I think buying a car online is pretty cool. But check out the Carvana reviews and complaints before you decide to buy your next car online. Now obviously, buying a car online saves you time. It can also save you money, since there is no salesman to pay a hefty commission to.
Added to that, you can browse at your leisure and there is no pressure, or fast talking salesperson badgering you to make a deal. With Carvana, you are in complete control when it comes to purchasing your new used vehicle.
Quick Company Summary
- Company Name: Carvana
- Location: http://www.carvana.com
- Contact: (800) 333-4554
- Accredited Since: 6/23/2015
- BBB Rating: A+
What is Carvana?
If you don’t know about Carvana, then here is a basic synopsis of what it’s all about. In a nutshell, Carvana is competition for car dealerships! It’s a whole new way to buy a car; online!
They provide car buyers the opportunity to buy their car online, as opposed to going into the car dealership. According to Carvana, they’ve got “lower prices, premium cars, no hidden fees” and they offer you a better experience.
So with Carvana you can by your car online sitting on your couch with your laptop or smartphone. No dealership to go to, so that could mean getting yourself a car at a lower cost.
Each car is “Carvana Certified with a with a 100 day/4,189 mile “Worry Free Guarantee,” and a 7-Day Money Back Guarantee.”
How Carvana Works?
You browse, buy, and pick up! The process is that simple, but here are a bit more details for you on this three step process of browse, buy and pick up.
Browse
You can sit on your couch, or wherever you are comfortable, and browse the cars you are interested in, on the Carvana website.
To save all of your favorites while browsing, simple create an account. You can then compare the prices of the vehicles you’ve saved and review the financing options available if you want to go that route.
Carvana has nine (9) filters you can use to find the perfect car you are looking for.
The filters include: Price & Financing, Make & Model, Year, Mileage, Body Type, Features, Color, Fuel Efficiency, Engine & Drive-train. All you do is enter the relevant details to check what’s available.
Once you enter what you are looking for, you can use their patented 360-degree photo technology to inspect the vehicle you are interested in. It’s like taking a virtual spin of the car.
Once you click on the details tab of your dream car, you’ll get all the specifics of the vehicle. You can also access a free vehicle history report as well.
Buy
You can complete the process of buying a car at Carvana in about 10 minutes.
Once you find the vehicle you are interested in, there are three (3) options you can use to buy your car online at Carvana. You can buy with cash, through your financial institution, or you can get financing from Carvana.
You’ll see all your options online, as you complete the process of buying your car online. Carvana also has interactive finance sliders to help you find the right payment plan.
Pick Up
Once you get the paperwork out of the way, select a delivery or pick up time, submit your down payment information and that’s it. No pressure!
If you prefer to pick up your vehicle as opposed to having it delivered to you, then you can visit a Cavana Vending Machine.
There are at least 24 Carvana Vending Machines, so it’s just a matter of you locating the one that is closest to you. Added to that, Carvana staff are on-site to assist you as well.
Even if you are located outside of the service area you can still buy a car from Carvana.
All you need to do is book a one-way flight to the closest vending machine and pick up your car there and Carvana will subsidize $200 of your airfare. They’ll also arrange transportation to the Vending Machine of your choice.
All you need to do then, is take possession of your car and drive it home. Road trip!
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Carvana Reviews and Complaints
Some people have a tendency to ignore the fine print when they are buying stuff, regardless of what it is. Overall, most people have had a good experience using Carvana.
The type of complaints by customers ranged from the following:
- Advertising/Sales
- Billings/Collections
- Delivery Issues
- Guarantee/Warranty
- Problem with a Product or Service
However, when it came to complaints about Billings/Collections, these were in the minimum.
With reference to complaints about the product or service, they were wide ranging, including registration issues, uncleaned vehicle, variation in mileage, to the hub caps falling off.
Carvana Tips & Hacks
Admittedly, buying a vehicle is a serious undertaking and although buying a car online is convenient, you want to make sure to avoid buyer’s remorse.
A key way to do that is to understand the entire process involved in purchasing your car online from Carvana.
Considering the Carvana reviews and complaints, here’s what we suggest you do when buying your car online from Carvana:
1. Read the terms and services
We cannot emphasize this enough! You definitely need to make sure that you have a good understanding of all of the terms related to purchasing your vehicle online.
For example, you want to know what’s covered under the warranty and what’s not.
Neglecting to do this, can result in misunderstanding on your part and you won’t be able to use the “well, I didn’t know that” excuse.
