Shift.com Car Sales Reviews

Shift.com Car Sales is a company which states that they are rethinking car ownership by giving both car buyers and sellers a simpler, more convenient way of working with car transactions.
How Does It Work?
According to their website, Shift.com is aiming to bring trust and simplicity to the used car market by working with algorithms that regularly track market pricing of all used vehicles currently for sale.
In doing this, Shift Care Sales states they can provide both car buyers and car sellers with an accurate market value of their car after just a few questions.
After using the Shift.com estimator to get a quote for your car's value, you can proceed with the process by scheduling a more in depth evaluation of your vehicle.
After this evaluation you may get an adjusted value estimate if needed. Then, if you agree to the sale Shift will pick up the vehicle and transfer payment via ACH bank transfer.
For car buyers, a Shift.com employee will physically bring the car to your homes facilitate a test drive and answer all questions. They will also manage the pricing negotiation if a customer is interested in making an offer.
They also offer their buyers the benefit of knowing that every car which is sold on the Shift platform has gone through a 150+ point inspection, which all customers will have access to.
Shift promises to carefully review service records, vehicle history reports, and any other important ownership details.
Cost/Price Plans
Using this website to look for cars that are currently for sale and which you might be interested in buying is completely free of charge. What sellers will pay for this platform to manage their car sale is a little less clear.
When this company launched, they announced that their car sellers would be guaranteed a minimum sale amount, and when they sold a car for more than the guaranteed amount, this profit would be split between Shift.com and the seller.
However, the goal of Shift.com was always to move away from this kind of earnings structure and to instead earn their money from the different optional services they provide to car owners and sellers, such as mechanical or body work.
Refund Policy
This website does not appear to post an official “Refund Policy,” per se, which is not uncommon for a company that deals with vehicle sales.
They do, however, tell their car sellers that all payments will be held for up to 7 days to ensure that the car buyer does not change their mind and arrange to return the car, so it does appear that buyers have a small window in which to return the car if something occurs to change their circumstances.
Customer Service Contact Info
Customers who would like to contact Customer Service with any questions, concerns, or complaints can do so by email at [email protected]
Reputation
This platform currently only operates in select cities in California, so it is not that surprising that there are not many reviews available from customers who have used this service to buy or sell a car at this time.
That being said, the few reviews which are available do appear to be very positive in nature, both from car buyers and from car sellers, and most car sellers do say that they were able to sell their car during the initial 30 days of listing.
Competitors and Alternatives?
There are many websites that facilitate the sale of private owned cars to new customers, including Vroom.com and CarsDirect.com, and even websites that work with dealerships will also facilitate sales between private buyers and sellers, like AutoTrader.com or Yahoo Auto.
If you have any experience with Shift.com Car Sales or their services, please leave your reviews below.
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Shift.com Car Sales Customer Reviews
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Read the reviews: You will have title issues
Wow, the first time I have ever been treated rudely by someone trying to sell me a vehicle. I have a pre-approval for 20K and they will not accept BECAUSE it will require them to provide the title to close the deal.
Please READ THE REVIEWS, there are many people who do not receive their title when they get their vehicle.
ZERO Customer Service, and you need that with this type of auto service
The background is that I have a co-signer in CA while I'm in AZ.
I explained this from day one, gave separate addresses etc.
The registration docs were sent only to me, I called the hour I received it, and asked them to send the other portion to my co-signer. It was very difficult to get through to anyone that could help. They had me email Joshua (Document Operations Lead). I did, and explained the situation(via email). I sent in my portion to Shift Last Thursday and also smogged the vehicle. I sent pictures of the certificate to Joshua
On Tuesday he was asking if I ever sent the docs to Shift although I had given him the FedEX tracking # and saw that it was delivered the next day on Friday morning, and what's worse is that nothing had been sent to my co-consigner. This was a 25+ email exchange, at which point I simply asked him to, "Please call me". I had alluded to this about four times before, but finally demanded a call because of the continued miscommunication.
I called the main number again, and a woman claiming to be a supervisor said she would call me back with more info, but never did.
There is more, but that's a taste of what has been happening to just have my vehicle registered.
The employees are either overwhelmed with their workload to pay proper attention to the needs of the customer or they are woefully under qualified to do their jobs.
Either way this is completely unacceptable, especially because I have a limited number of days to register my car so that I can legally drive it.
New plates/tags etc.
**UPDATE**
It's now 5 Days later, and I finally received my temporary License plates, but low and behold the address on the registration is incorrect(it was a completely different address).
I emailed Joshua, but he is on vacation and didn't leave another contact to reach out to besides the generic 800 SHIFT number. So I called anyway, and waited for 45 minutes before just leaving a message.
NEVER buy anything from this Mickey Mouse, fly by night company that would rather make a buck over employing a competent staff that doesn't burn bridges with its customers.
