Car buying advice in Philly

OK I might get beat up on this but here goes.
A friend is flying back to Philly tomorrow to see her elderly mother. The Mom is actually a fair driver, but was rear ended a few months back in her Hyundai. Honest she was innocent as a lamb.

So she got a payoff on the totaled HYmom, and is depressed because she has no car now.

MY question is does anyone know a dealer in Philly that I could send two ladies to, that is honest enough not to strip them to the bone and throw them out on the street? I know, an unfair portrayal of poor honest car dealers, but Hey I’m a west coast guy and i know how much sharper those east coast guys are.

So I’m talking 07 Hy elantra or kia rio type car, small and cheap. Nissan or toyo seem kinda upscale. Edmunds shows values in the $8K range.

Anyone want to help me put another little old lady on the mean streets of Philly?

Find someone to go with them and be the “bad cop”.

Someone needs to be alert and skeptical no matter which dealership.

If you can spare the time, why not take them around to various places? They’ll need a ride wherever they’re going, regardless. This way you can kinda scope how well the salespeople treat her mother.
There is one caveat though; small =/= cheap these days. Fuel efficient vehicles, especially used ones, command a higher price than a somewhat larger vehicle. In some cases, a 2 or 3 year old Elantra might actually be MORE than a brand new one. So don’t expect them to budge too much on the price they give you.

Yea well I’m on the West Coast while they are in Philly.

Good point about the small used car market. Could probably buy a used malibu for the same money. But the Mom likes a little car to get around the city. I’ll bet she doesn’t even drive 3k mi a year, could get a Caddillac for all the gas she’ll burn.

If she drives that little, would ZipCar be an option to consider?

Does your friend’s mom have any friends in Philadelphia that could help her? Maybe someone at church?

Well the they have been making the rounds, dying in the heat. So far no real deal. WEnt to a ford dealer looked at a fiesta, liked it price seemed in the ball park with Checked edmunds.
Went to the manager, but loo and behold the salesman had showed them the wrong car. Price was now higher… So they left

So now the question is what’s the best site to mention the rather shabby attempt to extort more money out of customers?