Modelgeek is absolutely right, going to a dealer indicates that someone doesn't want to hassle with the work of searching for the vehicle they really want, some might say "no hassle" = lazy. The dealer is making 20-40% markup, you keep the money and find the right vehicle from a private party. If you really want bang for your buck, get on Craigslist and start searching, use "search tempest" its a Craigslist search tool that will allow you to search more than one area at a time. Be willing to drive 300 miles to get the vehicle you want. If you find a vehicle a long distance away, besure and ask a lot of specific questions and request additional pics before you make the drive to see it. If you drive far you are not window shopping you are most likely buying, so you want NO surprises. If the owner misrepresented the vehicle you have to walk away. Have the cash ready, and work every possible angle to get the price down. On my Ranger, the owner didn't want to budge, the title wasn't clean so we went right down to DMV and I registered the Ranger there so there would be no problem when I was 200 miles away at home. I did manage to get him down $700 and agree to tell the DMV the sale price was half what I paid (That alone was a $300 savings on registration). Have a readout of KBB valuation for the model with the options, do searches to make sure you really know what a good deal is. If there are small mechanical things wrong start deducting from the price. Take someone with you so you have a second opinion, plus let them hold the cash or have the ability to go right to the bank and get cash. There are real deals out there you just have to have patience and look. If you have to have a vehicle for transportation immediately that changes things, but even then you may have to bum a right for a few weeks, and still take your time.