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

My husband and I attempted to purchase a car with Carvana this weekend. Everything went smoothly at first. We submitted all the necessary documents and received a couple of calls back and forth discussing the sale. This morning we received a voicemail from them that we would need a 3-way call between us and our bank to ensure the funds were available to purchase the car. When my husband called them back to arrange the call, they said that they had canceled the sale due to discrepancies in our documents and that the only recourse we have is to correspond with them via letter to address these concerns. Despite many calls and attempts to find out what the discrepancy might be or any other way we might be able to fix the problem, they would not help us. I'm not blaming the customer service reps, obviously they've been given rules on how to handle this, unfortunately, I think it is the company itself that purposely set up their system this way.

Honestly, I think that this was done so that the Black Friday Sale deal would not go through. The fact that they would design their system like this makes me think that they are a shady company. Has anyone else had this experience with them?

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

I am retired from the auto industry with over 24 years experience. That being said, I believe I know how a vehicle should be sold and what condition it should be in when received. The buying process was really painless and I liked the fact that I had a good choice of vehicles to choose from. But that is where it also stops! After the purchase, I get a phone call on the delivery day asking me if it is okay for them to drive my newly purchased vehicle to me because it was raining and the "delivery truck is slippery and not safe when the floor of the bed is wet!" Okay, I am an easy guy, and I said of course not a problem.

My vehicle shows up and the rep, Eddie, is a really nice guy. Remind you, it's raining, and to be honest I should have asked them to deliver my vehicle the following day but I needed to replace my current vehicle and I had a doctors appointment, so I really needed my vehicle. So I look at the outside of the vehicle and I am thinking that I really cannot see much, but I did notice heavy brake dust on the wheels that should not be there! I open the doors and begin to notice that it is not that clean, but Eddie assures me it has been detailed! Guys/ladies, I do not like saying this, but that was a blatant lie! But Eddie says that I can get it detailed and they would reimburse me when I submit the invoice.

I say okay and begin to look through the car and notice that what is stated on the website is not in the vehicle. Eddie steps in and says no worries, I will order the items. Remind you, this is after he checks the website. Actually no, he could not find it, so I had to pull it up on my laptop. So he says no problem, done! He calls Uber, I offer to run him back, but Uber was already at my home by that time.

So the following day I am excited and I am getting in my car to head out of town when I notice a loud noise when I roll the windows down! For some reason, the rear defrosters are not working! The noise, when I roll the windows down, is because when Carvana removed the window tint, they left the adhesive on the glass! Now that is also why the rear defrosters are not working! Carvana damaged the defrosters on all three windows! So if they inspect the vehicles, why is all of this going on?

There is more...one of the rear vent register does not work, the wiper blades are torn, so this vehicle would not even pass state inspection! How can someone sell a car that would not pass state inspection? So now I am wondering what else has been overlooked or not check? I begin to look, and I pull the air filter and it's filthy!

So here is what I have concluded, if it was really detailed then someone has children and allowed them to color on the headliner and allowed the passenger to spill hot sauce or soda as well without a care in the world! I figured I better check the spare tire and sure enough, it is totally deflated! I considered trading it back in but would the next be the same? Their seven-day return is not truly seven days, by the way! The delivery day, no matter what time it is, is considered one full and is your first day!

Carvana has offered a allowance reimbursement for detail and to remove the adhesive of $250.00. But as of this morning, they lowered it to only $150.00 and that will not cover it! Carvana Repair Team has told me to take my vehicle to a repair facility to have the filter and wipers taken care of but they did not mention the defrosters or the removal of the window tint adhesive, and they are the ones that lowered the allowance by $100.00! It seems to me as if this car just came from the auction and they are leaving it up to me to look it over!

The buying process was great, and everyone is really nice, but that does not make up for lying to me to my face and thinking I must be some kind of idiot! And delivering a vehicle to me that is filthy and unsafe! The first gentleman I spoke to said that they only check safety items and the defroster is not part of that "but he said should tell the owner!" Really! Guys/ladies, I will say this, "shame on me for accepting this vehicle," and if you decide to purchase a vehicle from Carvana, expect to pay money out of your pocket and spend time at a repair facility. I am disabled and that is one of the reason why I chose Carvana. Thinking that I would not have to get out and try to walk the lot of a dealership and haggle. To have a safe reliable clean car delivered to me at my home was going to be a true blessing and I was so excited to the point that I was telling my family how easy it was and how kind everyone is that I spoke with. My true blessing turned into a broken halo!

Deceiving people is not a cool thing. I feel as if I have been taken advantage of and now they are wanting me to do the leg work in making this automobile safe for my family and self. You know, I began to wonder if they coach the employees to be so kind and cheerful on the phone? By the looks of my automobile, it seems as if they are all smoking gonga or something? LOL, trying to find humor in it all.

