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NFT: Buying a Car through Carvana.com

BigBlue2112 : 2/4/2019 4:48 pm
BBI

I'm currently in the market for a used car and a number of the top deals I'm looking at are through Carvana.com.

You've probably seen their commercials at one time or another. They deliver the cars to you.

"BUY ONLINE. GET IT DELIVERED. LOVE IT OR RETURN IT. THE NEW WAY TO BUY A CAR"


Has anyone bought/sold through Carvana?

Thanks!
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interested as well  
Existenz : 2/4/2019 5:04 pm : link
in the market and had looked at a few on that site but don't know enough about it regarding reliability.
Don't  
charlito : 2/4/2019 6:53 pm : link
Do it. Check out Truecars. Truecars also provides a carfax. Check out the video on why.
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I've thought about it  
Gary from The East End : Admin : 2/4/2019 7:05 pm : link
The idea is interesting, but there are a number of potential downsides. I've heard that it's not unusual for for things to be missing on the cars and Carvana will basically shrug their shoulders and tell you to return it if you're not happy.
My brother in law raves  
Karl Hungus : 2/4/2019 7:28 pm : link
about HONKR
sorry, wrong dopey spelling...  
Karl Hungus : 2/4/2019 7:30 pm : link
It's HONCKER
I have been all over this market recently  
I Love Clams Casino : 2/5/2019 9:01 am : link
and learned one immutable truth. You get what you pay for.

The best you can do is go to a reputable NEW car dealer and ask them what they have on the lot for used cars. Ask the salesmen if there are any cars that you see on the lot that are NOT for sale. If he says "they're ALL for sale".....walk away. Also, any cars that ARE for sale should have NEW or ALMOST new set of matching tires.

Some cars on a used lot should not be for sale, the dealer will wholesale them, and these are the cars that eventually end up on used car lots.

Reputable dealers don't want bad reviews, even on the used car side. They will list near the top of the KBB value for the model year and condition, but the reason they can do this, is because they are fairly confident that it is a good car.

If this is not in the cards for whatever reason, I recommend that you use a service and get the VIN checked out for the history on the vehicle. NOT CARFAX. Verify that whichever service you use will show whether a car has been WHOLESALED or not.
I bought through Carvana and the experience  
Metnut : 2/5/2019 9:18 am : link
was much better than going through a traditional dealership. You don't have to deal with salesmen (and since salesmen aren't getting a portion of the purchase price, the margin is generally lower), negotiation or any sort of high pressure tactics. The layout of the website gives you all the information that you need for the car. You get an entire week to preview the car before the purchase is final (you should bring the car to your own mechanic during this time period).

The convenience and pleasure of the Carvana experience makes me think that the traditional used car dealership's days are numbered.
Carvana Vending Machines are a fun experience  
NYG27 : 2/5/2019 9:35 am : link
Friend bought one recently and it was cool process to see. From using the token and then seeing your car come down to you.

You do have a week to test drive it and good time to take a few long trips and have it serviced by your mechanic to see if anything is wrong with it.
RE: I have been all over this market recently  
Chris in Philly : 2/5/2019 11:45 am : link
In comment 14287673 I Love Clams Casino said:
Quote:
and learned one immutable truth. You get what you pay for.

The best you can do is go to a reputable NEW car dealer and ask them what they have on the lot for used cars. Ask the salesmen if there are any cars that you see on the lot that are NOT for sale. If he says "they're ALL for sale".....walk away. Also, any cars that ARE for sale should have NEW or ALMOST new set of matching tires.

Some cars on a used lot should not be for sale, the dealer will wholesale them, and these are the cars that eventually end up on used car lots.

Reputable dealers don't want bad reviews, even on the used car side. They will list near the top of the KBB value for the model year and condition, but the reason they can do this, is because they are fairly confident that it is a good car.

If this is not in the cards for whatever reason, I recommend that you use a service and get the VIN checked out for the history on the vehicle. NOT CARFAX. Verify that whichever service you use will show whether a car has been WHOLESALED or not.


Why would a dealer have cars on the lot that are not for sale?
My son just bought a car through Carvana  
JerseyCityJoe : 2/5/2019 12:03 pm : link
He was real happy with the experience. He highly recommends it.
RE: RE: I have been all over this market recently  
I Love Clams Casino : 2/5/2019 12:51 pm : link
In comment 14287917 Chris in Philly said:
Quote:
In comment 14287673 I Love Clams Casino said:


Quote:




Why would a dealer have cars on the lot that are not for sale?


