Never, ever did I want to purchase a used car online. Buying a car sight unseen?! Ludicrous! I want to feel the car in the metal and don't mind the traditional negotiating.
But then Carvana threw me a curveball. It all started with some curiosity to what they'd offer me for my seven year old car I'd owned since new. The offer was more than the original price! Now they have my interest!
Then I stumbled across an extremely low mileage example of a dream car I've wanted for years (a Chevrolet SS). It was cheaper and lower mileage than any others at dealership. The site had detailed photos and was open about any cosmetic issues. I spent plenty of time looking at the images close up.
The process to order was super easy, the instructions on the online forms were straightforward and despite the hesitation, it wasn't intimidating.
The car arrived and I was prepared for it to have undisclosed blemishes, funky smells, or be generally misrepresented. Nope, it was exactly as described and looks and feels brand new.
The delivery process was as easy as advertised and with a casual test drive and a few forms signed, my old car was gone and the new one was there. Simple.
The staff from customer service to the delivery driver were all professional, knowledgeable, and all seemed genuinely excited about the purchase.
Not all was perfect. The delivery was delayed twice and the actual delivery ended up being three weeks later than originally promised. Because of that, the trade-in was reassessed and dropped in value, but a quick call resolved that and honored the original quote.
And the new car is eight years old with only 8k miles but had the original tires. Despite having lots of tread remaining, they were getting to the age that they were cracking and unsafe. There was some pushback on replacing them as Carvana only considers tire depth as a factor. But having a mechanic submit that they were unsafe resulted in a set of new tires.
Overall, it was much better than expected. I don't know if I'd do it again, but given the high trade in and availability of a rare car, this was the perfect storm. The staff and process were great but if you're looking for a regular car, a traditional dealership could be more convenient.
Read More
