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

I just want to give another update to be fair to Carvana. Charles Priano took responsibility for fixing this situation and offered me a check to cover one monthly payment for the three weeks I was without my car. I really appreciated the effort.

Although it was not in a timely manner, I did receive my license plates at long last and am happy being able to drive my car!

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

Purchased a used 2013 Dodge Dart from Carvana in December of 2015. The more I look for rust the more I find it. The service manager at local dealership took pictures while it was just on the lift and emailed them to Carvana without me even asking. Under the dashboard all metal linkages in footwell are rusted, inside the TRUNK AND UNDERNEATH TRIM (I pulled it back). The rear seat brace is rusted as well as the cross bar. I noticed the first bit of rust when car was delivered and a wire was dangling out from under the dash on the clutch (it's manual). Guy says "it was like this when I picked it up". The trim under the dash is being held up by a rusty binder clip. At first a rep on the phone said they don't sell cars with rust and that it would and could be replaced. This week it seems they've changed their minds. And I'm stuck with a vehicle that has rust EVERYWHERE. So disappointed. If I test drove a car and spotted rust - NO BRAINER, plenty of cars to choose from. I would not have purchased this vehicle if I knew it was rusted from the inside out.

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

I will give you a detailed post from my personal experience with Carvana. I called Carvana about a 2013 Chevy Silverado that they had for sale. I saw on CarFax that it had came from New York. Red flag right there. The first thing I asked is if this truck had rust. They told me no over the phone and assured me they only purchase outstanding vehicles for their inventory. I saw some very minor scratches from their report also which was fine. So, the truck was supposed to be delivered to my house 3 weeks later. 2 weeks I receive a call saying they found a rust spot in the bed (red flag number 2) and said they were 'meticulously repairing it'. So, it was another week late.

Eventually, the truck arrives at my house and the first thing that catches my eye is the rust on the frame. I lift the hood and see nothing but rust on the engine. I told them to take it back and was angry that they wasted my time since the first thing I did was ask a out rust. I threatened to ream them with bad review and instead the person who dropped it off promised me they would scrounge the market to find me a replacement truck. That they would either give me a rental until they find a truck or they will pay me $50.00 a day until they find me a truck. That person lied to me and could not back up their promise.

After going through three levels of management they said they would check their inventory and get back to me. They found a more expensive truck ($5,000 more) and they only offered me a $250 discount. Their salesmen are extremely nice but this company has major issues and I would not recommend them to anyone looking for a new car.

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

Complete scam. I shopped, they ran my credit, offered me terms, I accepted, they called me and congratulated me on my purchase, confirmed my delivery time and place, instructed me to get insurance.

I signed all the contracts, started an insurance policy on the vehicle, and was eagerly awaiting delivery.

Then boom, less than 24 hours prior to delivery they called and said oh yeah, we can't do this unless you give us another 7K down payment. Mind you this is after I've already signed all the contracts and received a call from them telling me everything was good to go. They are no different than any other, "bait and switch" used car lot. Do not waste your time on these dishonest unethical people.

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 made a purchase through Carvana after my Civic flooded from Harvey. Since 99% of dealerships flooded in my area, I didn't have much of a choice. The car delivered had minor exterior body damage that wasn't disclosed in the listing (front deep scratch, rear chipping), and the front plastic tow hook was missing.

Several months later, I noticed a foul smell. After inspecting the car, I realized the passenger side front and rear carpet was damp. I took it to a mechanic and found out the windshield had been improperly replaced and was slowly leaking. That's why it took so long to discover it. So I ended up with two flooded vehicles.

Because it was out of the warranty period, Carvana refused to help me. You're better off purchasing from a dealership because at least you'll have physical people to work with. It's really no different in terms of sales. They're great until they get your money. My car will be paid off in three years, and because of these reasons, I will not be purchasing from Carvana again.

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

I'm writing this after a week of frustrating "customer service" trying to resolve Carvana's transferring my money for the purchase of a vehicle I rejected at pickup because the condition was not as advertised.

I'll paste a below the summary of the email I sent on a 20+ email thread with their customer advocates (6 random individuals, rather than a dedicated person). Hilariously, they went from acknowledging fault on Monday, and promising to expedite and work to get my money returned by Wednesday, to lying to me yesterday (Friday) and stating that the funds never cleared, despite the fact that my bank (USAA) confirmed that the funds cleared my account without issue over a week ago.

