelius]

That is an interesting loan amortization method. Makes me wish I'd stuck it out in my accounting classes a little longer. It's probably legal, but pushing the limits...

[Lauri101]

Our last three cars since 1999 came from Eskridge Honda. Two used and one new, the new one in 2004. Before we bought the new one we went to Hudiburg Toyota and Fowler Honda, both were high pressure sales and tried to talk us out of what we wanted, so we went back to Eskridge. It was much more relaxed, but we were pre-approved for financing before we went so that might have had something to do with it.

I've bought 5 cars from Gary at Eskridge Honda and I'd never go anywhere else. I tell him what I want, tell him what I'll pay and that's it. Plus, the service department is the best I've ever experienced!

I've been screwed over by Bob Howard, Fowler and Joe Cooper.
And never...I mean never...buy a car on NW 39th!

[CuatrodeMayo]

Bob Howard = shady
Diffee = especially shady considering they are advertised "christians".

I went to Norman Chysler Jeep Dodge when I was in school. Didn't even want to deal with me.

Reynolds Ford in Edmond was great when I bought a car there back in November. They were extremely helpful. I got such a good deal, that when my wife totaled in 3 months later, I made $2k on an $8k car. I have been looking for a car lately and went back there. Unfortunatly the experience was not the same.

Hudibern Nissan was so-so. Same for Smicklas Chevorlet (who supposedly own BH).

I'll update my Smicklas review:

I bought a used vehicle from that dealership 2 days before I made the above post. After much pain and suffering we came up with a price that worked for my budget, then went off to financing.

During the course of our discussions, my wife brought up the fact that two weeks before, we took delivery of a vehicle before the financing was finalized with the assurance that it would be no big deal to the deal approved. I was told at that other dealership, that worst-case scenario, I would have to bring the vehicle back. Supposedly this was highly unlikely. What would probably happen is that I would have to come back and re-sign. Well the worst case scenario came true for me. I was told that 3 months on the job was not long enough, even though I had just graduate college.

Upon hearing our story, the finance guy proceeded to assure us that wouldn't be the case this time. Upon our instance, he left the room and returned telling us the loan was approved and the bank only needed to verify our address and my job. I though that sounded good (1st mistake) and proceeded to finalize the deal. I paid the $700 down payment with my debit card and took delivery.

Two weeks later, I got a call telling me I needed to come back to the dealership and wouldn't tell me why. I as you can probably imagine, he told me I couldn't keep the vehicle. I asked when I can get my down payment back, and he told me I will get a check in 4-5 days. I left the dealership with no money and no vehicle (2nd mistake, I should have just told them I won't turn it in without a check).

This was last saturday. I called the dealership yesterday to inquire on the status of the check. I didn't really get an answer, but they promised to call back with the info I needed. So I get a call today from the finance guy and he tells me his is putting in a check request from corporate offices in Houston. He then told me it will take 2 weeks to process. I wonder if they would have forgotten about it if I hadn't called?

I need to buy a car and I need that money back to do it. I suspect it will take even longer, if at all. Can they do this to me? I am so frustrated and I want my money back.

[oneforone]

I'll update my Smicklas review:

I bought a used vehicle from that dealership 2 days before I made the above post. After much pain and suffering we came up with a price that worked for my budget, then went off to financing.

During the course of our discussions, my wife brought up the fact that two weeks before, we took delivery of a vehicle before the financing was finalized with the assurance that it would be no big deal to the deal approved. I was told at that other dealership, that worst-case scenario, I would have to bring the vehicle back. Supposedly this was highly unlikely. What would probably happen is that I would have to come back and re-sign. Well the worst case scenario came true for me. I was told that 3 months on the job was not long enough, even though I had just graduate college.

Upon hearing our story, the finance guy proceeded to assure us that wouldn't be the case this time. Upon our instance, he left the room and returned telling us the loan was approved and the bank only needed to verify our address and my job. I though that sounded good (1st mistake) and proceeded to finalize the deal. I paid the $700 down payment with my debit card and took delivery.

Two weeks later, I got a call telling me I needed to come back to the dealership and wouldn't tell me why. I as you can probably imagine, he told me I couldn't keep the vehicle. I asked when I can get my down payment back, and he told me I will get a check in 4-5 days. I left the dealership with no money and no vehicle (2nd mistake, I should have just told them I won't turn it in without a check).

