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We have purchased from them twice....great experience both times. Second time they bought back car #1 in the same transaction for car #2. They delivered car #2, and picked up car #1 at the same time....all negotiations are done on line, no painful hours of wasted time car shopping at car lots, dealing with the usual car shopping tactics of used car salespeople.
Hard to beat the experience of car shopping from your easy chair.
Purchased a vehicle from Carvana last month. No issues, delivered on the day it was promised, tags and registration came through the mail plenty of time before the temporary tags expired. Good experience and it'll be my first choice for purchasing vehicles in the future.
Two points-
It would be a good idea to do as much research as you can about the ownership and location history of any car you are considering purchasing through Carvana. You need to understand that they are sourcing the majority of their inventory from open auctions-in many cases these cars were trade ins to dealers who found a reason to pass on reselling that vehicle.
It also needs to be understood that Carvana has limited resources to service the vehicles they sell. This includes performing manufacturer's recalls.
The text below is cut and pasted from Carvana's website.
"Recently, there have been a large number of manufacturer recalls that affect a wide variety of makes and models of used vehicles. We want to make sure that before you buy, you understand whether the Carvana vehicle you’re considering is affected by an open safety recall.
Our policy is to clearly inform customers of any open safety recalls affecting a Carvana vehicle. We want to earn your trust at every step of our process, and this is no exception.
If a car listed in Carvana’s inventory has an open safety recall with no currently-available remedy, a link to www.nhtsa.gov/recalls will be displayed on the Vehicle’s Display page, allowing you to enter the VIN and learn more about the open recall.
We encourage you to do additional research on the recall before you decide to buy and during your 7-day test own period. If at any point during that 7-day period you no longer feel comfortable with the recall, you can return the car for a refund.
We think this policy and process allows customers to make informed decisions and strikes the right balance between safety and allowing customers the freedom to find the right car for them."
If you read this carefully, you will understand that Carvana will sell you a vehicle with an open manufacturer's recall, even if the NHTSA is documenting the fact that there is no remedy currently available. They are placing the burden of addressing the recalls on to purchaser.
This policy is different from the ones in place at some dealerships, who choose not to sell such vehicles until a recall can be performed and documented.
You should also recognize that vehicles that fall into these categories do not carry the same value at auction or in the marketplace as vehicles without this liability.
Two points-
It would be a good idea to do as much research as you can about the ownership and location history of any car you are considering purchasing through Carvana. You need to understand that they are sourcing the majority of their inventory from open auctions-in many cases these cars were trade ins to dealers who found a reason to pass on reselling that vehicle.
It also needs to be understood that Carvana has limited resources to service the vehicles they sell. This includes performing manufacturer's recalls.
The text below is cut and pasted from Carvana's website.
"Recently, there have been a large number of manufacturer recalls that affect a wide variety of makes and models of used vehicles. We want to make sure that before you buy, you understand whether the Carvana vehicle you’re considering is affected by an open safety recall.
Our policy is to clearly inform customers of any open safety recalls affecting a Carvana vehicle. We want to earn your trust at every step of our process, and this is no exception.
If a car listed in Carvana’s inventory has an open safety recall with no currently-available remedy, a link to www.nhtsa.gov/recalls will be displayed on the Vehicle’s Display page, allowing you to enter the VIN and learn more about the open recall.
We encourage you to do additional research on the recall before you decide to buy and during your 7-day test own period. If at any point during that 7-day period you no longer feel comfortable with the recall, you can return the car for a refund.
We think this policy and process allows customers to make informed decisions and strikes the right balance between safety and allowing customers the freedom to find the right car for them."
If you read this carefully, you will understand that Carvana will sell you a vehicle with an open manufacturer's recall, even if the NHTSA is documenting the fact that there is no remedy currently available. They are placing the burden of addressing the recalls on to purchaser.
This policy is different from the ones in place at some dealerships, who choose not to sell such vehicles until a recall can be performed and documented.
You should also recognize that vehicles that fall into these categories do not carry the same value at auction or in the marketplace as vehicles without this liability.
Thanks. I'm not overly concerned about the auction aspect - tons of perfectly good cars get sent to auction for various reasons.
As for the recalls, I'm not overly concerned about that either, as most are resolved with a quick trip to the dealer. This is a small price to pay in comparison to the stressful and unethical experiences I've had buying cars at a dealership.
