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

Ordered a vehicle and was scheduled for delivery on September 13. They emailed the 12th and said there was a delay. After calling I was told the vehicle was damaged while loading (doubtful). They said they would need to repaint a bumper. When I asked if the price would be reduced because now it's been in an accident, they said no. Was then scheduled for September 27th. On September 26 I checked to see if I had any more "delay" emails. I did not, but when I checked the website my car's delivery date wad no longer September 27th, it was now October 10th. They didn't even notify me of this. When I called they said they will call back and never did. The next day I went to CarMax and bought a 2018 malibu with 19k miles for $16k and a better APR. These guys lie about delivery dates, they are not big enough nor do they have the resources to deliver on time.

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

I haven’t even received my car yet and am already starting to think about canceling my order. Car was supposed to be delivered tomorrow in which they gave me the same BS excuse they gave others about trucks breaking down, etc. Needless to say, I returned my lease today and now I’m without a vehicle until next week when my car is supposedly going to be delivered. Talk to their garbage "team" just to be told "oh well" in other words. Now I keep hearing about many people not receiving their registration and it’s pushing me towards canceling my order. I’m sure Carvana will respond to this review with that same basic copy and paste answer they give everyone else because they more than likely do not even read these reviews. But no matter what happens from here on out I would not recommend buying a car from them. Wait for a real company to take this idea of online car buying and make it a real business and take it seriously! I guess the only thing good about this was I only wasted about 15 mins of my time.

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

Ordered a car online at the beginning of September. I went through my bank to finance because the Carvana rate was insanely high. My car was set to be delivered on September 18th. I received an email (an email and not a call) on the night of September 16th stating that the delivery was delayed and for me to call. I had to call twice to reach someone. I was told that they could not deliver now until October 1st. I complained and asked for the delivery fee to be returned and had to be transferred to another department. I was offered $25 per day at the most.

Carvana made me take out car insurance starting September 18th (the day my car was supposed to be delivered). So now I am stuck paying a car payment and car insurance for almost a half a month on a car that I do not have. Carvana’s response? For me to call back every day and check. Dealers charge fees for a reason and that is customer service. I asked Carvana what would happen because the payoff amount on my trade-in would be different due to the delay in shipping. Carvana told me that Capital One (who was receiving the payoff amount in the contract) would have to refund me the overpayment.

Skip to the delivery date on October 1st. Car is delivered by someone who is new and the car does not have the features advertised (BACK UP CAMERA). I have to again speak to someone in management who says that what is advertised on the web and their app can be two completely different things. SERIOUSLY! So I say fine and they offer me $100 for their error in advertising and I buy a separate camera system and have it installed. Car registration was for 45 days and here it is November 15th and I still do not have my tags from October 1st. Did Carvana call me to explain the delay? No, I had to reach out and ask and they emailed me another temporary registration, but I have no idea where the actual registration and tags are in the process. Also, I called Capital One to find out when I would be receiving the refund on the overpayment based on my trade-in value changing due to Carvana's delay in shipping. Capital One explains that they only received the exact payoff amount and not the amount on the contract that I paid and signed for with Carvana. So I called Carvana who tries to explain to me the breakdown after even speaking with finance. So they speak to finance and still refuse to admit to catch that they have tried to steal $450 from me. I insist that Carvana go back and check my contract versus what they paid to Capital One and they FINALLY realize that they did not send in the contract pay off amount. Not only did they not catch this, but they did not even acknowledge THEIR complete and total error in keeping $450 in overpayment on my trade-in value.

So here I am 45 days after receiving my delayed shipment car that was not as advertised, still with no registration and waiting to find out how Carvana is going to get my money back to me ASAP that they tried to steal from me.

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

First, I spent nearly 2 hours on the phone with one of Carvana's "customer advocates". Half the time I spent on hold while the "advocate" was on hold with my bank to get information I already provided in the paperwork I sent.

After that draining wait, the advocate said everything was all set and went through. He confirmed the car's delivery. However, 12 days later and it's the scheduled delivery time, but no car.

After waiting on hold for 40 minutes, the advocate told me that an "underwriter" went in and unapproved me for the vehicle. An underwriter that had nothing to do with my account or ever spoke with me. The advocate said there was no reason for the underwriter to do this and that it was an error on Carvana's part.

The car I researched, reserved, and put on my loan application, was pending for another person to buy it. The worst part is instead of Carvana reaching out and admitting to the other customer it was already reserved, they told me there was nothing they could do. Which is ridiculous because the other person hadn't even filled out the paperwork or decided yet if they actually wanted the car.

The sale could have easily been stopped by Carvana. They claimed it wasn't possible to do that in their system. This is inaccurate due to the fact that an employee literally just did it to me. So now they can't stop a sale, which isn't even confirmed yet, when some random underwriter stopped my sale that was officially approved?

I requested to speak to a manager, but it's nearly impossible. The advocate said her manager wasn't available. Which made no sense to me since the advocate kept putting me on hold because she said she needed to ask the exact same manager I wanted to speak to.

IN SHORT: if any mistake happens on their end, you'll be screwed in terms of getting any decent customer service. And if something is slightly unique or different about your paperwork, get ready to spend over an hour on the phone.

I spent almost 2 weeks excited and waiting for a car that was taken from me only a few days after I was approved. There was no reasoning, no attempt by Carvana to make it right, and I was never contacted that my car wasn't ever going to show up. I never write reviews, good or bad, but I did for the first time because that's how bad my experience with Carvana was.

