Shift is the easiest was to buy/sell cars. I used to be a fan of CarMax. CarMax is great but Shift's pricing for buying and selling is better than CarMax and the experience is better. If CarMax is the postal service, Shift is social media! If CarMax is the yellow cab, Shift is Uber! I had the most pleasant experience selling my car with shift. They kept me informed throughout the process. The people were friendly and professional, and I never worried about anything. They took care of everything including coming to my work for the initial inspection and picking up the car from my house, making the necessary repairs (at a fair price I might add), advertising it on the web and finally sending me the check as soon as the car sold. I highly recommend Shift.

Bottom line up front, this was the best experience I could have asked for to sell my truck (2013 Toyota Tacoma). I'd use them anytime. My full experience is outlined below: After being referred to Shift, I used their website to input my vehicle information and get an initial assessment. They emailed me the next day and asked to set up a time to look at my vehicle. I picked the appointment time that fit my schedule. It took about 15 min. for the evaluation of my car and a review of the documents I had. I got a guaranteed minimum offer as well as the pricing scale they would try to use for my truck (that minimum was $900 more than what Carmax was offering) (Shift guarantees a minimum price for your vehicle. If they sell it for more than your guaranteed minimum, they split the difference with you 50/50.) Shift took my truck on a Tuesday and it took 6 days to get the vehicle listed on their site. Why did it take 6 days? Because they inspected the vehicle, detailed it, handled DMV paperwork, took professional photographs, contacted my bank to arrange payoff, and repair some cosmetic issues. Turns out that a week is about the norm for a dealership to turn a car around if you traded it in at a reputable dealer--I asked when buying my new car. After it was listed I got weekly updates via email on how many people inquired about it, test drove it, ect. You can opt out of these if you don't care and just want the car gone. The loan was also paid off within 10 days of the car being picked up. That was done so Shift could have the title and be prepared when someone wanted to buy it. My truck was on their website for about 75 days and the price was reduced over time but it still sold for more than $1300 over my guaranteed minimum. 5 days after the sell, I received a check in the mail for half of the difference between the minimum and the sale price. What I liked most was I didn't have to coordinate with anyone to do test drives, keep the truck cleaned out, ect. I live in VA and work in DC so not having to coordinate any details and get more money than Carmax offered was perfect for me. Shift does take the car from you and ask to keep your insurance until the car is sold. That did not both me because I was looking to move to a commuter car and didn't need the vehicle. Another point is that Shift is new to the area. Their available vehicles here is a lot smaller than the more established markets (LA and San Fransisco). No doubt Shift's presence in the national capitol region will grow based on their ease of use and outstanding performance.

Great experience as a seller. I went and got a quote from CarMax quote just for comparison since both options are super convenient. I was in the middle of an out-of-state move and didn't have the time to deal with a private party sale by myself. Shift representatives showed up exactly when scheduled, performed a 20 minute inspection with me and found an oil leak. They were able to provide an estimate of the repairs and the guaranteed price after cost, which still exceeded the CarMax estimate. They drove the car off and dealt with everything from there, including a more detailed inspection at a shop. They detailed the car and took stunning pictures. They resolved an issue with my title transfer (as I had cross out a date accidentally put on a signature line). And ultimately the car sold over the guaranteed minimum so it was an all-around win. I'd be very interesting in purchasing through them as well, as you know defects will have been repaired in their offerings. Unfortunately I've now moved out of the areas Shift is operating.

In a year, they will awesome. Heck, in a month, they too may be awesome. Right now, they're really good. We bought our car from them, and it was overall a good experience. We saw it online, they brought it to our place, and we test drove it. Also, they had a mechanic's report and pointed out the few cosmetic dings that the car had. They were on-time and friendly. So what could have gone better? Well, the good news is that for a reasonable fee, they register the car for you. However, there was a paperwork issue which added a day. Then once they were supposed to deliver the car to us, their delivery driver was sick, so they were scrambling. In the end, it did get to us at the end of the day, and they put in the extra time required, but it could have been easier. This means... Great idea, great service, but still working the kinks out of the system. Not too surprising, they're new. Really, if you're not in a hurry, they're great, and most likely won't have any problems.

A horrible experience as a potential buyer. Multiple cancelled appointments with promises to explain later. If excuse making is good customer service, Shift DC is exceptional. This is the future of shady car dealerships. Update: Everything is forgiven after the vague non-apology four months later! Good job, Shift.

