Vroom Review: How It Works, Pros and Cons

Delivered repainted vehicle. Two auto body shops said car was involved in front end collision. None of this was disclosed prior to sale. They were, however, very attentive about returning my funds.

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

I would never do this again. Took three weeks. No updates. No ETAs. Couldn’t make any plans. Emailed twice with no response. Customer service couldn’t connect me with anyone with answers. Website lied when it said that I would get an ETA in 5 days. Representatives lied when they said I’d get my vehicle in 10 to 14 days. The vehicle was shipped with worn tires. AND THE FUEL TANK WAS EMPTY! Never again.

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

Do NOT buy any cars from this company, even if it is free! I have to say this is one of the worst companies I have ever done business with.

You cannot get any customer service whatsoever. My sales representative Luis Williamson was perfect in all matters of the sales and continues to try and help me, but his customer service staff have got to be the worst on the planet once a sale is made absolutely no support whatsoever.

I have tried to talk with a manager on many occasions no one will call you back. It's pointless trying to reach a manager or supervisor - they seemed to be trained to ignore you.

From the delivery to trying to get my registration documents (now almost five months as I still do not have my registration documents and no help from them is figuring out where it is). This has been going on since November 2017.

You get tons of emails saying they are looking into things and then they disappear. No replies. I have emailed customer support over 30 times each time I get this message from Kim Miyaki-Irish Customer Support Associate:

"Thanks for getting in touch with VROOM. This email is to let you know that we've received your request, Untitled ticket 81129. Our Customer Support team has been made aware, and we'll get back to you with an update very shortly."

January 2018, still no reply.

"Thank you for contacting Customer Support. I apologize for the delay in getting your information from the DMV. I am forwarding your information to our titles department for review. Once they have had a chance to look into this for you, someone from there will reach out to assist you further on this issue.

If you have any questions, please feel free to give us call, or you can simply reply back to this email.

Best

Sidney Stephens

Customer Support Associate

We appreciate your patience and look forward to promptly resolving this issue."

So, this is my review: If you are thinking of buying a car from Vroom, stay well away. Don't even consider it. Pay the extra few percent to a dealer. Even with all the hassle you may experience at some dealerships it is not a patch on the headaches and frustrations you will get buying a car from Vroom.

A very, very dissatisfied customer.

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

My husband purchased a car from this "company" months ago and has never received a registration, resulting in months of getting pulled over for not having a valid registration. And we call them all the time and no one can ever assist with anything. They put you on hold and transfer you a million times and now they're saying there is an issue with the car and it might need to be bought back. It's been a truly horrific experience, and definitely not worth it, so go somewhere else to buy your car.

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

From the beginning, I had so much trouble getting ahold of anyone that could get me straight answers about a vehicle. From vacation time to no one working on the weekend, it took from first contact on 12/17/18 to 1/5/19 JUST to get me the correct paperwork with the correct figures on it. I got a bad feeling about everything once my car was on its way, so I decided to cancel the deal while in transit on 1/6/19 before they took my currently owned car away.

Vroom expected me to sign contracts within 24 hours of getting them and to overnight my signed title to them for trade in. However, once I canceled my deal before they could take ownership of my trade-in, they have taken their time with my title. I still don't know where it is, and customer service gives me the same answer that "buybacks take time." The thing is, I don't have their car, and they don't have mine. So why is it so difficult to locate a title that no longer legally belongs to Vroom, and put it in the mail?

When a company requests you to do things urgently when making money but does not take this same urgency in getting things back to you of importance, like a signed title, it undermines any reliability that they care about customers. The bottom line comes first.

To top it off, after three different discussions with different people, I STILL have not received my $500 refundable car hold back.

So when Vroom says that it makes car buying easy, I would say go down the street to a real person in a dealership and drive away with a car you've seen, versus spending weeks on the phone and email just trying to get your life back straight again because you want to return it.

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

We found a car that interested us, agreed to pay the listed price (absolutely no negotiation of car price or fees whatsoever) and received a price and fee estimate. I found the fees to be somewhat excessive...their title and registration estimates included an additional $25 fee because Vroom requires 60 days to license a vehicle when any other dealership in the nation can do it in 30 days. Vroom, of course, doesn't call it a late fee, but the State of Missouri does. The fees totaled what was explained, however, a $115 fee was not itemized with all of the other charges, both in the initial estimate and the loan docs they wanted signed...just complete ineptitude.

