In the market for a pre-owned, luxury vehicle? Look no further than Elliott Bay Auto Brokers/INEOS Grenadier. With meticulously reconditioned pre-owned brands such as BMW, Mercedes, Porche, Audi, and Land Rover, you can’t go wrong. For those who dream of off-roading in style rather than simply cruising the roads, Elliott Bay recently secured the only Pacific Northwest INEOS Grenadier dealership. If you haven’t seen this vehicle, picture the original Land Rover Defender updated with modern conveniences for the most luxury off-roading adventure imaginable!

Behind the glitz and glamour of the vehicles themselves is a team so well-versed in what they do, you won’t find a question they cannot answer. Leading them is Eric Washington, a partner in the business, as well as the guy responsible for securing the new INEOS Grenadier dealership. I found Eric’s energy, enthusiasm, and positivity contagious, which isn’t surprising considering these qualities led him to the business in the first place.

Eric grew up in the Madison Park area, where his family has owned the popular Scoop Du Jour Ice Creamery for the past 40 years. “That was my first job at age 12, when I could see over the counter,” Eric says laughing. After graduating from the Bush School, he went on to the University of Washington and continued to work at Scoop Du Jour. “While working at Scoop, a repeat customer came into the shop and said, ‘You have a really upbeat, positive personality that would be perfect for the car business.’” While Eric thought the idea crazy, he took the customer’s advice of meeting his friend, the general manager at Acura of Seattle, and was hired on the spot in 1996.

Eric continued working for Acura while attending the University of Washington, later moving on to Barrier/Audi of Bellevue before running Infiniti of Lynnwood. All this time his friend, Jim Phelps, founder of Elliott Bay Auto Brokers, kept trying to offer him a job. “I had only been part of new car franchises so kept resisting,” Eric explains. “But after visiting Elliott Bay I fell in love with the place, the cars, and the people, and finally signed on in 2017.”

Elliott Bay Auto Brokers sells luxury, pre-owned cars that are typically 2- to 3-year-old models. While they aren’t certified as they would be at an OEM dealership, Eric assures Elliott Bay’s reconditioning process is even more meticulous, which explains the company’s stellar reputation. “We are known for having the best reconditioned, pre-owned luxury cars around, with over 30% of our business coming from out of state due to that reputation,” says Eric proudly. “We sell close to 1000 vehicles a year, have been around for 15 years, and have 3000 Google ratings of 4.9 stars which, for a pre-owned luxury car dealership, is amazing.”

In 2020, Phelps sold the business to Gee Automotive, and Eric became an investor. Recently, Eric completed a nine-month journey to secure the only Pacific Northwest INEOS Grenadier dealership. It began in 2023 when his close friend, Travis Brandenburgh, General Manager/COO of the Lyle Pearson Group in Boise, ID told him about a new British car company looking to place a dealership here. The vehicle, INEOS Grenadier, was the brainchild of Chemical Engineer and businessman Sir John Ratcliffe, a great admirer of the original Land Rover, who wanted to produce a vehicle replicating that one, but with modern conveniences. Since Elliott Bay already specialized in high-end used cars, securing a high-end new car dealership seemed a good fit. Yet what ensued was a series of obstacles that could not have been overcome without the support of Eric’s wife, Jessica, daughters Quinn and Tatum, and dad, Edward.

His application for the dealership had to be accepted by INEOS Grenadier Company Director of Network Development, Allison Lind, and began with a Zoom presentation to the company’s Board of Directors in London, highlighting why it would be a good fit. While Allison told Eric the presentation went well, several weeks later the board declined his application because Elliott Bay’s locale wasn’t high-end enough for an upscale new car dealership.

Not one to give up, Eric suggested the idea of a satellite location, which Allison approved. After declining his first choice of site due to its being in a mall, Eric struck gold with a South Lake Union site in a building occupied by Google and located across from the famous Museum of History and Industry. Today they retail parts and service for the INEOS Grenadier out of the Elliott Bay location, while the vehicles themselves are sold out of a sleek new 2400-square-foot showroom at 1025 Valley St. in Seattle.

Eric oversees all departments at Elliott Bay and the INEOS Grenadier dealership. His team lead at the new dealership is Mike Jones, a local to the area and avid outdoorsman. “I needed someone who understood the world of overlanding and Mike has been a great lead, and the other two I hired with similar overland backgrounds,” says Eric. As for Elliott Bay Auto Brokers, the core team here prides itself on providing service as good, if not better, than what one would receive at Mercedes-Benz of Bellevue or Porche Bellevue. As Eric points out, “We win customers with our service and experience. That’s been our mantra forever.” What’s more, Elliott Bay just launched a service department for any pre-owned luxury vehicle, regardless of where it was purchased. They also offer extended warranty coverage for all vehicles they sell.

     

After Eric’s 27 years in the business, it appears that Scoop Du Jour customer knew what he was talking about!