I have not had my car very long, but so far I have to say that I have had a pretty good experience…read morewith them. I live in Portland, and was looking at one of their cars, in Everett, Washington. I asked them if they would take it to a mechanic of my choosing in their area, and they gladly obliged. (Yay, Tener's auto repair!) I was given an honest appraisal of what needed to be done by Tener's, and while the owner of Tener's was skeptical before checking the car, he said it seemed okay, and gave me a list of things that it needed or would need before too long.
Of course, like all dealers, Checkered Flag was going to give me half of what my car was worth in trade-in value. No way! So I sold my car myself, then continued my search for my new car. I found that this car, which I had had inspected, was still available. So I made a list of six cars, just the same kind that I wanted, along I-5 in Washington to look at in a day, and rented a car.
I checked out the two other cars I was most interested in on the way up to look at this car, but I found that this car was the nicest, and at a reasonable price (mid-range KBB). So I decided to buy it.
Negotiations on price were a bit sticky, but I had my recommendations from Tener's to help out. Then it turned out that they did not have much experience with out-of-state buyers, so completing the deal through my credit union was difficult. (Strange, since nearly all of the used cars are in the Seattle area. Why is that?) But after Scott made several telephone calls to the owner of the dealership and to my representative at my credit union (Yay OnPoint!) they sent me home with the car.
I found out later that the fellow I dealt with, Scott, did not tell me everything that my agent at OnPoint had asked him to, such as that my loan could only be for 60 months rather than 72. And my agent (and I) thought that he had agreed to send the title down with me, after I signed a separate contract with them, just in case, which he did not do. (Fair enough, since sending the title down with me was a major act of faith. But they did not know how to conclude the transaction, so...)
I signed the contract, but he did not make arrangements to send it down, let alone send it down with me. So now I have a three-day temporary permit, and have to wait until he sends the title to the bank before I can register the car. I will probably have to buy another permit (or two) out of pocket before the title arrives, which is not easy for me to do right now, rather than adding an extra one onto the loan.
But all told, Scott was nice, and not in an oily, car dealer kind of way. He gave me a ride (several miles) to return my rental car, and seemed genuinely like a nice guy, with no sales pressure at all. I got a car that so far checks out and seems to be in quite good shape, considering that it is ten years old. Compared to other car dealers, I had a good experience, other than with paperwork and closing the deal. If others would have an experience like mine, I would recommend Checkered Flag Motors.
