Pretty soon, you'll be able to buy anything from a vending machine

May 17, 2016 1:03 PM

Has anyone used Carvana to buy a car? If so, how was your experience?

This is exactly what it says on the tin; I'm (finally) looking to replace my car (I asked the car replacement question eons ago), and Carvana by far has the best price on what I'm looking for, rivaled only by Hertz's sell-our-rental-car empire (but which is inconvenient for what I want to buy vs. where they have cars that are part of their rent-to-buy program).

But, the idea that I can buy a car from my office computer, have it delivered to my dad's house (I'm within the free delivery area), give it back within seven days if I don't like it... this is a dream for someone who hates car shopping, if it's actually that easy. Which makes me think it can't be that easy.

So, has anyone bought through Carvana? Is it really this easy? Should I run quickly?

posted by joycehealy to Travel & Transportation (3 answers total)

Best answer: I'm sort of idly considering buying a car via vroom.com which seems to be almost identical: 7 day buyback, prices are competetive (based on my KBB and dealer searches), free delivery. Vroom got good reviews in the 'automotive press' so maybe look around Jalopnik and see what folks are saying? I get the sense that they know people are super skeptical, they seem to be going out of their way to make it easy and painless, plus the cars are really good and vetted.
posted by fixedgear at 1:49 PM on May 17, 2016

Best answer: A friend bought his car through Carvana last year and had a great experience. He lives near Atlanta. We live much farther away and seriously considered using them, but they didn't have the make and model we wanted.

It seems like a legitimate thing with lots of good experiences. There is a whilesubreddit of people describing their experiences.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 5:57 AM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I totally forgot to come back here and update, so for anyone paging through this in the future: used Carvana, it was the best retail experience of my life, including my home purchase, and I'd be happy to talk about it with anyone who wants to know more.
posted by joycehealy at 6:08 PM on April 22, 2017 [3 favorites]