The take away here is that this company acts as cogs in a system. If they hit any snags, they don't know how to react - the one individual who expressed any regret over the matter (Charles) has been edged out of the matter since Monday. No one else seems to see a problem with me being out almost $28k for 2 weeks, on a vehicle I REJECTED at the test drive.

Email summary to Carvana below. (This was unsolicited by Carvana, and despite numerous emails to follow, they've addressed none of their staff's many failures in any if their replies.) As of this morning, they've told me that I shouldn't expect to have my money returned until 13 days after they took it without authorization. (And they're perfectly fine with that.)

- Vehicle selected online, due to its single imperfection identified (scratch on Driver side mirror) and condition surpassing other comparable listings for the price.

- 7/29 - Initial delivery was scheduled for 530- but I received a call at noon saying it failed inspection due to window tint in excess of allowable state limits. Your staff suggested that I take delivery anyway and find an inspector in "downtown" that might look the other way. Ultimately, the local staff passed the buck to the 800 number, who realized that that suggestion was unacceptable, and lined it up to have the front tint removed, inspected, and reschedule pickup. I specifically asked (you can check your recorded line for this) if they would be leaving a filmy residue on the windows from the removal of the tint, and was assured that they would have it professionally removed.

- 7/30 - Approximately 4:30 pm, I received a call that the tint was removed, and I could come any time to pick up my vehicle.

- 7/31 - AM, I called based on the voicemail I received, I attempted to schedule a pickup for that evening. Was informed that that would not work, and that I was already scheduled for 5:45 on Thursday. No idea why your team thought I could do 5:45 on Thursday 8/1...I couldn't. I asked to reschedule - but was informed that the only other option was at 4:45. Turns out they scheduled me for 4:15 - and never updated the website, or sent me any information to indicate the pickup time.

- 8/1 - Arrive 15 minutes late for the pickup, because I understood the scheduled time to actually be 4:45. Still had to wait 10 minutes for the associate to come out and help, at which time she proceeded to have me sign forms, despite the fact that I had not SEEN or test-driven the vehicle. I asked about this, because it was not how my first purchase worked, and she said that this just got it out of the way, and we wouldn't complete the sale until I had inspected and driven the vehicle and finish up the transaction. I reluctantly proceeded per the associate's direction. Upon completion of the forms, we got the vehicle from the machine and proceeded to inspect its condition. It was NOT as advertised online. There were approximately 12 blemishes of comparable size to the one noted on the drive window. The vehicle was in clear need of a wash (dirt/dust and bugs on the front hood/grill). All windows were rolled down, hiding the thick filmy residue of the inside of the driver and passenger windows. Most significant, however, was the evident paint repair on the rear hatch. There was an elliptical pattern of missing clear-coat on the bottom of the rear hatch, driver side, and along the top surface/spoiler, there was over-spray/sporadic clear coat. None of this had been noted in the vehicle's description online. Both my wife and I separately test drove the vehicle - taking turns, and returning between trips to the front of the office, and the other remaining on-site with our 4 children. Your staff had absolutely no reason to interpret that we had accepted delivery of the vehicle - and it was never directly expressed as such. Upon final discussion with my wife, we concluded that the vehicle was not in the advertised condition - and that while many of the blemishes were minor - should we take delivery in the condition as is, we would have reduced cause to return it citing these discrepancies but most significantly concerning were the paint repairs and the window film, which while removable, is unacceptable for Carvana to deliver a vehicle to us under the assumption that we would resolve it. I returned to the office and discussed the matter with you associate at the main desk. She agreed that we should not take delivery, and I left the file of papers with her, on her assurance that they would be shredded and the purchase would not proceed. Upon leaving, I checked online to see the status of the purchase, and it still showed pending pickup. I could not find a place to cancel the order there, so I sent an email clearly stating that I did not accept delivery, and expressing my reasons.

- At some point thereafter, Carvana processed the money transfer.

- My bank shows the draft was withdrawn from my account on Friday 8/2.