Because it's not a vehicle that the car dealer wants to sell....too many issues....they sell these cars to wholesalers at deep discounts rather than selling them directly to their customers.
RE: I've thought about it  
Percy : 2/6/2019 9:29 am : link
In comment 14287422 Gary from The East End said:
Quote:
The idea is interesting, but there are a number of potential downsides. I've heard that it's not unusual for for things to be missing on the cars and Carvana will basically shrug their shoulders and tell you to return it if you're not happy.

Liked it. Thanks!
I recently was in the market for a used Honda  
RomanWH : 2/6/2019 10:30 am : link
Because of how flooded the market is with used CR-Vs, I could really take the time to research my options and pricing. Carvana had some vehicles that were intriguing but at the end of the day, all of the options from any of these "buy from a site, we'll deliver you the car" companies had the same commonality: In general, they were more expensive than their used car counterparts by a noticeable margin.

At the end of the day, I found the Honda I would eventually buy at a big dealership not too far away from me. And it was by far the best car buying experience I've ever had. They had the best initial price from the options I checked out and since their dealers are salary-based, they weren't trying to nickel & dime you on every last thing during the negotiation. Because they are a volume dealership, it was more beneficial for them to churn out deals with less profit(sometimes no profit) than to keep vehicles stagnant on their lots. The experience was so awesomely painless, I'm probably going to be going back to them for all my future car buying needs. And they're not even a Honda dealership!
RE: I recently was in the market for a used Honda  
family progtitioner : 2/6/2019 10:36 am : link
In comment 14288823 RomanWH said:
Quote:
Because of how flooded the market is with used CR-Vs, I could really take the time to research my options and pricing. Carvana had some vehicles that were intriguing but at the end of the day, all of the options from any of these "buy from a site, we'll deliver you the car" companies had the same commonality: In general, they were more expensive than their used car counterparts by a noticeable margin.

At the end of the day, I found the Honda I would eventually buy at a big dealership not too far away from me. And it was by far the best car buying experience I've ever had. They had the best initial price from the options I checked out and since their dealers are salary-based, they weren't trying to nickel & dime you on every last thing during the negotiation. Because they are a volume dealership, it was more beneficial for them to churn out deals with less profit(sometimes no profit) than to keep vehicles stagnant on their lots. The experience was so awesomely painless, I'm probably going to be going back to them for all my future car buying needs. And they're not even a Honda dealership!


I had a similar experience recently. I think some car dealers really are trying to change and are much more customer friendly.

Then again, while shopping for a new car for the wife I had an incredibly painful experience with the ole "let me check with the manager" routine and constantly holding back money trying to get me to take a worse deal. It was awful and we walked out while the salesman was "with his manager".
RE: RE: I recently was in the market for a used Honda  
RomanWH : 2/6/2019 10:45 am : link
In comment 14288834 family progtitioner said:
Quote:
In comment 14288823 RomanWH said:


Quote:


Because of how flooded the market is with used CR-Vs, I could really take the time to research my options and pricing. Carvana had some vehicles that were intriguing but at the end of the day, all of the options from any of these "buy from a site, we'll deliver you the car" companies had the same commonality: In general, they were more expensive than their used car counterparts by a noticeable margin.

At the end of the day, I found the Honda I would eventually buy at a big dealership not too far away from me. And it was by far the best car buying experience I've ever had. They had the best initial price from the options I checked out and since their dealers are salary-based, they weren't trying to nickel & dime you on every last thing during the negotiation. Because they are a volume dealership, it was more beneficial for them to churn out deals with less profit(sometimes no profit) than to keep vehicles stagnant on their lots. The experience was so awesomely painless, I'm probably going to be going back to them for all my future car buying needs. And they're not even a Honda dealership!



I had a similar experience recently. I think some car dealers really are trying to change and are much more customer friendly.

Then again, while shopping for a new car for the wife I had an incredibly painful experience with the ole "let me check with the manager" routine and constantly holding back money trying to get me to take a worse deal. It was awful and we walked out while the salesman was "with his manager".


Oh I had a couple of those as well. Including one that was especially awful. I wasn't going to finance my purchase. I was paying cash(or via a bank check more accurately). I had this one dealership basically not honor the price they listed on the Cars.com listing because I wouldn't do financing through them. They did the whole "ask my manager" song & dance and ultimately I had these two guys begging me to do their dealer financing and then pay off the loan in a month so that they could get their extra kickback from the bank. All the while claiming that all it would cost me is less than $20 of interest. Nah, no thanks. Walked away and found a better deal(with less miles too).
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