My wife and I were recently forced to purchase a new vehicle as our 2nd one has been in various states of disrepair. With winter coming, kids in school, and two jobs to go between, we needed to find a reliable vehicle at a reasonable price ... and soon! Unfortunately, a new car was out of the question for our budget.
About a month ago we took the plunge. We started looking at used cars that could fit our whole family (us, two kids, and a couple of dogs). At first we started looking at Dodge Magnums, but their value was too high, even used. We refocused our search for anything used, under $10k, and 4-wheel drive.
As I was planning on getting a loan through USAA, I went to their website to apply for an initial loan request. I didn't realize it before, but they actually hook you up with views of cars for sale at certain dealerships that qualify for their sales program. I would learn more about this later, but suffice to say that USAA is selective in the dealerships they work with and the whole buying process becomes a lot easier!
I found a 2004 Jeep, 4-wheel drive, leather interior, heated seats, and very clean, all for about $9,000. We also found another advertised for about $8,000, but with more miles. I was able to directly apply for a loan using that information and arrange for a test drive that same evening!
The entire buying experience was really great. After my wife and I took separate test drives of the same Jeep (the first one), we felt really good about how clean it was, how solid it felt, and how well it drove.
The price was already within reason, but just slightly out of our limited monthly budget. They were willing to work with us on the price, taxes, and our deposit to fine tune the overall financing cost so that we could get within our target of $150 a month, which really made us feel better about the whole deal and could be something we could handle without killing us to make payments.
The gentlemen showing us the vehicles and working on our financing were really great and personable, and also I'd like to say they were very knowledgeable about Jeep engines and maintenance, specifically (which jived with our own knowledge of previously-owned Jeeps we've had and research we've done on the Jeeps we were looking at; they knew the difference between the reliable 2004 in-line 6 and the more powerful, if less reliable, V8). We were also able to get a free CarFax to look over (you can get it from CarZone or directly from USAA before you even go to the dealership), which had a very detailed maintenance record, and that was very reassuring.
The buying process was relatively quick and easy, and we drove away with the Jeep that night. The next weekend we took the family on a road trip to Apple Hill, and we fell even more in love with our new (to us) Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited Edition!
Of note: they got us a free smog check the very next day, hooked us up with a new disc cartridge for the CD changer, and when we discovered the freon for the A/C was going out (2 days after purchase) they were able to recharge it for us for free with absolutely no questions asked. This, to me, is a great sign of a dealership you can trust. We weren't nickled and dimed, and we weren't given excuses about why something was wrong, or trouble about fixing something we couldn't have known about.
If I need to make another major family purchase like this again, I see no reason why CarZone wouldn't be the first place on my list to go to! By the way, they have two locations on Kietzkee with, obviously, different vehicles to choose from, and they're owned by the same people so you can work with either lot to get what you need. The one we worked with was the smaller lot, and their building is, for lack of a better work, kind of a shack, but the quality of their service made us feel right at home! read more