Carvana

[Chuckanut]

Has anybody purchased a used car through Carvana? Or knows somebody who has? What did you think?

Everything is done online and the car is delivered to your house. Or you can visit one of their facilities and pick it up.

They offer a one week trial period, and a 100 day 4000 mile warranty.

 

[Red Badger]

Carvana, and I think, Vroom(?) are both resellers of rental cars. If I lived in/near a sizable market, I would also go to the rental car (Hertz, Avis, etc) resale lot and do some comparison. My suspicion is that there might be some incremental margin creep in those layers. But I completely agree with any process that separates me from any car sales person. I've bought a couple vehicles from Carmax back in "the day." What a pleasant experience (and I do mean that). I returned one with no hassles whatsoever. They just wanted to know why.

 

[Bamaman]

What's never told is that the auto manufacturers sell new vehicles to the rental companies at large discounts. And they also have a repurchase agreement in a year if the rental car doesn't have too many miles on it. The rental companies will put the car on their own resale lots, and if they sell it for more than the manufacturer will pay them, they're ahead. Most of the sales prices I've seen on rental cars are pretty fair.

 

[Midpack]

I haven’t used Carvana but I’ve seen several of their HUGE used car vending machines!!! Nifty! What next, buy a car from a vending machine with Apple Pay?

 

[ikonomore]

Most of their cars are not a fair value. Seem overpriced for what they are.

 

[RobbieB]

Get's rid of the pesky sales people eh?

Just pick one off the menu, swipe your card, and watch your car come down the elevator.

 

[snappytom]

I have not bought a car from Carvana, but did purchase a used rental car 6 months ago.
I shopped their site and they had vehicles I was interested in.

It's very slick and for I understand why it would be popular with those who are not mechanically inclined or loathe car shopping.
Being into cars and doing my own maintenance and repairs, I can't get past the idea of buying a car without inspecting it. It's my understanding that the first time you see your Carvana car is when it comes out of the vending machine (which seems a little hokey) or when it rolls off the truck in front of your house.

By that time you have already done the purchase and if there is something wrong or you don't like it the transaction needs to be unraveled. If they would provide an easy way to do an in person inspection prior to committing the a specific vehicle I might consider them in the future.

 

[pb4uski]

Many years ago we bought a caravan sight unseen from a dealer a couple hours away.

I saw an ad in the newspaper... luckily, the van was similar to one that my Dad had at the time so I sort of knew what it was. We negotiated the whole deal over the phone.

The salesperson drove the van to my house with the paperwork. We inspected it and went for a test drive in the van and it was what they had represented it to be. He inspected my trade and it was what I had represented it to them. Then we went into the house, signed the paperwork and I wrote him a check and he droe back to the dealership in my trade. Easy peasy.

 

[mamadogmamacat]

I looked at Carvana while looking for a car this month. Everything on Carvana was overpriced by anywhere from $1000. to as much as $5000. as compared to what I found in local dealer lots using Truecar. Carmax was also overpriced by only by about half as much as Carvana.

I ended up buying from a Toyota dealer about 20 miles from my home. The experience did not involve too much of a hassle. An attempt was made to add on some fluff to the Truecar price, but when I got up to leave that ended and I got the car for the Truecar "exceptional deal" price. The salesman even drove it to my house for me, as I was keeping my current car, with another Toyota employee following, so i did not even have to drive him back.

All in all well worth the slight hassle for the savings.

Perhaps it will be different where you live, who knows.

 

[jazz4cash]

I shopped Carvana and they seemed to be competitive overall but I found the used car I wanted at a local dealer. As I recall they offer a carfax and very detailed report to identify cosmetic issues. Not all their cars come from rental fleets.

I saw an executive from Carvana on CNBC and when he mentioned the vending machines I thought he was joking.

 

[Chuckanut]

Here's the latest 'advice' I've been given. Buy my next new car through CarMax in Kenosha WI. They so much cheaper its worth the cost of an airplain ticket, driving 2000 miles home and at least one night in a hotel.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Get's rid of the pesky sales people eh?

Just pick one off the menu, swipe your card, and watch your car come down the elevator.

just removing the friction - like uber/lyft removes the friction from calling the cab company

 

[FreeBear]

Here's the latest 'advice' I've been given. Buy my next new car through CarMax in Kenosha WI. They so much cheaper its worth the cost of an airplain ticket, driving 2000 miles home and at least one night in a hotel.

Buddy of mine did this, fortunately the drive wasn’t bad. Wish they had new Hondas. They sell new Toyotas, so that will be the next new car.

Not very impressed with any Carmax for used car pricing and inventory though. Seemed thousands more than a typical stealership. But we’ve seen our share of bait and switch and other crap that we don’t believe much of any upfront ads or email quotes. All lies...

 

[Chuckanut]

I visited a CarMax. I settled on a new Rav4 with Costco discount for about $3000 more than a late model with 30k miles on it.

 

[DrRoy]

I don't know how you buy or sell a car without a hands on check. The value is so dependent on condition.

 

[jazz4cash]

I don't know how you buy or sell a car without a hands on check. The value is so dependent on condition.

I see your point, but that's exactly how a large proportion of the population viewed buying most things that are now sold by online vendors. Clothes and shoes especially. Not sure what you mean by hands on check for selling. For buying I guess the trial period is supposed to give confidence. I finally saw one of the giant vending machine buildings while visiting Indy.

 

[ER2B]

I have not bought a car from Carvana, but did purchase a used rental car 6 months ago.
I shopped their site and they had vehicles I was interested in.

It's very slick and for I understand why it would be popular with those who are not mechanically inclined or loathe car shopping.
Being into cars and doing my own maintenance and repairs, I can't get past the idea of buying a car without inspecting it. It's my understanding that the first time you see your Carvana car is when it comes out of the vending machine (which seems a little hokey) or when it rolls off the truck in front of your house.

By that time you have already done the purchase and if there is something wrong or you don't like it the transaction needs to be unraveled. If they would provide an easy way to do an in person inspection prior to committing the a specific vehicle I might consider them in the future.

SIL recently bought a 2015 RAV4 through Carvana. Overall experience according to him was very satisfactory. He was given a chance to inspect or reject when car was delivered to his house. No cost to reject. All imperfections were disclosed prior to purchase. Car still drives well. It pays to pick a reliable brand to begin with.

 

[Rianne]

I visited a CarMax. I settled on a new Rav4 with Costco discount for about $3000 more than a late model with 30k miles on it.

We're in the market for a new/used Camry. Costco is building in our area. I didn't know you could use a Costco discount at other car dealers. Might be worth the wait for Costco completion and go through them. I've searched Carmax, Carfax, Carguru and Carvana. I want <50K miles between 2014 - 2019. 4 cylinder is fine.

Starting to think about long road trips with our lab instead of flying.