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

Traded in my car and got a good price of $17k, added an additional $7K to complete the purchase. Decided after 2 days that I don't like the car so I picked another one and had no problem, scheduled delivery of the 2nd car and pick up of the 1st. While on the phone the rep said you can watch the website and if you see something you like more you can always change it out before delivery. I found what I really wanted, started the purchase online so wouldn't get snatched up, called customer service to make sure all the funds would be applied to this car and they told me "So sorry, your deal has to be rebuilt and it will take 20–40 business days to do anything with your account. " I can't get my money back until then. What about the 7-day money-back guarantee?

The car I finally found was an additional $3K. You would think they would want to make a sale, I didn't give them the additional money since they have basically frozen my account. I can't return the car I don't want to the local Carvana. I have to keep it and I am responsible for it (insurance, storage) until they let me know when they are coming to get it. In the agreement I got when took possession of the car it says they will pick up the vehicle the next business day as long as it's within the 7-day window.

I am without a vehicle and out $24k. Twenty to 40 business days could be 2 months! Merry Xmas from Carvana.

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

It's been one month since I was escalated to the "Executive Resolution Team" and I have received no updates since then, despite reaching out. Today, I called the number provided to hear a recorded message that says, "We're having technical difficulties and our phone system is not working..."

Length of Use: 3–6 months

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

Totally automated with "artificial intelligence" bots, the app or the website tells you over and over again that it needs this uploaded or that signed. You do that, and it is not flagged as completed.

If you reach out to a human for relief, it is a 20-minute wait in Chat, or call on the phone and your call goes to dead air...either way, no solutions are forthcoming.

The final straw was being told that they needed proof of insurance listing the NEW car being acquired, even though the insurance and tag were coming off the OLD vehicle being traded. My insurer said that nationwide, you have 30 days to inform DMV and Insurer of the change and the new car will be covered...and they said that Carvana does not seem to understand that. So hours before scheduled delivery, I get a call from a human at Carvana, telling me the proof of insurance on my trade was not good enough so I explained what the insurer said. And they replied, "Yes, but our policy is we have to see your new VIN# on proof of insurance," on the vehicle I haven't even purchased yet.

So I said I was DONE and canceled the deal. Hours and hours were wasted over 4 days, sending and re-sending them the same info over and over again, only to have it end with this insurance stalemate. Never again!

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

I traded my car and went through 2 lemons with Carvana. At this point, I decided I just wanted my trade-in back.

Three months after this, I still don't have my title back from them for my car. I found out it was lost. Then I found out I'd have it in a few weeks then found out it's lost again. Was told to go get another one. Tried that, and can't, because currently, my car's title is in Carvana's name in Arizona. I live in Oklahoma. My tag is due to come on July 1st. It's now June 28th. They won't send me a paper tag to avoid tickets and I can't get my yearly registration renewal without my title.

I don't know what to do. Fees are going to accrue for being late on my tag renewal. Not to mention the hits on my insurance if it's affected by tag renewal tickets that I know I will get. The one lemon I had needed an entire new engine in less than 12 hours of my having it, left me stranded on the highway on my way to work. Had to get it towed myself, not through Carvana. For the current problem, Carvana recommended I just don't drive the vehicle since the tag won't be able to be renewed. It's my only means of transportation to get to work. I can't just not drive it because Carvana dropped the ball on getting my title back to me. I've had countless calls with them that got me absolutely nowhere. Their response for everything is "There's nothing we can do".

Length of Use: 3–6 months

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

I purchased a 2016 Ford Flex on April 28th. Today is August 12th. It has been at the dealership 5 times for various things and today it is at the dealership again this time because the timing chain failed and it is at least a $3300 job.

Silverrock denied the warranty claim because they said it has exceeded the mileage which is true but it barely has 5k miles on it since I purchased it.

Carvana refuses to do anything and gives me the runaround. So now I have to figure out a way to tow the car away from the dealership and sit it on the street as a non-functioning vehicle and I still have to pay my monthly car note to Bridgecrest every month. This is ridiculous. It is unreasonable and excessive for a car to have this many repairs in such a short period of time. I can't afford $3300 at least to pay for this repair so now it is just sitting while broken.

Length of Use: 3–6 months

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

Carvana staff is amazing to work with and had no problems. I was iffy about doing a purchase online, but tried it anyway. When I picked up the car, the vending machine part was a little interesting and different. The car was clean from the outside when I got it, but it smelled like a freight train, and the windows were so full of nicotine it was disgusting. The floor mats were dirty, and the seats were dirty; the car could have had more cleaning done.

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

If the option was available, I would give these clowns a zero. I was shopping for a used car and found what I was looking for on their site. Fair price and generally helpful people. I had a delivery set up for Tuesday at 4 pm. They called me on Saturday to confirm that my bank account had the required cash in it for that portion of the deal. At 12:30 pm on Tuesday the delivery guy calls to tell me they can't deliver my car today because someone made an error.

I returned my rental car at 10:30 am this morning and Uber-ed home expecting to be able to start my 7-day test drive this afternoon. I work nights and can be sent on the road on very short notice. Setting the delivery up for today worked with my schedule.

The vehicle is in Nashville, about a 2.5-hour drive from here, yet they say the vehicle can't be delivered until tomorrow at 11:00 am. I am curious why I wasn't contacted earlier in the day today or informed of this on Saturday when they were ensuring I had money in my account.

I called the Phoenix office and asked to speak to a manager and was told one would call me back in an hour or two. At this point, I am renting a car again and going to tell them that their inability to hold up their end of the deal will cost them the deal.

Although their price is fair, CarGurus and cars.com have similar prices and models available in my area.

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