Texas Direct Auto (Houston, Missouri City, Mercedes: sales, home, buying)

[ItsAlwaysSunnyIn....]

I'm looking to buy a used Jeep Grand Cherokee 2005 or newer and I've come across a few that are well priced at Texas Direct Auto in Missouri City. Does anyone have any experience dealing with them at the dealership? I know they're primarily an eBay dealer but you can set up appointments to see vehicles first hand. How do they handle trade-ins? I have an 05 Accord in good condition 52K miles. Before I show up and start dealing with a
used car salesman I would like a good heads up.

Thanks.

[travelguy_73]

I haven't purchased from them, but a good friend bought a Mercedes from them a couple of years ago. I actually have been keeping my eye on their inventory because they do have some good deals. Here is what I know from my friend:

-Each car at Texas Direct has a rep assigned to it, and you will work with that person.
-In theory, you bid on the car on eBay, and see if it reaches their reserve (or simply pay the Buy It Now price, which isn't as much of a good deal).
-You definitely want to go test drive anything you are interested in, BUT they require you to schedule test drives and, at least a couple of years ago, not on the weekends. The cars are behind a fence, so you can't just go wandering around while they are closed.
-As soon as you say you want the car, they take it off eBay and then give you a certain number of days to get your cash or financing in order. One word of caution: it won't be an official eBay sale this way, and the guarantees won't apply. You could just run home and hit the Buy It Now and you would have those guarantees (assuming that is the price you agreed on).

Overall, he said he would do it again, but noted it isn't like a typical dealership (for better or worse). They obviously do a good business, and at times they have some great cars.

Oh, I have no idea how they handle trades. In this market, an 05 Accord should get a pretty good response on its own, so I would try selling it yourself. The only downside is that you end up paying higher sales tax on the new car, but that is usually way overcome by getting a better deal on the car. And don't forget CarMax buys cars, and would give you at least as much as anyone else.

[Grunn]

Google rip off report + texas direct auto and make your own mind up.

Personally I wouldn't touch them with a s****y stick.

[Howard J]

This place is full of scam artists! They post fake pictures on the internet of the vehicles and try to hide the damage and issues from their customers! They actually photoshop their pictures to make it look like nothing is wrong with the car then when you get there they just pressure you into buying it anyway. Look at the BBB and ripoff report and complaints board and youll see what im talking about. Or just google texas direct auto scam or texas direct auto complaints and youll get the real story. My best friend works there in the service and tells me how funny they think this stuff is but the truth is they should be sued for this

[LostInHouston]

Originally Posted by Grunn

Google rip off report + texas direct auto and make your own mind up.

Personally I wouldn't touch them with a s****y stick.

google rip off report and just about any used car dealer and I'd bet you'd come up with a similar list of complaints.

edit: don't know anything about the company... just making a comment on the usefulness of internet reviews.

[Grunn]

Originally Posted by LostInHouston

google rip off report and just about any used car dealer and I'd bet you'd come up with a similar list of complaints.

edit: don't know anything about the company... just making a comment on the usefulness of internet reviews.

Not many of them contain allegations or comments like those on texas direct.

Sure all auto dealers are going to get disgruntled customers but texas direct and it's offshoots seem to be going the extra mile to p*ss off as many people as possible by allegedly retailing cars of very poor quality with very poor aftersales backup.

Caveat Emptor.

[SteveArmy]

last year i got my 2004 54kmi BMW X5 4.4l Darkgray/Black in super clean condition(lots of options) for $16.5K at NEXXES (i think), thats a great hassle-free used car shop