Anyone out there buy a car from Carvana? Good experience or bad?

Submitted by fobreezee t3_11ac9xm in Pennsylvania

Just wondering if anyone out there has ever bought a car off Carvana. I see they had some issues with titling in PA and just wondering if your experience was good or bad? Also, when did you purchase your vehicle? It seems they didn't have a lot of problems until recently?

Anyway if they have a must have deal and you had to buy from them again, is there anything we can do as customers to help or make sure the situation doesn't get out of control? Thanks for any help!

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HomicidalHushPuppy t1_j9r5dly wrote

The titling issues are a nation-wide problem. There's a YouTube channel called "Lehto's Law," where a Michigan-based lawyer goes over the legal issues of cases that make the news, and he covers Carvana issues fairly frequently. Usually issues with titling resulting in Attorneys General getting involved.

Carvana has also had some financial issues lately. The risk of the company falling apart would scare me away, as you wouldn't necessarily have anyone to go after if you had issues.

Don't know which Carvana you're looking at, but the one in Bridgeville, PA (Pittsburgh suburb) got suspended by the state back in Nov. '22.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9rb7ew wrote

Yea that’s the location. They were suspended from issuing plates but I’m not sure what that means because they continued to sell cars and I haven’t seen any more news about them since November in PA, so hoping the issues are possibly resolved. Yea them going under I don’t have a clue what to expect from that.

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yeags86 t1_j9rldpw wrote

It’s probably reasonable to suspect that a car dealership that can’t issue plates has problems a lot bigger than that going on behind it. I wouldn’t trust that branch or any other knowing that.

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vodkaismywater t1_j9rb6ob wrote

I bought one from them in Philly during the first summer of the pandemic. The process was great, customer service was super helpful, and overall much better than a dealership. We also used our own bank for financing because the rates were way better, but nobody from carvana tried to push us into their financing.

Buuuuuuut all that being said, we also had our permanent license plate super delayed (Well last the date of the temp). Carvana blamed it it on the state which made sense, back in 2020 it felt like the world was falling apart. But in hindsight, we were one of the many many people who didn't have their titles processed by carvana in time.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9rczko wrote

So what happened? Could you renew the temporary plate or did you have to “park your car”? If not, how did you prevent that?

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vodkaismywater t1_j9revde wrote

Lol it's Philly. I drove it on the expired temp until the permanent one came. Wouldn't recommend this outside the city though!

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fobreezee OP t1_j9rhe9t wrote

How long did you have to drive on a temporary plate and did you try to renew it?

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xAsroilu t1_j9rf7wp wrote

My brother tried to buy a car from them and every car he started the process of buying someone "bought" out from under him. Additionally, ever discount or interest rate he was approved for would constantly change and would keep up getting denied after he started paperwork for the one he managed to get ahold of. They will give you the run around on everything, they told him he'd need a set amount of money as a down payment which he had and then suddenly it wasnt enough.

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_SundaeDriver t1_j9s1d2r wrote

Are they still a thing? I thought they went bankrupt

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FuelSupplyIsEmpty t1_j9t8tkl wrote

They lost $500 million last quarter. Some analysts predict they will be forced to declare bankruptcy in 2023.

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aust_b t1_j9s46lm wrote

Car lots inventory levels are beginning to return to normal with price reductions. You will get a better price and most likely better service going that route now. 2 years ago and needed a car fast, carvana was the way. Now? You might not get a title from them lol.

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DesignSilver1274 t1_j9rbs52 wrote

I bought a very nice Audi A6 sedan from them in 2018. Very good transaction and the car was exactly as advertised (and a dream to drive). No problems whatsoever back then.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9riago wrote

Thanks! I hope it’s still going smoothly… it seems all these problems are more recent. Did you know anyone else that had and experience with them and if it was good or bad?

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Left-Occasion-8445 t1_j9sqqcz wrote

I bought a Mustang from them in July 2020. I love it. I had the same problem with the plates, but CS was awesome. I had a temp plate for a few months before I got my new one. They had to renew it once. They overnighted it and sent me a refund for my registration fee. I’d buy from them again with no hesitation. but I want the Mach-E and the rebate that comes with it so I’m buying new.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9tyjoy wrote

Thanks! Who is CS? What was the reason the plates were delayed? Could they have continued to renew if necessary?

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Left-Occasion-8445 t1_j9vo3jj wrote

Customer service :) They said someone made an error somewhere along the line and they did say they could renew it. My neighbor also bought a car from them and he had no issues at all. Have you tried calling them just to ask what they’ll do in that situation? It might help put your mind at ease before you buy.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9xb5nr wrote

>Have you tried calling them just to ask what they’ll do in that situation? It might help put your mind at ease before you buy.

Yea I think I did, but sometimes CS just makes stuff up at some companies lol. So yea, I just wanted to hear from real people. It seems like your situation was pretty good. I was thinking about asking them for a website that I can check the status. It just will really mess me up if I have to park the car for some reason, so hope that doesn't happen. I see some people on the news talk about having to park their car, so that's why I was concerned. Hopefully that's a rare issue and there's ways to work around it. Really glad you had a good experience. Hope mine iss too. Thanks for sharing!

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michaelscarn1313 t1_j9thejo wrote

I bought a Hyundai Santa Fe in 2021 and the process was easy and smooth. We bought the extra warranty thank god because the engine was defective. They tried to fix it a few times and they ended up buying back the car and selling us a new one. Honestly it was a pain but the customer service was very good.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9tz2fq wrote

Did you return it within the first 7 days or is it because you had their warranty that they somehow bought it back from you? Thanks for sharing!

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michaelscarn1313 t1_j9ukef5 wrote

We retuned it through the warranty - we had owned the car for a few months at that point.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9uovld wrote

>We retuned it through the warranty - we had owned the car for a few months at that point.

Gees, that sounds like Blackrock is a good warranty company! Glad everything went well. Is there specific wording in the contract for "returning" a vehicle? Did you have the full blown warranty that covers everything or the basic one? I wonder if it's in the contract or if it was just and exception they made. Did you have to complain a lot to get them to take it back?

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michaelscarn1313 t1_j9wb4vm wrote

Looking at your post history it’s obvious you work for some sort of company in the auto industry and are gathering market intel. Appreciate the hustle. Have a good one

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fobreezee OP t1_j9xad5w wrote

Not at all. I'm just on the market for a car actually and read a lot of horror stories, so just trying to see if anyone has anything to share.

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Torvold55 t1_j9u10o0 wrote

I purchased of vehicle just a few months into the lockdown and carvana was a true Joy to work with. When that vehicle was destroyed in a hit and run, I made the mistake of shopping locally at major car dealers. The experience was decidedly more painful dealing with a dealership.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9ugyow wrote

Yea I agree their process is pretty great! I’m a little worried about the title issues and what to do if something happens! I’m kind of wondering if the consumer is really protected as you see people on the news complaining they had to park their car! As long as I’m confident of that it seems like no reason, but I’ve yet to come up with a foolproof plan if they don’t send the title for some crazy reason. Not so sure they had those issues back when you bought it though. Thanks for replying

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danhauber609 t1_j9vd2wo wrote

Good. Better than expected actually. One word, their money back guarantee (if they’re still doing that) is just a credit toward another car.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9xb9rf wrote

>Good. Better than expected actually. One word, their money back guarantee (if they’re still doing that) is just a credit toward another car.

So do you mean you can't get your trade back or you can't get actual money back?

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