I bought a car from Carvana in Sept or Oct of 2020. It was the easiest buying experience I've ever had. I was very skeptical but have had no problems. It did take a while to get the registration but it was when everything was closed - they sent me new temporary plates two times until I got the registration. (I didn't have to contact them for the first one but did contact them for the second.) Oh, and I picked up in one state and the registration was in another - no problem.

With Vroom you have seven days/250 miles to return it if you don’t like the car or find something wrong.

I recently bought from Vroom (last month). We couldn’t find the car I wanted locally, and Vroom had one in Texas. They shipped to my driveway.

It was an easy experience. Once it was here I had it inspected by the local dealership and only found one issue which was easily repaired. It didn’t cost anything to repair, because of the warranty, but Vroom would have covered the cost.

It was a very easy process, but we did our homework ahead of time and new EXACTLY what we wanted

Anonymous wrote:We sold a car to Carvana and the experience was so easy that it would make me skeptical of buying one from them. Our car was well maintained and in good shape but they really did not do much of an inspection and didn't even drive it before they gave us the check. But again, it was a super easy process and everyone we interacted with was pleasant, so it may be a decent option depending on your risk tolerance.

Thanks, PP. Anyone have recent experience buying from them?

We sold a car to Carvana and the experience was so easy that it would make me skeptical of buying one from them. Our car was well maintained and in good shape but they really did not do much of an inspection and didn't even drive it before they gave us the check. But again, it was a super easy process and everyone we interacted with was pleasant, so it may be a decent option depending on your risk tolerance.

Any recent buying experiences with either Vroom or Carvana? I just can't find the make/model I want locally but these two sites have my preference available and good prices. I am just concerned about buying a car w/out seeing/driving it first.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster
If I need my car gone on a specific day, how far in advance should I start the process with carvana and the like?

Start to finish it took roughly 5 days on Carvana. It depends upon how busy they are. Once you accept the offer, you get a link to a scheduling page and pick an open and convenient slot. They come by and conclude the purchase at that time.

"Need it gone" . . . paid for or picked up? When they pay you, they take title and keys and put the keys in a lock box and someone just comes and grabs the car. Had I not noticed the tow truck at 8 at night, the car would have just been disappeared.

Thank you! How far out were the slots?
Ideally I need it paid AND gone on the same day... I am leaving for 2 months and will need the car until 1-2 days before I leave, so...

For Carvana, I had the paperwork completed Sunday night and the first pickup slot was Wednesday morning. Might be sooner if you drop off but I’m not sure. It says someone will drive you home if you need.

So maybe you rent a car for 3 days or so . . . Is that such a big deal?

Might be. Tried renting a car lately?

Sold 2 cars to Carvana. First was when they were relatively new to this area, and were building up inventory. They offered an unbeatable price.

Sold my second car to Carvana about a year ago. Price was fair, but not spectacular.

Attempted to sell another vehicle to Carvana around Thanksgiving. The price offered was ridiculously low. Sold that vehicle to Carmax for $7,000 more than the price Carvana offered

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
FYI Carmax and Vroom offered $4-$5k less.

Right now, with car inventory the way it is, most local dealers will beat any online quote you get to sell a car. KBB also has a selling instant offer site like Carmax/Vroom/Carvana, but it goes to local dealers. They all hit me up via email after and said they could offer more than the online said. They are desperate for inventory if your car is 5 years or newer.

Carvana's was so good, it's hard for me to imagine getting a better deal, but who knows right now. They picked up the car this morning. The woman handed me the check and some paperwork, and then she took a few pictures while I signed the documents. Then I handed her the keys and title, and some other guy drove it away. They were very nice. 10 minutes tops. I'll be interested to see what they sell it for.

Anonymous wrote:
FYI Carmax and Vroom offered $4-$5k less.

Right now, with car inventory the way it is, most local dealers will beat any online quote you get to sell a car. KBB also has a selling instant offer site like Carmax/Vroom/Carvana, but it goes to local dealers. They all hit me up via email after and said they could offer more than the online said. They are desperate for inventory if your car is 5 years or newer.

I bought and kept a car from Vroom a year ago. There was one spot of cosmetic damage they didn't disclose in the pics, but after some hoops I got $800 refunded and was satisfied. It was a somewhat rare color/trim combo, in the early days of the pandemic, and we got the car inspected by our own mechanic jn the 7 day return period.