- On Monday morning, 8/5 - my wife discovered the money ($27,832.09) missing from our bank account. I immediately called the Dallas Carvana site, who directly divested themselves of any customer support role and redirected me to the 800 number, which I immediately called, and was placed on a 45-minute hold. In the meantime, I called my bank from another line and initiated a dispute of the charges, and attempted 4 chat threads on your website to reach someone who could help me. When I finally spoke to an Advocate on the phone, I was informed that a return of the vehicle would take 7-10 business days to process funds. I objected clearly stating that I never accepted the vehicle, and that you withdrew my funds without approval. I was passed on to a supervisor, Charles, who was very supportive and understanding. Expressed that the funds still showed as "pending" on your end, and that there was nothing he could do to process a refund until the funds cleared from your bank. He then proceeded, in my direction, to initiate this email thread so that I would have in writing the confirmation of the error on Carvana's part and assurances of resolution. I have maintained all communication on this matter through this thread, rather than through your phone system or chat, because quite frankly I have every reason to require my own written record of this matter.

Aside from "thanks" for reaching out, and an apology that "I am sincerely sorry that we dropped the ball and failed your expectations when it comes to working with Carvana," no one on your staff (with the exception of Charles) has attempted to resolve the matter with any sincere understanding that you have not only failed my expectations - but, as an organization, acted unethically in attempting to compel me to take delivery of a vehicle that failed to pass inspection, misrepresented the condition of the vehicle, and most significantly, TAKEN MY MONEY without completion of the sale!

Throughout this escalation of this issue - your staff (again with the exception of Charles) has treated this issue as though it was simply another vehicle return. I am repeatedly passed from one "Customer Advocate" to another - rather than providing a dedicated individual to see this through to resolution - and each of those Advocates seem to think that passing on your marketing information about how Carvana seeks to "put me in the driver seat" is somehow going to ease my concerns.

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

Got a good used vehicle for a good price. Once they got my money, the customer service started to suck. Still don't have the license plate. Worse than a traditional car dealership. Would not purchase from them again.

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

After delivery was delayed due to a part needing replacement, I got different answers when I was able to speak to a representative. They would not communicate via email, and despite three different CSRs promising to answer whether or not the repair would be covered under the manufacturer warranty, I never received a follow up call or email to answer the problem.

The website never updated the delivery date, so while the website said the car would be available three weeks ago, I just got a call saying the car is now ready to be picked up.

Still no answer on if repairs are covered, website still out of date. Canceled my order with them in disgust.

Bonus nitpick. In my account page, it shows all the credit check info at the top of your page, including income, date of birth, address, etc. Very insecure to have that in plain text, and why? What purpose is there in having that on your page? You already know all that and might not want it in plain text cached in your browser history.

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

So I bought a 2017 Jaguar XE 35T from Carvana with only 5k miles on it. I paid a little more than it was worth but the ease of ordering online made it worth it for me. So after multiple transfer issues with the vehicle, I was finally able to pick it up in Cleveland. I was really happy with the car until I took it to my car detailing guy. Post detailing, he let me know that this vehicle was in an accident and that both the front end and rear end of the vehicle had been replaced. To make matters worse, the paint job on the front end was done completely wrong and it would have problems going forward. To say I was a little pissed off at this point would have been an understatement.

So how did Carvana supply me with a clean Carfax report, and this vehicle made it through their 150-point inspection without them knowing that this vehicle has been in an accident? It just isn't possible, right? Well come to find out Carvana is the one that replaced the rear bumper on this car but claims to not know anything about the front of the vehicle. So you mean to tell me that this car was in their body shop and they couldn't spot a reworked front end but my detail guy could? So I pulled the Carfax report on the Jaguar and sure enough it had been in an accident. I immediately called Carvana and was told that they didn't have a record of an accident on this vehicle but they would look into it.

A day later I received a call stating that they would either cut me a check for $2800 or take $500 off another car on the website. I thought long and hard about taking that $2800 until I had the Jaguar appraised at a local dealership and found out that it was only worth $26000 and I paid $35,000. I immediately demanded my money back. They actually asked me to drive the vehicle all the way back to Cleveland. That wasn't going to happen.

Eventually, they agreed to pick the vehicle up at my house. Now here is where stage two sets in. I find out that Carvana never returned my plates to the NY State DMV. I have had the Jag for a month so now I get to re-insure my trade in, backdate it to 9/1/2018 and pay a DMV fine. You see, in NY state you cannot take a vehicle off of your insurance plan until you turn in the plates. They typically have a couple week's grace period, but after that they fine you $8 a day. So I am currently holding insurance on a vehicle that I traded into Carvana, a vehicle sent back to Carvana along with the two vehicles that my wife and I are currently driving.

