I was happy to drive my orange 2005 Sunfire into the ground until my mother's car gave up the ghost. We'd sunk several grand into her vehicle over the years and we weren't about to pick up the tab for another money pit. We decided to gift her my Sunfire and spend more on an upgrade for myself.
We tossed around the idea of shopping Carvana. Sure, it sounded like a gimmick, but I'm a sucker for novelty and who WOULDN'T wanna get a car from a giant vending machine? After a month of searching online and on the ground, we pulled the trigger on a white 2013 ILX through Carvana, which offered the best price we'd seen on that particular model and package. The AutoCheck on file looked great and Carvana even offered up the Carfax when we asked but we ran the VIN through additional checks (NICB, NHTSA, NMVTIS) to be safe.
There was a bit of lag time as we reserved the vehicle before it was "available" and when it was ready Carvana needed extra time to address the Takata airbag recall. The company's commitment to selling me a safe vehicle gave me peace of mind and made me even more excited to buy from Carvana.
Even so, Carvana moved fast and the process couldn't have been easier. We reserved the car online March 23rd, dealt with contracts and money over the phone March 30th, and set a vending machine appointment in Nashville, where we live, for April 1st. Thanks to a kind redditor (you da best /u/catpancakes!) I had a $500 off referral code that a rep happily applied during my first phone call. All told, everything was handled over five calls, including a follow-up on the final day of my test drive.
We showed up at 6:00pm and were out the door by 6:30pm, even though my appointment wasn't until 7:00pm. The Carvana rep just took a few signatures, handed me the token and swag bag, and stood by as my personal car-buying cheerleader. The vending machine is just as amazing as you'd imagine, and they even let me keep the coin!
Down to the nitty gritty. We dropped the car off with a trusted mechanic for due diligence. He confirmed that Carvana had replaced the air bags, rear tires, and brakes. The front tires will need to be replaced in the coming months and a cabin light was out, but the car was regularly maintained and remains in great shape. There were no additional imperfections outside of what was noted in our virtual preview and I totally would've missed those anyway if Carvana hadn't pointed them out.
As a reminder, the 7-day trial period starts the day you pick up your vehicle, so you essentially have 6 full days to drive around. Carvana called on the final day of my trial about two hours before the deadline to check in, remind me of the deadline, address any questions or concerns, and ask me to take a survey and write a review. Honestly, I was IN LOVE and had NO intention of returning it after our mechanic gave us the thumbs up on day one.
The running joke is I traded my pumpkin for Cinderella's carriage thanks to Carvana magic. My husband called our experience a surgical car-shopping strike, and I'm inclined to agree. It was wonderful abandoning the chaos and confusion of big ticket buying and being empowered to focus on the FUN.
TL;DR I'm thrilled with Carvana AND my new car. 10/10 totally recommend!
Read More