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Using Carvana to Trade-In, thoughts?

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First off thank you so much for posting about Carvana. I would have never thought to look to them.

I got a quote from Carmax for 18k. Carvana and vroom both came back with 17.8k. If nothing changes from now until (hopefully) delivery time next Tuesday (28th) I’ll go with Carvana. Seems like a lot less hassle for $200. I will have to do another quote. Hoping I get the same or better when it comes time to pull the trigger.
Thanks again.
 
I started with Carvana. I entered my car information via their website and got a prompt quote. It seemed low so I went to KBB and got a quote for $1.5K more than Carvana. Then I looked on Craig’s List, saw what others in my area were asking for the same car, knocked $1K off the price of the most similar car and sold mine a week later for $2K more than KBB. Craig’s List is a bit of a pain, but I got $3.5K more than when I started.

I'm glad you had a smooth and positive experience selling 3rd party. Consider yourself lucky!
First off thank you so much for posting about Carvana. I would have never thought to look to them.

I got a quote from Carmax for 18k. Carvana and vroom both came back with 17.8k. If nothing changes from now until (hopefully) delivery time next Tuesday (28th) I’ll go with Carvana. Seems like a lot less hassle for $200. I will have to do another quote. Hoping I get the same or better when it comes time to pull the trigger.
Thanks again.

Don't short yourself with Carvana but saying interior and/or exterior is in "good" condition. Unless there are major issues or damage, give yourself more credit and say it's above average. In my case the interior was "like new" and I probably could have gotten more for it in hindsight. Since they don't appraise it in person you have more flexibility on these things. Be honest but always grade things one step higher vs. one step lower if it's on the fence. You will get more for it and they barely looked at my car when they came to pick it up.
 
So what all did they do when they picked it up? Did they inspect it, drive it, etc? I’m curious how quickly they pay things off.

And yea, mine has gone up $2k in just a couple weeks, but I also know newer, low mileage, luxury cars are selling really high on the used car market. I’m getting almost $31k for mine when Tesla offered me $24k. I know Tesla isn’t a used car dealer, but it was stupid low.

So for my pickup it was:

1. Person pulls up, drops ramp on truck
2. She hands me docs to sign, where to sign etc.
3. She walked around my vehicle, cursory look
4. No drive around - Sat in it a few minutes - then drove it straight on the truck
5. I had title in hand, so I was handed a check on the spot

My DD was a 2013 Toyota Avalon limited in “very good shape”, with 85k miles on it. No issues a detailer, and good wash and wax could not fix.

My experience was virtually the same. She parked, took some pictures, looked inside, took a pic of the odometer. I signed some papers, handed her the keys, she pressed a button on her iPad, I got an immediate email stating payment processed, and the she drove off up the street and back. Then right up to her flat bed. The next day, the money was in my account. Unbelievably easy!
 
Carvanna just offered me 37,900 for my 2019 SR+ w/ 11,000 miles. Prior to that my 2013 Rav4 with 70k miles netted me $15,600 Last year. The process was easy and if you have the pink slip you are handed a check on the spot.

Yes I recommend Carvana.
 
Thanks OP for starting this thread as I was not aware of this service. I have a couple of questions, will they buy even if you have a loan? Or the title needs to be in your name?

I have a 2 year old Audi Q7 and want to sell it before the warranty expires in 2 years and most likely get into a MY.
 
Nice to see the prices going back up. I was going to sell Private Party because of the low offers last month, but now things are turning around enough where I don't want to hassle with a PP sale and would rather they come and get my car.
 
Thanks OP for starting this thread as I was not aware of this service. I have a couple of questions, will they buy even if you have a loan? Or the title needs to be in your name?

I have a 2 year old Audi Q7 and want to sell it before the warranty expires in 2 years and most likely get into a MY.

Yep. I have a loan on mine from BMW and they're handling it all in the background. I had to send them payoff information on it and my account info. Upon pickup, they'll give me a check sense the quote is more than I owe, then they'll mail a check to BMW who I'm financing from. Sounds smooth enough, but we'll see.
 
I sold my Audi S4 to Carvana last month. I’ve used Carmax in the past and it’s also pretty painless. For me it’s a 30 minute drive to the nearest Carmax so having Carvana come pick up in my driveway was hard to beat. It’s ridiculously easy and fast. I think it took 15 minutes total for the guy to have me sign documents, check out the car and pull it on the flatbed. I got a very competitive price too. I’ll definitely use them again.
 