DH bought a car from Carvana about a month ago and it was a horrible experience. We picked it up from their location near us and traded in a car. The deal was we had 7 days to test drive it, and if we returned it, they would give us back our trade, no hassles... supposedly.

Within 20 minutes we knew the car was a piece of garbage. Their inspections are crap and the car wasn't even cleaned in a basic manner. Super dirty in ways I've never seen from a dealer, stuff that could have been easily cleaned if they gave half an ounce of effort. The car clearly had some sort of steering fluid issue and was making extremely obvious bad noises.

We called within 3 hours and told them we wanted to return it and wanted our trade back. What a nightmare. We ended up waiting over 10 days because "the wheels were in motion" and the trade had been taken to their inspection station. Based on what we saw in the car we bought, we were concerned it was going to be seriously damaged there. They sent someone to get the car we bought with no heads up, but with no info on when we'd get our trade back. My husband spent so much time screwing around with the process.

When we finally did get our trade back (a manager finally got involved and just went and got out trade from the inspection facility, drove it here and took back the purchase), they had made the car dirtier somehow during the detail process, using dirty rags to wipe seats and mirrors inside. They had removed all the tires and not put back on these cap pieces, which were $80 to replace. They had removed our registration and toll stickers already (goes inside windshield in our state), so we had to go to the DMV to get replacements. My normally mild mannered DH was livid and felt the car needed a full inspection to make sure they hadn't done something like drain the oil and not replace it.

But get this... they replaced all 4 tires. With brand new Pirellis. It probably was getting close to time to replace them, especially if selling. That was likely $800 in tires they put into the car. Once we realized that, we were less irritated about the hassle, haha. But it just goes to show what idiots they are and how bad their systems are. We told them within hours we wanted it back, and they still moved forward dumping all that time and money into the car.

I would not buy from Carvana again and I wonder if we got lucky with Vroom or if their standards are better.

FWIW, I also recently bought a car from a non-chain dealership 1500 miles away. They coordinated an inspection with a local mechanic and shipping and I just paid those people separately. It was a car I'd been looking for 9 months and wasn't going to find locally. No problem, awesome experience. Now I realize I don't have to go with Carvana or Vroom if the car I want isn't available locally, most dealers ship cars regularly if you're willing to pay. It honestly wasn't anymore than the Carvana markup.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster
If I need my car gone on a specific day, how far in advance should I start the process with carvana and the like?

Start to finish it took roughly 5 days on Carvana. It depends upon how busy they are. Once you accept the offer, you get a link to a scheduling page and pick an open and convenient slot. They come by and conclude the purchase at that time.

"Need it gone" . . . paid for or picked up? When they pay you, they take title and keys and put the keys in a lock box and someone just comes and grabs the car. Had I not noticed the tow truck at 8 at night, the car would have just been disappeared.

Thank you! How far out were the slots?
Ideally I need it paid AND gone on the same day... I am leaving for 2 months and will need the car until 1-2 days before I leave, so...

For Carvana, I had the paperwork completed Sunday night and the first pickup slot was Wednesday morning. Might be sooner if you drop off but I’m not sure. It says someone will drive you home if you need.

So maybe you rent a car for 3 days or so . . . Is that such a big deal?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster
If I need my car gone on a specific day, how far in advance should I start the process with carvana and the like?

Start to finish it took roughly 5 days on Carvana. It depends upon how busy they are. Once you accept the offer, you get a link to a scheduling page and pick an open and convenient slot. They come by and conclude the purchase at that time.

"Need it gone" . . . paid for or picked up? When they pay you, they take title and keys and put the keys in a lock box and someone just comes and grabs the car. Had I not noticed the tow truck at 8 at night, the car would have just been disappeared.

Thank you! How far out were the slots?
Ideally I need it paid AND gone on the same day... I am leaving for 2 months and will need the car until 1-2 days before I leave, so...

For Carvana, I had the paperwork completed Sunday night and the first pickup slot was Wednesday morning. Might be sooner if you drop off but I’m not sure. It says someone will drive you home if you need.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster
If I need my car gone on a specific day, how far in advance should I start the process with carvana and the like?

The quote is good for 7 days...so 7 days before you need it picked up.

Thank you!