Carvana Reviews - How It Works, Warranty, Financing, Returns

My husband and I attempted to purchase a car with Carvana this weekend. Everything went smoothly at first. We submitted all the necessary documents and received a couple of calls back and forth discussing the sale. This morning we received a voicemail from them that we would need a 3-way call between us and our bank to ensure the funds were available to purchase the car. When my husband called them back to arrange the call, they said that they had canceled the sale due to discrepancies in our documents and that the only recourse we have is to correspond with them via letter to address these concerns. Despite many calls and attempts to find out what the discrepancy might be or any other way we might be able to fix the problem, they would not help us. I'm not blaming the customer service reps, obviously they've been given rules on how to handle this, unfortunately, I think it is the company itself that purposely set up their system this way.

Honestly, I think that this was done so that the Black Friday Sale deal would not go through. The fact that they would design their system like this makes me think that they are a shady company. Has anyone else had this experience with them?

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I bought my car a few months ago (2015 Kia Sorento), and now it's burning oil pretty rapidly. Unfortunately, it is already passed the 100-day warranty window, and now I need a new engine. I don't trust Carvana's inspection at all.

I would have found this problem earlier, but it was misdiagnosed twice. One mechanic said it was the drain plug. After finding the oil low again, I took it to another mechanic, who said it was the oil filter gasket. After finding it low again, I took it to the Kia dealership, who performed an oil consumption test over the next month or so. I'm losing about a quart and a half every 500 miles (The low engine oil light doesn't appear to work either). Shame on Carvana for selling me a faulty car, and shame on me for purchasing from them.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I purchased a 2016 van with 50,000 miles on it. The buying process was actually really cool. Carvana’s service, overall, was also good. I like the concept of Carvana - you get 7 days to test car, can swap up to 3 times, etc. However, there several annoyances related to my purchase:

1. I realized right after my van was delivered that the rear vents did not blow. The van had to go the shop for two days of my 7-day trial. Thankfully, Carvana did ok handling the warranty process and van was fixed. It’s a little frustrating that their "inspection/certification" process didn’t catch this and makes me wonder the extent to which they actually inspect vehicles.

2. First time taking my vehicle out of town (an hour drive) it turns out my vans tires need to be balanced. Not a big thing but once again, irritating that I have to go spend money on this as the 100-day warranty does not cover, as far as I understand. I guess I should have taken my van up to 75-80mph before the 7-day period was up...but not sure I would have gone through the hassle of returning/swapping for tire balancing anyway.

3. Two weeks after my sale is finalized, Carvana has a Black Friday sale where all vehicles are $1,000 off. This is a great sale. One that I would have waited for. So I talk with customer service, ask if there’s anything that can be done (price matching, etc.) seeing as I am within two weeks of purchase. The answer is "no." Now, I understand this - policy is policy. But it’s annoying nonetheless, and many companies would do what they can to create some equity in a situation like this.

4. My van did not come with mats. At the time of delivery I was made aware of this. I was also told that after my 7-day trial, they would be ordered. When I asked the support person (during the same conversation regarding the $1,000 discount) for an update, found out that they were not ordered. Again, not huge. But very annoying.

Overall, I would say that the Carvana experience is so-so. Some great aspects and some not so great aspects. My complaints are relatively minor, but as I mentioned, it makes one think if they have business processes in place to catch major issues since they failed to catch some small but noticeable issues. Would I do this again? Not sure.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Direct quote: "Yes, it is within our standards to have 7 cigarette burns and cigarette smoke."

I had a car delivered with cigarette burns throughout the interior, along with cigarette smoke. In addition, there are severe scratches and discoloration along the entire exterior. I was told this is within their "standard."

Customer service refused to do anything and justified this horrible experience.

I just want other innocent buyers to be aware of the potential scam.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I wanted to sell my 2012 Honda Odyssey which has only 48,000 miles. I got a good price online. I then called to find out what the process would be. I was told that someone would come to verify the odometer and that I would be given a business check. I told the person that I could not give the car and title to Carvana without receiving a bank check or certified check. That's the way business is done. I was told that was not possible (as if it's illegal or immoral).