This was last saturday. I called the dealership yesterday to inquire on the status of the check. I didn't really get an answer, but they promised to call back with the info I needed. So I get a call today from the finance guy and he tells me his is putting in a check request from corporate offices in Houston. He then told me it will take 2 weeks to process. I wonder if they would have forgotten about it if I hadn't called?

I need to buy a car and I need that money back to do it. I suspect it will take even longer, if at all. Can they do this to me? I am so frustrated and I want my money back.

I would call the media right now. If they get a TV station rattling their chains you can bet that check will be in your hands in as little as a few hours.

You can blame the financial market crisis on this. Lenders gave out too much money to people that clearly could not or would not pay them back.

From hear on out you can guarantee only people with good credit are going to get loans. Anyone with credit issues will be forced to deal with dealerships that do their own financing. The days of good credit, no credit, bad credit sales are long gone.

[GWB]

Man, that really sucks. Sorry to hear this CM. You asked it they could to this to you, well, they did it to you, so yes they can. But the good news is, they cannot keep your deposit because they approved you and then backed out of the deal. Yes, they have a right to do that, but they should have told you in writing that there was that possibility. I suggest that you keep a record of each person (get their names) you've talked to and write down the date and time that you spoke with them. This is important in the event that you have to take them to small claims court (highly doubtful). It's always to your advantage to keep a record like this.

I seriously don't think you have anything to worry about. Personally, if it was me, I would talk to the General Manager of the dealership and let him know what transpired and see if he can move things along a little faster for you. It's important that you get him on record telling you specifically when you can expect to get your refund. I really believe you will get your refund. It's too bad you gotta wait so long to get it, but hang it there, it will work out.

[CuatrodeMayo]

I would call the media right now. If they get a TV station rattling their chains you can bet that check will be in your hands in as little as a few hours.

You can blame the financial market crisis on this. Lenders gave out too much money to people that clearly could not or would not pay them back.

From hear on out you can guarantee only people with good credit are going to get loans. Anyone with credit issues will be forced to deal with dealerships that do their own financing. The days of good credit, no credit, bad credit sales are long gone.

Thanks for the info. Yea. I've just about figured out that out. I'm just taking what I would be paying for insurance and a payment into savings for a few months. I have my first kiddo on the way in December, so I'm kinda under the gun.

I would contact the media, but I can only image they get these kind of shady dealer calls all day long.

[Thunder]

Banks in Oklahoma, I think, are being affected by all this financial crisis.

Today, I went to refinance my car and put in the college student loans to pay them all together at the FNB in Del City. Despite my stellar payment history on the car, I was rejected, because credit was ruined in the past.

Well... CareCredit didn't have a problem to approve me for $5,000 credit line, which $1,000 is used to save Furrball's life.

I guess I'll continue to pay Express Credit Auto, the place where Interest outweighs the Principal.

[BradR]

I purchased my last vehicle at Eskridge Honda. I pretty much did the entire deal on the internet so all I had to do was go in and sign some papers and drive the truck home. Before that I bought a new car at Fowler Toyota/Scion and it was the same deal...I just did it all online, came in and signed some papers. I had to order the car but it was there within 3 days and they didn't even ask me to put any earnest money down which was a good sign of trust to me.

My wife's car came from Fowler Dodge. I had been there earlier and saw the Caliber so I called when I got home and they gave me a good price right off the top so we set an appointment. As soon as we got there they had the car ready and cleaned up for us to drive (alone). My wife liked the car so we went in, did some paperwork, and drove the car home about an hour later. They even gave us $3k more for her old car than Purcell Chevy had offered us. All in all I am very pleased with Fowler.

I purchased my first car in my name at Bob Moore and they were stuck on the price, and wouldn't give me a good interest rate. Lucky for them I *really* wanted the car so I did it (that and I was just establishing my credit). When I went to get rid of that car, Bob Moore offered me $1500 which I laughed at, especially when Fowler offered me $4500 for the car which I ended up selling on my own for $5k.

Long rant but those are my experiences.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Cuatro...I know it's after the fact, but a good idea is to NEVER use financing through a dealership. By giving them your $$$ info, you're letting them know how much you can afford, and they'll move/not move accordingly on the price. I tried it once about 4 years ago when I was going to buy a GTO, and when my stuff came back, they wouldn't back off trying to sell me a Corvette for twice the money...Nor would they budge on the price of the Goat.

