I'm a car guy through and through, and generally hate the idea of buying from a dealership. But, when you decide on what you want and realize it's a somewhat rare combination of vehicle/color/options/model year, you buy the nicest example within your budget.
I was looking for a 2003-2006 GMC Yukon Denali, short wheelbase, in Blue-Green Crystal Metallic. A friend and I found two blue Denalis within 10 miles of each other, both at "small time dealerships" in Maryland. The first truck was completely thrashed, and did not reflect the "only 91k miles" listed in the ad.
The second truck was located at Red Tag Center. We were nearby and figured it was worth checking out after the first was such a disappointment. I was skeptical as we pulled up - RTC is definitely not a place that spends money on looking flashy.
The truck had been freshly-washed and vacuumed, and a lady that was outside moving some vehicles around asked if I wanted to test-drive it. My friend and I took it out and save for a few small issues, it was really in great shape for the age and miles (125k).
I sat down and discussed pricing with the owner/manager (not sure which?) who was pretty direct and open about numbers. I appreciated him telling me that the financing he could offer me was only worth discussing if I had really bad credit. So, no thanks, I'll use my own financing.
Red Tag Center ended up fixing the few problems with the Denali (needed a new pump for the rear air ride, washer fluid, and a light bulb) and I picked it up a couple days later.
I paid $4k under KBB value for it and have been very happy with the truck so far. Turns out it was a one-owner vehicle that spent its life in Falls Church, always serviced at the local GMC dealer.
A few things that I felt detracted from my experience with RTC:
The process of getting license plates was ridiculous. RTC submitted my info to the Virginia DMV, the DMV sent *them* the plates, and RTC mailed them to me. RTC did not send my information to the DMV for several weeks, so this process took quite some time.
I was not told that I had to take the vehicle for an emissions inspection upon my purchase, so the plates I did get from the DMV only had one month's registration on them. I had to then get the emissions test performed, fax the proof to RTC, and have RTC send along to the DMV.
I don't see why the dealership had to be involved as a middle-man in getting plates. It's more a complaint on the DMV's processes than anything else, but it was frustrating. Melissa at Red Tag Center was generally friendly but I would have really appreciated more communication as far as "we've sent your stuff to the DMV" and so on. It was a communication black hole unless I called and nagged.
Also - the Denali developed a pretty substantial power steering leak, alongside a shimmy in the front end. No big deal, I'll get it fixed, it's a 9-year-old truck. Not Red Tag Center's fault. However, when I called to ask what work they had done right before I bought the truck (for the sake of narrowing down my diagnosis), the manager said they didn't keep records of their work and he couldn't help me.
Seriously, guys? How do you not know what you do to each vehicle? I'd have to think this information is kept for the sake of bookkeeping, realizing profit vs. loss on each vehicle, and so on.
Thankfully, the mechanic had a vague recollection of what he had done and helped me out.
If I were looking for another car or truck and Red Tag Center had what I wanted, I wouldn't hesitate to go back and shop there again. The process was generally low-stress and low-hassle. The vehicles on their lot all appeared to be in good condition. Definitely worth checking out at the least. I would hope they could improve the few points made above, but they're running a pretty good business as it is. read more