Keep in mind, I work in the automotive digital advertising industry, and my clients are all car dealers across the country.
That having been said, I have been in the market for a car for a while, but not quite ready to pull any triggers yet. I have gone without a car payment for about 6 years....but knew it was time.
I came across Carvana's site on Friday 10/21, and was intrigued, but skeptical. I started looking at 4 different vehicles, a couple of Acura's, a Tacoma, and a BMW. I started doing my research on several review sites, spec sites, and youtube. After two days. I had settled on the 2013 BMW 328I w/Premium package. I compared local AND national pricing on this vehicle (had 30,030 miles on it) and nobody could beat the price.
When I factored in no doc fees, no dealer fees, etc....The deal could not be beat. I added in the full extended warranty to cover anything that could go down on that vehicle (I owned one before, and know how expensive they are to fix and maintain) and finally pulled the trigger on Sunday evening 10/23. I was going to have it delivered to my house, but I work about 10 mins from the Atlanta Vending Machine, and set up delivery for 2pm on 10/25.
I got there a few mins early and the car was brought up to the bay for inspection. I had read some of the horror stories about how the vehicles looked compared to the site pics, but, I can tell you my car was clean, inside and out - nicely detailed, and it looked BETTER than the pics in most every way! I did a complete inspection of the vehicle, including running diagnostics on the vehicle right there in the bay, and got no pressure or issue from anyone. Diagnostics came up clean, so I knew there were no fault codes hiding, waiting to show themselves after I had taken possession of the vehicle. That could have been a deal killer all by itself in my book.
I then took the car for a test drive, and was gone a total of about 30 mins (LOL I got lost driving around there and had to find my way back). I got back and handled the trade in I was making, and then signed the remaining paperwork. Total time in and out - about 1 hour.
I had been bugging Carvana about the keys (how many), the carmats (were not in the Carvana pics) and the vehicle manual. I got 2 key fobs, the mats, and the manual, all waiting for me when I got there. Fantastic job!
So, I drove back to work - everyone who saw the car was blown away by it.
The real fun was leaving work that afternoon for my 1 1/2 hour commute back home, about 30 miles away. I had been driving a 2001 4Runner, so, you can only imagine the fun making that nasty drive in such a car as the BMW 328I!
My wife LOVES the car. She can't believe the deal I got. And how good it looks and rides/drives. We will probably be looking to do a purchase for her in the next few months, and hopefully we can recreate the truly impressive experience of cutting the dealer out of the picture, and buying a car online.
I cannot recommend Carvana ENOUGH - I was skeptical but, it took 2 days from the time I committed to buying the car, to driving the car home. I highly recommend you take the online route. and also- DO YOUR RESEARCH!
Carvana is the benchmark for the future of car sales. Period. Thank YOU Carvana for making this a most successful and enjoyable experience. You have already gotten 3 references from me since picking up the car yesterday, I fully expect they will be checking you out very soon!
Read More