Go to your bank and get preapproved. You may give up a point or two in interest, but the headache you'll save at the dealership will more than make up for it. Don't tell them what your loan is for...EVER...You negotiate on the price of the car, and what you're willing to pay. Once that is settled, your bank give the funds to them directly. If they back out...They've got to contend with your bank because THEY hold the lien and the dealership can't intimidate them.

Not that any of that really helps you at this point. That really sucks man. Wish I could help you out.

[bretthexum]

Speaking of used car dealers - I just saw GWB's post in another thread. Maybe this falls under stupid commerials... I dunno.

Anyway, saw the Norman Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge commercial about "Toad Rage". Holy crap. That is quite possibly the worst commercial I've ever seen. For gods sake hire a production team that can make a decent commercial.

[TaoMaas]

I would call the media right now. If they get a TV station rattling their chains you can bet that check will be in your hands in as little as a few hours.

When it comes to the consumers vs the car dealers, TV stations won't do squat for you. They're not about to bite the hand that feeds them. It's a cryin' shame because, as I told the owner of one of the locals when we were discussing this exact subject, "You want your viewers to be loyal to you, but how can you expect them to stick by you when you cover for businesses that are screwing them over? If you want them to have your back, you've got to cover theirs."

[jsibelius]

I'm a little behind with my comments, but I'm gonna dive in anyway...

Cuatro...I know it's after the fact, but a good idea is to NEVER use financing through a dealership. By giving them your $$$ info, you're letting them know how much you can afford, and they'll move/not move accordingly on the price. I tried it once about 4 years ago when I was going to buy a GTO, and when my stuff came back, they wouldn't back off trying to sell me a Corvette for twice the money...Nor would they budge on the price of the Goat.

Go to your bank and get preapproved. You may give up a point or two in interest, but the headache you'll save at the dealership will more than make up for it. Don't tell them what your loan is for...EVER...You negotiate on the price of the car, and what you're willing to pay. Once that is settled, your bank give the funds to them directly. If they back out...They've got to contend with your bank because THEY hold the lien and the dealership can't intimidate them.

Not that any of that really helps you at this point. That really sucks man. Wish I could help you out.

I agree you should get preapproval from a bank, but I disagree with the idea about not getting financing through a dealership. I don't think I would go with financing through one of those buy here, pay here dealers, but a reputable dealer gets financing through the same banks you do, and you can use your preapproval as leverage to get a better deal. It doesn't matter what know I can afford. Because you can let them know you're going to walk away if they don't meet your demands. If they think you're willing to walk, they'll cave. I did this back in 2003 and I just did it again a few months ago. The only reason they'll do what they did to Smell is when they know you REALLY want that car - or if for some reason they know you can't easily go find one somewhere else because it's somewhat unique.

Banks in Oklahoma, I think, are being affected by all this financial crisis.

Today, I went to refinance my car and put in the college student loans to pay them all together at the FNB in Del City. Despite my stellar payment history on the car, I was rejected, because credit was ruined in the past.

Well... CareCredit didn't have a problem to approve me for $5,000 credit line, which $1,000 is used to save Furrball's life.

I guess I'll continue to pay Express Credit Auto, the place where Interest outweighs the Principal.

If those are Stafford Loans, you do NOT want to mix them with other debt. Although they will continue to haunt you forever until they're paid, there are distinct advantages to having actual student loans, like the ability to put them into deferment and forbearance when you can't pay. Once you refinance them with other debt, I believe they become just another debt, with collection agencies harassing you if it ever gets to that point. Also, student loans look better on your credit report than other kinds of debt, so they actually help your credit score a bit.

Maybe you could try to refinance just the car? Somewhere else. You know...State Farm has a bank. They really like trying to get people to finance their cars through them. I don't know if they do that for people that don't carry their insurance, but maybe they do. It seems like they would have a vested interested in financing and refinancing cars, particularly.

[OKCisOK4me]

I gotta say CarMax is pretty good. Then again, they're the only place I went to really look. I found the car I wanted through autotrader.com and called CarMax up. They probably pulled a quick one on me by telling me I needed to come and check out the car ASAP cause if someone else wanted to buy the same car through another CarMax, that they would ship it ASAP.