The rep we initially were dealing with was very nice but seemed to be inexperienced, vacillating on information regarding the process and requirements. Billy informed us that we had to provide proof of insurance plus a valid driver's license, which we did submit, albeit, through numerous attempts at using a "one-time-use" secure link which failed multiple times. Vroom has NO means of emailing or faxing documents (but would allow texting them?)! When the documents were submitted successfully, we were told that the documents had to be submitted in color not black and white (it would have been helpful to know this up front)...yet ANOTHER delay in the process!

We accepted the dealer financing, submitted an application through their link provided, and were told we would hear from a rep regarding loan disposition within an hour and it took into the next day and numerous calls for updates. ANOTHER DELAY. Then, onto loan documentation...ANOTHER DELAY in getting documents timely. Once received, we immediately e-signed them. We received the original documents via FedEx the next morning and immediately processed these as well returning them to FedEx the same day along with a cashier's check for the down payment and fees.

Throughout this whole process, it just seemed like the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing at Vroom across all levels of "service" and the ball kept getting kicked down the field to a new team...far too many people involved in the process from beginning to end. Their website states that you can either pick up the car or have it delivered. They stated that the car would be delivered in 7 days but it might take as long as 14 (or more!) days which concerned us. They would, in no way, allow us to pick up the car, contrary to website information, and always had stock replies as to why. We didn't want to wait over two weeks to receive a car from Vroom when we could have walked into ANY dealership, purchased a car, obtained their financing and driven away within hours.

We have already heard from the bank through which we obtained financing from Vroom; the bank has booked the loan and they're charging us interest for a car that hasn't even left Vroom's lot yet! This is outright THEFT and seems illegal not to mention unethical! How can Vroom justify paying themselves when they haven't delivered to the customer and still have possession of the car? Assuming this is regular practice, it has the right ingredients for a major class action suit.

Who knows just when the car will arrive, but it's looking to be 2-3 weeks from the time this whole process started. They MIGHT be able to deliver a car within 7-10 days if you pay CASH. AVOID THIS COMPANY and their poor process at all cost...it's just not worth it.

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

Buying a vehicle from Vroom was the worst decision and experience I have had. I purchased a 3-year-old (2016) GMC Sierra. The vehicles supposedly pass some "high standard" of inspection and "pass multiple inspections for safety, mechanical, and cosmetic issues before it is sold". When I received my truck (later than was promised in the delivery quote) the tires were completely bald. I was somewhat ok with this as tires do wear and need to be replaced, but most reputable dealers will replace tires before selling a vehicle. I took the truck in to have new tires put on (5 days after getting the truck) only to find out the struts were "pouring" hydraulic fluid, not just leaking but pouring. Also, the brakes were "shot" with 3 mm on the front pads and just under 4 mm on the rear.

I called Vroom and sent them photos of the struts and brakes to see what they would do about it and got a huge runaround. After calling and emailing multiple times daily, my "new" to me truck has now been in a repair shop for a week, is past the 7-day return period, and needs a ton of work. Before I have even received the title for the vehicle, I am having to put $4000 into repairs on a vehicle I just spent over $40K on and should have had all of these things taken care of before it was ever listed for sale or left the lot.

I agree with another reviewer the truck only came with one key. It did say in the ad one key. When I asked the sales person about it I was told they say that on all vehicles but many do have 2 keys. They would "look into it" and get back to me. Of course, no one ever got back to me and it came with only one key.

I would never buy a vehicle from Vroom again, and if you are considering it, I would suggest you think again and look elsewhere.