Last thing...the not perfect four. Whatever it says on their website must just be advertising because there is no possible way it can be true! I have worked hard all my life and I am now disabled and I really thought that Carvana was the great way to go and would be a great option for someone in my shoes, but instead, Carvana is going to make my life a bit harder. I truly pray that this vehicle lasts me. I will repost if they make things right! Guys/ladies, safe travels and Godspeed!

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

First, I tried out a fully electric vehicle. They only charged it to 20%, and I realized that the car did not have a public port to charge it faster than the home port, nor was the cord long enough to reach the outlet in my apartment. I tried to drive it to a friend’s house in order to charge it; however, it did not make it and died on the road. Unable to get it out of the way, I called roadside assistance. They did not know anything about electric vehicles. So, I called a different roadside assistance number to tow the car to a dealership to charge it. At the dealership, the sales rep who helped me did not plug the car in correctly. I waited 3 hours at the dealership for the vehicle to charge, not knowing it was not correctly charging. Once another sales rep who fixed the issue. A friend picked me up and I had to get the car the next day.

So, I called Carvana thinking it was entirely my fault that I had not researched the electric vehicle enough and wanted another vehicle (as I traded in mine, which needed thousands of dollars of work) and had to borrow a car from a friend.

I then purchased another vehicle, a 2013 Subaru. It seemed fine during the 7-day trial period, and needing a vehicle badly to get to and from work, I let the 7 days expire.

A few weeks later, I’m driving home on a Monday evening, and the transmission goes out. I leave the car in a parking lot overnight and have it towed to my private mechanic in the morning. I have no way to work, so I take a personal day.

SilverRock will not approve a car rental or Uber until a claim has been started on the vehicle. My mechanic indicated the diagnostic said it was transmission failure, and since the car had a factory warranty, I would need to have it towed to a dealership.

However, SilverRock would not approve of the tow since I was at work and did not have the VIN number. I called AAA as well, and they would it tow it since I could not meet the driver. Finally, I found a company who would tow the car and take my debit card over the phone (so, at this point, I’ve paid almost $70 for a diagnostic and $80 for a tow - both out of pocket).

At this point, it was Thursday, and I’d been without a vehicle since Monday night. The dealership then calls me to say that the transmission has been worked on recently and parts were improperly placed on the transmission.

Note: There was nothing about this in the CarFax, and apparently not all repairs are reported either. Carvana denied making these repairs as well.

There is nothing in place if this happens to you. My life has been seriously disrupted in multiple ways because of my decision to go with this company.

I’ve talked to several people at Carvana as well as SilverRock, and it looks like, despite what they initially told me, they will now reimburse me for the $150 I incurred last week; however, because I did not have a vehicle, I missed work and crucial appointments.

Not everyone has disposable income to pay for Ubers or car rentals on their own. Not everyone lives in a place where they have friends or family that can lend them rides or a car.

Because the dealership did not create a claim until Saturday, I was told by SilverRock that I could not be reimbursed for a car rental.

Extremely disappointed and frustrated with Carvana and SilverRock. Still waiting for my car to be fixed at the dealership. People depend on their vehicles to maintain their livelihoods; without reliable transportation, many of us cannot make it to our work, doctor, and other appointments.

This decision has impacted my life for the worse. I’d strongly caution against using this company for your next car. It may sound more convenient to but online, and it is a good idea in theory, but knowing what I know now, I’d go with a salesperson at a dealership - hands down.

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

Such games! We had the original title in hand. They came out and asked us to sign a DMV form saying it was "LOST" when it was in front of them. That would be false and it's under penalty of perjury that we would be signing. They didn't even want us to fill in the dollar amount on the DMV form (presumably so they can list whatever they want for what they paid and not pay taxes on the purchase). So shady. I can't believe it. I've sold lots of cars and can't believe how dishonest they are. She didn't even have a business card or anything with her name on it.

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

I decided to purchase my first vehicle from Carvana and against my better judgment after reading all the bad reviews everywhere except on their site, I still proceeded. My "quoted" approval price was easy to obtain, that was the only good part of my experience. The computer system had glitches in uploading my documents so I had to continuously resubmit them, my bank did not support the ACH system that they use so I had to obtain a cashier's check and send pictures to verify while I work all day mind you and with the constant threat of this "time frame" that they give you before you lose either the car or your delivery slot.

Once I got everything uploaded I was to now sign my documents online. As I read thru them I notice that the car online is a different color than what is stated on my contract. I wanted a black car but the one in my contract is red? So I call in from work and get the customized "we are sorry" speech that I am convinced they have a training class specifically for that, and the advocate tries to convince me to ignore this legal and binding document that I am signing because the car really is black, not red as it states?! With some back and forth I advise him I will not be signing and I chose a different car, which he swapped out causing my delivery timer to "reset".

All of these things were frustrating but not enough to make me back out on the deal so I move forward, get my delivery date set to pick the car up in Atlanta at the vending machine. I take a half a day off of work because it’s a 2-hour drive and I get a call with a voicemail stating that one of the trucks broke down and they can’t get the car to the vending machine in time! An hour before my pick up you just figure that out?!

