Do you dread the idea of being passed along the food chain from salesperson to manager over the course of several excruciating hours just to buy a car? Our sales team is trained to cut out the sales fluff and sorcery. Our average transaction time is 1.5 hours -- in and out with a great car! With limited office space to conduct sales and a small staff versed in efficiency, we seek to keep your experience short and sweet. However, we understand not all buyers are in a rush. Therefore, patience is our virtue.
Our salespeople respect the duality of the modern day car buyer. We understand you may not be ready to sign on the dotted line today under any circumstances or not before asking a lot of questions. Therefore, while we are prepared to serve the buyer seeking a swift, thorough transaction, we also appreciate all reasons for taking a slower pace to buying a car. Whether you're researching the carbon footprint of a particular vehicle or simply indecisive, our motto is to take your time and we're always here to serve you.
We really have nothing to hide. Our thinking is that outside of our dealership we become customers too and want access to information that will help us make the right buying decision. Therefore, our tools become your tools. We use Carfax, current and verifiable market data, Kelly Blue Book, CarGurus, local repair facilities, pre-sale inspections and our good judgement to select our inventory. Therefore, we'll openly share our information and tools relevant to assist your decision to buy from us. We want you to make an informed decision you will not regret!
We inspect each vehicle for mechanical quality twice. Once at the auction where the frame and drivetrain components are inspected and guaranteed to be free of problems, then again locally through one of our repair shop partners. Click on this link to see a PDF of what vehicle components are specifically inspected for proper functionality and condition.
Ensuring we deliver a quality vehicle means:
It is of great importance our customers, most of which are local, continue to come back to our business to serve their automotive needs. We achieve long lasting relationships with our customers by following good ethical guidelines.
Our team is guaranteed to be the most respectful, straightforward people you will speak with during your car purchase endeavor. We maintain a culture of being transparent, honest business people who demonstrate equal respect to every customer we encounter. Should you visit our dealership, you'll find that in comparison to our competitors, our inventory is the finest available for sale. This matters since we recognize the bulk of our customer base live locally and with that knowledge comes the understanding we must be good business stewards within our community.
We purchase our inventory from dealer-only accessible auctions along the West Coast, hand picking only the best vehicles at these wholesale markets. Our deep car buying experience has taught us that vehicles with only one previous owner, with a documented service history via Carfax, that were either trade-in vehicles, lease returns or a bank repossessed vehicle, will leave our customers with a better product to serve their families.
There are many competing reasons to support buying from a dealer or private seller, but herein exists a strong case to buy from a reputable car dealer like Century Auto Credit.
Private Party sellers are generally offering a vehicle in need of immediate reconditioning. Their motivations for selling a used car are inherently and understandably different than a licensed retail establishment. Consider car dealers sell for profit, whereas the private party sells for personal reasons. Rarely does a private party seller, for the sake of their potential buyers, spend money to improve the overall condition of their vehicle prior to sale. Other than passing a smog test, a private party seller is bound to no standards for reconditioning, disclosure or recourse of any kind. Most importantly, a private party has no personal interest in their buyer's long term happiness, other than possibly feeling guilty if the vehicle does not perform well. Our business understands that for some buyers, a used car in need of cosmetic and mechanical restoration is acceptable. Therefore, the circumstances and lack of seller accountability that come with a private party transaction would satisfy their expectations. Essentially, these buyers have the capacity to take a chance. For those buyers seeking a pre-sale inspected, reconditioned product -- seek out your local car dealer with a reputation for delivering "ready-to-go cars".
It's true that licensed car dealers operate to make a profit. But that doesn't mean their customers are losing something based on that fact. While seeking to stay in business through achieving profits, let's face it - car dealers are like any other for-profit business: they must seek to satisfy customers to compete and grow more profitable. Our business mentality is to offer cars that we'd be comfortable selling to our own family members. That means we are required to sell reliable, clean, safe vehicles to meet that operating standard.
The fact is licensed car dealers are required to recondition their inventory prior to advertisement according to mechanical and safety standards set by the Department of Motor Vehicles, California Vehicle Code and the Business and Professions Code. We do acknowledge, the legal guidelines are unquestionably basic and insufficient to meet the expectations of today's car buyer. While it remains true that a few bad apple car dealers exploit the lax regulations when possible, a vast majority of car dealers recondition their vehicles well above and beyond what is legally required.
We want our customers to understand their past negative experience does not have to dictate their future experience with us. We are among the above and beyond cluster of used car dealers but we take this responsibility to the next level.
