carvana black friday purchase.

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I spent this past black friday contacting a few local dealers to see what they would give me for my 2011 Sonata with 90k miles on it.

Received two online trade offers, $2500 and $2800 respectively.

Received one in person trade offer for $3000.

Carvana has been around here for a couple years now, I always noticed their car vending machine.

I got an online trade appraisal from them. Came in at $6000.

They were also running a promotion for $1000 cash rebate off any car purchase for black friday.

Spent a few hours on the website and placed an order for a 2016 Ford Escape S from New Mexico with 25k miles for $14,500.

I wanted one with the non direct injected engine, and thats what I got. 2.5L with standard six speed auto and fwd.

Pretty happy with the transaction, very smooth. Car arrived in San Antonio in two days. Car was as advertised. The delivery from the vending machine was pretty neat.

The customer service guy didn't really review my trade vehicle, simply parked it in the back.

He did note one thing they missed on the Escape in the inspection, a ripped leather shifter boot trim piece. He assisted me with setting an appointment up with the Ford Dealer to get it replaced under their warranty.

Car came with a 150 point inspection, and it checked out with the Ford Dealer. They failed the car for Tires and wipers, so they installed a set of National Duration All Season tires, and new wipers before delivery. Never heard of that brand of tire, but they are a large tire dealer that caters to dealers so that makes sense. 600 Treadwear tires, not bad.

Car drives great, found two problems, smells a little bit like a wet dog, so I extracted the upholstery and replaced the cabin air filter, thats all set. One crack on a hub cap, I will replace with a salvage yard hubcap.

Other than that a pretty good deal. Carvana advised me that Texas law does not allow them to offer coupons on car purchases, so they will cut me a check for $1000 30 days after purchase and in other states they just discount the price of the car.

We have a little loan on this car, and will pay it off within a year and buy another vehicle from them if they run a similar deal next year.

The image uploader is not working on my chromebook so no photos for now!
 
Overall it sounds like you had a good transaction. I would be a bit frustrated with the damaged parts on the car that were not disclosed before hand though. At least they are taking care of the shift boot.
 
Congrats on your purchase. I am a little old fashioned and am skeptical of buying a car without seeing it in person. Sounds like the transaction worked well
for you.
cheers3.gif
 
Originally Posted by gregk24
Overall it sounds like you had a good transaction. I would be a bit frustrated with the damaged parts on the car that were not disclosed before hand though. At least they are taking care of the shift boot.


Yeah I gave them a pass, I did not notice the shift boot rip unless they pointed it out.

A crack on a hub cap could just be getting it off a transport vehicle, or damaged at the tire shop.
 
sounds like the OP had a good experience and found the right car. As a former guy from the 'car business' I always want to stress that a trade allowance is simply the combination of what your car is worth (wholesale, to the dealer) plus the discount off the car you're buying.

Your trade will be worth a similar amount to most dealers...the difference is in how much markup is on the car you're looking at. The key number is the difference between their car and yours. If their 2016 Escape was priced at $25K and they gave you $15K on trade, is that a great deal? No, it's a diff of $10K.

You traded for a diff of $8500 - the $1K check = $7500. So while you may be able to compare 'trade allowances' when shopping for the exact same model and price of new car, you can't use this strategy when shopping used.

I am curious about the viability of Carvana's business model...big risk to bid cars sight unseen...if your Sonata had motor or tranny probs then Carvana loses, big.
 
Great review. I have been curious to see how that process works. Seems like it was very easy. Good luck with the new vehicle!
 
Had a similar experience selling a car to CarMax.
Mom wanted a new car and the dealership offered $2500 trade-in for her 2014 Accent with 35k miles.
I completed the CarMax online appraisal for the Accent and they offered $6000.
A quick trip to CarMax including a thorough inspection when we got there and they honored the $6000 sale price.
Mom walked out with a check and I got points for being the good son and saving her $3500.
 
I am willing to bet they look over the cars pretty good once they get them in their possession. The rejects go to auction, the good ones go to carvana.
 
I just bought a 2015 Escape S with the 2.5 a few months back. I think you will be happy. I bought mine for my work commute and My Jeep hasn't moved much since.
 
Sounds like you did very well on both ends of the transaction.

You picked up your Escape from one of their vending machines?

A few months back I got a trade-in value online for our 2016 Nissan Quest from Carvana. It was a bit more than I ultimately got from a local mega chain. I'm sure Carvana's inspection and reconditioning process is better than most dealers. The dealer chain I tend to deal with can be horrible in this regard, but I tend to get the numbers to work out best with them.
 
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