re: Carvana is the greatest automotive invention

quote:

---

And you get to skip the crooked finance guy

---

I demand one thing, an old fashioned pen and paper sign in a couple places and initial in a few

I refuse to go sit in that room and say no 43 times

I bought a car from Carvana still (barely) under full warranty and brought it a dealership to inspect. No issues then or years later.

It was same price as similar car at a dealership but we liked trim and color more on this one. Great experience.

I sold cars for a while. Best thing to do is sell your car to Carvana and use it as a down payment at the dealership. Carvana and Carmax's prices for purchasing cars are jacked up and non-negotiable.

Anybody with a nice down payment and about a five minute session of asking Gemini or ChatGPT "what's the best way to negotiate the price down at a dealership" could do better at a dealership.

But just be careful once you get into the finance manager's office and the finance manager tries to do his extended warranty voodoo on you.

Also tell the dealership that you'll pay the ad valorum tax on the vehicle and avoid any more voodoo.

BUT, whatever you do, don't ever trade in a car at a dealership. This is when you lose all your levearge.

quote:

---

BUT, whatever you do, don't ever trade in a car at a dealership. This is when you lose all your levearge.

---

There are tax advantages in doing this, at least in Louisiana/Mississippi. I bought a ~$45k Model Y at a Tesla "dealership" and traded in a car worth ~$15k. I only had to pay taxes on $30k worth of new car ($45k-15k). I probably could have made an extra few thousand selling my care privately, but it wouldn't have been worth the time/drama.

Also, similar to people's stories dealing with Carvana, Tesla doesn't really investigate the condition of the trade-in. In fact, they didn't even put eyes on my car. The Civic that I traded in had a busted AC (~$2k to fix). When I chose to trade the car in on the Tesla website, it didn't really ask for any details like that, only general condition + mileage.

We've bought three vehicles from Carvana, and only one wound up having an issue down the road.

I think consideration of the situation you're in also matters. Our most recent one was bought 1 year old with almost 20k miles. A trusted mechanic willing to do a full post-purchase inspection also matters tremendously.

We are also WFH, so really only do local travel with bringing kids to places. Having the bumper-to-bumper while getting the mileage discount on purchase was nice. We did burn that with the 3 years before we got to the 36k miles, so now we're turning that in our favor.

Carvana has been easy for us, though I understand it isn't for everyone.

quote:

---

We just watched a car levitate, drive and fly upside down, and then do 0-60 in .8 seconds, but Carvana is the greatest automobile invention of the century?

---

An obvious stunt car that will never be released as shown or cutting scumbag dealers out of the buying process... hmm... I think I'll take Carvana.

quote:

---

Carvana has been easy for us, though I understand it isn't for everyone.

---

I'm sure it has been. I've never bought from Carmax or Carvana. However, my limited experience with Carmax is the cars are significantly overpriced and the trade in was a low ball number.

I think it's funny when people say they like the "no haggle" model better than the dealership while ignoring the fact that the dealerships will gladly offer you a no haggle experience as well.

After reading this thread I'll consider trading in a car to Carvanna the next time I'm selling a vehicle.

If you are buying new you can easily buy from the dealers website. Can order a new ford f150 online with delivery if you would like with all the financing done online.

quote:

---

I sold cars for a while.

---

quote:

---

BUT, whatever you do, don't ever trade in a car at a dealership.

---

must not have been very good. Always come in with a competing offer at minimum, but trading in your car while purchasing another one drops the taxes owed if you get a fair offer

Never had an issue trading in at a dealer, but I always have an offer from carmax or carvana prior to walking in. Bought a new Toyota this past summer, very happy with the car, options, and price. Then we talked about the trade-in. They offered very low and I showed them the carvana offer. To be fair, when I got the carvana internet offer I laughed myself but said f-it let’s go. Salesmanbasicslly said no way we can get there but he took the offer to the manager and they met me close enough to where it wasn’t worth the hassle and I got to walk out then and there.