Carvana Reviews - How It Works, Warranty, Financing, Returns

Since I wrote this review Carvana has provided me with a link to the Volkswagen owners portal where I am able to view the owners manual (download not available). Carvana also sent me a set of standard floormats.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Ordered a car through Carvana, and it was a seamless process. Car was delivered to the showroom and I picked it up. Drove it around for an hour. I found no issues, and decided I would keep it.

Did the seven days and not one issue.

Now I'm the owner of a new car. Well, in theory, my temp tags are to expire in a few days. I reach out to see where the tags are (keep in mind temp tags are 45 days) as my tags were about to expire. The community I live in tows cars with invalid tags, inspections. etc. I explain this to Carvana and they told me they would get back to me by end of the day.

An email comes in and says the process would be completed by the 7th, which is 4 days past the expiration date on the temps. How is this helping me? And to say the process will be complete doesn't even say I will have my perm tags.

What am I going to do with expired tags? Can't drive to work and car probably will be towed.

This has to be the worse experience in buying a car. Too many complaints about getting tags.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Purchased my vehicle in May of 2019.

Temporary plate expired after its 30 days.

Called multiple times to check on reg. process, and no one could give me a solid answer or an update.

I called today to ask where my registration was, and I received the following statement..."We're not really sure where your registration is or how long it's going to take, my hands are kind of tied on this issue...We can't help you right now."

How am I supposed to drive back and forth to work (my own business) every day without a valid registration? Now I'm screwed, and no one can give me an update. At this rate, I'm going to return my car.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I am listing the sequence of events that have occurred on my purchase order.

6/14/19 Carvana order has been received.

6/14/19 Congratulations John, your documents have been reviewed and approved. Delivery date and time Wednesday, June 19th, 2019, 12:00 PM local time.

6/16/19 Email stating Delivery Delay and Carvana is working diligently to get the vehicle delivery back on track.

6/16/19 Email stating new delivery date of Sunday 6/23/19, 9:00 AM.

6/17/19 I respond to email requesting the Carvana team to try to keep to the original schedule date because I have scheduled to have a tow bar to be installed on the vehicle to tow behind my motor home for an upcoming trip. To date, there has been no response to this email.

6/17/19 Contacted customer service to find out what was going on with the delivery. The customer service advocate put me in contact with the delivery advocate (Sandy?) who stated the vehicle was mislabeled as a 3 instead of a 1 and that was the cause for the delay and they would follow up with me with a phone call and an email.

6/18/19 Never received email or phone call from (Sandy?) delivery team.

6/18/19 Late afternoon I contacted customer service again to explain the issue. Customer Advocate Marshall who followed up for me on any possible solution on the delivery and getting a credit for the delivery delay.

6/19/19 Received email back from Marshall that he was still working on following up on getting a credit for the delay in delivery.

6/20/19 Received email back from Marshall that a $25 a day for delays would be credited.

6/22/19 Received and email and a text from Carvana that the delivery was again being rescheduled to Thursday, 6/27/19.

6/23/19 Called customer service and spoke to Alex and explained I needed to have the tow bar installed on this vehicle before our upcoming trip on Friday 6/28/19. He stated nothing could be changed with the new delivery date. I requested to have a manager call me.

6/23/19 Recontacted customer service and spoke to Megan who did get me in contact with a manager (Jacob). Jacob is currently working with me to see if I can pick up the vehicle on Wednesday, 6/26/19 or early Thursday morning and bypass the new scheduled delivery date of Thursday, 6/27/19 at 4:00 PM in order to meet my deadline for leaving on our trip this Friday, 6/28/19.

This is my first purchase with Carvana and I understand mistakes do happen. I was somewhat okay with the first delivery delay, but after the second delivery reschedule I was expecting much more of a sense of urgency to meet my deadline to receive this vehicle. I know there are ways to meet schedules and make sure you are meeting the customer's expectations. My gut tells me this may be a common problem at Carvana otherwise the advocates would have taken all the extra steps necessary to correct the issue and meet my expectation.

I do want to compliment Marshall as he does to seem to understand how a customer feels when a delivery is missed on such an important and exciting event as a car purchase.

Thus far it has not been a Nirvana/Carvana type of experience.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The buying experience was pretty good...easy to search inventory, and the vehicles are a fair price.

However, I had several issues with my purchase.

1) They forgot to make the payment to my bank for my existing loan on the vehicle I traded in, and I called them to ask about it a couple of days before the payment date, and luckily they were able to get the payoff completed in time. If I hadn’t called there would have been late charges.

