I also agree that a test drive is important, especially to make sure it is comfortable. People of different heights may not feel comfortable in certain cars. My daughter is not that tall but has a really long torso. When she was looking for a car, she found many did not work for her. Even with the seat as low as it would go, the darkened part at the top of the windshield (in some cars) was right in her line of vision.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did this once. It worked out fine but it felt really bad and is definitely risky. I told myself I'd never do it again and when I went to buy my next car the dealer tried to do it again and I walked out and went to a different place. I would recommend against it.

What made it feel bad and risky? Curious because it's a new experience for me too and I'm trying to keep my eyes wide open.

Maybe risky is the wrong word but it feels scary because you don’t know anything about the car and you’re spending a lot of money.

I've done this several times. Ones was a used vehicle, twice was a new vehicle. No problems. Two Hondas and a Subaru.

Yes. Bought my Prius this way.

Anonymous wrote:I did this once. It worked out fine but it felt really bad and is definitely risky. I told myself I'd never do it again and when I went to buy my next car the dealer tried to do it again and I walked out and went to a different place. I would recommend against it.

What made it feel bad and risky? Curious because it's a new experience for me too and I'm trying to keep my eyes wide open.

I did this once. It worked out fine but it felt really bad and is definitely risky. I told myself I'd never do it again and when I went to buy my next car the dealer tried to do it again and I walked out and went to a different place. I would recommend against it.

I'm about to.

Absolutely not.

We did with a Tesla, but we'd driven a relative's before and knew we liked it.

I've done it twice. Both times it was the only model of that car in the DC area and if I hadn't jumped on it I may not have gotten it

In 2014 I got a new Lexus GX, my boss drove a 12 year old one. He sized mine up in the parking lot one day, asked me a few questions to learn what had changed. Later that day, he called the Lexus dealer and said he wanted a new GX, just pick one off the lot and bring it. The dealer pressed him on color, etc. and he said that he looked online, they all had the same package, he didn't care about color, just bring him the one on the lot they wanted to get rid of. It was crazy.

I'd be willing to buy a new car without a test drive (or unseen). In the past, I've never found test drives really changed my mind. And, it takes me longer than your average test drive to determine if the seat is uncomfortable, for example. There are plenty of videos and pics online to get a good sense of what the interior is like. And, with well known and regarded brands such as Toyota and Honda, I think you have a pretty good idea of what you're getting.

Bought an Acura RDX in Florida sight unseen.
It was only 2.5 years old and had 20k miles on it. Still had factory warranty remaining.
I needed a car to keep at my Florida winter home and this car checked all the boxes for me.
It helped that I did a CarFax on it and knew it hadn’t been in an accident.
I’ve had the car for 2 years now and it’s been solid. YMMV.

Bought my 100k+ Mercedes sight unseen.

I bought my current Honda CRV sigh unseen from Carvana. I had a Pilot before and knew I was going smaller and I only buy Toyotas or Hondas. I compared the Rav 4 and CRV online and preferred the interior layout of the CRV. The cargo area also had slightly more room. So I knew what I wanted and what model year.

I would NOT use Carvana again though. Their after purchase customer service was terrible, they messed up my tags and it took forever and many phone calls to fix. Some phone calls I was on hold to a service ctr in Texas for over an hour. Never again.