Vroom Review: How It Works, Pros and Cons

I found a vehicle that seems like a great deal on an Audi A3 for my son. Everything seemed fine until I decide to buy the vehicle. Customer service is really poor even before you buy the vehicle.

I asked them to provide me Out of the Door cost and they sent me the numbers. I go ahead and put down $500 on the vehicle and they sent me the contract overnight.

The contract has a higher amount then what was conveyed to me via email attachment.

Extended Service contract - I had asked them about providing me details about the extended service contract and they told me, they cannot give any details unless I buy the car. That should have been a big RED flag. Still, I decided to get it based on knowing I can always cancel it and get a prorated refund. I never received the contract for the extended warranty. I got about 50 pages but no details of what is covered, what isn't, if it is refundable or not...you get the idea. Sketch.

Second RED flag, when I had told the associate that I can buy the car outright in cash, I was told I have to do the paperwork if that is the case. I decided to finance and asked them if there is any penalty if I paid off the loan as soon as I got the vehicle and I was told that would be the case.

The difference in the cost of what they indicated to me earlier and what they send me in the contract seems to be GAP insurance. If I am willing to pay off the car or purchase the vehicle outright - why would I pay them $859 or around that they are charging me for Govt fees and GAP insurance? That is big RED flag #3.

Red flag #4 - If you have read all the other negative reviews about their customer service, understand this. I called them first thing after opening the FedEx envelope at around noon Arizona local time and was hoping I can talk to the person with whom I have been dealing. I could not reach her, so I provided the information to someone else who said she will ask Robbie to call me back. She took all the information from me, and no one called me back.

Red flag #5 - I have not seen any company where the associate dealing with you would not provide you a direct contact number or email address. Vroom.com does not provide you an email address for a specific associated; it is a generic email address so you can never email the associate you are working with. You have no number you can reach it is a generic number for their Huston Sale Office and everyone answers. If you ask for an associate and the person does not or cannot answer it goes to voicemail but there is an error in their system so you get a message "I could hear you," and it disconnects you.

Seriously, I believe the business model is great, and at some point there will be an honest company that will make a killing in auto trading, but I doubt if Vroom.com is that vendor though.

Red Flag # (I lost complete count now) is their seven-day, 250-mile, no questions asked return policy seems fake. The contract I received has a date of 6/21/2018 for the seven-day. I received the contract from them yesterday on 6/22, I have not mailed them anything yet and have no intentions of mailing anything back to them. However, I wonder if I were to have mailed it back to them on a Friday, they would not have opened it until 6/25. Even if they had shipped me the car on the same day (highly unlikely), I would not have received the car from Houston to Phoenix, Arizona before 6/27 evening. So, I would have inspected the car on 6/28 and would have been stuck with the car because I exhausted their seven-day return policy on a $22K car.

Seriously, they could do this honestly and become successful, instead, they give you the same taste in the mouth as dealing with any other dealer. I think they did every one of us a favor, the local dealers have become a lot more responsive and are at their A-game in communication and have been providing you everything upfront and it seems better than the past.

Regardless of Vroom.com's success or failure, I am glad they helped the consumers by giving a threat to local dealers.

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

Car buying online can NOT be this easy anywhere else. I submitted a credit app, followed up on the app on Monday 6/11/18, got approved, received contracts on Wednesday 6/13/18, returned them back at a FedEx drop-off box, Vroom received them on Thursday, 6/14/18, paid my deposit as well, Vroom rep called me on Friday 6/15/18 and said my car had been moved to the shipping department to be inspected and prepared for shipment.

On Monday, 6/18/18, I received an email saying that estimated delivery day would be 6/20/18. At this point, I'm over the top anxious and super excited for 6/20/18. On 6/20/18 evening, around 5:50 p.m., Vroom rep calls and tells me the delivery guy won't make the delivery time so it'll be 6/21/18 when he delivers.

