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

Three weeks ago I purchased a vehicle online from Carvana. The process was smooth until it was time for my delivery. One week before delivery, I was told my car would be delayed a week; I had already waited three weeks for the car.

I tried to find another car to purchase through their website because I was on a timeline and couldn't wait another week to receive my new car.

When I called back after spending hours looking for a car in my price range, I was told they would not honor the price that was listed because there was a glitch on their website.

I will never attempt to buy from Carvana again.

Buyer beware!

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

Good afternoon.

My car was delivered from Carvana on 4/20/2018. I was told by the delivery guy that I will have until today, 4/27, to decide if I want to keep the car and I would receive a call. NO CALL WAS MADE TO ME. But, in Carvana's system, it shows them calling me.

I advised the rep that I NEVER received a call and there's nothing wrong with my voicemail. The rep then stated there was an email sent to me 4/17/2018. Which I did not read? Because, NO one told me they were sending over an email, until today. I wanted to return the car, and now I'm being told nothing can be done. The rep stated that it was told to me several times by previous reps that I had seven with the car. Yes! It was told me, but, the delivery guy told me someone will call me on Thursday to see if I still want the car. If not, it will be picked up on Friday. He said I have until Friday, but now the rules have changed.

I should have NEVER purchased this car with you guys. I've had issues from the beginning. But I decided to give you a chance anyone. Look who gets screwed, ME!

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

I tried to buy a car through Carvana which claims to be easy, but I spent hours on the phone trying to figure out what I needed to do to get the car delivered. Once I had a date set, I thought everything was going nicely. The day of delivery I got a call saying the car did not start and could not be delivered for a week. When the car did come, the tires were shredding on the front and completely bald on the back. The left reverse light didn't work nor did the Bluetooth and the car smelled like mold. I spent four weeks and hours of phone calls with Carvana only to realize I was better off walking into a dealership.

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

I had a polarizing experience in buying from Carvana for the first time. There were parts I loved and parts I was very unimpressed with in my experience.

Here are the things that I was impressed with and did enjoy about my experience. I am a huge fan of convenience and prefer not to deal with people directly as most of them are not intelligent enough or are too incentivized by their own agenda to sell me a car. So the "convenience" aspect of Carvana ranked very high with me. The online process of looking at and purchasing a vehicle sight unseen can be unsettling. But their online chat feature and the one time I did have to speak live to an associate it was excellent. All questions were answered, they were extremely knowledgeable and the assurance of a 7-day basic "test drive" with a no-questions-asked return policy was phenomenal. All cars should be afforded this length of time to consider.

I did start to discover a few problems when the car was to be delivered to my front door. The Carvana carrier truck apparently broke down that day, so I had to take an Uber to their Carvana facility in Frisco. Inconvenient and a little odd that they didn't have another carrier, but they even paid for the Uber ride. So, no big deal. I received the car, and it was spotless. The gal that helped me was super nice and the paperwork to sign for the vehicle took less than 2 minutes. I could have been out in 5 minutes if I chose. And I did. So, I now have this car in my possession, and the 7-day clock has started.

I noticed some cosmetic things that weren't disclosed on the website on this vehicle. An interior feature button was broken, a cosmetic small piece of trim on the door fell off, there was a big scratch on the rear bumper under the hatch not disclosed, and that was about it. I called into Carvana and told them the problems. They asked me to email in photos of the issues and that they would get back to me shortly. In 3 days I did get an email response, and I was impressed that they offered me a $350 check to cover the costs to fix everything. Perfect! No negotiating, no backing away from their responsibility, they (Carvana) just did the right thing. So, A+ for that experience.

Two days later (realize I'm still in my 7-day grace period), I am in a massive rainstorm in Oklahoma. Time to flip on my wipers for the first time. Now was not a good time to learn that the wipers were so worn out that they were stripping away from their housing. They were like spaghetti noodles going over my windshield. In fact, the metal housing scratched the windshield in the process. So I had to drive with them off, which was not fun. I immediately went and got them replaced myself. Remember, this company claims a 150-point "rigorous" inspection of all their vehicles before selling them. Yet they missed windshield wiper blades so destroyed you couldn't miss it if you just turned them on. Doesn't add up. So, this caused me to question just how thorough this alleged inspection was by Carvana. Moving on...

