A good price for a Whites DFX

Seanpaul

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2011
Messages
288
Location
College Station, TX
I've been looking out for a good deal on a used whites dfx, xlt or mxt pro for coin shooting, relic hunting and occaisional beach hunting. I have a compadre but find I dig a lot of trash with it, more than I want to, so I wanted one of these whites machines to help me in my decision making process in to dig or not to dig. I am also hoping the amount of good finds will go up quite a bit with one of these. Leaning towards an mxt pro.

In a town not too far away I found a used Whites DFX for sale in a pawn shop. Its a DFX spectra e series with a 4" sniper coil. It only has the drop in battery pack, not the rechargeable one, no manual, charger etc... It is in very good shape, hard to find a scratch on it anywhere so not very much use at all. They were asking $600 for the machine as is but they accepted my offer of $400 if I want it. Is $400 a good deal for a used dfx? I think it is but want ya'lls opinion on it.

Any opinions on my choices of detector upgrade or the price for the dfx? Thanks all!
 
i think it was a good price. not positiive on your model but as far as the drop in pack you may still be able to get the rechargeable packs through many dealers as well as the charger. that would be a good investment. batteries add up quick if you detect often.


i agree find what the return policy is if there is one. if it was a pawn shop its usually final sale so no return policy is common. my brother works in a pawn shop and once it goes out the door thats usually it. as far as checking it if its stolen most pawn shops have to wait a period of time such as 30 days before something can be sold and the police department checks out a lot of items before they go up for sale. you can probably get a serial number search going yourself.

if the machine is working great then i think you got a great price.
 
I plan to visit that shop on the History channel "Pawn Stars" next month when we travel out there.
 
i think it was a good price. not positiive on your model but as far as the drop in pack you may still be able to get the rechargeable packs through many dealers as well as the charger. that would be a good investment. batteries add up quick if you detect often.


i agree find what the return policy is if there is one. if it was a pawn shop its usually final sale so no return policy is common. my brother works in a pawn shop and once it goes out the door thats usually it. as far as checking it if its stolen most pawn shops have to wait a period of time such as 30 days before something can be sold and the police department checks out a lot of items before they go up for sale. you can probably get a serial number search going yourself.

if the machine is working great then i think you got a great price.

The owner told me that if it does not work correctly to return it for my money back, but I'll make sure to get it in writing if I buy it. Yes, pawn shops here are required by law to submit information to local law enforcement to see if an item was reported stolen or not. Is this stolen? Maybe, maybe not. It could have been stolen but no one reported it or submitted serial numbers to see if it surfaced anywhere. How would I get a serial number search going? I would hate to buy a stolen detector:(

I honestly have been leaning towards an mxt pro over a dfx but I am not finding a smoking deal on an mxt pro like the good deal on this dfx. I figure if I find the dfx too complicated I could likely find someone to sell the dfx for the same or more money or perhaps trade someone straight up for an mxt pro.
Thanks!
 
Seanpaul that is a great price if it works,I just sold one for 775.00.

If you can grab the serial # call whites and they can tell you how old that unit is.They can also let you know if the original owner reported it to them as stolen. Good luck with it.
 
It does not have the stock coil, it has some kind of sniper coil on the machine so I would have to buy a larger coil if I wanted to cover some ground in a timely fashion. I imagine that small coil would have a use in trashy areas though. Unfortunately it only comes with the small coil and the drop in battery pack, the one that holds the batteries.

Thanks for the info about calling Whites to check the serial number, I think I'll check into that before I plop down my hard earned cash; don't want any stolen equipment.
 
Update

Ok, here is an update. I bought an eight pack of double A batteries and went into the pawn shop to check out the dfx. Well the battery holder/pack was very corroded from someone leaving batteries stored in there and acid leaking out. I had to really rub some of that corrosion away just the get the dfx to power on. When it did power on, I was not getting a voltage reading, I was getting a low battery and overload message. I was able to go through the menus and check some things out, was not sure what I was looking for but was good to see I could scroll around. I was not getting any sound at all from the machine. I'm thinking that the battery pack is still so corroded up that all the juice/voltage is not getting to the machine causing some issues. The manager was going use some cleaner and a small brush to get rid of the corrosion so that I could check it all out again in a couple of days.

I just don't know now though, I hate to see that it is not starting up like it should and there is no sound. I may just pass on this one...Like I said, I was originally leaning towards the mxt pro and think that would be the better machine for me, especially with not quite the steep learning curve that the dfx likely has. Problem is I don't see many mxt pro's for sale used and the ones I do see sure don't go for $400. I'll keep ya'll posted, thanks for the comments!
 
tell em you will give him 200 for the mechine

tell the pawn shop you will give him 200 for the mechine , the coil is at least 100 used and you could sell the unit for part for a 100 even if its not working correctlty .... i would take the shot at it if you get it for 200 .......
 
Just a thought; if he can get the terminals cleaned up so that the batteries will work, see if he'll let you take it outside and try it. You might be getting the overload from all the metal in the store. "Overload" means that there's too much metal for it to identify a specific target (I think). I get it on my DFX when I come across big hunks of metal (I live on a farm, and have found tractor parts, rain gutters, etc.). I wouldn't pass the DFX up unless you try it outside and it still won't work. The pre-set programs should work fine for testing it before you buy it. Good luck! Curt
 
Another update

I went ahead and bought the dfx but at the very least it looks like I need to find a new battery/batteries for it but I practically stole it. They let me buy it for $100 plus tax! I called Whites to ask them about service prices and to check the serial number to make sure it was not a prior stolen unit. Good news, the unit is not stolen and they told me worst case scenario, I would not be out of pocket any more than about $130 no matter what needed to be fixed on it. So, if a new battery does not solve the low battery/low voltage, overload problem then I can send it in to whites, get a repair and still be out less than $300 for the cost of the detector plus service charge. Any thoughts about the low battery problem? When I power on it only shows about 0.4 volts and the battery check after power up shows 0.0 volts.
 
WoW!! What a deal! I'll double your money on it! :lol: Err...how bout' a Vaquero in trade :D I don't think you could have done any better! Congrats, now get huntin' !!
 
Thanks all for the replies, I don't have any buyers remorse at all for that kind of deal. As much as I am itching to just replace the battery and get to hunting, I think I will just send her on in to whites to be checked out and tuned up that way I know everything is done right, done well and my detector and I will be on a clean slate and know just where we sit. I have time to read the manual while she's gone anyway;)
 
SeanPaul- Sounds like you did great.
Whites has great customer serivce.

Try and send it to sweet home oregon.

Good luck with that puppy!
 
On it's way to Sweet Home today! I am hating to be without it and just itching to have it back, but at least I can use some of my time to read the manual

SeanPaul- Sounds like you did great.
Whites has great customer serivce.

Try and send it to sweet home oregon.

Good luck with that puppy!
 
There is a DFX locally for sale with Grey Ghost headphones, treasure pouch, leather gloves, Lesche digger, Whites carry bag, charger, rechargeable battery and a Superwand for $425.00.

Everything looks new. I assume someone just needed money and pawned it and couldnt pay off the pawn ticket.


Kinda sad someone couldnt get it back out of Pawn
 
There is a DFX locally for sale with Grey Ghost headphones, treasure pouch, leather gloves, Lesche digger, Whites carry bag, charger, rechargeable battery and a Superwand for $425.00.

Everything looks new. I assume someone just needed money and pawned it and couldnt pay off the pawn ticket.


Kinda sad someone couldnt get it back out of Pawn

...The pawn shop probably gave $100 to $150 the most.....Bet you can get it cheaper.....
 
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