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

Whoever wrote this HighYa article must've been paid by Carvana to do so...unless they don't trust their own reviews that have Carvana at 2.3 stars with over 50% of them being 1 star.

These guys think that selling cars is about slick marketing and competitive pricing. The problem is, it's about delivering on the deal and doing what you said. There are hundreds of complaints on the web about last minute excuses for delivery delays (i.e., "Something hanging off the car" or "damaged in transport").

I decided I would give Carvana a try because I hate wasting time at multiple dealerships trying to get a deal done. Let alone the headaches that come from being lied to constantly by car salesmen.

At first, everything seemed to go pretty smoothly. Great selection of cars with competitive prices and an easy financing approval process. They also gave me a competitive offer for my trade, so I was very encouraged.

The problem arose at 6:58 AM the morning of delivery when they sent an email stating the car would not be delivered and to give them a call. When I called, they told me that the car was damaged in transport and they just noticed it at the hub in Winder, GA (I'm 5 hours away in Jax, FL). This is the same excuse used for countless other people. I was in the car business for three years with a high volume dealer that sold over 600 cars a month. We had cars transported by the truckload every week from auctions, and I think I remember a couple of vehicles damaged in that time frame...it's not common! So they told me it was going to take another 3 weeks to get that vehicle delivered because they had to send it to a body shop.

So I decided to play along and selected a new vehicle and set a new delivery date for the following week. One day before delivery I decided to call and make sure everything was on track. Low and behold, they proceed to tell me that the old delivery was never changed to the new delivery on the second vehicle so it would not be delivered the next day and that it would have to be the following week.

Here's the real kicker, the first car I tried to buy (the one that was going to take three more weeks because it had been damaged during transfer), popped up for sale again on Carvana and had an expected delivery date of 3 days away! Hahaha! They suckered another person into ordering the same vehicle the next day! These guys are a joke.

So now I wait for the next delivery date...I will update you all soon!

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

This company labels itself as the "New way to buy a car" but is just more of the same. I cannot underestimate my disappointment with this service.

The online portion was easy, until it came to product delivery. I was quite excited to get my car and waited 6 days for the car to be shipped to my home. The plan was to have the Corvette I planned to buy from them delivered and they would take my Porsche in trade.

However, 2 hours before the delivery the nightmare began. First I received a call stating that they were unable to load the car on to their truck. They wanted to drive my "new" car through Washington DC traffic on a Monday morning 50 miles to my home, then drive my (Porsche 911) trade back through DC traffic to their service depot. So much for getting my trade back unscathed if this didn't work out.

I tried calling Carvana 6 times, was put on hold 5 times (hold music sucks by the way). I was hung up on once, and eventually, the manager I spoke with came up with the same plan the original young man trying to load the car suggested.

Am I crazy in not wanting some random young man drive my "new" 430hp Corvette through Washington DC on the commuter belt? Then to joy ride my Porsche back through the same dense traffic and potholes?

I was willing to pay these people $6k over similar offerings for the convenience Carvana reportedly offered. The manager, though well-spoken, had very poor resolution skills. Her only other idea was for me to drive to DC (2 hour one way trip on a good day) to exchange the cars myself...

I canceled my order, now all of my personal information is online with this incompetent company. Please, save yourself the headache and complete disappointment.

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

We previously purchased my BMW from Carvanna. We had an awesome experience.

This time when we bought one, we discovered that we had cruise control issues. We called a Nissan dealership to ask about these and they said that Nissan was aware of the issues and were working to correct them. They said there isn’t an immediate fix and to get a different car.

We love this car and are so bummed it has cruise control issues that Nissan can’t even correct right now.

You can only drive your car 400 miles if you’d like to return it.

Unfortunately, the only other car we want (we really want one similar with the same safety features, which have been surprisingly tough to find) will not be delivered for a couple of weeks.

My husband explained that we do need a car to drive in the meantime and this is obviously an inconvenience for us then asked if we could continue to drive the car we have until we get the new one.

