"2"^^ . "5"^^ . "1"^^ . "First off: I hate car buying. Carmax was alright, but I hate buying a car. You do your homework on how much KBB and Edmunds say your trade in is worth, you look at all the sites, check Truecar to make sure you know the price, you think you're savvy, and you're still at the dealer's mercy.\n\nCase in point: I went through USAA's car buying service. I found the car I wanted and could afford, and looked up my trade in online. I traded in a motorcycle, which all appraisal sites said was worth $14K trade. Newport called the local motorcycle dealer, and the dealer said they'd only buy it from them for $10K, which was exactly what I had left on the loan. Egyptian Rat Screw #1.\n\nEgyptian Rat Screw #2: I had a pre-approved check from USAA for the car. The dealer still made me do a credit application just in case the check bounced. This, of course, caused a hard credit inquiry on my credit score, lowering it another few points.\n\nAll in all, it took three and a half hours to drive away with the car. The salesman didn't even offer me a test drive. Most dealers take the car off the line and detail it while you're waiting for the financing, but they waited until I had signed the contract. By that time, the service department was closed, so I had to come back to get the car detailed. Oh, and the car was on empty. It has a 16 gallon gas tank and it took 15.5 gallons to fill up.\n\nWhen I picked up the green slip a week and a half later (even though the information is transmitted electronically now in Nevada, and the dealership doesn't have to physically take the paperwork to the DMV and this dealership is directly across from the E. Sahara Ave DMV) it comes up that the car's smog is out of date and it has to be smogged before I can get the plates. I thought a car had to have a valid smog to take it off the lot. I guess I was wrong. Good thing they own a smog station on premises and didn't charge me for it.\n\nThose are the negatives. Here are the positives: I called the night before and asked for the car to be placed on hold. Francisco did that for me. When I arrived, the car was actually in the showroom with a sold sign on it. I came back the next Saturday and the did a great detail job on it. When I picked up the green slip, they smogged the car for free. All cars come with a two month, 2000 mile power train warranty.\n\nI love my car, high miles and all. I took it to Friendly Ford to get a new key cut (there was only one, and a new key cost $350.00) and the service writer said the car looked clean and in good shape, despite the high mileage. The car's price was within range according to KBB.com. I am hopeful that I never have to buy another car again, and I'm kind of iffy about going back to these guys. It will depend on whether or not I can find the car I want at another dealer."^^ . "1"^^ . . . . "2015-04-21T00:00:00"^^ .