To make matters worse I just found out that Bridgecrest sent my first car payment back to Carvana instead of sending it back to me. So currently I am waiting around for nearly $6k in checks from Carvana and I am out the money I spent on detailing this wrecked vehicle, the WeatherTech mats I purchased for it, the trip I had to take to Cleveland to pick up the vehicle in the first place, and all this money I am spending to insure vehicles that are not in my possession.

So yeah, I don't think I will be doing business with Carvana again. On a side note, Jakob (not sure how to spell his name) has been really nice on the phone and has been going the extra mile in trying to track down the checks they are supposed to be sending me. I have probably spent 50 hours on the phone with Carvana, my lawyer, and Bridgecrest. Not the best way to be spending my time.

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

Yes, it was easy to purchase the car and even make my first payment. No big deal. I did my financing through Carvana, which included the plates for my car. I officially bought this car the beginning of August and now...well, here I am on October 19th at 9 pm CST, typing this review because my temporary tags expire tomorrow and I still do not have my permanent ones, which Carvana support had repeatedly told me that they would arrive by the 18th.

Keep in mind that I have called numerous time within those two months asking about my tag and kept getting told that it was "in process." I even called three days ago wanting to know the status and was once again told "in progress." I asked this guy what day the plates were filed for and he said that it was not done until October 8th! TWO MONTHS. They held on to the paperwork for me to get my tags for two months. One customer rep tried to tell me that the driver who delivered my car to me had just sat on my paperwork and that was why they waited so long to file because the driver hadn't turned it in.

I asked the rep what would happen if the 20th comes around and I still do not have my plates and he said they could put it in the system to extend the tag date so if my husband or myself got pulled over then the cops could see it in the system. It sounded like a load of crap to me and getting a ticket is not something I want to play around with.

Here is the best part. Here it is October 19th and at 7:14 pm Carvana finally calls me back to tell me the way they plan to resolve this issue. They decided to schedule me a rental car for two days only covering Saturday and Sunday, but then told me that the office to get my tags shipped overnight would not be open until MONDAY. Which means I would not even receive them until Tuesday. So I guess I would just go without a car for two days because that is feasible right (insert eye roll).

Not only that, I would have to pay the deposit for the rental car (way to add insult to injury). I tried to explain to her that tomorrow morning (Saturday, October 20th) my husband will be getting up at 4 am to drive to work an hour away from home and that this was the only car we have. She said he technically cannot drive with those temporary tags tomorrow. I responded with Enterprise doesn't open at 4 am so she then asked me if he could just go there on his lunch break or if I could just take an Uber. I live in a small country town about 30 minutes away from an Enterprise. I'm sure they would want me to pay for my Uber too...if I could even get one. I guess Carvana doesn't care that I also have children...let's load them up to go get a rental and pay even more money that I don't have for someone else's mistake. While we are at it, let me just see if my husband can take off for two days (at a job he just got, hence why we bought the car in the first place) on the two days the car rental isn't covered for while we wait for our tags.

Key points:

*They sat on the paperwork for my plates for my car for TWO MONTHS before filing for it.

*They gave me the run around multiple times when I called in regards to my tags.

*They want to make it right by scheduling me a rental car that would cost me more money and create even more stress for this already messed up situation that they created.

*The same woman that told me that the plates were officially no good tomorrow wants my husband to drive to work and then on his lunch break go pick up the rental an hour away one way. As someone who works in insurance...getting a ticket is not a good idea, your insurance rates will go up for three years and chances are, based on my recent experience with Carvana customer service, I would probably be paying the ticket and the increase in insurance fees for sure because it is clear that they will not take care of their customers when they make a mistake.

AND this is the best they could do.

Do yourself a favor...just go to the dealership. Be firm about what you want and read your contract thoroughly to make sure they don't sneak anything into your contract. Check how many payments for what amount each payment is, check your interest rate and amount financed, check to make sure your payment will be with who they told you it would be, and just read the list of fees to make sure you aren't paying for extras you don't want. Simple as that, and many car dealers give you the plates right then and there. PLUS, IF something went wrong, they would be more likely to help you and try really hard to make it right!

Carvana, you could have been great, but your customer service sucks!

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