The Carvanna customer service rep said, "you will be charged $1 per mile and since you’ve gone over 400 miles already, you’ll be charged for those too." When we told him since we’d have no vehicle to drive for several weeks, which wasn’t our fault, that we’d like to cancel due to this, he said, "that sounds good."

Jon (my husband) said to cancel the order for the new vehicle and we’ll have this one sitting in our driveway while we rely on one vehicle between the two of us until they pick it up. We are so sad because we planned to only go through Carvanna as purchasing through a dealership is a pain and having it just show up at your doorstep is amazing.

Their customer service reps don’t care even a little if they keep you as a customer. I totally understand if I would’ve just not liked the vehicle but there was an issue that Nissan can’t fix right now and I need cruise control to work so I had no choice but to switch it. We really, really wish we could keep it. Again, if we just wanted to switch it out because we didn’t like it, I’d totally get that rule but when we had issues with it, getting charged $1 per mile until they deliver the new vehicle is really poor customer service.

I wanted to mention too that there were some undisclosed scratches on the vehicle as well but we were just going to let that go until we found out that the cruise control isn’t working either.

Carvanna would have been the only place we bought our vehicles as again, our first experience was perfect. They’ve lost customers in their early 30s who purchase $30k vehicles every few years or so that would’ve been their customers for life and it was very clear they didn’t care.

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

Carvana is horrible. After agreeing on a car I had a delivery date set for 2/23/19. I get a call the day before and am told the car was damaged in transport. It is now 3/23/2019 and no car. Delivery has been rescheduled four times. Finally this week they tell me the damage is repaired, but now the brakes are an issue, on a car with 8,500 miles. That was it, I canceled the deal and went to a dealership today that had a vehicle that matched what I wanted. Two hours later I drive out with the car, and it is much nicer with more options for the same price. I wanted to give Carvana a chance, but they blew it.

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

Yes, I read all the bad reviews.

However, the only reason I still applied for a car from Carvana was because they had a car on their website that I had leased previously from another company. In fact I still have the registration in my name from when I leased it. So I knew that this particular car had low miles on it and was mechanically sound. I didn't have any issues with it when I drove it.

However, according to the records I pulled on the car it had not had an oil change for almost 5000 miles. So I don't believe that they do any inspection. In addition, I believe Carvana is deceptive in that it doesn't list everything cosmetically that is wrong with the car.

On their website, It only showed a small picture of one scratch on the bumper. However, this car has many scratches on the back bumper. In addition there are scratches on the hood and in other places on the car. There is a dent in the passenger side door and the windshield has a chip in it that is very visible. Of course there are only a few pictures on Carvana's website and none of them conveniently show that information.

In addition, the car had OEM car mats and tires that were in excellent condition. Both of these have been removed completely from the car and replaced with cheap mats and cheap tires. Also, be very careful with your financing because they wanted to charge me $9000 extra for financing through them. In the end, I could have purchased two brand new cars for the price Carvana was charging me for a used car.

In addition, a lot of other cars on their website that I researched were cars from flood-prone areas. There are even reviews from people who got cars from them and took them to their mechanics only to be told the car was in a flood, so please do your research on the cars and be careful.

I do not recommend anyone to go through this company due to their deceptive business practices, and I believe it will eventually catch up with them. The fact that they do not fully inspect these cars, some of which have serious mechanical issues. They buy these cars cheap at auction, then pass them on to the consumers and then put the burden on you the consumer to get these cars inspected by mechanics and to get them fixed.

When that is what they should be doing anyway prior to offering these cars for sale. Even if you return the car during the 7-day period, they charge you a transit fee $299-$500, and this is non refundable regardless of if the car had serious mechanical issues or not. Why should you pay them for delivering a car to you with serious mechanical issues or not as described on the website?

Finally, if after reading all these horror stories online, if you still want to give your hard earned money to Carvana, please do yourself a favor and opt out of their one sided arbitration agreement that they make you sign saying that you will not sue them or participate in a class action lawsuit against them. Even Carvana knows that what they are doing will eventually catch up with them and they want to keep as many people from going after them as they can.