AWESOME, AMAZING, 10X EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS!!! Super friendly staff went above and beyond to get my Prius sold. I could have sold it on my own, but they handled EVERYTHING! Paperwork, repairs and all communication with buyer. They even stored my 2014 Prius in their warehouse so I didnt have to worry about parking fees. If you want to SAVE TIME selling your car and receive WORLD CLASS CUSTOMER SERVICE - GO WITH SHIFT!

Great way to buy a car for people who don't want to spend the time buying a car. Pros: Financing is straightforward if you go thru their partnered credit union. They bring you the car for a test drive, and assuming you like it, the rest becomes a matter of paperwork that you (mostly) don't need to handle yourself. In a few days after the test drive, I had the car; cleaned, inspected, and registered. Very pleased with the experience. Cons: There were a couple scheduling hiccups, but they were courteous enough to let me know in advance and work out alternatives. The first was a one-off in which my "car enthusiast" was unable to make the first scheduled test drive. The second was mostly my impatience; I didn't want to wait another day to have them drop the car off to me, so they allowed me to meet them at a location not far from their office to pick up the car. I seized the opportunity to grab a bite to eat nearby and was able to meet their rep and drive home! I understand that Shift is pretty new on the east coast, and so there are probably things about my experience that will definitely be worked out once they really get up and running out here. Overall it was a lot less work than buying a used car on my own. The car was what they said it was online, they came to me for the test drive and would've delivered the car. I never saw the inside of the DMV.

I had an excellent experience selling my Car with Shift - DC. Their staff is very friendly and professional, unlike some of the sales people encountered at dealerships. I received outstanding customer service in regards to my questions/requests. They were transparent throughout the selling process. They offered me a very reasonable price for my car, after a thorough inspection by the certified mechanic. There isn't any negotiating as far as price because they will NOT give you a low ball offer. I signed the papers, and dropped of my car. They took care of the entire selling process from marketing/online advertising to filling out ownership/MVA sales documents. In a nutshell, they take away the time and effort necessary to sell a car on your own and make the whole process extremely convenient mostly because you never have to deal the the DMV. More importantly, they take away the anxieties of making the financial transaction between both parties - successfully processing payment from a buyer (and then paying out your agreed share of the revenue). And as I mentioned earlier they offer a price that is much better than any dealership or Carmax offer. The buyer also gets a much better deal than the dealership when looking to buy. This company is good for both car shoppers and sellers. In fact I think they will give dealerships a run for their money in the used car market. I suspect it's because their overhead costs are probably much lower. Anyways, It took them just a month to sell my car. They promptly mailed me the check along with my tags and it was a done deal. I will definitely be recommending Shift to my friends and family looking to either buy or sell a used car. Thank you Shift for the simple and honest car selling experience!

Outstanding customer service. Professional and very friendly staff, great communication, smooth process. They are implementing a new model of selling and buying cars making this process a better experience than you ever had before. It's the new directions successful businesses are taking in the 21st century; think Uber, Airbnb, but in selling & buying cars with amazing customer service.

Upside: convenience, and a detailed used car. Downside: some glitches in the administrative end of things, mostly relating to communications with the staff. Summary: it's a great business model if it is executed according to plan. Advice: you are still purchasing a used car. Do your homework. Take it to your mechanic. The "car enthusiasts" are not necessarily "true enthusiasts," but rather people shuttling the car around. My test driver was an exceptionally courteous and interesting fellow, but he misstated the type of 4WD system on the vehicle and that misunderstanding could have led to significant damage. The 200-point inspection sounds great, yet buyers should still "trust but verify." To their credit, Shift management worked to make things right when certain aspects of the arrangement were veering off course. It is certainly worth a look and consideration.

I was a prospective seller, working with Jarrett at Shift DC in July 2016 to have them sell my Porsche Cayman. I appreciated Shift's timeliness in coming to take a look at the car and fair appraisal of its market value. I also enjoyed communicating with Jarrett, who I found to be on task, reasonable, and friendly. My car sold just a day before I handed it over to Shift. I'm sure I would have been a happy seller with Shift, especially had I chose them at the very beginning since selling it myself was a ton of work.