2) The "150 point inspection" is a joke. We noticed spongy braking a day after driving the vehicle, and it turned out all 4 brake rotors were completely rusted and the pads and rotors had to be replaced. The mechanic said it was the worst they’ve seen, but the car was originally from New Jersey where rust buildup is a lot more prevalent, and this was in Arizona.

3) When I took the vehicle in for a scheduled inspection to the dealer 15 days after purchase, they found the power steering was leaking, the battery was almost dead, and the alignment was off. Also, the front tires were 7/32 and the rear were 8/32 in tread depth (basically I’m going to have to spend $700 in the next 6 months to replace them).

Carvana’s 100 day/4,189 mile warranty covered the repairs (totaling $2,500 so far), but if I relied on Carvana’s inspection, I would have been screwed.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The good parts: The financing process was easy, I received more than expected for my trade-in and the vehicle was delivered on time. It should be noted that the delivery driver knew nothing about the car and was not able to answer any questions.

Carvana provides seven days to test drive the car. I had it inspected by a local dealer and they discovered that all four of the wheels were bent. After speaking with Carvana, they advised that the wheels would be fixed and asked for the estimate from the dealer which was provided via email. I elected to keep the car based on Carvana's process

The repairs were then turned over to Silverock (their "warranty" company) and they are not guaranteeing that the repairs will be covered despite Carvana saying that they would be.

After multiple contacts attempts via email and chat, Carvana has not responded with any sort of answer. Silverock did respond with two automated responses that their claim was closed because the issue was resolved.

Please don't believe the commercials on TV.

Please expect the customer service experience to be painful.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The process was great. Everyone I have talked to has been awesome. We had some issues with getting a POA for my husband who is deployed but once we got it, we moved forward. I got a call on the morning that I was supposed to pick it up. Check engine light came on. The salesperson told me I should probably just pick another car out. I called back and asked if they could find out what the exact problem was since it could be a simple fix. They took it to the Toyota dealer and it was a bad battery. Ok, no problem. Rescheduled the pick-up. That went fine. I asked about the tires, I was told that if I get it checked out and the tread was 5 or less then they would replace the tires. I noticed that it wasn’t cleaned properly. Wax on the trim. Wasn’t exactly detailed. Drove it for a couple of days then took it to the Toyota dealer to have it checked out. Shocks leaking, key fob battery needed to be replaced, a fluid leak in the engine (can’t remember which one), windshield wiper fluid empty, tires were 4-5, tire light on (was told when I picked it up it would go off), Toyota said it was a bad sensor, front brake pads needed to be replaced. But the biggest problem is that the entire passenger side has been replaced and repainted. Carfax is clean so if it was an accident then it wasn’t reported. The mechanic said it looked like all new parts on that side. Bad paint job replacing them also. Tape marks and overflow painting visible. It seems that the inspection process is severely lacking. $1000 worth of work needed not including the brake pads. So now I am out $150 to have the car inspected when it should have already been done and I drove it over 400 miles so I owe another $175. I am not going to purchase from them again. I had such high hopes. Now I must deal with car dealers, what I was trying to avoid.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

They have competitive prices, but actually getting the car and registration has been problematic. After two delivery cancellations due to "drivers calling in sick" (their words), the car finally arrived. I was mostly pleased with the quality. Only a couple of little things not pointed out in the vehicle description and pictures.

As far as the registration goes, it’s a mess. Apparently, the delivery person forgot a form. Since these are mailed to Arizona first, it wasn’t found out for about two weeks. Then I had to drive to the store to sign the form. Almost two weeks later it was finally mailed to Texas for the plates. I went into the store to get a new temporary tag since the current one expires in 3 days. They told me to go to the registration office myself to pay to get a new one. I don’t have time for that so I will just send them the ticket if I get one.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Recent purchaser of a Fiat 500e.

I'm having problems paying for this vehicle. I have enough money in the bank to pay in full, and followed their directions to-the-letter for the Carvana team to inspect my bank account for sufficient funds by giving them my username/password. After this verification, they couldn't correctly withdraw the funds when it came time to pay.

I was given a 4-day deadline to provide payment. Their fix was for me to wire the money to them ($45 at my bank) or by overnighting a cashier's check ($15 for the check, $20 to overnight via USPS - plus I had to photocopy the check and provide the tracking number). I specifically asked if any of this was my fault and I was told "probably not."

I work so I've been spending my lunch breaks going to the bank, and going to the Post Office - then talking on the phone with them since they want daily updates so this is turning into a multi-hour affair over several days.