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

I bought my car on 2/21/19, a Volkswagen CC Sport, and on 2/24 I had to put in the shop due to faulty intake manifold. Then on 2/27/19, I had to have it towed back to the same shop due to smoke coming from under my hood due to a busted radiator. Carvana is blaming me for the damage. Thank God for the guys at Volkswagen who did their due diligence by researching that the parts on my car were faulty pre-purchase. And Carvana has been doing everything in their power to NOT accept and own responsibility for this.

I am shaking furiously as I write this review. I am beyond pissed and I am doing everything my power to make sure that no one else goes through this financial burden and upset. So although the concept of Carvana seems cool and easy, let me be a testimony that it is only easy until they get your money and you drive off. Soon after your car will fall apart and they will call you a million times with "follow-ups" only to tell you that there is absolutely NOTHING they can do. Thanks Christopher for NOTHING!

Please do not subject yourself to this, they are a rip-off. And when you ask for a manager to speak with all the sudden the customer service rep changes their title to the "Executive manager." It’s a crock. Alex, who is supposed to be the "repair specialist," is never available.

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

Buyer beware! I bought a 2012 Nissan Leaf (electric car) three weeks ago from Carvana and paid cash. On the day it was delivered, received a call that it was on its way and then it never showed up. When we called the next day we were told that they got lost and never bothered to let us know. When the car was finally delivered the next day, it came with only a 14-mile charge on its battery. Over the next week, we noted that it would not hold a significant charge. Finally, left on a charger for 24 hours, the battery never held over a 42-mile charge. We contacted Carvana and were told that it had been past the 7-day return period (we called the morning of the 8th day), but that if we brought it to a dealer repair facility, SilverRock would cover the repairs under the limited 100-day warranty.

The vehicle was taken to Nissan and no repairs were authorized. We later found that Carvana never brought the paperwork covering the limited warranty with them when the car was delivered. Once the paperwork was finally signed online, it was submitted to SilverRock who then sent the claim back to Carvana. Once I contacted Carvana, I was told that the claim was being reviewed and that I would be getting a call back that afternoon...and...I was not. The next day, the shop informed us that repairs were denied. I was told from Carvana that this was a risk of purchasing a used vehicle. They were fine selling an electric car with a defective battery (essentially the engine!) and that they would not cover it under the 100-day "no-worries" warranty. Beware!

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

I bought a vehicle two months ago and have had to take it to the shop four times. When I called to see what they could do, they said they wouldn’t do anything. I explained what I have been through and that I wanted to trade in the vehicle. Again they said no and that they have an inspection they do. The dealership said that if they would have done an inspection they would have caught the issues I have had. Especially the rusted coil and spark plugs in the engine. Which almost caused me to break down on the highway. I have contacted the BBB for help. DO NOT BUY FROM THEM.

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

We had a vehicle delivered on February 15th. It was falsely advertised as an automatic transmission, and when it arrived, it was manual transmission. There was also a crack in the windshield and the airbag light was on.

After contacting customer service multiple times, we were told to take it to a repair shop. The repair shop referred us to the dealership. This process took two weeks to be resolved, with another handful of calls to Carvana to get the issues resolved. I spoke with a supervisor who offered me compensation for the aggravation and promised a check would be mailed. That was on February 28th. In the meantime, we were told to have an emissions and state inspection completed. Then, using the FedEx mailing label, ship the receipts back to Carvana. We would receive reimbursement for these inspections, along with Carvana submitting the documents to the DMV for the registration and tags, since it was already included in the price of the car.

We mailed that paperwork on February 22nd, and it was received by Carvana, confirmed with the FedEx tracking number on February 25th. On March 20th, I called customer service again. We had not received the reimbursement for the inspections, our registration or tags from the DMV or the compensation for all this aggravation. Our temporary tags were expiring on March 31st and we had not received any sort of deliveries as promised. After speaking to a representative, it appears that only then, almost a MONTH after we had mailed in our receipts for inspections, the process to register the vehicle began. We received a text message notification after the customer service call later that day as proof of the initiated process. However, based on the estimated processing time, we were not going to receive our license plates and registration in time! After contacting customer service again on March 27th, we arranged for a rental car once the tags were expired, meaning we could not legally operate the car. It is ridiculous that multiple hours were spent on the phone trying to negotiate a convenient option for this problem. Again, it is still unclear what happened, when we submitted the appropriate documentation with more than 30 days for processing time.