Really enjoyed my experience with Shift. I was looking to sell my late model car and had it listed online. Shift reached out and explained their model and I was very impressed. They were very responsive to any questions I had and helped me through the process. I would definitely use them again when I'm selling a car.

I was really dreading buying a new (used) car. I mean seriously. Does anyone look forward to dealing with used car dealerships or questionable Craig's List ads? Shift makes buying a used car as easy as ordering something from Amazon. With a few taps on my smartphone, a car was driven to my house for a test drive by a very nice, knowledgeable, no pressure "car enthusiast" (as Shift calls them). The car enthusiast shows you the Carfax on the car you're test driving and the inspection report that Shift has prepared and answers any questions you have. The purchasing process is equally fast and stress-free. They work directly with a lending organization and in a few hours the portion of the purchase that I wanted to finance was approved. They also register the car for you at the DMV which is super convenient. On top of all that, they offered me 35% more than CarMax did on my old car that I was trading in. Just a few days after my test drive, the car enthusiast returned to my house to deliver my new car and take away my old one. As you can probably tell from this review, I am a very, very satisfied customer. If you live in the DC metro area and are looking to buy or sell a used car, do yourself a favor and get in touch with Shift.

A great idea, poorly executed. Someone else might enter this market and do this right. As another commenter pointed out, they offer a "guaranteed price" which is anything but guaranteed. I imagine one or more of the local attorneys' general will be investigating Shift soon for this practice. Sell your car via some other means. This is just more used car hucksterism -- but for both seller and buyer.

As someone who is generally quite happy with customer service and is a first time car buyer, I can say that Shift was complete misery. In the end I did not move forward with them because I was just so furious and frustrated, and felt it was wrong to give them my business. Their disorganization, lack of professionalism, and poor communication is unforgivable, especially when they are targeting customers who are unfamiliar with the process. The appeal in how they brand themselves as a company is that they can be trusted, but every time I put my trust in what they told me (including the simple fact that the car I was buying was actually for sale), I was burned badly. In summary, they accidentally sold the car for cash to someone else after I had already signed a purchasing contract, secured a car loan, and bought car insurance. I was told by their partners (Autopay) that I had 30 days to find a replacement car and apply my loan to it, otherwise I would have to get another hard pull on my credit to get a car loan. I scrambled to find another car, made the critical error of trusting Shift again, and settled on one that I was not crazy about but felt I had to move forward with due to the time constraint. It turned out that Autopay had misinformed me and the credit union DID end up doing an additional hard pull on my credit for the loan for the replacement car, even though it was within the 30 days, so I was settling on a car that I didn't truly want for no reason. I had to have two hard pulls on my credit regardless. All the while, I was still paying for car insurance for the car they accidentally sold to two customers. The kicker of my experience - when I informed Shift that I would be not finalizing the purchase, the car enthusiast accidentally sent me an email he meant to send to his manager saying Autopay had "put the nail in the coffin on that one". Autopay may have put the nail in the coffin, but Shift dug the grave.

Seamless experience all around! I wanted to purchase a new car. The dealer's trade-in value for my old car was ridiculously low. But I also did not want to deal with the headache of selling my old car. Shift handled everything--photos, listings, detail, inspection, test drives, and paper work. All for what I thought was a reasonable fee (50% of the upside over an agreed minimum price). And I ended up receiving well over the trade-in value for very little effort on my part. My car sold within 2 weeks of being listed. I would highly recommend!

This is the way to buy a used car. They bring the car to you for test drive (zero obligation and no pressure on sale) if you like it, they will have it inspected, smogged and registered for you and bring it back to you ready to go. Shift is a startup, but the staff was friendly and professional, making a few glitches easily forgivable. I feel like I got a 'value purchase' while not having to hassle with all the issues that come up when you buy a car from an individual. The bonus is no used car salesman sales tactics (if you don't know what these are you were ripped off on your last used car purchase). Glad you're here shift--we'll buy our next car from you too.

This is the BEST way to buy a used car, and I have purchased many over time. The price of our Toyota Rav was a good deal on according to Kelly Blue Book and a perusal of Autotrader.com and etc. They brought the car to our door in the evening for the test drive, with the promised mechanic's 200 point inspection, and then again to deliver it, again, in the evening. Best of all, they did all of the D.C. title and registration paperwork once we paid. No waiting in the famously endless lines at DMV. A great car, very accessible people who were all very sharp and friendly. Thanks Shift!