Later that day, I am running through all the diagnostic reports this car provides as it is thorough being a Porsche Cayenne. I pull up the oil level on the vehicle, and it shows the level to be critically low. Additionally, the car is telling me that the oil needs to be changed immediately. Carvana assured me that this car had received an oil change just before it was delivered. Now the car is saying otherwise. I call Carvana and ask about this and they claim that the vehicle settings just need to be re-set by a Porsche dealership noting that the oil had been changed. I would have bought that explanation except that the actual "oil levels" on the car are showing critically LOW. Doesn't add up... again. So I press Carvana on this issue and they agree to pay for a Porsche Dealership to change the oil in the vehicle. Hmmmm...I guess that I am happy they agreed to do that but does it not imply guilt? Who knows?

So, I am going to write that "yes" I would recommend Carvana as the benefits far outweigh the challenges. It is a pre-owned vehicle I purchased so there are going to be things NOT perfect about the car. I get that. But if you are going to CLAIM that you do such a rigorous investigation of the vehicle, there shouldn't be much that is obvious that is missed (like wiper blades falling off).

From a post-purchase perspective, they have been great. No debating and TWICE after going back to them to fix stuff, they have agreed to the right thing and just pay me. They don't want the car back, and I don't want to give it back. So, they make it easy/clean and simple which is smart.

If you are considering buying from Carvana, ask to SEE a report of the 150-point inspection FIRST. Then when you get the car, go over that list or consider taking it to a dealership so they can do it for you. It won't be free, but it will give you leverage to go back to Carvana.

All told, I would buy from them again.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

As a previous customer with an exceptional experience, I decided to return for purchase this past Spring. It had been terrible. I have been approved and close to closing the deal and then later told "Due to discrepancies, we cannot complete your purchase." I’m not too sure what’s being insinuated with that, however, as a person who's experienced identity theft, I chose to be careful with the interest rates and go through Carvana again. I was even considerate enough to wait for a response letter to my appeal. I never received one, I received an email that stated only "After reviewing your letter, we decided not to continue the sale." My account was blocked, giving me no access to anything. Now I come to create a new account and purchase a vehicle for the last time, in hopes that I’m not cheated again.

I would have to say 2018 Carvana is a lot worsened than when I initially made my first purchase with them. Be careful. I hope the staff has been trained properly to help the customer and not run them away.

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

Direct quote: "Yes, it is within our standards to have 7 cigarette burns and cigarette smoke."

I had a car delivered with cigarette burns throughout the interior, along with cigarette smoke. In addition, there are severe scratches and discoloration along the entire exterior. I was told this is within their "standard."

Customer service refused to do anything and justified this horrible experience.

I just want other innocent buyers to be aware of the potential scam.

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

We are on the hunt for another car because our Mini Cooper was totaled in a hit and run wreck. We had found a car on Carvana.com and were in the process of purchasing it. They were offering a $1,000 Black Friday discount off the price of the car. Monday night, 11/26/18, I received an email offering an additional $1,000 Black Friday-Cyber Monday discount. I logged into my account and noticed a $2,000 discount on the vehicle we were purchasing as well as all of the other vehicles on the website. I immediately called Carvana at 10:30 pm but they were closed. I then sent Carvana a message stating I would like the lower price on the car and asking who did I need to contact. I took snips or screenshots of everything since I couldn't reach anyone at Carvana to confirm I wanted the additional Black Friday-Cyber Monday discount that was being offered. Seeing as how it was late Monday evening roughly two hours before the sale ended at midnight, I figured they snuck the additional discount in last minute to snag more sales.

The next morning I called Carvana at 7:31 am. I explained the situation to a young lady named Candice. She was kind enough but told me they would not be honoring the discounted price. I explained I had taken screenshots of the price decrease and I asked to speak to someone above her. Many years of experience has taught me she wouldn't have the authority to change anything anyway. She put me on hold for a long time then came back on and stated her manager would like to see my screenshots before proceeding further. I got the feeling she thought I was bluffing about the evidence I had, so I immediately pulled over on my morning commute to work and emailed them. She then forwarded me an email they sent to their management team. The tone was a wee bit rude in my opinion. Several phone calls later they stated they would not be honoring the discounted price.