NEVER AGAIN - Use any other company but SHIFT.
I should have known from the bad reviews.
Shady at best
Shady at best. I had been working online with a buyer who provided me with a "no haggle" offer after I had provided my vehicles VIN and details. My car has a clear title, no accidents, and low mileage, two key fobs, etc.. My offer was $18,400.
I scheduled an appointment to go in person to meet with a concierge and, upon arrival, was told my offer had been lowered to $17,600 site unseen. They were not at all prepared to change their story even after showing them I had a firm offer of $18,400 in writing.
Total waste of time. I would not recommend this business nor will I ever use them in the future.
Bankruptcy can't come soon enough for SHIFT
Bought a vehicle at end of march 2022. They're very intensive until purchase is final then watch out. It's now June 2nd and my state still has not received sales tax or registration. I call shift nearly everyday and get different BS answers. currently they state it should be complete within 25 business days...
Do Not Sell Or Buy From Them, Check Reviews
Let me start with the selling your car process...
So I decided I was going with shift because they offered me 500 more than what carvana did, I've sold other cars to Carvana and they were on point, but I just wanted a bit more money and that was my mistake.
First off, the inspector calls me and says he wanted to come early, was gonna take an uber? So I agree and I'm waiting for a guy to get dropped off but instead got this guy who was walking up the block ( I guess he got dropped off in the corner?) So he test drives it, comes back, does all he needed to do to do his job. Had me sign some documents on the ipad etc...
They came and inspected my car, had me sign documents, took my social security, bank information, and drove my car away. A few days gone by, no email, no communication, and I'm simply waiting for my funds to come in and NOTHING... I decided to call because I was getting a bit nervous about getting scammed and customer service lady transfer me to a "supervisor" who tells me she was on vacation and to tell me my car was rejected? I'm confused and then I'm mad...
What kind of mickey mouse company is this? Save yourself the headache and Stick to carmax and carvana y'all, don't sell to this scam company...smh...
Horrible Experience
STAY AWAY! I had a rep from Shift.com come out and quote me $30,100 for the 2018 Chevy Silverado. I told the guy, (who was very nice and the best person I dealt with at Shift) I needed to speak with my wife and go from there. he said fine no problem.
The next day I text the same rep that gave me the quote and asked if it would be the same if I traded the vehicle. He said he would check, but thought it would be. 3 days go by and I heard nothing. So I decided to go ahead and start a purchase online for a car I really liked.
I go through the whole process and put a $250 deposit on the vehicle. The next day a rep calls me to go over my purchase. He tells me that since the vehicle I picked was not local they would have to do 2 transactions, one to buy my truck and then another to purchase their vehicle.
He said he would have to wait up to 10 days to get my title from my bank once they pay it off, then they would send me a check of the balance. At that point I would then use the balance from my truck to purchase the vehicle from them.
I have bought and sold MANY vehicles in my life and have NEVER traded in a vehicle and not left the same day with a replacement. I told the guy I was not at all comfortable with this. So he agreed to refund me the $250 and said if I found a vehicle on a local lot I could just do one transaction and have the car the day I trade my truck.
Ok great I said. I looked at their local lot and found a vehicle I liked. I again go through the whole online process again and put the $250 deposit down. A day later a girl calls me and says she's ready to go over the purchase and trade and finalize my deal.
She again tells me we have to do 2 transactions!!! I said why the vehicle is on my local lot so whats the issue. She couldn't give me a straight answer and says she will have to call me back, that was 3 days ago.
I have called several times, sent several emails and NO ONE has called me back or returned an email. I advise any and EVERYONE to steer clear of this place!!! Just a poorly run company! Now I see why just about everyone I spoke with sounded shady.
Get the Premium Ins.
Was professional with attitude and prompt. Taking my car to have checked out, within the 7 days to Hanford CA dealership. Same as any other car leasing company, I bet the car is in good shape, do yourself a favor, get the Premium Insurance, no worries. No bizarre story here.
Don’t hold your breath
Terrible. Go elsewhere
Bought our car from the Whittier location at the end of June 2021. It is now December 2021 and we still dont have our registration, and no it is not the DMV's fault.
After having the car for a few months I was pulled over and the officer informed me that the car had not been registered in our name and was still in the previous owners name. I was pulled over for not having a license plate. They also failed to give us a paper one. One shift employee said they do not give those out and another employee said that they do.
We informed Shift of this situation. They told us our paper work had been "misplaced". They also would not answer any phone calls. Only communicate through emails. After numerous emails and months they blamed it on a "third party" that handles paper work.
It is now December 15 2021 and we are still waiting. They have now said that our paper work is officially done and the case is closed. In my opinion it is not closed until I have my registration in hand.
Dont buy from them. There are many dealerships out there. Save yourself from dealing with this. We have been making payments on a car that has been sitting in our driveway for the last 3 months.
