I purchased a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee from Carvana in June 2017. It was by far the best car buying experience I have ever had for two reasons. First, the car was delivered in excellent condition. Second, Carvana did a fantastic job getting it to me.
The Jeep I received from Carvana was in the exact condition represented on the website. Of course, my biggest worry when purchasing anything online is whether I'm really going to get the product I purchased. Carvana certainly delivered on what they promised. They did a great job of calling out any imperfections on the website and were very transparent throughout the process. They even offered to pay for any non-reported issues when I took it in to have a third-party check it over. I got what I expected, a great vehicle.
Carvana's focus on customer service really made them stand out. Their team was extremely helpful and their website was clear and easy to use. This made my experience very smooth. There are a couple of examples of their focus on customer service. The vehicle came with a $40 blanket from my alma mater in the passenger seat. Their call center was extremely easy to use and I was never on hold long. But I'll only go into detail on one.
I included a trade-in as part of my transaction. An old, beat up sedan that I was still making payments on. A small bank with three people working in the loan department and no online portal held the title. The bank was extremely difficult to work with and unresponsive. They forced both Carvana and I to jump through a lot of hoops to pay off the existing load and complete the trade in. Carvana worked through a majority of the process for me. They were consistently available and willing to work with the bank to complete the required steps. When the bank was unable to fax over the final paperwork, Carvana called them directly and helped them through the process.
In summary, I will be looking to Carvana first any time I need to purchased a vehicle. They delivered a product beyond my expectations and were extremely transparent. I hope they keep their focus on customer service.
Constructive Feedback:
1. On the website, the page containing next steps post-purchase (titled "You're a Car Buying Genius") needs to be more clear and personalized. It was obviously a generic page and included steps that I did not need to complete. When I did complete steps, it was not clear in the UI that the steps had been completed. I could not view any of the documents that I had uploaded.
2. There needs to be more communication during the title and registration process. I am still waiting on my plates to arrive and haven't been contacted about where they are in the process.
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