PAUL CHRISTENSEN MOTOR COMPANY in Vancouver has specialized in selling low-mileage, high-quality used cars and trucks since 1988.
For some, the process of buying a car can sometimes be considered worse than having teeth pulled. It seems like everyone has at least one horror story of walking onto a lot knowing what they want and walking out with nothing but a headache.
Paul Christensen has been in the car business for 38 years and he knows it doesn’t have to be that way.
“I learned a long time ago that the best thing you can do to succeed is take care of your customers first,” said Christensen.
Since 1988, Christensen has owned and operated Paul Christensen Motor Company in Hazel Dell with his wife Sherry, and while he may not have the largest selection of used cars as his neighbors, his focus isn’t on quantity.
“We specialize in pre-owned and low-mileage cars that will last,” said Christensen. “Some used car dealers will just take whatever cars they can get their hands on, even if they’re falling apart. That’s not what I’m about.”
Each vehicle Christensen brings onto his lot is inspected by an ASE-certified mechanic, serviced, and more importantly, guaranteed.
“I offer each buyer a 30-day, 1,000 mile bumper-to-bumper guarantee that if anything comes up, we’ll get it fixed and I have great relationships with local mechanics who get the job done right,” said Christensen. “I had a gentleman who bought a truck a while back call me up a few months later and tell me the brakes were acting up. My job is to make sure he’s taken care of and has a working car, so I made some calls, got him in, and the truck was fixed quickly with no headaches.”
Since Christensen doesn’t have an exclusive deal with any major car maker, he’s able to find any cars that range in mileage from 5,000 to 100,000 miles, has solid ownership history and can be certified by Carfax.
“Sometimes, I get really lucky and find a gem that I know can be resold quickly,” said Christensen. “One example was a pickup I found from a 90-year-old woman who realized she wasn’t going to drive it anymore and wanted to get rid of it. It had barely 25,000 miles and was absolutely perfect, so not a whole lot of upkeep is needed and it can be a great vehicle for someone who needs it.”
Another reason why he’s able to have a smaller inventory of vehicles that have a better chance of being resold is because Christensen decided to buck conventional trends in choosing what he’d sell.
“A common avenue is to go through auctions, but I gave up on it a few years ago because I found the quality of cars coming in were so poor that it wasn’t worth investing in them to try and resell,” said Christensen. “People who come to see me will sometimes wait for me to find what I think is the perfect car for them, because they know they’re getting a good deal with no hassles.”
Along with becoming more fuel-efficient, safer and more technologically advanced in the last 20 years, Christensen points out that the engineering and manufacturing of cars has improved greatly in that same time, which makes investing in slightly-used cars a good investment over buying new.
“When I first got into this business, cars were considered worn out at about 100,000 miles. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for people to have cars still running well for 150,000 or even 250,000 miles if they keep them maintained,” said Christensen.
He’s also observed that as customers have had to be more financially cautious when it comes to long-term investments like cars, they’ve also become smarter about their options to buy one.
“People have definitely gotten smarter about the cars they buy. They’ve done their homework and know their price range,” said Christensen. “That said, they often still have bad experiences with dealers and that sometimes brings them to me, and I’m more than happy to make it easy for both of us.”
After nearly 40 years in the industry, what keeps Christensen from retiring is what he considers to be a pretty simple principle.
“This is a people business and you have to love working with people and helping solve their problems or getting them what they want,” said Christensen. “The best advice I probably ever got was, ‘If you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life’ and I still love what I do.”
Paul Christensen Motor Company is located at 10013 NE Hwy 99 in Vancouver and offers financing options for qualified buyers. The business hours are Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. More information is available online at www.pcmotors.net or by calling (360) 574-2711.
