Sixty cars, chosen one at a time
We have kept one building on Pennsylvania Avenue since 2009 and resisted every good argument for opening a second. A single floor is the only way we know to stand behind every car on it.
See the current floor →How a car ends up here
Roughly half our floor comes from private sellers who found us because we bought their friend's car. The rest is auction and trade. We pass on far more than we buy, and the reasons are boring: a repaint nobody disclosed, a service gap in the middle of the timing-belt window, a classic with a title story that takes three phone calls to explain.
On the exotic side we buy on history first and mileage second. A 40,000-mile car with folders of receipts is a better car than an 8,000-mile one that sat in a climate-controlled garage for eleven years, and we will tell you that even when the low-mileage one is the easier sale.
On the mainstream side we buy the opposite way: high-volume models with parts availability and a known service pattern. F-150s, RAV4s, CR-Vs, Camrys, Escalades. Nothing clever. Cars that a family can own for six years without a surprise.
What happens before it lists
Every car goes through our own service bay before it is photographed. Fluids, brakes, tyres, suspension, electronics, and a road test long enough to get everything up to temperature. Whatever it needs, it gets, and the work order stays with the car.
Then it is photographed in daylight against the same wall as everything else, undercarriage included. That last part is unusual and it is deliberate. A car with a clean underside has nothing to hide and a car without one should not be able to hide behind a flattering angle.
Only then does it get a price. We price against what the car is worth this month, we publish that number, and it is the number you pay. There is no reconditioning charge on the back end, because the reconditioning already happened and it is already in the price.
Questions we get asked in the doorway
Why do you sell a Ferrari and a Camry out of the same building?
Because the same buyer often owns both. Somebody shopping a weekend car usually needs something sensible in the other bay of the garage, and we would rather sell them both than send them across town for one of them.
Are you a franchise dealer?
No. We are independent, which means no manufacturer sets our inventory, our pricing or our hours. It also means no factory certified pre-owned programme, so read the inspection sheet rather than trusting a badge.
How long have you been at this address?
Since 2009, family-owned the whole way. The service bay came in 2013, which is the year the business actually got good.
Do you sell cars you would not buy yourself?
We try very hard not to. Anything we take in on trade that does not meet the standard gets wholesaled rather than retailed, which costs us money and is the entire reason the floor stays consistent.