So again I’m given the standard "I’m sorry we pride ourselves on good service to our customer service" lie and my date is then rescheduled to Saturday. Now I am angry as my sister graduates and her party was Saturday but now I have to go to Atlanta and pick up a car. Well, lo and behold, 2 hours before the Saturday pick up I again get left a voicemail that the car is not ready this time it’s because a new battery was put in that caused the computer to reset and wipe out the readings needed to perform the emissions test required here in Georgia. So the car has to be driven around adding miles until it can be read! At this point, I’m over Carvana and the advocate obviously was not prepared to handle someone who knew facts and how things work. I work in car insurance and you can’t pull the wool over my eyes. After 30 minutes she put me on the phone with a Supervisor who was no more helpful than her but did talk to me as if I was a preschool child she could calm down with a sweet voice.

None of the new delivery options they had worked for me. I already missed work, I wasn’t doing so again, and there was no way I was driving to Atlanta in the evening after work. So her solution was they will deliver the car on Monday morning. I am writing this review on Sunday and I will be back to update because I told her if it is not delivered they can keep the car and I will go to a dealer!

This change in dates yet again requires you to go back and re-sign your documents and upon doing so what do I find they have added an extra $500 to the sale price of the car. Carvana is worse than the shadiest of car dealers and they should be ashamed of the practices and tactics they use to scam people!

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

The car needed a lot of repairs. Carvana and the repair team fixed them all.

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

I more than met the criteria for approval and I could not understand why I was being scrutinized by Carvana and mistreated by Onijah. As far as I am concerned, I am owed an apology and a review of my case by Carvana because again all rules do not apply to everyone. Furthermore, I will continue to share my experience with others and until Carvana makes some changes in the way they handle prospective customers. If all you and Mr. Garcia are concerned about is making millions of dollars (approximately 600 million) from hard-working customers and not treating them with respect and dignity in return, then you need to go back and take Business 101 and learn how to do so.

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

I traded in a vehicle to Carvana about a month ago. Like others that have left reviews, I have yet to receive my official tag and registration for the car. Thankfully the car is reliable and I have had no issues. Although my biggest issue yet is the fact that Carvana has not paid off my old lien for the vehicle I traded with them. I am a service member at Fort Campbell, KY. I’m currently preparing to deploy in a few months as well as my son will be born before I do so. I absolutely love serving my country but needless to say, we don’t make a lot of money. I’m now being forced to pay three-car notes, one of which I no longer have. Carvana has consistently lied to me and given me the runaround. I’ve never been the type of person to attempt to tarnish someone’s name or place a bad image upon them, but if my issue is not resolved soon I will be forced to make this situation a concern to my GC, which will in turn see to it that Carvana is placed on the black list and given the title non-military friendly and for all service members to be aware of this. All I asked for was some honesty, it’s very clear to me that there is some type of hidden motive or agenda that Carvana has as to why they have not paid off the vehicle I traded with them. I also have a packet of paperwork they gave me that belongs to someone else. Documents that none of which have my information or signature on any of them. I most definitely do not recommend them to anyone, service members or civilians. This new way to buy a car is absolutely horrible and I’m going to see to it that us service members especially do not continue business with these guys at all.

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

What an awful scenario. I received an appraisal one day ago and regenerated an appraisal before dropping off the car and they refused to honor the new amount. I spent over an hour talking to various representatives and despite a difference of only $300, they were unwilling and unable to fix the situation even though they agreed that the revised price was accurate. They wanted me to take the car and come back the next day in order to get the $300. Overall, I despised this transaction and would be extremely hesitant to deal with Carvana in the future. I would look into Vroom or CarMax for a better service. For a company that prides themselves on technology, they couldn't figure out how to fix a $300 discrepancy. So poor!

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

My experience was darn near flawless and I recommend them to anyone I can. In fact, I am seeing a LOT more Carvana license plate holders in my city over the past year or two. In December of 2018, I purchased a 2017 Chevy Sonic and everything went very smoothly. I chose what I wanted online, delivery was on time and the delivery driver was knowledgeable and answered all my questions. I took it for a quick test drive, had a total of 7 days to get it checked out, and kept it afterwards. It is a good car and most important to me I had a week to get the car checked out. Before going to Carvana I went to 2 different local dealers, they treated me as if I would steal the vehicle when I asked if I could take it to get a pre-purchase inspection. I am a middle-aged, single woman, not a criminal. Fed up, I went online to Carvana and had a good experience.

Registration was completed well ahead of running into any registration issues, plates were mailed to me in a very timely manner. Terms and everything were very clear and in black and white. I honestly don't understand why there are so many bad reviews here. It is possible Carvana could now be expanding far too quickly and don't have enough well-trained staff, it could be possible the complaining customers did not perform their own due diligence, or it could be a very bad combination of both.

Again, my experience was darn near flawless and I highly recommend Carvana to those who are willing to perform due diligence, get the vehicle checked out, read the contracts, ask questions, etc.

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