2. Utilize other checks and balances
A used car is often bought as is, so you want to make sure you have all of the relevant information. As such, it definitely would not hurt to do some more research on the Carvana car you have your eyes on.
3. Review the paperwork
Let’s face it, you are not buying a car online conveniently, to experience a sense of regret after making your purchase. So take the time to review your Carvana contracts before you sign them electronically.
You need to make sure that you understand what you are getting yourself into.
4. Allow for company hiccups
Understand that no one company can please everyone all of the time. In addition to which, demand can often put a strain on timely service delivery of a product. So don’t stress yourself if your car does not get delivered on time.
5. Take photos
This goes for buying a new or used car. Take photographs of the key and noticeable features of the car, to make sure it’s not different when you are taking possession of it.
Make sure to do this for the exterior as well as the interior.
For example, take snapshots of the dashboard, including the odometer, rims, and even the interior of the vehicle. You definitely don’t want any surprises there.
Now keep in mind that the mileage on a vehicle may be off for several reasons from the time in you viewed it to the time in which you receive it.
For example, the vehicle could have been taken for a particular service, or driven to a particular location for pick up. However, there should not be a huge and unaccounted for, disparity. That’s a red flag!
Carvana Reviews and Complaints – Wrap up
Regardless of the Carvana complaints, an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is nothing to sneeze at. Clearly, the people at Carvana know their business and are striving to ensure that their customers needs are met, hence the good reviews.
But it wouldn’t hurt for you to consider the above suggestions, to alleviate your own stress of buying a car online from Carvana.
THIS WAS ALL TYPED ON THE CHAT LINE, OVER ONE HOUR PLUS TIME WITH THE CARVANA REP : Trina
All went well until the pick up day Saturday May 21, 2022 the driver who had the pick up order called to advise us he was in route and was running early. He then asked was xxx the owner of the vehicle, I said no he was in an assisted living facility. I said his wife was here, he said since the vehicle was in the husband name he needed xxx to be present or a person with Power of Attorney. I said his wife has P.O.A. . He advised us that will work but he would need to have a copy copy of the P.O.E. . We told him we had one and looked and could find it. So we rescheduled for Monday, May 23, 2022. (Monday morning, the wife of xxx went to the Attorney’s office and obtained a copy of P.O.A.).
The 2nd scheduled day: Monday May 23rd, Carvana was scheduled to pick up the vehicle between 12:00 and 4:00PM ,this happens:
The owner of the vehicle must be present.
We were told by (Carvana guy previously on Saturday May 21, st) if the owner was not available a person with Power of Attorney could sell the vehicle, but Carvana would needed a copy of the P.O.A. .
That is what generated the call to Carvana I was asked by the Carvana guy who was to pick up the car to up load the paper work to the online Carvana file. The problem was I could locate the area in the online file to upload it to the online Carvana file.
So I call the magic 1-800-Carvana phone number and talk to a pleasant person named Trina ( Carvana rep).
I explain to her the whole story of why I am calling ( need help to upload the P.O.A.) She said why , I said the owner could not be present because of health issues, and the previous guy the vehicle pick person told me too.
Trina ( Carvana rep) said “The field advocate must not have been very knowledgeable about the documents we require”.
I do apologize for the misinformation you were given. If xxxxxx cannot attend the appointment, then the title must be flipped into the name of someone who can attend the appointment. .
Trina ( Carvana rep). said , “I do apologize, as we do not accept power of attorney letters”.
I asked Trina ( Carvana rep). I would like to talk to her Supervisor, Trina said they were very busy and all her team members were not available. I typed into the chat “YOU WIN, I QUIT”.
Whoa! That is rough! I think some people specialize in frustrating others. It’s as if the have a special talent for it. I think the people at Carvana need to get their act together. They can’t keep providing this kind of service if they expect business longevity. The fact that they are being investigated, suggests that they definitely need to change the way they do business.
