About Us
We ARE car people through and through; we LOVE what we do here!
Your Trusted Marque Expert
Sadly, many in our line of work are just here for the paycheck. We are HERE because we truly LOVE helping our customers have an amazing experience with their cars. This isn’t always easy, but we pride ourselves in educating our clients on the various models, known issues, and how a given vehicle may or may not be the best fit. Simply selling a car is not what we are after; we are after selling you the RIGHT car! This starts with our discriminating selection of what even meets our "CVLC Standard", then moves to our in-depth reconditioning process, and ends when the car finds a home with the right owner.
Meet Nathan Merz, Our Founder
Nathan Merz, a dedicated Porsche enthusiast, is the proud owner of Columbia Valley Luxury Cars in Redmond, Washington. With an insatiable passion for Porsches, he immerses himself in understanding every model intricately. Annually, Nathan facilitates the buying and selling of over 100 special Porsches, boasting a diverse collection spanning various models and generations. He prioritizes all-original, true #1-condition examples, showcasing his expertise in valuation and authentication.
Jumar Newman, Sales and Operations
Jumar eats, breathes, and sleeps cars. He is a natural fit at CVLC, sharing a discriminating eye and a penchant for perfectionism. He strives to make sure each of our cars is head and shoulders better than the rest. He doesn’t rest until they meet "the standard".
Book nathan for Speaking Engagements
Nathan is now accepting inquiries for speaking opportunities. Contact us to see if he can schedule your car event or keynote today.
Voice for Porsche Education
Nathan's extensive knowledge and insights extend beyond his dealership; you can find his engaging content on YouTube, as well as across various social media platforms. Notably, on YouTube Nathan has created comprehensive Porsche model guides developed in collaboration with the Porsche Club of America, a showcase of his understanding and dedication to education within the Porsche community.
Additionally, his expertise is recognized in prominent publications such as Porsche Panorama, Avants, and Spiel magazines. He is a sought-after guest on industry panels, auction discussions, and PCA Tech Tactics events, further solidifying his reputation as a trusted authority in the Porsche community.
Follow us on Facebook
#1 inquiry I get... Wide Body 993... well here is your chance: 1996 Porsche 993 Carrera 4S in Guards Red on Black, this car was sold new at Roger Jobs in Bellingham and has just 3 owners, ALL of which are clients of mine! This car just seems to love me, each owner has dutifully brought it back for us to sell. Some key highlights: -Easily a top couple % type car! -All stock except: OEM 2S split rear grille (nice!), Bilstein PSS10 suspension and Full frontal PPF (hood, front fenders, front bumper) (all items commissioned by owners thru us) -We just gave it an annual service, installed 4 new N Spec Michelin Pilot 4S, new flare guards, full detail and paint correction and a litany of small items, we gave it the CVLC treatment! -Comes with all books, keys, tools, air pump, etc... -40k miles!!! So PLEASE stop telling me that you have been looking, can't find one, et al... It's here and I suspect it won't be for long. Pending in the first 3 hours!
Here is my latest "Read" on Bring A Trailer's April 2025 Sales Results... Here is what they posted: • 4,053 listings (steady volume vs last year) • 82% Sale Rate (80% in Oct 2024) • 1,823 No Reserve Listings (44.8% vs 42.6%) But as you know, one must DIG Deeper into the data as the sale rate is skewed by the No Reserve Sales, so here is the real data: • 2,230 Listings w/ Reserves • 1,500 “SOLD” (remember sold doesn’t always mean transacted…) • 67% Sale Rate for Reserve Cars How does this compare: • October 2024- 4,069 listings- Reserve Sell thru 65% • August 2024-4,274 listings- Reserve sell thru rate 65.5% • April 2024- 3,497 listings- Reserve sell thru rate 64.4% • January 2024- 2,891 listings -Reserve Sell thru rate 64.4% • June 2023: 3,100 listings -Reserve Sell thru rate: 63.7% • September 2023- 3,480 listings -Reserve Sell thru rate 67% Key Takeaways: Despite the yelling and screaming that the market is cooling off massively and that cars “simply” aren’t selling, the data tells another story. Sell thru rates are inching slightly stronger at around 67% for Reserve Cars. Now this DOES NOT take into account PRICING, yes generally prices are LOWER than they were in 2023 so sellers have had to adjust their expectations HOWEVER great cars are still ringing the bell and certain models are still as strong as ever. More importantly cars are still WAY above their historic averages, let’s not lose sight of this! As I commented on my last post on this topic in October, we are still seeing some of the power sellers struggling as they are fighting two headwinds: people seek them out based on past successes and unfairly assume that seller can replicate a 2022/2023 sale price and secondly they are attempting to sell some cars they sold during that market peak and it’s hard to be honest enough with a customer that a market correct price might now be lower. So how do we at CVLC avoid this? Honesty upfront! While it is sometimes hard to deliver this news, this is always more fun that telling someone AFTER the fact and they are unhappy! We only take on a cars where we KNOW we can meet both the clients expectations and the market realities. Hence why you won’t find wildly mispriced cars in our inventory and why 95% of our Porsche BaT auctions are run at NO RESERVE! Here are some of our recent TOP OF MARKET sales: • 1998 Porsche 993 C2S-$285,000 • 1989 Porsche 930 Turbo- $315,000 • 1988 Porsche 930 Turbo Targa-$188,000 • 2007 Porsche Cayman w/ 104k miles-$31,111 Price and presentation MATTER, when one analyzes the “BID TO” Reserve Not Met auctions two trends are VERY clear… #1 the seller’s expectation for price exceeded the current market value or #2 their presentation was lacking in some fashion (poor seller engagement, lacking key pieces of information, poor photo quality or many times, all the above!). The most successful sellers are those who know the art of the presentation and have real world pricing expectations. IF you are thinking of selling your Porsche on Bring a Trailer, please reach out and I will give you an honest assessment of whether or not it is a good fit… believe it or not, while I am very successful on BaT, I sell the VAST majority of my cars OFF of BaT….. For my top sales tips, here is the presentation I gave at Tech Tactics East this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn-owLN-H50&list=PLUtmxPSrEvyiktE8skeVG6CwErZ1XdKyG&index=3
Fun collaboration with James Reeves discussing buying a sub $30k Porsche. Yes it can be done! In fact the Cayman featured in this video is LIVE on BaT at NO RESERVE.
Explore Our Instagram
Get a front-row seat to the latest arrivals, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and the breathtaking beauty of our curated collection of vehicles.