I both sold and purchased a vehicle. That was the beginning of the problems.
Selling a vehicle is quite easy and fairly painless. I was offered above-average for my vehicle and the decision was pretty easy and quick. The process of Carvana coming to me to pick up the vehicle couldn't have been more easily done. Kudos to Carvana!
I also purchased a vehicle through them at the same time -- this is when it got complicated.
The vehicle I purchased was less than the cost of the vehicle I sold them. So it couldn't be used as a "trade in." This despite the fact that the overall total after taxes and registration caused the vehicle to cost slightly more than what the trade in allowance would have been.
Given the timeline we were under, we had to end up going to Carvana rather than having them deliver the vehicle, and we had to delay it by a couple of days to wait for the money from the sale of the vehicle to hit our bank so we could use that to purchase the other vehicle. It became clear that the process of purchasing a vehicle required the validation of those funds prior to them hitting our bank so we ended up financing the vehicle through a third party to be sure we met the deadline.
This created more drama as they don't like to change horses in midstream. Complicated with the fact that I had just renewed the registration for my vehicle I sold -- I wanted to simply transfer the registration. Well, they don't have a way to accommodate in the purchase price the transferring of a registration so they have to charge you the full registration fees and then refund you money "later."
To Carvana's credit, when we test-drove the vehicle, there was a major component needing servicing/fixed (brakes). They immediately addressed the issue and told us we could go get the problem rectified through their third party warranty company or they would take care of it and have it ready for us. I decided to be the captain of my ship and take it to my car mechanic (who happened to be a preferred mechanic by the third party warranty company). This ended up being a full brake replacement (rotors and pads) on FRONT and BACK. A very expensive amount of work covered by the warranty.
I had to pay zero dollars and the work was done well. The car was also missing floor mats and after much discussion they were willing to reimburse me for the car mats that I ordered direct from the dealer. That amounted to $170 to be sure I got the right fit and look for my vehicle. They originally offered $100 but I said I wanted to have the mats that come with the vehicle.
The final problem we ran into was the navigation/map system was woefully out of date. The vehicle was manufactured in 2011 and the maps had never been updated. After much hassle with the original manufacturer/dealer and their terms of getting work done and prepaid -- and working with their third party warranty -- I finally got a letter from Carvana that said if for some reason the third party does not pay, they will be sure and cover whatever is not paid. This solidified my deal and I closed out the purchase of the vehicle on the 7th day of having it in my possession.
Overall, Carvana was good to work with -- though tedious and required consistent communication on my part to ensure I got what I needed. They have some systemic business process issues that definitely need to get addressed in order to fully make this a seamless experience.
Would I purchase again? Absolutely.
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