After hearing numerous times how honest Carvana was, I asked to speak to a supervisor. She told me that because this is “busy season” no assessment of the car's value would be done in my driveway and I would receive a check for the amount promised on the website.

I'm sure the car is appraised promptly. If the value is much lower, Carvana can put a stop payment on the check and the customer has a lawsuit on his hands. Bernie Madoff also said, “Trust me”.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The vehicle was delivered and in the condition expected, no surprises. What was a surprise was the amount charged for the transfer of a tag from my old vehicle to the new one - over $400.00. There was a mess up and I had to go to DMV and do it myself. The fee at DMV was $9.00 in part because I just renewed the tag but that cost around $60.00. Check what you were charged, then check at what actual costs are. If you were overcharged, demand a refund. I am told I would get one, but to date that has not happened. An odor is emitting from that department, be careful. If not for the tag issue, everything else went smooth.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Bright and shiny on a white truck, the car was unloaded as promised. Week one, no problems. I took the car on a highway trip and noticed a vibration when I reached 70 MPH, so I took it to my mechanic. The report came back that the car was out of alignment and the transmission was slipping, so I called Carvana and initiated a claim. I was told that since the car was still on the manufacturer's warranty, I had to take it to a dealership. After having to wait over 50 days for an appointment to have the transmission checked, I learned that it needed a new automatic clutch and, by the way, there had been a recall on the vehicle to replace the gas tank; five days in the shop without a car. A week or so later, I was having to tend to a tire pressure warning about low pressure. I filled the tires with air, and a week later the same warning appeared. I took the car to a tire repair facility and was told one of the tires had been patched and couldn't be patched again, so a new tire had to be purchased. Oh yes, the car only came with one key (as noted in the advertisement) but what wasn't disclosed is that a new key cost almost $200.

Carvana's business model seems to be to buy a car with little to no body damage, give it the best detail job ever so that it looks good, charge top dollar and do a cursory mechanical inspection and bet that nobody will return it within the seven-day guarantee period. And if I had read the critical reviews before buying the car, I probably never would had dealt with them.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I feel like a huge sucker. I received a car with damages on the side and contacted customer service through the 7-day period. I sent in photos and an estimate as requested on separate occasions. I was told by Andrew the damage was from transporting the car and Carvana would pick up the tab and to submit the estimate. On day 9, I received an email stating that Carvana was not going to pay for the damages, blamed me for being in an accident, and was not going to take back the car. I even said to the Customer Service rep that I was scared I would not hear back from them after the 7-day return period. I should have listened to my inner voice. The worst part is, the customer service reps make promises that they have no intention of keeping. I really wish I could give Carvana zero stars. The company should be more heavily regulated by the government or put out of business. The posters on here who never received their order should feel blessed.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

So far I have had a pleasant experience. I have had horror stories visiting used car dealerships and being there for hours where I almost gave up my vehicle search until I found Carvana. The website is user-friendly and the customer service is excellent. The only thing I must say is, you have to stay on top of them.

I was new to this and didn't know exactly how it worked. So once I found a vehicle I wanted, I clicked on start purchase and completed all the steps. I had a little glitch in the system, but that was easily resolved through their friendly customer service reps on their chat. I selected my delivery date, and I noticed that once I completed all the steps, I didn't receive a confirmation email or anything stating on what I had to do next. Thank god I contacted customer service to make sure I wasn't missing anything because when I spoke to a rep, I had to send in documentation and other things that I had sent incorrectly, but wasn't notified. The rep told me to do it as soon as possible because it can cause a delay. Thankfully I did, and everything worked out. Either way, I did have a delay in the delivery for other reasons, which I understand things happen.

