Im looking to get a Jeep Wrangler. Any good dealer recommendations from around the state? I’m in the panhandle but will travel if there is a good dealership to deal with.

Seems like most dealers are crap. Best way it seems is to find what model/options you like and search online to find who has it in stock, verify it with them, and then negotiate to get your best deal and travel to wherever they are.

I was basically happy with Meador DCJ down in Burleson.   They had the best/most selection when I was shopping back in late 2016, and their online sales were pretty on top of it.  I can't say the same for any of the Dallas county dealerships.  I'd probably use them again.

I like Ancira in San Antonio.

Thanks, all. I’m checking them out.

Use a car buying service from Sams, Costco, USAA etc.  and use that as a starting point for price and negotiate from there .  Don’t worry about customer service or how “nice” they are.   You will take you Jeep in for service to a dealership that is most convenient to you.  There is no special service your going to get from purchasing from the same dealership.  They are all just trying to take as much money form you as they can.   Your job is to pay as little as you can.

Also don’t worry about how  much inventory they have.  All dealers can trade and do that regularly.  If they know they will make a sale they will find it.  I know of a few dealership that hardly have any inventory.  A majority of their deals are with “dealer trades” and a majority of their sales are delivered to the customer all over the state.

Yeah...  it's not quite 60 miles away.  But we finished up the paperwork just in time for rush hour.  It took me 2 hours to get home.  3 days after buying it, I had the front bumper off and was dripping great big holes in the frame.  

Pro-tip - don't show up at a car dealership with more than $9990 in cash.  These people flat freaked out when I wanted to pay cash.  

Jeep = Barbie for Boys.

I wouldn’t even use that much.  Even if you don’t hit the 10k mark they can still fill out paperwork on you and say it’s questionable.    No reason to have the man in your life if you don’t have to.  I had to find out the hard way on this one.


It’s better to pay by check as it won’t freak anyone out including the Man.

Like the man wasn't already in all our lives.  The Treasury Dept is used to getting reports on my spending habits.  

And even if you have $20k+ in your checking account and an 800+ credit rating, people don't want personal checks for more than a few grand.  I have lots of experience in that matter.

And cash talks.  Mostly it says goodbye to me.

You have the same problem I have with cash saying goodby to me too for some reason.  But cash for new vehicles doesn’t talk.  They would rather you take a loan.  You can mostly likely get a better deal if you did take out a loan.  They also don’t want the hassle of large sums of money and the paperwork that goes with it.  Cash only talks on used cars at corner lots and individuals.

If you want to get the best deal on a car then use the manufacturers finance and pay it off the next week.  They usually have some dealer incentive money they want to get that they will split with you. Just don’t let them know you are going to pay it off so soon as it hurts them.

Cash did kinda talk on this deal.  Because basically I threatened to walk since I could afford to buy anywhere else I was willing to go to.  After some back and forth, the deal got almost $500 sweeter.  So I agreed to take their loan deal.  I paid 25% down and paid the loan off about a month later, since there was no penalty for early pay off.  Dealer got their cut for the loan, I got a better price, lender got screwed.  Win, win & win.  

Could I have gotten a better deal?  Maybe.  Do I care?  Not really.  I left my leaking, ridden hard, put up wet BMW in their lot.  And while I loved her, she was way done and not worth the trade in bucks they gave me.  

The best part - I'm pretty sure that they were pretty sure that I was carrying a gun to keep my cash mine.  And I kind of liked how that made them nervous.  Lots of "sirs" and can "can I get you anything to drink?".   Does that make me a bad person?

If you ever want to get a really good deal then send out a large amount of feelers to different sales managers letting them know you  will purchase a last minute vehicle if they ever need that one extra sale to make their bonus but your not interested in purchasing unless it’s a last min deal.   It could take several months before you get something but you can save several thousand dollars.  I have seen dealers looses 10k on one unit because that one extra sale would get the dealer a extra 50-100k in bonuses.

