ABOUT US

Well, it looks like you want to learn a little more about us before you do anything. Smart cookie!

When our family first arrived in the United States, we came with a bag of clothes and enough money to hold us over for a month. We were coming from a country where credit wasn’t a thing. Your word and your name meant everything.

We had it tough at the beginning. Our parents asked our aunt and uncle to watch us while they secured an apartment and she lent them a shitty little cargo van for 3 months. 

They lived out of that van and took showers at campsites or truck stops until they saved up enough to get an apartment. 

It was a run-down 1-bedroom apartment in a rough area of Visalia. All four of us slept in the same room. 

Every day, our parents would go to work for 10-12 hours at a packing warehouse job they’d gotten through a staffing agency.

They’d come home exhausted and with their hands torn up. 

We could barely afford food so we ate canned beans, rice, oatmeal, and top ramen daily. Anything cheap that would let us save up whatever we could. 

They tried to buy a car but since we had no credit, the dealerships treated our parents like cockroaches. Our word and name might have carried weight in El Salvador, but here, we were nothing in their eyes. 

We kept getting repeatedly rejected, but our parents were never quitters. We were an honest family who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity that this country provides. They busted their ass until they saved up just enough to buy a 1993 Hyundai Elantra station wagon in cash.

Best car we’ve ever had.

No A/C, no heater, super high mileage, manual windows that would get stuck when we tried to roll them up or down, and no radio.

We loved that car. Some of our best memories were of that time.

Don’t get us wrong, it was hell having to drive through the Fresno heat or the freezing winters, but it allowed us to get ahead. 

And that’s exactly what we did.

We don’t believe that people should have to go through the struggle we did from having credit issues. So, in 2007 we put everything we had into opening up our dealership and helping people the way we could have used the help back then. 

It was slow rolling, and the economic downturn in 2008 shook things up for us, but we buckled in as a family and sacrificed together to keep things going. We were determined to make things work.

At first, we made a lot of decisions to simply keep the lights on. Looking back now, we see all of the things we could have done differently that would have expanded our reach today, but we believe we had to learn from that. We were determined to help all of these people and that’s what we would do. 

Those “mistakes” are what allowed us to become fully aware that there are people out there who, no matter how much help you provide them, will never lift a finger to change. Not because they’re “bad” people, or lazy, entitled, etc. They’re just not ready yet.

So our mission changed.

We want to help all of those people who are in currently shitty situations, maybe because of past mistakes, life blindsiding them, or never being provided the knowledge or guidance to establish credit and personal finance, who are ready to turn all of it around. 

Those that are dedicated to carving a better future for themselves. 

These are the people who deserve our help, the way that we could have used someone else’s help back then. 

They are the ones we know we can touch and make a true impact on their lives. The ones we can propel forward because they want to take action and live better.

We want to continue improving our processes and offerings in order to provide an even better chance of success to our Members so that we can continue growing beyond the Central Valley and help Members throughout California and beyond. We want to be able to help as many individuals who are ready for our help so we can turn their lives around and propel them forward toward a brighter future.

We continue to improve our Buy Here Pay Here near me (In House financing), which we call our Credit Solutions Program. This is currently being done by analyzing all of the data we’ve had over the years that we can use to fine-tune our processes further and provide a better experience before, during, and after they join our Program.

We continue to build and strengthen relationships with local businesses in order to provide even more value to our Members in areas outside of our expertise. 

We will continue to provide nicer, newer, and lower-mileage vehicles to our Members that are coupled with our 2-year Warranty so we can increase reliability and reduce their chances of financial struggles. This will let them focus on the financial matters that will make the biggest impact on them.

More offerings and services are in the works that will add a layer of financial protection for our Members during their time paying through the Program.

Most of all, we plan on continuing to deliver high-value content and community events to help our Members feel supported and gain a clear understanding of credit, loans and finance products, budgeting, income, spending, saving, investing, car maintenance, car ownership, etc.

We are not a used car dealership nor a finance company. We are a community set on providing results to our Members and building long-lasting relationships that are beneficial for everyone. We are an organization where our Members can feel confident to refer others like them and help grow the community further.

We are Westland Auto.

If this doesn’t seem like something that resonates with you, we thank you for recognizing it quickly and truly wish you the best.

For the rest of you…sound like the type of place you’d want to be part of? Are you ready to take action and embrace a better future? 

Become a Member, Partner, or a part of the Team and help us fulfill our mission! Or…maybe all three?