So similar to others who got a follow up quote from Vroom for an additional $500 after a few days, I just got that and it puts them ahead of of Carvana by a couple hundred. Is the experience with Vroom similar to Carvana as far as getting it picked up and stuff?
Just sold my 2017 Bolt to Vroom...
Once you accept their offer, they email you a FedEx label so you can send your title to them. You get another email that links to DocuSign where you electronically sign the contract. Once they have the Title (pre-paid FedEx One Day to Texas) they arrange pickup at your location. They look at the car, take a photo of the odometer and give you a receipt (Bill of Lading) for the pickup. You email a photo of the Bill of Lading to Vroom and you get a check in 2-3 days. Not quite as simple as Carvana, but for $3K more than Carvana offered I can deal with waiting 2-3 days for my payment.
 
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Just sold my 2017 Bolt to Vroom...
Once you accept their offer, they email you a FedEx label so you can send your title to them. You get another email that links to DocuSign where you electronically sign the contract. Once they have the Title (pre-paid FedEx One Day to Texas) they arrange pickup at your location. They look at the car, take a photo of the odometer and give you a receipt (Bill of Lading) for the pickup. You email a photo of the Bill of Lading to Vroom and you get a check in 2-3 days. Not quite as simple as Carvana, but for $3K more than Carvana offered I can deal with waiting 2-3 days for my payment.
Did you get paid yet? I went with Carvana because i didn’t feel comfortable sending my car away and waiting 2-3 days for a check.
 
Had vroom 100 bucks more then carvana on 10k trade. Carvana good for 7 days 1k miles, vroom 2 days 250 miles.
Vroom want to send them title,then wait few days to pick car and few more to be paid. Carvana come next day, pay same day. Was it worth $100? For me, yes.
 
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If it had been a matter of a couple hundred bucks, I would have went with Carvana because of their quicker process and payments. But in my case, Vroom offered $19,400 and Carvana offered $16,300... a $3,000 difference! I can deal with Vroom's more time consuming process for $3K extra :)
 
Not sure if you're still looking, but I just traded in my M3 to Carvana last week while I wait to take delivery of MY. We have very similar specs, both 29k miles. They offered me 2k more than Tesla, 1k more than Carmax and they came and got the car which was a huge saving as I am almost 2 hours from the closest Carmax/Carvana. Would have done private sale but I live in a super small town with only 1 other Tesla so figured it would take quite a long time to get it sold.
Overall such a good experience. They gave me a quote and came 10 days later to get the car no questions asked, all I had to do was sign paperwork. The only issues that I had were that they require you to get all paper work to them and APPROVED by them within the 7 day window. This proved to be difficult and I had to call them to push the paperwork through because no one reviewed it. Also, had to reach out to Tesla to provide a "window sticker" showing my specs. Only other issue was they didn't tell me I only had 1000 miles to drive or it had to be reappraised. Luckily I was only around 900 :)
Overall, really happy with how it worked out.
 
Not sure if you're still looking, but I just traded in my M3 to Carvana last week while I wait to take delivery of MY. We have very similar specs, both 29k miles. They offered me 2k more than Tesla, 1k more than Carmax and they came and got the car which was a huge saving as I am almost 2 hours from the closest Carmax/Carvana. Would have done private sale but I live in a super small town with only 1 other Tesla so figured it would take quite a long time to get it sold.
Overall such a good experience. They gave me a quote and came 10 days later to get the car no questions asked, all I had to do was sign paperwork. The only issues that I had were that they require you to get all paper work to them and APPROVED by them within the 7 day window. This proved to be difficult and I had to call them to push the paperwork through because no one reviewed it. Also, had to reach out to Tesla to provide a "window sticker" showing my specs. Only other issue was they didn't tell me I only had 1000 miles to drive or it had to be reappraised. Luckily I was only around 900 :)
Overall, really happy with how it worked out.

dont you have to trade it in to Tesla to get the tax benefit?
 
Does anyone have experience with Carvana when you still have time left on a loan? So the bank has to be removed from the title once paid off.



dont you have to trade it in to Tesla to get the tax benefit?
Yes, it needs to be at a dealership. You are trading a car for a car and rolling the equity into the new car, not getting a check. So since you paid sales tax on the full price of the old car, you get left over tax as a credit against another car.
 
I wanted to trade in my 2018 Mercedes C300 4Matic

Tesla Trade in 20,990
Carmax offered 23,000
Carvana offered 26,000

I went with Carvana as well.

Phone was spazzing out when I took the picture.
IMG_3905.png
 
Selling my 10-year old Toyota Prius (with almost 175K miles). Carmax offered $3,500 but Vroom offered $3,775 (Carvana was below $3K). Do you all think the extra $225 is worth the hassle of selling to Vroom, or should I just go with Carmax?
As someone who just sold to Vroom... no, it's not worth going with them for $225 more. Go with Carmax and get paid on the spot.