Imcompetence Masquerading as a Car Company
I use my car to earn a living, Shift screwed me out of thousands of dollars by delaying the sale and ultimately selling me a shoddy car. The way this company operates should be illegal, but it’s not. So be careful when buying from them.
At first, the most striking part of buying from Shift.com was the lack of malice you typically expect from car sellers. Instead, almost every problem—of which there were many—was caused by incompetence. First, there was a two-week delay in getting the car to me. I had to jump through a ton of hoops to use an outside financier, then they delayed the purchase because of some work on the car. Every day I called I was told that it should only be another day or two. For two weeks.
After I finally purchased the car, my inspection revealed their “repairs” were shoddy and there was about $2000 of work still needing done. This was where I began to see their malice. Of course, because shift is so lazily run, I was responsible for taking the car to a shop and getting an estimate. After sending that in I heard again that it would be 24 hours for an update. Three days later, after emailing every day, I still hadn’t heard. So, I called them to hear they refused to pay for the work.
Do not buy from Shift.com.
Under no circumstances whatsoever.
One of the worst experiences I've had with a company
Just like their similar companies, Shift.com offered a price online to buy our car. Because they offered to come to our house (rather than us going to a dealership) for their car evaluation, we set up an appointment with their representative. When the representative completed his appraisal, he presented us with an offer, and we accepted. He then explained that he'd be taking our car, and we'd be receiving an email with payment arrangements 24 hour after that!
Whomever has ever heard of anything like that? To give someone your car, along with title and keys, and not receive your money right then? Needless to say, we said, NO. The representative said he'd understand, and that it was OK and left.
Later on, per a telephone conversation we had with a SHIFT customer support representative, they explained that Shift would give us the notice of an ACH right before they take the car, and that we could check with our bank of the ACH's validity; so we agreed to have another appointment.
Another representative showed up, went through the car again, and offered the same price as the previous representative had offered. He then proceeded with asking for our DL, Registration and Title. He had us sign the DMV sale documents and the title. I kept asking for the ACH to ask our bank, but he kept telling me that there were certain steps he had to go through to get to that point. After signing the title, he told us that the price shift.com was offering then was $300 lower than the amount previously agreed on.
He also told us to contact customer service (which usually takes about 30 minutes to answer) if we didn't agree. So much of my time had been wasted until then, that again, we told him to proceed with the new offer. He had us sign a document accepting that price. He then presented another document for our signature that basically read if they could find anything wrong with the car (BASED ON SHIFT'S SOLE DISCRETION), they could refuse the sale.
Are you asking for a guarantee on a 10-year old car? Are you serious? At this time we were so aggravated by this step-by-step degrading of their customer by Shift.com, that we told the representative we would NEVER sell our car to a cover-up artist of a company such as Shift. Altogether, as mentioned previously, the worst experience I have had with a company.
They do not stand up to the claim with satisfaction within a week of purchase.
We purchased a car from Shift (2015 Honda Odyssey) that had some broken motor mounts, tires out of balance, brakes that have about 30 days left of life. I originally was not going to purchase the warranty but within two hours of driving we decided that something was not right as it was apparent while driving.
We called back shift on the next business day and added the warranty after some haggling due to not buying the package the same day they tried to increase the rate for the warranty on me at which point I told them that they would need to start processing the return under the 7 day satisfaction guarantee. Once I had made my intention to return the car known if I was not given the deal for the warranty they then offered it to me for the discounted rate.
Fast forward, I took the van to Beaverton Honda in Beaverton, OR as directed by a shift customer service advisor Britney. The vehicle has $2240 repairs needed and shift has not given the confirmation to fix my vehicle in four business days.
At this point I am going to share this review everywhere I can to discourage people from getting sucked into their falsely advertised low price (each car comes with a shift service fee of $1250 which was not posted on the original listing). Their customer service has been slow processing and if their policy claims to stand by satisfaction this claim needs to be lived up to.
DO NOT BUY FROM SHIFT!
PS. I have been on hold with Shift for 20 minutes today trying to get answers and it feels like I am being put on the back burner!
Could not sell me a car in my state of Georgia
Put a deposit on a car, and was told that would be contacted to finalize the purchase. After not hearing from them for a day I decided to try and give them a call. All automated and long hold times.
I finally got a call from a representative 5 to 6 days later and missed the call. I tried calling back and could not get anybody peered after about two weeks I finally was able to get a hold of somebody and they told me I could not buy a car in their state.
I started reading reviews online and read a whole bunch about screwing up registrations and lack of ability to talk to a person.
Buy elsewhere
Worst car buying experience ever. It's been ninety days since I received the car and they still have not even sent my registration paperwork to my state. Every time I call for an update they tell me it's with their "doc team" that I can't speak with. All I can do is tell their useless people who answer the phone to send them a message requesting an update.