Tried purchasing a car from Carvana few weeks ago, but I couldn’t get the company to drop off a running car for $16k. The first car they dropped off was a 2013 Toyota Yaris with 70k miles on it that they wanted $15k for. Car delivery went ok and the representatives were really friendly. Immediately I noticed the car was rough idling, acting like it was going to stale, and having severe transmission issues. I told the rep dropping the car off that I wasn’t interested in the car and that he should take it back. He told me that he didn’t have time to take it back but it wasn’t an issue and I should arrange a pickup. Arranged a swap for a 2013 Toyota Corolla that was delayed. A Carvana advocate notified me that I should not drive the Yaris in the meantime and that I should take an Uber the rest of the week and they would cover the bill. The Corolla arrived a week later and seemed to be in OK condition at first but because of my previous experience I wanted to take it in to have it looked at by a mechanic. Carvana tried to get me to go to their mechanics which don’t seem like they know what they are doing since they let a car that was practically breaking down be sold off their lot. The mechanic looked at the vehicle and noticed the engine had oil leaking out of two separate locations. I canceled the sale and sent all my receipts to the company for reimbursement. When I followed up they told me that they would need to send the reimbursement through an approval process that could take almost 3 months and that I probably wouldn’t get any money back because I didn’t actually purchase from them. Now here I am prepping to take this shady company to small claims. AVOID CARVANA.
Hey Charlie,
That is crazy man. It’s convenient being able to buy a vehicle online, but Carvana needs to make sure that they are offering customers quality vehicles and service, if they want to stay in business. It’s a pity that’s not the case in this instance. The Carvana complaints suggest that the company needs to get its act together, if it intends to have any sort of longevity. I think that what they did to is unacceptable and I hope hat the outcome is on your favor.
12/29/21:First time dealing with Carvana. The delivery driver pulls up, parks on a slope on a rainy day rather than parking in space in front of our house. Driver unhooks vehicle and promptly backs the $47,000 automobile against and then over the curb. This toasted the wheel and rims and activated the tire light on the dashboard.
Trying to solve the problem, I indicated that they needed to fix this asap. Was given assurances that it would be promptly taken care of and that a manager would follow-up.
Since then, no follow-up. When I called their customer disservice line I explained the situation and the need to talk with a decision maker to resolve the issue. I was told we would get a call back. Oh we got one. 6:30 AM, 10 second message that did not address a single issue reported to Carvana. Called back and was told that since I was not authorized on the account that they could provide no information. The rep I was talking with hung up on me. Odd since I was able to talk with them the previous day.
From a customer service perspective it almost seems like they are intentionally aggravating people with legitimate problems. In this case it was a set of problems created from whole cloth by Carvana. My wife wants to go forward with the purchase. To my mind this is enabling a business model that gives customers short shrift. Buyer beware. If you don’t want extra stress and hassle in your life run, don’t walk, as far away from this shitshow as you can.
Hey Shawn
Like you, I really don’t think I would have been going forward with that sale, especially when you’re getting a run around for something that is not your fault. I think you’re absolutely right about the enabling part. However, some people have had absolutely no problems using Carvana, but that can’t be said for every one of their customers. It’s a great service, but they need to get it together.
Added tot hat, their customer service reps are mostly likely burned out, having to deal with all the issues that crop up related to the service being provided.
The customer service is an embarrassment to their A+ BBB rating. They have a chat bot offering “live” chat help which cannot actually answer your customer specific questions or requests. Their online music play just a few songs and they play over and over, restarting every time a recording comes on to “update” you on your wait time- it’s a form of torture like one of the tools used in psychological warfare. Wait times are in the HOURS, no matter what the “update” guy tells you… I have twice been on hold now in excess of 2 hours with a wait time of “under 8 minutes”. There is no way to track your offer within your account when you don’t hear from them as expected/promised. These are just a few of the issues I’ve had with them in a single transaction, which isn’t even complete yet. REALLY disappointing and expected better with all the positive advertisement, marketing, and reviews.
WOW, that is crazy! Based on your experience, your disappointment is completely understandable. I do hope they get it together though. Maybe they are just not hiring the right people for their customer service department. Some people who work in customer service are just there for a pay check, as opposed to really helping a customer when they really need it.
Yes… I have Complaint. When I apply for a Car Online, Like with you people. I don’t have any ideal who I’m talking to. I got online talking to a Cartoon Caricature telling me that you people don’t make deals out side of you people making deals. I can’t remember what that person called it…but it was an insult to ME. I hope this dose not happen again. Of course I won’t be going in your question and answer section again. Don’t Know you all Number, your Owners, the Managers, etcetera. I’m Marvin, Mrvinbsh54@Yahoo.com. Hope we still might can do business. Thank You.
Most likely the folks at Carvana did not mean to insult you. But I would imagine that the prices are pretty much set, once they process their vehicles. A word of advice though, you definitely should not ignore their question and answer section, as you may find answers to some of your questions.