I received my car on 6/21/18 at 6:00 p.m. at a Walmart supercenter parking lot. I signed the bill of lading and received my keys. Oh, and there must have been miscommunication between the delivery guy and Vroom, because before he handed me my keys he asked who was going to pay him, and I told him my shipping fees and all were included in my financing. So he said they are probably just going to send him a check.

Other than that everything went extremely smooth. I did not run into any problems other than the day delayed delivery. I am completely satisfied. I received my paperwork and my car all in ONE week! ONE week! It does not get any better or easier than that. The car is freaking awesome, l LOVE it! It's just like brand new on the inside and almost on the outside, with just minor scratches and paint chips. Minor normal wear and tear. I love my car!

I would highly recommend Vroom to family and friends and to anyone looking to purchase great vehicles at reasonable costs. In the future, I plan to purchase again from Vroom. Thanks Vroom!

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

Overall very disappointed and believe me, I didn’t want it this way.

Pros:

- VERY nice people on the phone.

- Car came with no surprises; the pics were accurate.

Cons:

- The phone salesman giveth, operations taketh away.

- You never get the same person on the phone twice.

- No one really understands the car biz, and they sound like they really don’t like to work there.

- They’ll never give a manager's name (they don’t exist apparently).

- No one is ever in charge to help with drama, and I had nothing but.

- Salesmen promised it was fully serviced, but no one could confirm or produce records. Service cost me $600.

- The delivery driver tried to drop off at Midnight.

- You must do your own Smog and VIN verification in California. I didn’t know that, so my registration took 90 days, with me reaching out multiple times for help. Very little or no response from them.

- They still owe me $160 for that - we’ll see.

- No technology on their website to track your purchase, and they never reach out during the process; just dark the whole time (not even emails in 2018?!).

This is not an online car company; I cannot see how they will still be operating by the end of the year.

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

Absolutely the worst customer service ever. I was given different answers depending on who I spoke with. Fraudulent information on the website concerning the history of the vehicles. Impossible to reach anyone in charge. I was given the wrong phone number to customer support. I am still waiting for my deposit refund. Worst experience ever!

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

As a first time online car buyer I was very hesitant in purchasing. I came across too many negatives and very few positives. After several months and various car searches on Vroom, I decided to follow my gut and try the process. I could not be HAPPIER with my decision! The entire process went very smooth. The company tries their best to make the delivery process seamless. Each department kept me informed every step of the way. As a first time REAL customer, I can say I'm truly satisfied with this company and my vehicle.

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

Vroom is not the best company. I love my car and not having to go into a dealership, but there is no customer support what so ever.

First of all, when they delivered the car, the delivery guy locked my keys in my car (in a parking lot at 10 pm) and appeared to be under the influence. Then I was told I would get my plates in 4-6 weeks. After six weeks, I called. It took me five days of calling to get a person on the phone. The person I talked to said I had to get a smog check since I'm in California. I told her no one told me that. I told her my tempory tag is about to expire, and she said that her supervisor will email me the paperwork I need for my smog and that if I send proof of insurance, they would overnight me an extended temporary plate. Well, its been two weeks since then, no email, no return calls after several messages left and emails written.

In about the 20 times I have called, I've gotten one operator who transferred me to another voicemail box. I'm pretty upset, and my temporary tags expire in three days. If I could do this all over again, I would not get a car from Vroom. They don't care about their customers in my opinion. I feel that we are literally spending thousands of dollars, so we deserve to be treated with some respect.

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

I bought a used 2014 Tesla Model S from Vroom.com, and the process was easy. Applied for financing, which was easy, and the car was at my doorstep within 10 days, which was four days earlier than expected. I scored a major deal with my car, which was about 4K-5k below market (compared to local dealers and the Tesla used inventory).

When the car came, it was a little dirty on the outside, as expected since it was coming from Texas, and was clean inside. The only issue that I have with the car is someone did a horrible wax job on it, and you can see minor swirls on it, but none of my friends notices it until I point it out.

The reason why I’m knocking one star off is that the title department is slow. It’s been four weeks since I’ve purchased and I haven’t seen my plates or registration yet. I’m not sure why it takes long, but when I called the title department, they seem overwhelmed (people I talked to were nice and professional). I have another four weeks until my temporary Texas registration expires, but really want the title done soon so I can apply for the state rebates available and carpool stickers.

