Reviews (1)

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.