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

I bought a vehicle from Carvana online and they had it advertised as a 4.3 out of 5.0, which means it’s a very nice vehicle. Well, it showed up less than a 2.5 and had rust, dents, and poorly fixed bug scratches in the paint. The radio was hanging out and the temp controls panel was busted along with the interior destroyed and had fog hair everywhere. The frame was rusted and cracked, and the grill on the front was held on by zip ties! I got pics to prove it all.

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

I bought a car from Carvana and they gave me a Carfax showing me that the car was clear of accidents. Now I'm having all kinds of issue with the vehicle. Dealer confirms that the car was in a wreck and original parts have been replaced. I called Carvana to report the issues I'm having and the rude agent I spoke with told me that I'm on my own. What the heck!

WARNING: If you're going to buy a car from Carvana, get it inspected as soon as you get it.

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

I reserved a car with a $100 refundable deposit, that part was easy. After I initiated the online buying process, the website glitched when I was doing my verification questions, so I had to call and talk to a rep to verify my identity. However, every time they tried to verify me, it glitched. This went on for four days. I spent over 3 hours on the phone with the reps.

Finally, they were able to resolve the issue. All the reps I talked to were extremely nice and helpful. So after I finished my purchase, I set up a delivery time. I get a call less than two hours before the delivery saying that they couldn’t make the delivery time. They wanted to send an Uber to come get me hours later than the scheduled delivery time, to come pick up the car at their location. I had taken off work early and arranged to have someone at my house with me for the delivery. So when they offered the Uber at a later time, I would have no one with me, and I didn’t want to drive a long distance by myself in a car I hadn’t driven or seen in person before. Needless to say, I was very upset.

They finally agreed to have the car delivered to my house 3 hours later than the original time. The girl who delivered my car was very nice. Luckily the car is in great shape, but there is a chip that is starting to rust that wasn’t pointed out on the website. Overall, it was a bit of a hassle, but I would buy from them again.

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

I purchased two vehicles from Carvana a year ago. A 2014 Chevrolet Camaro and a 2014 Ford Fiesta. Both cars had a clean vehicle history report. But after owning my Camaro for a couple weeks, I realized overspray all over the black grille. So I looked closer and found painter's tape stuck under the car still and more overspray inside the gas door. So it had the front end and the rear quarter panel repainted at the least. Assuming it was in a wreck. And with the tape still being stuck up under the car, it couldn't have been there for long. Carvana had to be the ones who repaired it and never reported it to vehicle history report somehow. I am very disappointed. And the interior had a lot of scratches that weren't shown in the pictures online. Also, the car only had 24,000 miles on it when I purchased it. Luckily I was able to give rid of the car.

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

My experience with Carvana is pretty good. I was hesitant before I actually ordered my car in its sit. But what turned out later is a surprise. Their correspondence is always in a timely manner, so does the delivery service. I will definitely recommend it.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would 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

So I bought into the process of this place. Easy, online, no pesky sales people - you are in charge and it all should go seamlessly, right? Ehhh hold up.

So I'll be the first to say that initially, everything was great. I found the car that I wanted, signed all the docs online, and got my financing squared away with my bank. They initially stated they had to work with a 3rd party to get the car delivered as I live in Maine, which was fine. We had it all scheduled, and then we hit a small bump - the battery apparently was dead and delayed the delivery. They replaced it, and then offered to actually deliver it with a Carvana truck as opposed to the 3rd party...we'd just have to drive an hour south. I was perfectly fine with that. Car pickup was great, everything as described, no hang-ups. But wait for it...it gets juicy.

Upon pickup, the guy had me take some docs saying that they had to be notarized and signed in order for registration to be squared away for Maine. Seemed odd to me, considering that I could easily knock this out at my town office in 5-10 minutes, but fine - you guys are the experts. I do as requested and wait for 3 weeks. Nothing.

My temp tag is for Georgia as that is where Carvana runs its processing and has its used dealer license at as far as states. I have roughly a week left on my temp tag. Carvana sends me a text stating a new form is being FedEx'd for registration - uh what?! They apparently sat on the last form forever and then got to me stating the previous one was not valid for whatever reason. OK, so new form signed, notarized, and sent off.