It's a shame because people have commented about the car, how nice it looks and of course the Carvana plates are on the front and rear bumpers so they end up asking about Carvana and the buying experience. I'm going to have to tell them the truth now - that Carvana somehow messed up the transaction, pressed a 4-day deadline on me, and I had to pay these extra fees to deliver funds.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The process of searching for a vehicle was easy. Everyone I have talked to on the phone with Carvana has been nice and professional. The timeline from when my loan check was received at Carvana and the vehicle was shipped was longer than I anticipated. People at Carvana gave me opposing information. One person said it wouldn’t be shipped for another two weeks, while another person said that wasn’t true.

The real problems began during the delivery process. I was a direct delivery customer; therefore they had to hire a third party to deliver it. I was under the impression I would have more updates along the delivery process. I was notified when the vehicle was picked up and a two day estimated delivery date window. On the first day of the estimated delivery date, I never heard from the driver. The driver is contracted to notify you 12-24 hours prior to delivery. I contacted Carvana and they stated he probably has not called me because it is illegal for the "truck driver" to operate his cell phone while driving. Fair enough.

On the second day of the estimated delivery date, I still had not heard from the driver by 9:00 a.m. so I called Carvana again. They stated they would reach out to the logistics team and the advocate I spoke with said she would call the driver’s dispatch herself as well. She said to expect to hear from the driver within two hours. Two hours later, I had not heard from the driver. I called Carvana again. They still had not heard from the driver, but stated they would continue to reach out to him via text, email, and call. A couple of hours later, I still had not heard from the driver or Carvana. I called Carvana again. They still had not heard from the dispatch or the driver. I gave up hope of getting the vehicle that day.

That night at about 5:30 pm I see a flatbed truck driving up my road towing two vehicles, one is my 2014 GMC Acadia. This was a dually truck towing a flatbed trailer, not a "truck driver." He cannot get to my house because there is not a spot for him to turn around. He has to unload the two vehicles in the middle of the road then drive the Acadia to my house. I NEVER heard ANY correspondence from Carvana OR the driver about his arrival. If the driver had been in contact with me, I would have met him outside my neighborhood because I knew it was going to be difficult for him to deliver to my address.

The driver was hardly friendly. He did not ask for my driver’s license, simply a signature and stated "he never wanted to return" (to my neighborhood). I offered to drive him back to his truck so he wouldn’t have to walk. When I got in the car it had an obvious old cigarette smoke odor. I asked the driver if he thought it smelled like smoke and he said "it is probably from me because I have been smoking cigarettes this whole time."

I drove the car back home and started to inspect it. The outside of the driver’s seat upholstery has obvious damage that I feel should definitely have been disclosed as an imperfection. Also, where the seatbelt meets the seat it looks like a dog chewed on it. Pictures of these imperfections prior to delivery would have been nice. But above all else, the car smells like old, musky, cigarette smoke. It is cloth upholstery. I am not a smoker. I am super disappointed about this. The fact that this belonged to a smoker should have been disclosed as well. Also, there were little damaged and broken pieces of plastic that came from the car that I found sitting in the cup holders. I have no idea where those go.

I immediately took pictures and contacted Carvana. Once again, they were polite, professional, and apologetic. I sent them the pictures and the advocate I was speaking to received the thumbs up to offer me a $100 reimbursement towards detailing to hopefully remove the odor. The repair team offered a $250 check due to the significant "wear and tear" of the driver’s seat.

I went to an auto detailing shop today and they said it would be at least $300 to have this car detailed and hopefully remove the odor. They were super unimpressed by the way the inside was cleaned and the owner of the shop even wiped cigarette ash out with his finger.

Overall, I like the 2014 GMC Acadia. I want it to work out, it is what I am looking for. However, the delivery process definitely needs improvement. Also, the vehicle should never have been sold with this odor OR I should have been notified that it CLEARLY belonged to a smoker. Additionally, the "wear and tear" of the seat should have been disclosed with the pictures of the imperfections on the website. I consider it more than everyday wear and tear. It is a huge inconvenience to have to schedule a 4-5 hour detailing to remove cigarette smoke smell. I have six days until I have to decide whether to keep it or not, but I know the process of returning it is going to be a huge headache too. I would not recommend the direct delivery to anyone. If you can go to the site and check it out, it is another story. Overall, I would not do this again.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Starting the process of buying a vehicle from Carvana was a new experience and awesome. Three months in I had to buy a battery and they did not cover it. I am very dissatisfied with there service of explaining the 100-day/4,000 warranty on the vehicle. Plus, I purchased an extended warranty and they still stated no. I do not recommend purchasing through this company. There should not be any reason I have to purchase a battery after I buy a vehicle from them.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend