Cost Sales & Leasing

Basic story with basic moral. I was looking for a particular car. I found it here. The milage was less then other models of the same car we were looking at and the cost was about $ 3000-​$ 3500 less! Seemed too good to be true!
It drove well and had a new car smell. It was used but it seemed this was a great deal. I tried to take it to a mechanic but no one was available. I made an offer and it was immediately accepted and we drove it away. All seemed great!
Till I noticed a few things during the next few weeks. The smell inside got worse… there was a small legal matter with the vehicle and that ever so odd feeling in the car? Odd became revealed when we brought the car in for a routine check… then all hell was exposed. Motor mount cracked, issues internally… stuff that ended costing… yup… you got it and they knew it… $ 3500.00
So was the car worth it? At face value… barely. At a discounted price? No. In fact, the smell (unpleasant) is still in the vehicle and after a professional cleaning, still no luck.
So the most I can say is yea, the people are nice but please… get the car checked out. Spend the $ 100.

At first Elaine and Tom seemed very friendly. The car seemed nice enough after I drove it around, and I put down a $ 500 deposit that they assured me would mean that they would hold the car for me. I appreciated that Tom was willing to take the car to a mechanic of my choice early the next week.
After looking it over, my mechanic alerted me to the fact that the car smelled like cigarette smoke, something that can come out in certain climates (when it has been sitting in the sun for a while) and can be impossible to smell at other times (I had not noticed it). Tom told the mechanic that he had also previously noticed this. Had Tom mentioned this to me earlier, I never would have wasted either of our time or my money, as I knew I did not want a car that had been owned by a smoker.
I spoke to Elaine after this and let her know what the mechanic said. Elaine stated that she thought «the mechanic was just smelling himself,» and that she did not believe that the car contained any smoke smell (despite the fact that Tom told my mechanic that he had noticed this before). I told her I was going to do a bit of research about removing smoke smell from cars, and she told me she would contact their upholstery people.
That was Wednesday. I called her back on Saturday, at which point Elaine reiterated that my mechanic was lying, and informed me that she sold the car the day before, on Friday, to someone else. I told her I thought that the $ 500 deposit meant that they would hold the car for me, and she stated that they sold it because they had not heard from me.
The most unpleasant part of this was Elaine’s manner on the phone with me, and the fact that I wasted time and money on a car I never would have looked at had I known about the smoke smell. I realize that is part of the car sales game, but the entire experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I debated posting this, but I often rely on Unilocal reviews, and this was a notably negative interaction.

Scott has been phenomenal to work with — he listens to exactly what you ask is and is so prompt of the outreach. My entire family has worked with him and purchased many cars through him. I highly recommend this service to anyone not interested in going through the dealership!
Thank you Scott!

We contacted Elaine, after a coworker told us that he has bought 3 Toyota Highlanders from this place and all for better prices.
My wife and I leased a 2010 MDX and bought a 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI from Elaine in the last 3 months. Two acura dealers said they had a black/​black MDX and after 1.5 hours at Pleasanton, «did you have your heart set on black, we sold all three yesterday». Marin did the same to us-​they said the black was «sold 30 minutes ago». Dorito has a $ 3000 markup on the TDI wagons. Elaine at Cost plus got us both for under invoice. Unlike the other broker we dealt with, Elaine doesn’t charge $ 500 before she gives you a price for the car. Just tell her what you want and she’ll tell you within 24 hours what the price is. Got a lower finance rate for my TDI (1.9% for a 2011, VW states only available on 2010s), since it came from southern CA. 20 minutes total spent at the office. Just signed paperwork each time and drove home with the new cars.