Furthermore, I also asked about the $250 "aggravation" check I had not received, which was supposedly issued on February 28th. I was promised that check would be canceled, a new one reissued and sent FedEx overnight. When I did not receive it within three days, I called again and was promised the same thing again. I spoke to two different supervisors about the delay with this check and I still did not receive a check after being promised an overnight delivery TWICE. Then I was told, after calling a third time in two weeks, that the check had been sent on March 29th, but through the postal service and would take another 10-15 business days to arrive. Even though I was promised the check to arrive overnight by two different supervisors.

From the delivery of the vehicle to the time it took to process all the paperwork, receive reimbursements, repair all the damaged items and contact customer service approximately 20 times, two months passed. Next time, we will spend the three hours at a dealership and not have to deal with such inconsistencies and shady business practices. Interestingly enough, each time I called, their automated system stated that the calls were being recorded for quality assurance. If I were Carvana, I would use these exact situations to train their employees to follow the necessary customer service and quality control guidelines. Our experience with Carvana was absolutely horrendous.

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

So let me start by saying I was really excited to go through the process of getting my car through Carvana. It seemed to be simple process with little to no hassle. I selected the car I wanted at the time, my down payment was only $600 so that was more than affordable for me. Well, the process started in buying the car. My first issue encountered was the many times I had to upload my documentation because of minor errors that were being made. That should’ve been a red flag but I continued the process.

Fast forward to getting the car, it drove fine, of course, no issues. I got the car on 3/2/19, I started having problems with the car 4/16/19, the car ran hot on me while I was sitting in a Sonic drive-through. It freaked me out because I hadn’t had any issues. So I turned it off, called my husband and then once it cooled off I went ahead and drove it home. I told him the next day I would go and get the car looked at. So on my way to work, everything was fine until I got into the parking lot of my job. I parked and was just sitting there and I watched the thermostat on the car just rise until it got to Hot. I was concerned at that point and decided to take the car across the way to let the mechanic take a look. Carvana insisted that the car would be covered until warranty if anything were to happen. So the man there immediately let me know that there was a leak in the water pump and it was causing the car to run hot. He suggested for me to not drive the car. And since the warranty company wanted a printed diagnostic sheet, he was unable to provide that and directed me to firestone.

So I left work, had AAA tow my car to Firestone. Firestone looked at the car and told me it took at least 30 minutes to see what the issue was but that it was a leak in the water pump and whatever fluids were coming out where getting on the belt. So ok, they were getting ready to fix it when we found out the power train warranty was still active on the car and Ford would have to fix it. So Carvana was "nice" enough to get a tow for me to ford in Arlington, Texas. The car got there and they were given the precious diagnostic on the car from Firestone. But they needed to run their own test on the car, which was fair.

In between all of this I’ve worked with Joseph, Jared, Jacob the ops manager and honestly, nothing had been solved. Other than Jacob getting me a rental car for almost 8 days now. That’s the only real compensation that I’ve recieved this far. So Ford has had the car for about a week now and claims that they are not able to recreate the issue prior to the mechanic's diagnosis.

This has been the most disgusting process I’ve been through. Worst part is, Carvana will accept the car as a trade-in but only if I put $800 down. Which is not fair, I should not have to put anything down when the car LITERALLY has paper tags on it. Carvana does not feel as if they are responsible for any of this. And I am in the process of filing a dispute against them for this. Nobody seems to have real answers for me. So NO, I do not recommend you get a car through Carvana. Even with the 7-day trial. REAL car problems will not come up that quick. It takes a while before you will know about the car. Such a waste of time!

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

The car that was sent did not have the features that were listed on the Carvana profile. With Carvana, you have to go through the buying process even before you get to look at the car, so it is important to have the car listed correctly.

We went through with financing and insurance just to find out that the car without the features would not work for us. We had to send the car back. We did not even receive a call let alone an apology for wasting our time and energy.

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