How dependable is Carvana's offer to buy?

[SkyDog]

I have a Model Y on order, and I listed my current car as a trade-in when putting in my order with Tesla.

Now I see that Carvana is offering me $11,800 for my current car - about $4,000 more than Tesla's offer. (I'm amazed at how much I can get for a 10 yr old car.)

I've never sold a car through Carvana, Carmax, etc before - how dependable is their offer? I've read that if you trade-in with Tesla, they barely look at the car and will take it no questions asked. Is Carvana the same, or could they look at my car and say "Nah, we'll only give you $5,000 for that"? I was honest when filling out the info on Carvana, but they don't really ask for a lot of information, and I'm sure that an auto mechanic could find things wrong if they looked, and it has it's fair share of minor scrapes, dings and scratches.

 

[MatildaModelY]

Very dependable. With that said, try listing on fb marketplace and you can probably do even better.

 

[patnshan]

Very. I sold my BMW to them. It literally too 5 min for them to "inspect" and put it on the trailer. Easy peasy.

 

[eCharcoal]

We also sold our car to Carvana this June and for a pretty good price. Very easy.

The guy came to our house with the paperwork with his personal car. He only looked at the mileage and didn’t really inspect the car. He said they’re so busy that they need to outsource the towing and my car would be picked up later in the day or overnight. After I signed all the paper, he asked me to park the car on the street, with the keys in the center console, with the doors unlocked, so the tow truck driver can access it. I said that’s silly what if the car is stolen. He said it’s gonna be on them anyway because I’ve already signed and money is already being transferred. The car was picked up at 11ish at night.

 

[zpaul]

Sold last 2 cars to Carvana.
Best process ever. Gave them vin, pic of speedo, and that was it.
Scheduled pick up, they showed up, took the car, next day cash was in my bank.

Carvana gave me more money than Tesla.

 

[Clark_Kent]

Sold a Prius Prime last year to CarMax. They appraised my car, I dropped it off 7 days later and they cut me a check. It was super easy and legit.

 

[tomagucci]

It's pretty much rock solid.

 

[NY_Rob]

Sold my 2021 MY to Carvana last month... being that it was a high $$ car, they required extra photos, a photo of the window sticker and photo of the title and lien release letter. A few extra hurdles, but they never changed the offer and the flatbed driver gave me the check before even looking over the car (which was pretty much a 60 second walk-around).

 

[NY_Rob]

Did you try Vroom?

When I sold my 2017 Bolt their offer was $3K higher than anyone else. I sold it to them....

 

[MatildaModelY]

Carvana offered $9,100 for my dad's used 2012 Prius - he ended up selling it on FB marketplace in about 1 hour to someone for $14k.

 

[Corndart]

Try Carmax, Vroom and Carvana. Its super easy - enter VIN, answer a few questions, you'll have an instant offer. For me, Carmax was substantially higher than Carvana or Vroom (thousands higher).

 

[MyJoule]

Last week I got 3 quotes on my 2014 S- Carvana, Carmax and Shift. They were all similar with Shift having the highest offer, so we went with them. Painless process, took about an hour for the guy to walk the car and fill out all the paperwork. Their offer could have been reduced upon inspection but wasn't Carmax inspected before their offer was given to us, and Carvana wanted my bank info before they'd schedule an inspection. If Shift's deal would have fallen through we probably would have gone with Carmax as it' was only $100 less than Carvana and their facility is close by.

 

[LoudMusic]

My F-I-L sold a car to them for about $3000 more than the other offers he was getting. It just seems too easy to not use them.

 

[thinktwice]

I've sold 5 cars to Carvana over the past couple years. In my experience they've always offered the most compared to their competitors and dealerships. Super easy process too. They come pick up my car, inspect it for about 5 min, have me sign something, then hand me a check, or more recently, direct deposit into one of my checking accounts. Funds show in my account a few days later.

 

[Chisale]

We sold my wife's car to Carvana and they gave us exactly what they quoted. The Carvana rep drove it around the block, about a 2 min trip and that satisfied him. It was $4000 over the dealer offer. $9500 vs $5500

 

[maximus96]

I sold to Vroom and Carvana in the past year. Carvana was the easier route.

With Vroom, you have to overnight the title to them, they send a flatbed to take your car, then deposit the money into your bank the next day.

With Carvana, a rep comes, glances at the car, takes the key and title, and hands you a check on the spot. A flatbed show up couple of days later to drive it away.

Sending off the title and then watch them drive the car away with nothing in hand was a bit scary but it all worked out in the end with Vroom. Carvana is just a much smoother and easier process.

 

[Alan_F]

I've sold 4 cars in the past few years through Carvana. No issues with any of them. The process changed a bit from pre-COVID to peak COVID to now, but in each case there was no change from the promised price and they drove or towed away the car after a brief function check.

 

[SkyDog]

It almost sounds too good to be true . I realize that cars are in demand now, but still surprised at what I can get for my old car.

I currently have my old car listed as a trade-in on the purchase of my Model Y. I'm thinking I should leave that as is, so that I don't trigger anything that might delay my estimated delivery date (January?). Once I have a firm delivery date, I can then say that I'm not trading in and will pay the full price. That should be okay, right?

 

[thinktwice]

I have a Model Y on order, and I listed my current car as a trade-in when putting in my order with Tesla.

Now I see that Carvana is offering me $11,800 for my current car - about $4,000 more than Tesla's offer. (I'm amazed at how much I can get for a 10 yr old car.)

I've never sold a car through Carvana, Carmax, etc before - how dependable is their offer? I've read that if you trade-in with Tesla, they barely look at the car and will take it no questions asked. Is Carvana the same, or could they look at my car and say "Nah, we'll only give you $5,000 for that"? I was honest when filling out the info on Carvana, but they don't really ask for a lot of information, and I'm sure that an auto mechanic could find things wrong if they looked, and it has it's fair share of minor scrapes, dings and scratches.

Carvana barely looked at any of the cars I've sold them. They basically give it a quick walk around, drive it around the block, and check the odometer. As long as it runs and has no noticeable damage, they will pay you exactly what they quoted on the website. I've even had small dings and scratches that I failed to mention when inputing details for the quote, but nothing at all said they still paid me the full amount.

 

[PNWLeccy]

When do you guys remove the car from your car insurance when trading in with Carvana/Vroom? Do you remove it as soon as they pick it up or when the money hits your account?