I've done a ton of research over the past few days, and it appears Carvana is legit. There is always risk to buying a car sight-unseen, but you always have a choice within that first 7 days to return the car, no questions asked. If you do have issues and choose to go the repair route, from what I hear Carvana's support is absolutely top notch. Pretty much "take it to the dealership, we'll take care of it".
Their cars also come with a 100 day, 4000k mile warranty, which provides additional peace of mind in a non-used-car-lemon-law state like NC.
I'm probably going to give it a shot. I'm all for supporting anything that fades out the traditional car buying experience. Carmax sort of did that, but you pay the price for their physical locations.
Auction Direct is another dealer that does not allow you to take a car from inventory to your personal mechanic for assessment prior to purchase. They also offer an option to undo the deal within 5 days and 500 miles. But I question how workable that option is. Once they have your money, they hold all the cards. I'd like to hear unbiased anecdotes from people who have succeeded in exercising that option.
Compared to buying from any used-car dealer, I prefer private transactions on Craigslist (I've done both). But for the private route, you have to decide your parameters in advance, and you have to be disciplined about the buying decision and keep your antenna up for potential problems, and it may take months to find what you're looking for. And of course there's no opportunity to undo the deal, short of title fraud.
Auction Direct is another dealer that does not allow you to take a car from inventory to your personal mechanic for assessment prior to purchase. They also offer an option to undo the deal within 5 days and 500 miles. But I question how workable that option is. Once they have your money, they hold all the cards. I'd like to hear unbiased anecdotes from people who have succeeded in exercising that option.
/r/carvana and youtube have both been extremely valuable in getting unbiased reviews from actual Carvana customers. I have no found a single review where someone was unable to return the car within the 7 day period.
Two points-
It would be a good idea to do as much research as you can about the ownership and location history of any car you are considering purchasing through Carvana. You need to understand that they are sourcing the majority of their inventory from open auctions-in many cases these cars were trade ins to dealers who found a reason to pass on reselling that vehicle.
It also needs to be understood that Carvana has limited resources to service the vehicles they sell. This includes performing manufacturer's recalls.
The text below is cut and pasted from Carvana's website.
"Recently, there have been a large number of manufacturer recalls that affect a wide variety of makes and models of used vehicles. We want to make sure that before you buy, you understand whether the Carvana vehicle you’re considering is affected by an open safety recall.
Our policy is to clearly inform customers of any open safety recalls affecting a Carvana vehicle. We want to earn your trust at every step of our process, and this is no exception.
If a car listed in Carvana’s inventory has an open safety recall with no currently-available remedy, a link to www.nhtsa.gov/recalls will be displayed on the Vehicle’s Display page, allowing you to enter the VIN and learn more about the open recall.
We encourage you to do additional research on the recall before you decide to buy and during your 7-day test own period. If at any point during that 7-day period you no longer feel comfortable with the recall, you can return the car for a refund.
We think this policy and process allows customers to make informed decisions and strikes the right balance between safety and allowing customers the freedom to find the right car for them."
If you read this carefully, you will understand that Carvana will sell you a vehicle with an open manufacturer's recall, even if the NHTSA is documenting the fact that there is no remedy currently available. They are placing the burden of addressing the recalls on to purchaser.
This policy is different from the ones in place at some dealerships, who choose not to sell such vehicles until a recall can be performed and documented.
You should also recognize that vehicles that fall into these categories do not carry the same value at auction or in the marketplace as vehicles without this liability.
The highlighted comment above applies to every single used car business in existence.
I find it fascinating when a disruptive business model makes headway how so many consumers react with fear or mistrust. Having myself been guilty of this I now force myself out of my own comfort zone to consider risk/reward. I'm in the process of selling my house through Opendoor and keep having to force myself to reevaluate the numbers involved. Like Lyft/Uber, not every new business model works for everyone, but when it does, it greatly simplifies often complicated processes.
As an aside, our closest friends here in Raleigh purchased a car last year through Carvana and haven't stopped singing their praise. It was seamless, simple and eliminated several wasted hours commonly associated with a car buying experience.
Every time ive checked out their cars online their prices were very high. I can always find a better deal buying from another state and shipping it here. Thousands cheaper. Ive sold a few cars to them when their purchase prices were really good, but the last car I sold their offer price was way too low. Almost Carmax low.
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