Once I received my vehicle delivered to my home, the rep who brought it was very nice. I did realize a few scratches, especially on the inside back seats that didn't mention on the website, so I am upset about that. Other than that, I would say my experience has been pretty pleasant, and I love my car. After reading some reviews on here, I just hope I don't have any delays in receiving my registration.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

FAILED at all levels of attempting to purchase a vehicle from them.

To communicate - they didn't tell me all of the documents needed nor how to provide them until they were threatening to cancel the order twice.

To get the car to the correct state - they said it was already in my state, then they said it was sent to another, then they told me it had been in another state the whole time.

To deliver - on the third attempt to get the car to me, I finally canceled with the 8th person that called to tell me because the manager in my state was sent my case to him. He was sounding relieved that I canceled to care about how they could prevent this in the future or how to improve. It's scary to think how they could have messed up further by not paying off my trade in or having issues with the car for a return. Too many ways they could have continued to fail and not worth the chance!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

After much research I purchased an Infiniti QX70 from Carvana. When the vehicle arrived, I was really excited, it was beautiful. The driver took the vehicle off of the trolley and advised me to do a ride around my neighborhood, which I did. I had no concerns, the vehicle ran really well. Before I sign the paperwork, I did a walk around the vehicle and noticed the one scratch that Carvana had noted on its website. It wasn't a very extreme scratch, and I was really okay with it, but I also noticed on the right side of the vehicle hairline scratches. My first thought was this vehicle have been in an accident, but I reviewed the Carfax report and the report indicated there were no accidents on the vehicle. I asked the driver about the scratches, and she offered to pay me $100. I asked her instead to take a picture of the scratches because I wanted Carfax to know that they had not said anything online about the scratches. The driver proceeded to take a picture and told me that Carfax to get back with me in a couple of days to let me know what they wanted to do. True to her word, Carfax notified me immediately within two days and told me to take the vehicle to a body shop to get it examined to see what the cost of the repairs was.

I took the vehicle to an Infiniti shop, who estimated that the vehicle has scratches and will cost about $3,000 to repair. While I was there, I also had them examine the vehicle to see if there were any mechanical issues going on and they told me that now the vehicle was in mint condition. Carfax received the estimate from the Infiniti dealership and approved the cost for repairs and recommended that I take my vehicle to a body shop.

I took the vehicle to the body shop, Carvana actually gave me 30 days to get the repairs done. Upon taking the vehicle to the body shop, they immediately informed me that the vehicle has been in a car accident. When I told him about the Carfax report, they told me that the vehicles which come from a rental place, do not have to report accidents as they fix the vehicles and themselves. I checked my Carfax report and it did state that my vehicle was from a Hertz Rental. The body shop immediately contacted Carvana and told them that the repairs will cost an estimate of $4,800 to repair, that there was overspray on the car patchwork to the bodywork just to make it look good enough to sell.

Carvana immediately approved the additional repairs to the vehicle, however, the gate of the vehicle, which just had overspray, they did not approve because they said it had no damage. According to the body shop, my vehicle now has two different color paints on it, you cannot see it from the eye as they matched very similar, but being a body shop individual, he noted the difference.

I'm now waiting to see if Carvana will pay for the cost of my rental vehicle as my car was in the shop for 10 days and the cost of the rental was $58 per day. I have to say the Carvana was quick to offer solutions and did not give me a hard time in fixing the repairs of the vehicle, minus not fixing the gate of the vehicle.

If you are planning to buy from Carvana, I just have two suggestions for you. Make sure you check the body of the vehicle before you purchase. If you notice any signs of damage, ask the driver to take a picture as once you have the vehicle, you're out of luck. If you notice any scratches on the vehicle that Carvana did not report on their website, make it known. The driver of the vehicle, when I reported the scratches offered me $100, a far cry from the $4,800 it cost to do the actual repair. Additionally, remember that if your vehicle comes from a rental car dealership that there is a high possibility that it could have been in an accident and they didn't report it, when they do their own repairs they do not report an accident. I will provide a follow-up to see if Carvana does pay for the cost of a rental. So, I'm happy, but also not happy with Carvana.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend