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Carvana tests consumers' appetite for used-car 'vending machine'
If you're fed up with haggling at your local used-car dealership - so much so that you'd rather not talk to anybody when you're buying your next ride - then Carvana could be for you. It's a used-car dealership (more like a used-car vending machine), and the buying process is completed online. Carvana then gives you the choice to pick up the car yourself or have it delivered to your home. No verbal communication required.
Carvana inspects vehicles for damage, takes numerous pictures of them for a seamless 360-degree interactive image and then advertises the vehicles on its website. Vehicle features and any damage are listed and tagged on the 360-degree picture, so prospective buyers can spin the car around and inspect cars themselves from the comfort of their homes. An Experian AutoCheck report is included with every vehicle. The company says that it doesn't buy any cars with frame damage or that have been in accidents.
Vehicles are sold at a no-haggle price, but company president Ernie Garcia says that cars advertised on Carvana are about $1,500 cheaper on average than what traditional dealerships can offer, Fox News reports. That isn't surprising considering the savings the dealership realizes with no sales staff.
The only Carvana location at the moment is in Atlanta, but the company intends to expand. Local delivery within a 75-mile radius of the Atlanta dealership is free, according to Fox News, while buyers can expect to pay $199 for deliveries up to 250 miles and up to $1,000 for a shipment to the west coast. Vehicles come with a 100-day warranty, and if buyers aren't satisfied with the car within a week of the purchase date, they're guaranteed their money back.
sales people have never added to my car buying experience, im on board with this idea if it offers more savings. However, how would you do a test drive? Buying a car, especially a used car, without test driving it is sorta crazy in my books.
sales people have never added to my car buying experience, im on board with this idea if it offers more savings. However, how would you do a test drive? Buying a car, especially a used car, without test driving it is sorta crazy in my books.
Their website says they will deliver you a car to test drive and if you don't like it, you don't have to sign.
My biggest concern with buying a used car is the history. I don't care about history reports like CarFax, I want to know how and why Caravana ended up with that particular car. Do they take trade-ins? Do they buy at auction? Are they purchased as returns from leasing companies? Where do they get their cars?
Here is the Carvana facility in Nashville TN. Its located right on I65 about 4 miles south of downtown, which is the interstate that that goes to the suburbs where all the rich people in Nashville live.
I figured it was just a normal used car dealer with a funky building they used for advertising/promotion. Didn't know it was kind of a new online way of buying a car. If I showed up at their glass tower, wanting a test drive and to buy a car in person, if they'd do that or make me do it online?
sales people have never added to my car buying experience, im on board with this idea if it offers more savings. However, how would you do a test drive? Buying a car, especially a used car, without test driving it is sorta crazy in my books.
I agree. Since I'm a car nut, I always know more than the salesperson. But I also agree that going without a test drive is foolish.
Looks to me like just another Car Max competitor, though with maybe a few more things done on-line. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, since I generally have a rather high opinion of Car Max. Stlll, though, don't kid yourself...those used cars, though a lot better then the traditional used-car junk, aren't always as pristine or as well-inspected as they would suggest from the ads, and, of course, they get intense competition today from the CPO vehicles at new-car-dealerships. And, to be honest, CPO's aren't always as well-inspected as the ads and official check-lists would suggest, but all of these options are better than Smiling Sam's traditional Used-Car Stealership down the street.
Looks to me like just another Car Max competitor, though with maybe a few more things done on-line. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, since I generally have a rather high opinion of Car Max. Stlll, though, don't kid yourself...those used cars, though a lot better then the traditional used-car junk, aren't always as pristine or as well-inspected as they would suggest from the ads, and, of course, they get intense competition today from the CPO vehicles at new-car-dealerships. And, to be honest, CPO's aren't always as well-inspected as the ads and official check-lists would suggest, but all of these options are better than Smiling Sam's traditional Used-Car Stealership down the street.
Which is why I try to avoid the dealership and just buy my cars private party. You can get a real good feel for the car and how it was taken care of just by talking to the owner for 5 minutes while you look over the car. I try to meet people at their house, generally if their house is well kept, clean, nice yard, they're pretty **** about how they keep their car as well.
Used cars are a gamble wherever they come from. Even if legitimately 'well inspected' it could still be a few miles from failure. Plus there's a reason there's way more profit in used cars than new.
my sister used it - best car buying experience ever - I don't think she's picky about her car's condition, like if there was any unmentioned scratches or anything - she traded in a older Ford Escape with tranny issues for a used Kia Soul (with remaining OEM warranty) --- and she loves it.
I have been on their site off and on, they don't have a very big inventory and their vehicles are a couple thousand dollars higher then similar mileage year cars I have seen so I lost interest. I never tried to throw them a offer though, not sure if they will really deal much.
12-14-13 | 02:00 PM
Carvana internet car buying and 'vending machine'