In the meantime, I had contacted my credit union, Oklahoma's Credit Union, because I had to finalize the financing before 1:00 pm or I would lose the car. I apprised my Financial Services Representative of the situation. She said to keep her in the loop on whether Carvana would honor the discount they gave me or not. The credit union took a vested interest in the outcome because they had recommended Carvana to me. Once I received a phone call and the requested email stating their final decision was that they would not be honoring the discounted price of the vehicle, my financial institution Oklahoma's Credit Union stepped in to our defense. They began discussions with Carvana's representatives that ultimately went up the chain of command to the vice presidents.

The final meeting between those in power was completed this afternoon. I received word from Oklahoma's Credit Union that Carvana declined to honor the discounted price of the vehicle claiming it was a computer glitch that affected many customers and if they honored mine they would have to honor theirs. My husband said, "Carvana was stepping over dollars to pick up dimes." I'm sure that's someone else's quote, but it's fitting. They lost an $18,400 sale because they would not honor the additional $1,000 discount they gave me.

The take away from all of this is 1) Never do business with a shiesty company that treats their customers poorly. I will spend my money where I am appreciated and treated fairly. 2) Never buy a car from Carvana. They are shady. The experience was great. Buy a car completely online never having to deal with a sleazy car salesman. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. 3) Don't trust a company if all of their reviews are 5 stars. The reviews are most likely faked because they have poor customer service. 4) Most importantly, if your financial institution doesn't call you personally after business hours, jump up to plead your case to ensure you aren't taken advantage of and for a fair deal, have their Vice President step into the negotiations, or actually really care about you as an individual then you need to take your money and open an account at Oklahoma's Credit Union.

Nowadays personalized customer service that goes above and beyond means more than anything. I have images to prove my claim. In the meantime, can anyone recommend an trustworthy car dealership? Or one that's as nasty to their customers as Carvana is so I can avoid it?

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

I purchased a vehicle (~$39,200) on the 4th of October 2018 and funds were collected by Carvana on the 5th of October, 2018, but the title and tag information still were not received on the 6th of December 2018. The temp tag expired the 2nd of December 2018.

I called and Carvana stated the delay was due to DMV, and if my temp tag expired, I could go to DMV and request another temp tag, costs would be reimbursed by Carvana. They also agreed to reimburse my fees if title and tags not received by the expiration of my temp tag. I can't use the vehicle to go on vacation because I have to wait on tags. Temp tags have expired. I can't use the vehicle which was fully paid for on the 5th of October 2018.

I paid on the 5th of October for Tile and Documentation ($119) and Carvana did not submit documents until the 24th of October 2018. I am not arguing the price, but instead the poor delivery on promised document services. If there was a problem, they should have resolved the issue for the customer. (They have an operation in Austin, Texas!!) Now the problem with receiving title and tags becomes MY PROBLEM.

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

Getting a price for a Nissan Leaf 2013 - very low with no place to show a new set of batteries. Then checking the sale price of the same car, same year, same color, with higher mileage. It was 125% more in sales price. Wow, what a rip off! Very very poor. I called and waited in a line of 80 callers led to take it or leave it.

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

Attempting to purchase a car through Carvana was the worst decision I've ever made. I placed an order for a vehicle on January 12th and it was estimated that I would receive my preview between the 17th and the 24th of January. On the 24th I still did not receive the preview so I contacted someone and I was told I'd get an update on the next day (no one ever contacted me either). And basically no one there could provide me any information at this point and I was out of a car. So I waited because I was absolutely in love with the car (which was advertised as an automatic 2012 Jeep Patriot). Today (2/1/19) I finally got the preview only to find out it was a manual. They falsely advertised it as an automatic and I can't drive a manual so the car I was in love with and depending on would not work for me and I still didn't have a car at this point. When I contacted Carvana, all they did was confirm it was a manual and told me to try finding something else. Needless to say, they didn't have anything else in my price range that would work for what I wanted and did not do anything to fix their mistake. I would not recommend nor buy a car from Carvana, they are completely useless.

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

It is now July 12th and I still don’t have the registration for my car. They guaranteed me last week that I would have it by today. Contacted them today and they said they will look into it next week. There is no urgency on their part to rectify this situation THEY have put me in. If I do not receive my registration by Tuesday I will seek legal council and post the proceedings on social media so the next person they rip off will have an easy tact to during them for their negligence.

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