Update - Talon came to the rescue, he reached out over - Jay
Update - Talon came to the rescue, he reached out over phone minutes after I posted the review and made sure to resolve each of the post sales issues I pointed out. EchoPark refunded the Permaplate charge and nudged the back-office team to submit tag/ title paperwork right away, which was submitted right after. Echo Park is a high volume dealer (from the traffic I saw on the floor), yet Talon follows up on all pre-sales questions, manages the sales floor and manages all post-sales questions, issues - kudos to him!
Original Review for context (EchoPark came out good at the end, so it is likely my experience was not the norm but an anomaly):
Good pre-sales -> average Experience Guide (sales agent) -> same snake-oil practices as other car dealers - the so called mandatory $800 Paint Protection crap -> worst after-sales (Tag and Title).
I bought a low miles 2026 Tesla Y earlier this month and the pre-sales experience was commendable. The Buyer (for Trade-In, Markus) and the Sales manager (Talon) went above and beyond on Easter (when the dealership was closed) to convince me for a deal (match CarMax price for Trade-in and answer any questions about the car).
The so-called Experience Guide (sales agent) left a lot to be desired - I would think a dealer should have some dress code and etiquette, but not here. The guy is dressed up in a tee and casual bermuda shorts who said at least 4 times during the process that since you're paying cash I don't get anything on this deal.
Next is the snake oil which all car dealers sell on name of documentation fee or the pre-applied mandatory Paint protection crap. This dealer charges $800 for it, nowhere disclosed on their website where they try to come out as the honest car dealership. Same crap as others, I wish they either disclose it in bold on their website or stop playing this card.
The worst part of this company is after-sales. They have not completed the title paperwork in 20 days (not talking about sending me the title, just them submitting the paperwork to the online systems). Once that is complete, the county takes 2 weeks to send the plates, but I'm not sure how this will end up (and I hope they didn't sell me a lemon and I've not seen the title - only CarFax which obviously is never accurate). When you call to the so-called after-sales Guest Loyalty Center - they are never available to take calls at any hours - it goes to a voicemail which they do not return. And when you email them - same story, no one replies back. The pre-sales used to reply in minutes at odd-hours.
And so-called 7-day 'Happiness Guarantee' and 30-day warranty - please do not fall for that assuming this is CarMax. It is just a gimmick. They put a limit of 250 miles, which is too low compared to none with CarMax. And the 30-day warranty is also limited to 1000 miles and only covers main components.
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