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

I too was excited by how "easy" the Carvana process seemed. The cars seemed lower, not sitting in the dealership, knowing outright what the terms were awesome! But no, they will ask you for piece of paper work after piece of paper work. Photo copies are a no-go, you have to take PICTURES of things they need and then they will want to call your bank with your info and your social to verify your down payment which is odd.

A pay stub request will turn in to a bank statement request and then multiple bank statements. If you don't have your actual social security card, order it before you start. AND if your Drivers License expires within 2 months, you have to renew it first. You will receive multiple emails from multiple people saying different things and your terms will probably change. Do yourself a favor, YES, dealerships suck but you leave with your car, and you have somewhere to go if something goes wrong. You are either approved immediately or you will get the run around. Once they ask you for the first document, just run.

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

I'm going through some life changes and just started a new job, however, I still needed a vehicle. All I can say is the down payments are horrendous. For a 14900 car, u need a 6500 down payment. This a company that caters to higher credit scores. I'm sure they're a great fit for those that have pretty great credit but for the ones like me it's not for us. Will deal with the local dealerships that seem to be a little more flexible with the down payments.

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

Everything was awesome; good car, good price, easy to use, and quick weekend delivery. I recommended Carvana to a lot of friends. Now I wish I hadn't.

I bought the car in early November of 2016 and I STILL don't have my Ohio license plates four months later! When I call, they just keep blowing me off with "We've sent everything to our third party company," like that makes it okay. Now my bank is threatening to raise the rates on my loan because they still haven't received confirmation that they are the lien-holder from Ohio.

At that point, I'll find an attorney, although I'm sure there's the usual "Binding Arbitration" clause in the contract. Bottom line, don't do it outside of their home-state of Georgia because they really don't have that part together yet, and it may cost you in the long run.

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

The website has a slick, user-friendly design. Pictures and information are all there, and from what I've seen, every car for sale looks great. And the pricing is very reasonable.

The only reason I can't recommend Carvana is because I can't get anything back from them. My Toyota Tundra "stumped the algorithm," and I was told my trade-in would have to be valued manually. That was three days ago, and I've not heard a word. I asked for an update in the live chat, and I was told that I would be added to the queue. If I submitted my truck for appraisal, shouldn't I have already been in a queue without having to pester someone to do it?

At this point, I would have to have a GREAT trade-in value to consider using the service. The communication is seriously lacking, other than automated emails asking me to come back and search for a new vehicle.

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

I must admit, when I first heard of Carvana I thought it was just like other subprime lenders that leave a bad taste in your mouth. However, I applied not putting much thought in it being a good option and to my surprise, I was approved. Although I was not really ready to purchase because I saw some options I had not considered given being obtainable and would need more time to make it work.

After speaking with them, I discovered my terms would be refreshed and I could reapply when I was ready and I did. But my terms took a turn for the WORST!

They contained higher interest rate that was worst than what I was being offered locally and then I thought, “See I knew this was not different. Now I felt like it was a bait and switch thing.”

I called and asked what happened and they told me that the computer algorithm decides, not a human so it can't be wrong. I was not happy with that answer so I continued to ask and was told to see if my credit score had any changes and I discovered I had a 5 point drop.

WOW, it made my interest rate go up 5+%. I was told to get it back up, let this application expire and the computer should give a better rate.

Very long story short, I got my score not just up 5 points but almost 100 points after discovering errors on my report and reapplied after my application was refreshed and got the lowest interest rate I had seen from Carvana. However, my down payments now for even smaller cars had moved from $700 to $4000 for a 2015 Toyota Corolla and all I was told was that the computer algorithm did it.

Well, I insisted that someone check it out because that didn't make sense to give me better interest rate and a bad down payment for being in a better credit score bracket.

Being very unhappy, I was told they do not keep the history of my previous soft pull application to compare it to see if I am telling the truth about previous offers (i have screen shots I took to compare the prices once it refreshed but that me keeping the history).

So they have to set my expectation that the computer is right. I was hoping this would be a good story tail ending, but they still need to have some human connection on the application side to make sure the computer isn't doing it, causing customers not to choose them.

Like the idea of Carvana but that's all I got, an idea.

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

It started out great; easy platform, friendly advocates. Until the car was a lemon. I did the fly and drive from Tennesse to Michigan. Pickup went well. The car had an oil consumption issue not showing on the inspection or Carfax. After dealer testing suggestion is a $5,000 repair. I paid $13k and wanted to swap out a car. Carvana agreed but said they would only give me $9,000 or $4,000 less than I paid them a few days earlier.

Essentially they sold me a car with a bad engine and then wanted to stick their customer for the responsibility of the defect. What they did is prove the car they sold me for $13k was only worth $9k because of the defect they did not disclose. I went with Carvana because of the time savings. I have spent 20 hours dealing with this issue with Carvana, dealership, manufacturer and now the Silverlight warranty company. Carvana should have just swapped in a vehicle and taken the responsibility for the car they sold with a bad engine.

Amazingly, they still have not even sent me the title yet, so I could not even dump the car if I wanted to do so. The business model requires trust, and you cannot trust Carvana.

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

Well, I will start off with this is the second time I've bought from Carvana this year. Everyone is nice, and the cars are as described. Note: look at the Carfax and don't get one from up north if you don't want rust. But with this last purchase, I bought a Ram 1500 to pull my 23ft Carolina Skiff.