Another way is if you ever find a managers unit that is at its mileage limit.  Some of these managers will sale them cheap because they are not allowed to get a new unit before their old unit is sold.  If you find the guy that doesn’t  give a shit if that unit makes a profit as they only care for a new one then you can make a real score.

Try small towns. When I was looking at a Super Duty, Holiday Ford in Whitesboro was the best deal I could find.

They have a dealer in Graham, TX.   https://www.holidaygrahamcdjr.com/

If you're looking for the lowest price, go in stating you want to finance, 10%-24% down either with cash and/or trade. Be reasonable on the value of your trade. You don't have to give it away since good use cars bring good money to the dealerships.  Get the best price up front, then decide if you want to keep your trade-in vehicle.

Unless you have under a 630 credit rating, keep your cash.

End of the month is the best time to buy.  They have an operating loan (floorplan) for each vehicle. The longer they keep it, the less money they make.

They will lower the price of the vehicle thinking they can make it up on the finance or trade side.  Buy it, and either pay it off or refinance within 90 days.

We bought my wife's Jeep at Meador 3 and a half years ago. We drove from far east Dallas Co., our saleslady was this indian chick and I thought it was going to be miserable, but it was about the least bullshit experience I ever had buying a car. She was pretty cut and dry, didn't bullshit us with financing because I already had my stuff done through my credit union, didn't try to hard sell us on options or warranty.

The other part was the selection. I wanted an Unlimited Sport, with this radio, with these options, etc. and they had some decent options. Not saying if you walk in there and say you want a burgundy colored model with 4.11 gears, that they are going to have that, but they'll have some options.

We just didn't want a black one. We almost bought white, but my wife didn't like the weep from the rubber seals on the white paint. We ended up with a rhino gray colored one. You don't see a ton of those.

This.

I'm in Houston area. We bought a Jeep Wrangler this past summer. Houston dealers didn't have what we wanted, though we test drove a couple to see how the JLU drove/handled compared to our previous JKU. Searched window stickers online and found the exact one we wanted up in Palestine. Called and made a deal over the phone, went and got it that day.

Your best bet is to search stock online before you even go to a dealer. You can even do this by building a Jeep on the Jeep website and doing a dealer search for same or similar builds based on your location. Then you call the dealer to confirm availability before you waste your time driving there.

If you didn't make it illegally, nobody gives a fuck. If you fill ATMs through a local bank branch, you just need to call a few days in advance and you can get $500k in $20 bills. A single ATM cassette will take $40k in notes.  If you buy/sell/trade in tractors or trailers your bank will not freak out with you getting $20-100k in $100 bills at a time.  

If You give a bank enough notice you can get a million in 10’s if you want.  That’s not the issue.  Having cash is not illegal and I never did say it was.  The issue is on retail purchases of a auto at a legit dealership. They will report you making a “large” cash payment. You may or may not get a follow up by the man.  It’s one of the things the feds look for.  Like it or don’t like it I don’t care.  Just pointing out what actually happens.  So yes people do give a fuck.

Also if you would have looked at the conversation you would have realized we were not talking about business transactions.  They still get reported but are looked at differently.  If your in business like your trying to make it sound like you are you should know some of this.


https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/report-of-cash-payments-over-10000-received-in-a-trade-or-business-motor-vehicle-dealership-qas

Worked in a dealership for several years.

We absolutely DID NOT want Cash.  Due to Security & Robbery Risk.  This isn't Miami in the 1970's - 1980s  ...

We'd always prefer a personal check Vs "Cashiers check (Never the correct amount) or "Cash", because if F&I has done their job right, they KNOW that YOU are YOU and writing a Bad Check for that amount is a Felony that you won't enjoy.

Best Deal?

Go through the motions to purchase the car with a large down payment and Finance with Dealership (they get money for originating the loan, which is money that can sweeten your deal) and then pay off the loan in full in 60 days (most finance has no early payment penalties).