Amazon driver wants a Dodge Demon, but he’s already $30,000 underwater on a Hellcat
Audio By Carbonatix
He called the dealer’s cell about 15 times in a row. The Dodge Challenger Hellcat seller wasn’t at the lot, but thought it must be some kind of emergency, so he finally answered.
Yusuf Benallal buys and sells used cars through Auto Cafe in Miami, Florida. He’s also the founder of CarLay, a new auction platform where vehicle owners can list their ride and get offers from dealers.
The industry expert often films his calls with customers to help his followers gain more certain car loan literacy. This one’s about a client who, for some unknown reason, urgently wanted to trade his Charger Hellcat for a Demon.
The 2018 Dodge Charger Hellcat is no slouch in the muscle car world
With a 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI V8 under the hood, it cranks out 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. That power moves all four doors from 0 to 60 in just about 3.6 seconds, and it’ll keep charging all the way to a 204 mph top speed…practically a family sedan possessed by a snarling, clawed predator.
Standard features include launch control, adaptive suspension, and enough cooling systems to make a fighter jet jealous. But as feral as it sounds, the Hellcat isn’t even the wildest creature in Dodge’s litter.
Keep in mind, too, that both the Charger and Challenger offer Hellcat trims. But the Challenger is the only modern Dodge model that can get “possessed.”
Dodge built the Challenger Demon for one thing: quarter-mile dominance
This two-door beast takes the Hellcat formula and spikes it with rocket fuel. Same engine block, but it’s been heavily tuned to deliver up to 840 horsepower and 770 lb-ft of torque when running on 100-octane race fuel.
It’s also lighter than the Hellcat by over 200 pounds and comes with drag radials, a transbrake, and a suspension designed to pop wheelies. It’s the only production car officially banned by the NHRA for being too fast without a cage.
Dodge released another Demon, the Dart’s version, decades prior. It was only around in 1971 and 1972, though.
In short, the Hellcat is a brutal daily driver; the Challenger Demon is a limited-edition lunatic made to eat timing slips for breakfast. Wanting to trade one for the other isn’t just a financial leap…it’s a leap into a whole new level of obsession.
“You are very upside down on this car.”
Let’s get to the math of the matter at hand:
The caller has a 2018 Dodge Charger Hellcat with a $60,000 balance. He took the car home for $80,000 with a 22% interest rate. Today, it has 96,000 miles. But he’s the sixth owner, and the Hellcat already has three accidents on record.
“I can’t get a deal done with $2,000 down.”
The thing is, the Charger is only worth about $30,000 today. Even with a 680 credit score, the Amazon driver still needs to come up with all the cash to pay off the gap between the loan balance and the car’s current market value. After that, he’d need more money for the down payment on the Demon.
The Amazon driver says he makes between $3,000 and $4,000 a month. That alone is a red flag for financing an $80k Dodge Hellcat, let alone a Demon.
Here’s the other question: if you’re spending near half your monthly income on a car payment, and still have insurance, rent, groceries, and all else to pay, how in the world can you take on a different $100,000 to $200,000 high-performance vehicle?
“I’m really trying to, like, get in the car, bro,” the caller persists while the dealer gets “that” look. You know, the one where a customer is in a bad spot but insists on digging themselves deeper into debt over a car they don’t need.
