Buying from Carvana was a huge relief after my experiences with dealerships as single female. Sexism and high pressure facts is alive and well. I'm new to my area and had a terrible experience at a dealership when I had to go alone. And this was after I had already been to several dealerships with a male friend and experienced salespeople ignoring me and directing their conversations at him - which was the point of his presence but nonetheless frustrated me. After this, I immediately went to online. I think it was only about two days before I found my car on Carvana, 30 minutes to purchase, and less than a week for it to arrive. It was such a relief from the in-person experiences.
Caravana had a lot more options for cars within the search parameters I had than the local dealerships. CarMax did as well, but I liked the no-cost shipping from Carvana and ultimately they had exactly what I was looking for. The online purchase was a little stressful - you only have 30 minutes to complete it before it kicks back out to the public, and I was really torn about the extended warranty options. I do wish there was a longer hold window. I opted to pick the car up at a lot after reading reviews where ppl said they had a hard time getting a hold of customer service. My car was handed over with a side mirror falling off, which made me super suspicious of quality. But they have a very easy claims system and turned out not to be an issue. I had my car inspected at a dealership (well worth the money) and the said the car is perfect, zero recommendations. One note of warning - save the description of the car. I assumed it would continue to be listed on my account but it disappeared after the purchase and I was unable to cross-check info (ie, my car has one key and I don't remember if it was listed as that).
I highly recommend this route for anyone wanting more options, who are busy, or who don't have a support buddy for dealing with salespeople.
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