A lot of you have been asking me about what it was like to buy a car online from Carvana.
So here's my Carvana experience:
Shopping and financing was a breeze on the Carvana website. Both the mobile and desktop versions are great tools. The desktop version is necessary to fully complete your buy but the mobile site is an excellent way to browse all the vehicles available.
We were looking for a vehicle that my wife could use to haul around our 5 kids as well as something that could pull our large travel trailer. It was either going to be a Ford Expedition or Chevy Tahoe. I emailed Carvana asking for help on which vehicles that they had came equipped with the tow package we needed and they were very prompt and courteous with a reply that listed the correct vehicles and they even put them into my "Online Garage" for me so that I could easily look them over.
We settled on an Expedition. I did some outside research and found that we were saving several thousand dollars as compared with the Kelly Blue Book price. This was great. We payed our down payment over a quick phone call and waited for delivery.
Here is where we had our first hiccup. During a final inspection before shipment an air conditioning vent was found to be faulty. We were informed that this would delay delivery up to a week or more while a repair was made. This was disappointing as we expected that all Carvana vehicles were inspected and ready to go prior to them being put up for sale. And a week to fix a vent seemed excessive. Part of the reason for such a long repair time was that the vehicle had to be shipped the the repair facilities to be fixed and this was done by a third party which took a long time. I'm sure there is a more expedient way but, who knows. We did, however, appreciate that the defect was found and was going to be repaired, we had just thought that this kind of thing should've been taken care of in advance.
At this point there was nothing we could do but wait so that's what we did. After the week had passed I called for an update. Apparently the needed part was on back order so there was going to be additional delays. We were given the option of receiving the vehicle as-is and taking it to be repaired locally and having Carvana take care of the bill. Tired of waiting, we agreed.
Now things started to move. A third party delivery company was hired by Carvana and the Expedition was on its way. A very friendly driver contacted us and gave us an estimated delivery day and time. He called again while on his way to let us know of his progress. When the car arrived the driver, Mr. Hernandez, was all smiles and super friendly. He unloaded the vehicle and parked it in our driveway.
The Expedition was exactly as advertised and my wife was happy. The one complaint she had was that the vehicle was dirty. The exterior dirt was understandable considering that the car had just been shipped a long distance but the interior was dirty as well. She even found some loose gummy fruit snacks on the floor. While not the biggest deal, it wasn't exactly cool either. The car was delivered with a full tank of gas which was nice.
Overall, I am happy with our experience. The customer service people at Carvana have been great. Every time I've called I've talked to a cheerful, friendly, and knowledgeable person. The shopping and financing was super easy and even kind of fun. The selection was great and I feel like we got a good deal.
There are a few wrinkles that could be ironed out with repairs and detailing but ultimately I will buy from Carvana again.
It's a new car buying experience that eliminates the hassles and pressures of the dealership and delivers a good product.
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