Shift: Savvy Used Car Buying

First time car buyer, shift made it super easy. Not responsive at first to phone calls, they said they were very busy. Once I expressed interest and booked a test drive they were with me every step. Clay was nice enough to give me the exact wording that the bank would need to finance my car, which helped me make sure I had everything I needed. I choose to go to their location in Commerce, CA, instead of having the test drive brought to me. Since I purchased after the first test drive, they gave me $300 off. I don't remember the test drive guys name, (maybe James? Jay?) but he was the big motorcycle dude. He made the purchase process simple, and was fun to talk to. Overall, I'm giving this a 5 star because it's a new process for buying a car, that some people will be hesitant about, but trust me, they're honest and helpful people. -chris, purchased 2009 Mini Cooper.

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I found out about shift because they advertise on auto trader. The X5M they had listed seemed to be a great value. I called about it and was forwarded to some call center where the shift employees were useless. All they could tell me about the car was "it's not ready for a test drive". I asked if I could go to this warehouse and look at the car so I could see if was even worth waiting for. I could not. I asked why it wasn't ready, and it was like they had a script and would just reply "it's not ready". I did not need financing through shift and when I told them that I think they threw me on a do not call list. They kept pushing their high interest financing and said it'd make it easier. When I went to my credit union and asked about shift they told me they only financed one car with shift and it was the most painstaking process they've dealt with. When shift emailed me about the car I was interested someone already put a non refundable deposit down for it within 10 mins of me receiving the email. That is illegal in California however they get around it by calling it a service fee or some BS. Buyer Beware!

Shift is fantastic. After going to multiple dealerships and getting the run around, only to leave empty handed hours later, the process with shift was incredibly streamlined. It was clear that the person showing me the car had my best interest, there was no unnecessary haggling or attempts to upsell me on things I don't want, and best of all they brought the car to my home. Within a week of starting my search on shift I had the perfect car for me in my possession, just an hour after giving it a test drive. The one thing I will advise is to put the $250 down on a car you're interested in as soon as possible. I missed out on a few things I scheduled to test drive because someone else bought them! Totally understandable, and awesome that there's a way to put a hold until you give it a try.

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Had a car appraisal today. Met up with a nice kid who went out to my location to appraise the car. Told me it would take 30 minutes so I go in the house. Calls me 15 mins later and tells me that the car has too much oil... what? I look and it seems fine. He tells me when the car was idling and he took out the dip stick, oil splashed out and he cannot drive the car off. Ok, normally i don’t check my oil while the car is running but I gave him the benefit of the doubt so I asked if we can drive down to a local shop and says he can’t. I go anyway and mechanic checks everything out and says everything looks good. Call Shift back and they say it’s because of oil leaking? I ask to clarify cause I heard something else and they proceeded to tell me that they would reappraise the car but I need to clean the oil stains from my engine. WHAT?! I bite my tongue and agree’d to do it. They sent me pictures of which area to clean (which I did) and now they can’t come back out to reappraise my car and have to reschedule. Two days I’ll have to take time off work all cause they engine needs cleaning? 😒😒😒

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First, read their better business bureau reviews. Pay attention to how people get seemingly good deals for selling their car and in the process are dwindled down to numbers that leave their head hanging low. Second, beware they will bait you when selling your car by using significantly higher 'instant offer' and 'list through them' payout ranges when you enter the initial required information. Later, when you decide to list your car for sell with them you'll be required to enter the amount remaining on your car loan-now you just gave up a very private and crital piece of leverage! Once you give Shift that information your instant offer and list for sell value will significantly drop. Why? Because they now used that information to secure better profit margins for themselves when they go to resell your vehicle. Shift prays on people who crave convenience. Its no better than getting taken during a lowball trade-in at a dealership. Stay away.