You shouldn’t need a degree in dealership politics to get a good deal on a car. It’s a tragic reality this first-time car buyer learned all too well after putting $50,000 down on a Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat. And even after slamming that much money down, she still had a $90,000 loan, a lower credit score, $23,000 in warranties, and a $1,700 monthly payment. 

One Hellcat. $50,000 down. And still $1,700 per month with $23,000 in warranties

TikTok user Ride With Yusuf deals with crazy car-buying scenarios regularly. But this one is a doozy. A first-time car buyer called in in hopes that Yusuf could clear up her car purchase confusion.

She had her eyes set on a Los Angeles-based 2025 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat with the Brass Monkey treatment. To buy the car, she put an eye-watering $50,000 down, as much as a savvy car shopper could spend to buy an entire early-model SRT Hellcat.

“You would have owed $67,153,” Yusuf said to the caller. He figured that’s what her remaining loan balance should have been after the $50,000 down payment. 

“But when you pull it up on Credit Karma, it says that you owe $90,000.” Needless to say, $67,153 is a long way from $90,000. 

“I know I have to go in there,” she said. The buyer wants a better deal, but she doesn’t want to jump through the hoops of dealership politics. “There’s no talking when it comes to missing $23,000,” Yusuf responded.

If that wasn’t enough, her deal included upwards of $23,000 in warranties on top of the purchase. Troublingly, she asserts that the dealer showed her about $5,000 in warranty coverage earlier. 

A Hellcat for a first-time buyer

“And this was your first time buying a car, right?” Yusuf asked her. It’s true; she’s a first-time buyer with a six-figure super SUV in her sights.

“What do you do for work again?” he asked, posing the question we’re all thinking. “I’m an entertainer at a club in Vegas.” 

He then asked the Sin City entertainer about her interest rate and payment. “Do you remember your interest rate and monthly payments on the car?”

Are you sitting down? She told Yusuf that it’s $1,697 per month at 9.22% APR. Seriously. She was about to take on a $90,000 loan at $1,700 per month with a sky-high interest rate. 

Her credit couldn’t save her

Yusuf asked the first-time buyer about her credit score. “Like 750,” she responded. That puts her firmly in the “Very Good” range.

“With your credit score, you should have got a better rate than 9%. This is why it’s smart to ‘shop the deal,’” Yusuf said.

Why $50,000 down? No explanation

Yusuf wanted to know why she had to put down quite so much money. “Did they tell you why you had to put down $50,000 for the deal?” “No,” she responded. “They just recommended it.”

Another voice chimed in from her end of the phone call, saying that the dealer told her to put down the considerable cash amount because she was a first-time car buyer. Still, that’s a lot of money.

“That should have been a red flag,” Yusuf responded. He points out that while she didn’t have a car-buying history, she shouldn’t have to stretch from her $66,000 contract to $90,000. 

Finally, Yusuf recommended that she go in quickly, armed with documentation to resolve her dilemma. “Print out your bill of sale and say, ‘Look, what the heck happened?’”

A Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is a horrible car for a first-time buyer

Granted, this first-time buyer had plenty of money to put down. But this is an expensive car with high insurance costs.

According to Insure.com, a Durango R/T is among the 10 most expensive popular SUVs to insure in America at $2,196 per year. A Hellcat is even more.

Add the fact that a 2025 model produces a stratospheric 710 horsepower with its supercharged 6.2L V8, and it’s a recipe for disaster for an inexperienced driver. MotorBiscuit reached out to @ridewithyusuf for comment via TikTok message.