And EVERY single time they assure me I'll get a reply with a status update within two days. I've called about ten times over the last 45 days trying to JUST get a status update, and they have yet to ever call me back, send me an email, or give me an answer more than "we'll send a message to our document team."
Currently I am paying on a car that I am unable to drive because these morons can't get the easiest task of sending paperwork done. BUY A CAR SOMEWHERE ELSE
Worst experience ever!
Buying a used car from Shift.com has been the worst car buying experience I’ve ever had. I bought a car in March and they still have not sent a clean title to my lender. Over three months and all I get from customer service is the run a round every time. They are unresponsive and never resolve anything. Apparently, there is no supervisor or manager to contact. RUN away from this company as fast as possible. If I could leave a zero I definitely would.
Buyer BEWARE!! Get everything in writing and have car checked during 7 day return window
Buyer BEWARE!! I purchased a 2013 Audi A7 from shift on 3/18/21. When the car was delivered to me I noticed a few features were not included that they advertised online. I contacted my sales agent that same day and she told me someone would call me within 48 hours. 4 days go by and nothing. I call in and speak to another rep who says the same thing. Again no one calls me. So I file a complaint and a review with BBB. I get a call the very next morning.
After some back and forth Rafael from their Customer loyalty team refunds me $500. Fast forward to the week of 4/5. I have the vehicle fully serviced at an Audi dealership. During the service they notice 3 different things that were wrong with the vehicle. One of them causing me to not be about to drive the vehicle. So I get the car on 3/18 and it goes into the shop on 4/5 for servicing. That is 19 days I have owned the car. And Shift says that the issues which include from worst to least is
1.Fluid migration to where steering fluid is leaking into the transmission valve (undrivable)
2. Engine mounts are sagging and leaking.
3. Upper and lower arm bushings are torn, are from me driving the car during those 19 days.
I have an email from Rafael who said he would have shift pay the cost for the repairs done by Audi as long as he got a diagnosis. Well when I sent him the repair cost of $5000 and diagnosis the script totally changed. He offered to have the car inspected by his mechanics who couldn't even find the issues prior to sell. I told him I was not interested.
He then offered me a breakdown of what his mechanics would charge for labor and parts. It was a fraction of the cost of Audi's so I don't trust that I will get a warranty on the labor or parts and I have a good feeling their parts are not going to be OEM. He offered me $1200 dollars to compensate for the $5000 I was quoted from Audi..
I have already come out of pocket $1700 to fix the major issue so that I can drive the car. I have hired an attorney and I guess I am going to have to spend more money. But it will be well worth it to expose this company. I have photos and documentation from Audi showing that these issues have been going on for some time. I even emailed them to Rafael.
Wow I am not using this Shift ..$5000 a lot of cash ..
HORRIBLE COMPANY
High Risk to Seller!
Require you to sign Power of Attorney and sign the car over without listing mileage and sales date. I would not take that risk. Rep got angry when I questioned it and did not put me in touch with a supervisor. You also don't get any copies of what you sign. Try to find out info on their process online - you can't. Thank Heavens for reviews that provided some clarity.
They take your car while it still officially belongs to you, check it out further (then potentially change the price they offer!) and then use the Power of Attorney you signed to change over the title. That's a whole lot of trust they ask of you!
What if anything happens while they drive off your property?
No thanks. Very high risk transaction! Seller BEWARE!
Bait and switch
Vanessa from Shift was very proactive prior to selling me my vehicle. There were issues with the financing that changed my terms but I was willing to overlook that because I really wanted the car. But after receiving my vehicle on a Friday I communicated with Vanessa that same day to let her that some of the features that were advertised on the vehicle were not actually a part of the vehicle. She told me not to worry and that she would have someone call me.
Well Sunday rolls around and no one has called so I call myself and speak to a young lady that said she would forward my concern to the sales team since they are the only ones that could make help with this.
As of today (Thursday) no one has called me. So I called again and spoke to another young lady that said the sales team said there was nothing they could do since it was post-purchase. But she said she would look further into it and get back to me. I don't think she will. I love the car, wish I had the features they listed when selling it. I would stray away from Shift.com. they seem to do the bait and switch. They will most likely call me after my 7 day return had expired.
Also another thing. Do not, DO NOT purchase the extended warranties or dent protection. If you read the contracts they hardly cover anything. The warranty on the drivetrain states you must show detailed proof of maintenance done on the car since it was first driven..... Well we are buying used cars. We don't have that info.
And the dent protection well only cover dents up to 2 inches and if there is paint removed due to the dent then forget it you are not covered. Same goes for the chip in the windshield. Only covers 2 inches and it cannot be a crack. Only a chip caused by anything other than rocks, road debris, trees...etc. The warranties aren't worth anything. Just Google the warranty companies before you decide to purchase it