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

Basically a scam but you get a car at the end. I cannot express enough how upset I am with them. Looking for a car/purchase/filling out paperwork was easy. I got callbacks quickly and everything was great. I honestly thought I had discovered something that would change the future of car purchases for me. As soon as they have your money things drop off. You are supposed to get daily updates about car location but no, not a single bit of info no matter how many times I myself have to call them. They have no idea where the shipper is. I called maybe 20 times over a 4-day period and every time they said they would get back to me I wouldn't hear from them and I shouldn't be the one to have to call. It was supposed to arrive Friday so I took the day off work to be here for it. They called me at 10 pm to let me know it would be Saturday from 12-4, then again Saturday night no car, they said Sunday. Again I am waiting and have reached out to even get a time frame for the delivery and they have no idea how do they not have contact with drivers? So that's a third day wasted with no idea about what's going on. So Memorial Day I guess I'll be waiting at my house for a 4th day without any info or update.

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

I thought this was going to be a great experience and then things got ugly when my Jeep was delivered. First of all, the battery was dead and needed to be jumped to get off the trailer. Not a big deal but the battery would not hold the charge so I needed to replace it on day 1 for $260. Then while driving it for the first time the right tire was making a whomp whomp sound as I drove. So I had to spend a half-day having the Jeep inspected. What was thought to be a bad barring turned to be cupped tires. This Jeep has 35-inch tires with 15 mm tread and tread was measuring uneven and 4 mm, Firestone Tire recommended replacing all 4 tires. While purchasing the vehicle I was told over the phone the tires were basically brand new and it Vroom's policy to replace any tires under 40% tread. So I sent the report and estimate and photos to customer service and they claimed the report was insufficient and the photos that showed 4mm of tread with a ruler were not convincing. I was told they felt the tires were fine when they shipped the Jeep. I guess they lost over 15% tread on the trailer being delivered. Now I have to spend $1800 on new tires for $30k Jeep I bought because Vroom lied to me. On top of that, there is a puddle of oil in my garage because the rear main seal is leaking. They are nothing but a slick used car sales company with no face to face accountability and hide behind emails. DO NOT BUY FROM VROOM.

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

I bought a Tesla with the supposed 7-day 250-mile guarantee. The car arrived so dirty it was hard to see the paint. The left rear quarter panel was damaged and repainted even though Carfax report said no accident. The repair and repaint were so bad it was visible from 20 feet away. The car also had a critically low battery so was unable to test. The bill of lading was not filled out, and it turns out it was almost 400 miles over what the agreement and odometer form stated.

Its been three weeks and now they do not want to refund my shipping fee, even though based on the above it was a fraudulent deal. Time to file an action with Texas DMV and start legal action. Did I tell you they still have my $22,000+ deposit?

RUN.

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

I bought a 2013 Toyota Sienna minivan with low miles and all the options I wanted near the end of August 2018. The FedEx package with the purchase documents arrived on August 24, and I FedExed them back along with my down payment that same day. After that, the experience deteriorated. I was told by my sales associate that the vehicle would be delivered no later than two weeks and that most vehicles would be delivered in less time than that. We're here on September 13, 2018, and not only do I not have the vehicle, but I have no idea when I'm going to get it.

They have moved goalposts on me by first saying no, not two weeks, but rather fourteen business days. Then it became fourteen business days from the receipt of my bank's payment. Still no vehicle or delivery date. Every time I call, they try to tell me it's undergoing a quality inspection to make sure it meets the high standards of yadda, yadda, yadda. It's been undergoing a quality inspection now for over ten days.

I called twice yesterday and was told each time the individual would send an email to somebody and follow up with me. Never happened. The only thing I've gotten so far is an email from somebody with delivery support asking if I'm in the Hurricane Florence evacuation zone - I'm not. If they were even partially on the ball, they'd realize that my delivery address was not in the zone. If they were anywhere near the ball, let alone on it, they'd be able to tell me sorry, we can't ship a vehicle to North Carolina until this hurricane passes, expect it on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. Nope. Bunch of hooey about that neverending quality inspection - this is a Toyota, not a Yugo, so it shouldn't take this long - and then an empty promise to follow up. Meanwhile, I'm paying for insurance on The Invisible Minivan, and my first payment is coming due on October 1st.

I've given them two stars ONLY because I expect at some point to receive the van I was sold. If that happens, it will be a great vehicle for a fair price. I'm teetering on the brink of one star, though, because that's the level of customer service you're going to experience from these people once they have your money. Spend a little extra, support your local economy and buy from a local dealership. At least you'll leave with a vehicle.

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