Palace Auto Center

Reviews 4

BI

Bing gao

My personal experience with Palace Auto Center and Rob (the owner) was very pleasant, which is something Ive never felt while dealing with a dealer/agent until Rob. Among the ranks of real estate agents, bankers and car dealers whom Ive interacted with, Rob struck a perfect balance between being personable and professional. I left the dealership with a 2014 BMW i3 REx and only 13k mileage, and paid under $19k. After a week of driving it, I decided Palace Auto Center is worth an honest review from a happy customer. Advice to anyone going to Palace Auto Center: 1. Make appointment: Palace Auto is a small dealership. Although drop-in is welcomed, the wait might be long if you need to talk to Rob and he is helping other customers (it happened to me once). 2. As with all big purchases, do the homework. Its easier to pick on Robs brain if you have rough idea of what you want. 3. Find something you really like instead of just OKAY with. Im happy that I said No to a couple cars that were okay to finally find the perfect one. 4. Be upfront about expectations and concerns. THE EXPERIENCE: As a novice to car purchase, I started from not knowing much about cars or what I want. After finding Palace Auto on Google I dropped in on a Saturday evening. I scheduled test drive for a MINI and a BMW coupe on a later day. At that point I didnt know exactly what I was looking for, and Rob was very understanding and willing to answer the questions I had. During the process I grew interested in Electric Vehicle, especially the BMW i3 model. I asked Rob if he could get one for me from an auction. Rob then told me about the Manheim highline auction that happens once a month in the bay area. He was very transparent about the fee structure. As a reference to those interested, the commission is $1,500 flat fee. I told Rob my requirement and budget limit before the auction and put down $1,000 deposit. Then we looked at the inventory list on the auction website together. Rob educated me a great deal on how auction works and how to interpret carfax report etc. It was a joy to work with him and learn about cars from him. I also made a last-minute change-of-mind on the morning of the auction day, which I texted to Rob and he did great in following through. By the end of last Wednesday I have the BMW i3 that feels brand-new and under my budget. The transaction was easy and it took another two and half days for detailing, inspection and window tinting. BOTTOM LINE: -Price: Transparent pricing is what Palace Auto Center offers. Do they have the lowest price in the area? Probably not. My advice is always do your homework and figure out what kind of car you want (appliance, performance or fun etc.). This is even more important if you are getting it through a dealer from an auction. -Service: Palace Autos service is what differentiates them from other Bay area dealers I encountered. Personally I felt very comfortable trusting Rob with making decision on my behalf on an auction. The trust was built through Robs honest, straightforward communication and knowledge on cars. He didnt mind spending time educating me on cars and the used car market, which I found precious as Im always curious about unfamiliar subject. Rob pointed out potential tire issue caused by having really thin tires on the BMW i3 after looking at the data for seconds. His information gave me direction on further research on the models pro&cons. Rob apparently values how a customer feels AFTER the purchase.

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ST

Steve Terry

For many months now my wife and I have been thinking about getting a new car. This was only because our 1999 Honda Accord LX, purchased brand new from a dealership in (yes, you guessed it, 1999) was now 14 years old and had nearly 213,000 miles. Reluctantly we figured it would one day "be time" to put him down and get a new baby. We test drove the new 2013 Honda Accord LX earlier this year at a local dealership (the same one we got our 1999) and were not quite as impressed as wed hoped to be. Both family and friends have been raving about Lexus for many years now. Were sort of loyal longtime "Honda" people, so it took some convincing. Our friend Stephen let us drive his sweet pre-owned 2011 Lexus ES350 and we were definitely HOOKED. We just didnt really care for his tan interior. We also test drove a pre-owned Lexus ES350 at a local dealership, and again were suitably impressed. The price was too high for us, though. After doing some research on color options, we decided that we were dead set on getting a 2010 Lexus ES350 with something like a "dark charcoal grey" exterior and a grey leather interior. We chose 2010 because we figured we could afford that. Thats when we asked Palace Auto Center to keep a lookout for our dream car. Over the months Palace came up with several opportunities, which we all turned down due to minor details such as color. Since our Honda was still running well, we were in no hurry. (Thank you Rob Van Leeuwen, for your patience and all the times we said "no" to your possibilities). Then it came. Palace had located a 2011 (not a 2010) in exactly the colors we wanted. And it was still in our price range! No color compromise required. This is primarily my wifes car (I have my little Nissan truck I like to run around in) and since bringing the car home (we live in San Diego and drove up to Pleasanton to pick it up, trading in our beloved 1999 Honda in the process) on Sunday November 24, 2013 she has uttered the phrase "I love my car!" about 7 times now... she keeps saying it. Thanks Rob and Naomi of Palace Auto Center.

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JO

Josh Nelson

My wife and I drove over 300 miles one way to pick up a car from Rob at Palace Auto Center. Couldnt have had a better experience. We had been talking with Rob for a couple weeks over the phone after finding an Audi Wagon on his site. (first off they appreciate the wagon... how cool is that!?) We drove down as soon as we could and managed to snag an absolutely pristine vehicle at a fantastic price. He worked with me over the phone to describe the quality and errors of the car, and even dropped the price after we discovered it had 3 different types of tires. After picking the vehicle up, we drove back down south a week later, dropped the car off to get a couple items repaired that we had agreed upon at purchase, and he lent us an absolute rocket of a Nissan 370z for the week. Two weeks later after the new car had almost been totaled by some idiot hitting us, I called him up and he helped provide me information that I needed to provide the insurance company, in addition, to the providing valuation information on the car. Rob was a total life saver. We got our car fixed, and almost a year later the car still drives like a total dream :) Theyve just got great service, knowledgeable staff and are simply honorable people. We look forward to going back and purchasing another vehicle!

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JU

Juan Guerrero

Let me start by saying google the VIN on any vehicle you might be interested in buying what you might see may shock you. Came here 3yrs ago to purchase an Audi A6 with Rob as he was showing me this car it had a nick on the hood - no problem I thought to myself. Rob said it was the only ding on this car and never had any collision damage. As soon as I looked at the rest of the car and test drove it with my parents I decided Ill take it. A few weeks into driving the car the check engine light came on took it back said it was just a simple misfire and had it fixed. A few months after that the check engine light came on again took it to my mechanic told me it had multiple misfire codes. Not trying to waste any time I went ahead with the repairs which was basically a tune up but the simple misfires turned out to be me needing to practically rebuild the engine as the timming chains, all four might I add, and their respective tensioners needed to be replaced. Looked on google and had found my car was from the east coast and was practically totaled by its previous owner, and around 90k these cars need those timing chains replaced.

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