Used Car Dealer Seen as ‘one of the Worst’ in Dallas Says He’s Trying to Buff Up His Image

"I'm just trying to have a better reputation."The speaker is the one Dallas business owner The Watchdog most wants to hear utter these words.He is David A. Kost Jr., co-owner with his father of 1and2 Automotive in Northwest Dallas. 1 and 2, father and son. Get it?A year ago, I nominated his shop as one of the worst in the city because of 1and2's cut-throat treatment of its customers at Kost's two "buy here, pay here" lots on Reeder Road and on Harry Hines Boulevard.This week, I was checking with Kost on behalf of yet another customer who told the same old story. A salesman takes money from a customer, drops it in an office safe, and when the customer changes her or his mind about buying a car and asks for it back, it takes a while for a check to go out.That's the same old story from Ellis Lee, a 47-year-old car shopper from Cedar Hill who told me recently how he put down $380 on a car, changed his mind and couldn't get his money back, even after weeks of trying.1and2 Auto reviewsThe last time I saw Kost was in small claims court where a waitress challenged him on repossessing her car. After that, readers of my Watchdog Nation felt so bad for her that several chipped in, and with the help of Ewing Buick-GMC, bought her another car.  Continue reading...