If you're like me, you probably had a bit of anxiety purchasing a vehicle online. I did my research: watched a multitude of video reviews, read web publications, and browsed various social media groups for first hand accounts of dealing with both Carvana and their warranty provider. With a small amount of outliers, I saw mostly positive experiences with both - with the caveat that there wouldn't really be any bargain deals.
It should be noted that I can't comment on certain aspects of things. For instance, I did not have to deal with any trade-in operations, so I have no idea how Carvana would perform on that front. I purchased a very low mileage luxury vehicle, so certain aspects of the warranties really benefited me here.
The vehicle I purchased matched the Kelly Blue Book value range. Many of the other available vehicles I looked at would classify as being outside the KBB range. My vehicle also had 2 active recalls, one categorized as a safety issue.
I believe when I first looked at the car, the transport fee was free. Eventually, it ended up being fairly expensive. It was coming from halfway across the country, so I can understand the need for the fee. I'd say that the fee was probably a bit too expensive, by 20-30% off from what I'd expect.
Based on many first hand accounts in social media, I had anticipated the possibility that the delivery would be delayed. The app itself and website actually flipped to say I was getting the car a day early (which ended up not being the case). It did however arrive at the originally scheduled time.
The delivery by John, the driver of the towing Carvana vehicle was extremely professional and friendly. He took obvious care with the vehicle and let me know his general thoughts on it's condition. He asked me to send photos of my ID/Insurance and gave notice in plenty of time before the arrival. John consistently updated me to each stage of his progress on delivery day. Once at my house, he took down the vehicle and let me take it on a quick spin.
John also took time to explain all the paperwork to me, have me sign as needed, then went through the overall contents of the packet that was to be left with me for information and bill of sale. He explained the expiration date of the dealer plates and said that registration would begin processing once my 7 day trial had ended.l, with plates and registration to be mailed to me.
My down payment was taken out essentially right after I took possession of the vehicle.
The vehicle itself I took in to a dealership to be serviced and recalls addressed. I had 3 months left of factory comprehensive warranty and a good chunk left for drivetrain, which may have contributed to the ease of the experience. They handled all my recalls and I paid to have the vehicle serviced and inspected. Mechanically and electronically it was given a clean bill of health.
I then went through the vehicle to find any interior or exterior discrepancies or unlisted items from the vehicle description on the Carvana website. I submitted about 15 issues of various severities, nothing extremely glaring though. Some came back as denied for general wear and tear. Others, and all but 1 that I particularly cared about were approved. Note that they will start sending notices, but it isn't exactly in order and could take 2 or 3 days to complete the process for everything if you submit a bunch.
For the one that was denied that I cared about, it was actually in the listing for the ad, but the severity was listed to a far less extent than reality. I had to call Silver Rock, who explained that I needed to actually have the Carvana end agree to the listing discrepancy. The agent, Melanie, was a a pleasure to interact with. Tyler also helped me in a very efficient manner. So once they approved the discrepancy, Silver Rock updated to an approval on their end about a day later.
Nathan at Group 1 Automotive was extremely helpful here locally as a partner for Carvana. They were able to work with Silver Rock much more easily than other shops I checked. Group 1 Automotive was booked out for a long time, but they made room for me because they are familiar with the Carvana's 7 day test/decision period. I received notice for approval of all cosmetic repairs agreed upon and got a yet to be attended appointment next month for the actual repairs.
Time to note that I had to juggle a lot of things to complete my due diligence on the vehicle. I was offered a two day extension on the decision period. Generally it'd be nice if there could just be a standard purchasable add-on package offered to essentially make it a 14 day double mileage trial period at any point if our choosing during the original 7 days. It would make our buyer experience be much less stress free and schedule friendly.
On the last day of my extended decision period, I received a welcome and general information call about the car loan starting, etc. I can't switch the withdrawal date to better fit my financial schedules until after my first monthly payment. Generally annoying, but understandable.
The Carvana Care package I got seemed particularly valuable due to the low mileage of my vehicle. Can't say I'd feel the same if I had picked up one with even a moderate amount of higher mileage, but really seemed like a good deal for my particular circumstance.
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