It was (and now, is) a pretty nice car so I went the following Monday to take a look at it and test drive it. My buddy told me not to buy from them cause you can't haggle and they only show you the cars that are available for the dollar amount you are approved for. Fortunately I told them I was financing through another service.

I did my research using consumer reports and carfax to make sure I was getting the best deal possible. It doesn't matter how highly rated a car dealership may be and it is important to do all that you can do on your own when it comes to research. I had a few other cars I was looking at at other dealerships and when I put the VIN numbers in on Carfax, it was a major let down.

I attempted to haggle at CarMax but was defeated. Oh well, I tried. It didn't really matter though. Based on Consumer Reports price range for the car I purchased, their price was right down the middle.

I went ahead and made the leap. My first car purchase ever with NO trade in! Signing all the paperwork was pretty easy and really didn't take all that long. The only thing bad they did was that they forgot to put the title transfer sheet in with the paperwork and when I went to the tag agency, they told me I couldn't get a new tag. I was mad so I called Carmax, they found the paperwork and held on to it for me until I got there. Once I obtained it they also gave me two $25 gift certificates for auto service. I have a friend who's an auto tech but I think I'll use the freebies in the mean time.

It was an overall pleasant experience and my sales man kept up with me for at least a month after my purchase. When I go up there for future auto service I'll definitely stop in to chat. Contrary to what my friend said the experience overall was a complete success and I highly recommend them for anyone.

[jsibelius]

That's funny...I was just about to come post about my experience with CarMax. Which is exactly the opposite of yours. I checked out the car I was looking at once I got home and noticed it was overpriced by at least $1000. So much for haggling. That's one thing, but then the salesman told me a blatant lie about how the tag agencies work. I wonder if he really believed that lie or if he just thought I would blindly believe him and not ever check on it?

I'm sure that was just one guy, but it did not reflect well on CarMax as a company. I won't be going back there.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Every car I have ever seen from CarMax was overpriced by at least that much.

[Thunder]

Express Credit Auto overprices all of their vehicles.

Look at me... $12,000 plus interest on a 2002 Dodge Stratus.

What's so funny is that the agreement was the whole thing to be paid in 2 years. Well, one year just now gone by and I owe $8,000. That's not even down to half of the original amount. Rip-off!

[southernskye]

Express Credit Auto overprices all of their vehicles.

Look at me... $12,000 plus interest on a 2002 Dodge Stratus.

What's so funny is that the agreement was the whole thing to be paid in 2 years. Well, one year just now gone by and I owe $8,000. That's not even down to half of the original amount. Rip-off!

plus sales tax and title transfer and what ever else they charge you for.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Express Credit Auto overprices all of their vehicles.

Look at me... $12,000 plus interest on a 2002 Dodge Stratus.

What's so funny is that the agreement was the whole thing to be paid in 2 years. Well, one year just now gone by and I owe $8,000. That's not even down to half of the original amount. Rip-off!

That's because You pay interest FIRST in most loans places like that utilize. The bank makes sure they get their money as fast as possible. It starts to go down a lot faster in the second half of the loan. Unless of course you're late on any payments, then it adds up FAST and tacks on months to the life of the loan.

[jsibelius]

That's because You pay interest FIRST in most loans places like that utilize. The bank makes sure they get their money as fast as possible. It starts to go down a lot faster in the second half of the loan. Unless of course you're late on any payments, then it adds up FAST and tacks on months to the life of the loan.

That's how most car loans work, period. That's how you end up "upside down" on your car earlier in the loan - if you try to trade in after the first year or so of a five-year loan, you'll find you owe way more than the car is worth. But you shouldn't take out a five-year loan. It really means you can't afford the car. You should shoot for 3 years max. Even so, your first year will be much the same - you'll owe way more than you think you should. After that, the balance drops much faster.

[OKCisOK4me]

Every car I have ever seen from CarMax was overpriced by at least that much.

Well, HOTDAMN, I guess I got a frickin steal!!! They must have loved me or something ;-)

[jsibelius]

Well, HOTDAMN, I guess I got a frickin steal!!! They must have loved me or something ;-)

Sounds like. Congratulations. It appears you did well.