The truck is as described, but the only problem is the paperwork. It got lost or whatever, and now my temporary tags have run out as of the 20th. I had to cut my vacation short to get the boat back home before the tags ran out. I was told I would have them on the 20th. The 21st came, and there are no tags. I called again and they said I would have them on the 24th. It's the 25th, and I have no tags. I called again, and now they say the tags may be on Friday or maybe Monday. And when you talk to them it's like they are reading from a script, word for word. So that's two weekends I'm screwed from fishing.

I hate to say it, but they've lost my business. I got two kids to buy cars for this fall, so it's back to a dealer.

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

I purchased a nice vehicle from Carvana several months ago. I love the car, but the financing interest rate was kind of high. I ended up paying off the vehicle in full and have yet to receive my title from Bridgecrest, who services loans for Carvana.

After approximately five weeks of not hearing anything, I called Go Financial aka Bridgrecrest customer service number to find out where my title is. The customer service rep contacted the title department and came back with a five-minute confusing explanation, which the bottom line was that my title still had not been released. The check for the payoff of my car cleared weeks ago, but these people STILL had NOT released my title. When I asked what the reason was, she had no explanation. She then told me that they would release the same day that we were speaking. She offered to let me speak to the title department, which I took her up on. The tone from the title department rep was pretty icy, no doubt she did NOT want to talk to me and was extremely abrupt and not friendly.

I did find out that they were NOT releasing my title that same day, that she also had no clue why they had not yet released my title even though the vehicle had been paid in full for weeks. They supposedly were going to release it electronically the next day. I am not holding my breath. They also are supposed to hold your account for at least ten days before they actually release your title, per what the rep told me. Even with that, they have gone way beyond the hold time on my title. Her explanation was that they were experiencing this with all titles from Carvana. That to me is "concerning," why is there a circumstance like this?

Buying the vehicle from the Carvana rep in my area was a nice experience. I like the car, and that's where the "nice" experience ends. Once you try to get customer service for your title and ask any questions, forget it. You get greeted with sighs, lip-smacking, and someone treating you like they do not have time to answer or explain anything. I would say to finance it somewhere else if you can.

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

We had high hopes for our Carvana purchase. It started well and was not an altogether horrible experience, but in the end, Carvana dropped the ball. Our 2016 Tacoma was delivered yesterday with only one key fob. What? The Carvana web page stated that the truck purchase includes a set of keys.

The delivery person helpfully offered to follow-up with his office and request another key fob. The official response was that we had not spent enough money on the car purchase to qualify for two key fobs. Again, what? We have never bought a new or used card from a traditional dealership and not received two keys with fobs as part of the purchase.

Later, a Carvana customer advocate, Michael, explained that in Carvana-speak, a set of keys means one (1) key and one (1) fob. Voila, a set! We were dumbfounded. So, now I have to buy another key with fob at a Toyota dealership. Hmm. We ought to have started and stayed with a dealership.

So, in the end, the Carvana experience is deceptive, and will not be repeated by us. Just today someone stopped us in a parking lot and asked about Carvana (the temporary truck plates say Carvana). We warned him about the one key fob policy and advised against trusting vehicle descriptions found on Carvana web pages. The aggravation of having to pass around one key fob between drivers reminds us that Carvana is no better than a regular dealership. Both mislead and exploit the customer; Carvana just does it online vs. face-to-face.

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

This company has some process flaws. I bought a 2016 Chevy Silverado, advertised with 5300 miles. The 7-day trial gave me the confidence to buy unseen.

The first problem was in the financing. Carvana's website says that a high number of buyers use their financing. My credit union would not finance the truck, saying that Carvana is a brokerage, not a dealership. So I was forced (if I wanted the truck) to use their financing. Ok, not a deal breaker.

Then the car arrived. When it was unloaded at about a 45-degree angle, the parking brake was not used, and when she put it into gear at that angle, the clanking noise was very loud. Sounded like it was going to be broke before it was even unloaded. Once unloaded, the truck looked like someone wiped it down with a dirty rag. Ok, still not a deal breaker.

Then I found the five other scratches that were not mentioned in the 360-degree photo tour on their site. Two I thought could be buffed out. The other three were down to the metal, and one was dented. Clearly the two that were mentioned on their site were the smallest, most unnoticeable of the seven.

Then I got in and found out that my truck with 5300 miles actually had 6700 miles. The delivery driver told me that "Carvana is good about taking care of these issues, just email them before the 7 days is up."

Day 2 (yes, even though the truck was delivered at 7 PM, that counted as day 1). Day 2, I took it to my mechanic and he liked it for the price and could not find anything wrong, other then the tires looked like there was a lot more than 6700 miles on them. So I took it to a tire shop where the inflation was found to be 41, 44, 45 and 51, in tires that are supposed to be filled to 30 PSI.

I emailed their repair team with photos of the scratched and dent and they said it's normal wear and tear and I still have the option of giving the truck back! Well, I do like the truck! But I would not deal with these dishonest, untrained, uncaring people again.

By the way, before your 7-day trial is up, Carvana removes your info (order number, pictures, access to papers that you have e-signed, all gone), AND there is no way to leave a review on their site or on their Facebook page!

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

My fourth car was delivered today and contained two very noticeable dents on the passenger side that were not notated on the photos of the car, so now I have to wait 48 hours for someone to contact me so those dents can be fixed.

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