I call them up - the rep states it'll get submitted and if any road bumps hit in the next week, a new temp tag can be sent. OK great.

Fast forward to a few days before expiration, and I have no plates. I call and they state that they CAN'T (YES, can't) issue new temp tags since I'm not a resident of Georgia, and can't issue a Maine temp tag as they don't have a used dealer license here. So, here I am with my new car, but no way to drive it legally because tags can't be extended and plates are not here.

But not to worry, they said they can get me a rental car with Enterprise. Wait...are you serious? So now I need to take time off to go get the rental, have a hold on my bank card as a deposit, and be exposed to additional liabilities as insurance coverage is limited with rental cars (and no, they won't pay for additional insurance on the rental)? Yep, that was their solution.

So overall, the only way I can see going through Carvana as being a good experience is if you live in Georgia. Then, if some insane thing happens in the registration process, you can at least get temp tags extended. Anywhere else, JUST GO LOCAL. If I had known this purchase would be this much of a headache for something as simple as getting plates for the vehicle, which literally takes 5-10 minutes at my local town office, I would have. But then again, you'd think a company would have a handle on its operations to do this easy task, right?

In the meantime...my new car is sitting in the driveway, not legally drivable, and I'm waiting for Enterprise to pick me up.

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

I ordered a Mercedes C300 on Carvana about a month or so ago. The initial application and delivery were great. The issues started when the car arrived. I noticed the paint was rough and so was the windshield. Almost like a sand parade texture. I took it to a body shop where I was informed the car had overspray all over it and looked like it had cheaply been fixed after an accident. The repairs were over $1,000, which Carvana was willing to fix.

After driving around a few more days I noticed a rattle under the car and took it to Mercedes. They also noticed it and recommended I bring it in for repair. At this point, I was looking at a car I just bought being in the shop for two weeks and decided to just exchange it for another one. I’m concerned how no one at Carvana mentioned the paint issues nor were they initially disclosed. Thankfully I caught it within the first 7 days.

Now moving on to the exchange vehicle. It has been 9-10 days since it left Carvana for delivery. The delivery is past the expected time frame so I have been without a car since this whole thing started. When I call or chat Carvana, no one seems to know exactly where the car is or when I will get it. I am told to just wait by the phone. Meanwhile, I’m spending a lot of money on taxis to get to and from work every day. Now I am sitting here hoping to get a call that I will have a car this week.

Overall I am disappointed in this whole experience and at this point would not recommend this route to anyone unless they live right near a Carvana location.

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

Carvana has not delivered vehicles as presented online. The first vehicle that I purchased was marketed as an AWD vehicle, but after it was delivered and further research, it was only FWD. I called and explained the situation and was told it should be AWD, but they would follow up with a different Team. I was contacted back and told that the vehicle was only FWD and they apologized. They stated I could return or get $250. AWD cost more than this and I selected to return. I selected a new vehicle on a Monday, and then received an email on Thursday that the vehicle has a mechanical malfunction and need to reschedule the delivery. Since they sent an email and did not call, I called them to find out the keys had been lost. In addition, it would take another week to get the keys replaced. Disappointed in my experience, I asked the time frame in which I could get back my car that I traded in. The agent could not locate my car and stated she would follow up with me by the end of the day. However, no one ever called and followed up. I am still waiting to find my car.

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

Don’t believe all the negative reviewers. While I'm sure there are instances where things were not great, I'm sure you can apply that to any business. I got delivery of my car, a 2017 Maxima, today on time! The car is amazing. Clean inside, a little coat of dirt on top from transporting, no big deal, I washed and waxed it right away.

EVERY person I dealt with spoke plain English, and they ALL were very kind and helpful. My interest rate was a little higher than I wanted, but I'm happy to pay the price per month for such a great car! I started the process, it took 6 days from start to finish and delivery! Even the delivery driver was awesome!

I told my buddy at work to buy a car and would highly suggest Carvana to anyone...easiest experience ever! And I have bought 10 plus cars in the last 8 years at dealerships and this was by far the best!

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

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