David Whitefield is a local personal trainer with a master’s in exercise and sports studies who describes himself as obsessive/compulsive. To buy a used truck, he visited 42 dealerships, looked at hundreds of trucks, and entered into a lot of old-fashioned used-car haggling. Fortunately for the rest of us, he kept notes. Here are his rankings.
21 comments
Clearly he stuck to “branded” car dealerships but for overall best deals and ease of purchase I think anyone who has visited Texas Cars Direct would vote them #1. Limited brand selection but unreal prices and stress-free.
Ditto for Trophy Nissan! I also had to threaten to call the police to get my keys back! I was new to the process, they ask you for your keys to inspect your trade it and then won’t give them back!
David Whitefield may describe himself as “obsessive/compulsive.” However, I’d describe him as something else.
For starters, our economy is crashing — mainly because people buy stuff they can’t afford or buy things on credit that quickly become worth less than what they paid for — and he’s willing to start off with $3,300 in negative equity on a huge truck that’s going to be worth half its value in two years. Oh, and he’s willing to sign on for 72 months of payments! I’m bet in three years, he’ll get tired of the truck on roll what’s left on the note into payments for something even newer or shinier.
Then he trades in a gas guzzling SUV for a truck that guzzles even more gas. He must be optimistic that gas will stay at $1.78 a gallon. I’m not. Have fun with that gas bill when it skyrockets again next year.
Finally, he goes to all of branded car dealerships and doesn’t even consider CarMax or any of the multitudes of independent or wholesale used car lots in town which dropped the pressure sales tactics 15 years ago.
Thanks for the effort, David.
This email will be long, because I am obsessive/compulsive about finding bargains and I am a friggin’ used car buying genius.
1) Never buy from a branded dealer, horrible prices.
2) Find an internet focused business like Texas Cars Direct, or my favorite Autowebexpo.oom (bought 3 cars from their, friends bought 4, honest, no hassle, easy to deal with).
2(a) These businesses have access to the auto actions where all used cars are sold. They can tell you the wholesale prices they vehicles are selling for on a weekly basis and you can judge what a good price is.
3) Just barely glancing at autotrader I found many Tundra’s under $16,000 (all with less than 10,000 miles) including a private party double cab for $13,000. That is list, I am buying a used Mercedes right now, in this economy used cars are sitting for months unsold UNLESS they are family sedans or low mpg cars.
4) Some say, but wait, you get a better interest rate from a branded dealer. On a new car sure, you can get 0% on a new car. Well, Penfed.org (pentagon credit union) offers 3.9% financing up to 5 years on any kind of car, dealer/private party, new/used, doesn’t matter.
Too bad I could have helped this guy save thousands of dollars, plus an afternoon of driving around to overpriced dealers, and maybe gotten some free training sessions to get back into the NFL.
Quincy, out!
Jeez, underwater on a vehicle and he’s buys THAT gas pig? David, my friend, make/stick to your budget, stop ordering bottle service; find a cheaper apartment outside of Uptown and troll for SMU trustafarians instead of pricey McKinney Ave girls.
I can only imagine the comments by the end of the day. Maybe he should have dressed like a pinata?
Yeah David is pretty much why we’re in a global financial meltdown. But glad you got a car. Our economy lives to see another day…
If you have to finance a car for 6 years, you can’t afford that car. If you have to finance a $22,000 car for 6 years, you should be taking the bus. And rolling negative equity into the loan?? That is a pit he will never crawl out of.
And he plans to shoot himself in the other foot with a second car purchase! He really needs to stick with giving advice on toned abs.
When I’m planning to purchase a vehicle I go to the dealerships Ed Wallace recommends. Since I started listening to Ed I’ve purchased 6 vehicles at a fair price. If I ever have a problem they took care of me without delay. It’s not just about the price you pay for the car. It’s how your treated after the sell.
I second Don Davis Toyota in Agtown. My last visit included them telling my wife she needed $600 in repairs on the car when upon further inspection it just needed a new oil pan gasket. Nice try.
First, David, thank you for posting this. Buying a car can be the single biggest pain the butt, and any help is greatly appreciated.
Second, the snarkiness from some of the posters on here is just retarded. You’re angry because his gas bill will be high? You’re upset because he chose to buy a truck instead of a subcompact? David is the cause of the global financial meltdown (please tell me that was sarcasm, Ooh)? Seriously, get a life.
Third, a sleazy used car dealer is kinda redundant, don’t ya think?
@Quincy: I agree with most of what you said, but many banks/CUs won’t finance from private/non-franchised dealers, or will charge higher interest rates if they finance at all.
count me among the fraternity of folks who have had to threaten to call the police to get my keys back from trophy nissan. and this happened 10-15 years ago so it’s obviously a longstanding business practice.
Jean, thanks, and like I said Penfed.org will finance at 3.9% no matter who you buy it from and even if you go 5 years.
why would you borrow money on a depreciating asset?
what does his degree have to do with buying a used car? just to show he is not qualified?
What is the “signature X” ploy he talks about?
Perhaps he is in need of a personal financial trainer.
@Matt
Some new car deals have 0% for 5 years and 1.9% for 6. Take the money you would have used to purchase the vehicle, put it in CDs or bonds your in better shape than if you would have purchased the car with cash.
Some new cars are cheaper than new ones, these days.
I find unbuttoning a few buttons generally gets you a pretty good deal on just about anything.
bethany, i’d like to see that…