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

I put down $500 to hold a car from being purchased by anyone else for 24 hours. The same day, I applied for financing through Vroom. I was almost immediately told that I was not approved for financing, which is fine, but then I received a call later that day letting me know that someone had placed a hold on the car that I wanted. I explained that isn’t possible, because it was on hold for me. The representative said there was no record of that vehicle being placed on hold under my name, so I have no idea where that $500 went.

It took me several phone calls (and unanswered emails) to get any information on when I would receive my refund. It’s been four days now and still don’t have my money back. Customer support is not good, and the company is disorganized. Do not recommend trusting your money with this company.

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

Yes, they do honor the return policy, but it is a real pain in the butt. Not worth the gamble.

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

I was worried about buying a car with Vroom after reading all the negative reviews, but I had a very good experience with them. The only problem that I had was with delivery. The car arrived a day later than promised and we ended up wasting an entire day waiting for the car. I had no other troubles and ended up with a great little car and a great price for my son. We did not have a car to trade in, and I understood up front that the process would be slow as compared to a local dealer. But I never had to deal with a dealer or high pressure sells. Everybody I spoke with was very friendly and helpful and emails were answered promptly. I also received my tag in the time promised.

I would buy a car from them again and also recommend them to others.

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

The experience was awful from start to finish. I sold a car to them and also purchased a used 2017 Ford Explorer.

The process of selling my car seemed excellent at first. The submission and offer process was terrific. However, executing the offer turned out to be a nightmare.

As the sale of my vehicle was used towards the purchase of the new vehicle, Vroom was responsible for making the payment to my bank. They told me this would occur as soon as they picked up the car from me. After approximately 30 days with no communication regarding the pickup, I reached out to them to request an update as I had already made another payment on the loan. It seemed as if they had "forgot" to schedule the pickup and told me someone would reach out shortly.

I received a call a few days later from a towing company who then showed up at my house a couple days later. He put my car on his flatbed and just drove away. No paperwork for me to prove to whom I just gave my car to. Talk about a leap of faith! The payment on my existing loan didn't occur for about another week by when I had to make ANOTHER payment on that loan to avoid late fees. So here I am, almost 60 days out from the purchase of a car through Vroom, and I still am waiting for the bank to refund me the almost $1000 I was out while waiting for Vroom to pick up the vehicle.

Back to the purchasing of the vehicle. The delivery of the vehicle was scheduled about one week after the online purchase. I had to meet the driver at a local Walmart to receive the vehicle. It came off the truck very dirty, both inside and out, and was also almost completely out of gas. Not a good first impression.

Due to severe winter weather in my area, I was not able to get the car inspected within the 7-day give-back period. By the time I was able to do so, there were many physical defects present on the vehicle that were not disclosed to me as part of the sale. There was damage to tailgate which was obviously repaired as demonstrated by the T-SHIRT SECURED WITH DUCK TAPE around the rear windshield wiper mechanism. There was also significant damage around the doors due to an apparent break-in attempt and scrubbing during refurbishing.

I reported these issues to Vroom and was told since I was outside the give-back window they were no longer liable. They offered me $500 due to "inconvenience" when three different certified body shops quoted the repairs over $2000.

Another issue is registration. I received the vehicle with a temporary vehicle registration that was good for 60 days. Here I am, with that temporary tag set to expire in five days, and I have still not received any registration paperwork from Vroom. This has prevented me from properly registering my vehicle with my state DMV and also is preventing me from having the necessary state inspection and emission tests required to make the car road-legal. Despite many phone calls and emails requesting follow up, I am no closer to receiving these documents than the day I signed the paperwork.

I know the idea of using an online dealership like Vroom seems enticing as the local dealership experience can be downright frustrating for some people. However, please take my experience as evidence that, at least for this online dealer, it is still better to deal with a local business than it is to deal with a company thousands of miles away that won't stand behind their product and services.

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