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My wife had a 2021 Honda CRV that she bought for commuting to her office, but her job went remote and isnt going back, so she decided she was tired of paying $300/mo. for her mom mobile to sit in the driveway. While she still needs a car, our son is now 6 and can climb in and out of the car, buckle his seatbelt himself, etc. and the SUV is just no longer needed. Can't say we were real impressed with the CRV's quality either....I have never seen so much dirt gather up in all the door sills, around the gas cap, etc. I don't know if it's a known problem with the seals on the door or what, but it was significant. It also has an A/C and heating system that's controlled by the touch screen, which she dealt with, but to me is completely stupid. Push 4 buttons to perform the function of one dial? Pass. So began the quest for a new grocery getter.
She had previously owned a 2016 VW Beetle and loved the look and the handling. Found a seemingly nice 2018 Beetle on Carvana, and they offered $29,500 for the CRV she had paid $25K for 2 years ago. This would also save around $1900 in taxes here in Tennessee. Not save I guess, just not eating paying taxes again. All good so far. She declined delivery, as there's a pickup center about 12 miles from our house. We arrived and the staff was friendly enough. Got her license to copy for the paperwork and gave us the keys to the Beetle for a test drive. We do a walk around, car looks great for a 2018. A few dings here and there but nothing you wouldn't expect from a 5-6 year old car. Carfax is clean with regular maintenance.
Out on the road she gets up to about 45 mph and lets off the gas to prepare to stop at a light. Cue a repetitive thunk that feels like we popped both front tires. Our legs are visibly moving with the thunking. I previously had a 2005 Honda Element with a little transmission shimmy shake around 45 mph, but this was on a different level. We drive it for about 15 minutes and are able to replicate the behavior at lower/higher speeds every time she lets off the gas. Take it back to the store and the employee there cancels our order no problem, so thanks to them.
That being said, I have never test-driven a car that drove worse, and I've been to some sketchy car lots in my 37 years. Can't believe they would buy that Beetle, let alone allow a customer to drive it. It might be the exception to the rule, but you don't have a second chance to make a first impression. Sounds like the trouble Carvana has run into as a dealer is well-founded. Of note, their best financing offer was 11% interest. You read it right. My wife has had an 800+ credit score her entire adult life. We went to our bank and they offered 5.5%. Of course, we didn't have to finance this car at all so it was a moot point but...just gives you an idea of the Carvana business model. A place to that really tries hard to bill itself as "the new way to buy a car" but is pushing the same lemons off the lot at a crazy rate as you would expect from any used dealer.
Headed over to Carmax (where I've bought/sold cars before) and of course the experience is night and day. Their offer is about $700 lower, but we we're able to find a 2021 Kia hatchback, local car, one owner, with 14k miles. Car was in immaculate shape. With the general thirst for SUVs in this country, our trade equity held up well, and we only had to finance $9800 at 4.95% interest. I think right now the only deals to be found are on 'uncool' hatchbacks and 4-door sedans. Could not believe they beat the bank rate on a used car, but there you have it. We won't pay any of that interest. We'll take about 21 months to pay if off and avoid the finance charge altogether while making comfortable (for us) payments of around $350/mo. We ended up reducing the amount of our debt by about 50% and the length of our term by 60% vs. the CRV, which is what we set out to do. Car drives great and has plenty of room. Still have 5 years left on the manufacturer's warranty as well.
Sidebar: I had considered trading in my bare bones XL EB Mav when the price hit $30,556 on Carvana and maybe getting an old Frontier 4X4 on the cheap, as I only paid $19,180 at Granger, but after actually testing out the Carvana process, I'm glad I didn't bother. Also have to say that while my wife was doing her thing at Carmax, I sat in every midsize truck there, and the interior space and comfort of the Mav can't be beat. Colorado/Canyon has what feels like a lot less room in the back. I can't see out the windshield of a Tacoma without having the seat on the ground basically. The Ridgeline is comfortable enough but twice the price. Happy I hung onto Marty the Mav for sure. It just fits my tall, gangly build better than anything out there.
She had previously owned a 2016 VW Beetle and loved the look and the handling. Found a seemingly nice 2018 Beetle on Carvana, and they offered $29,500 for the CRV she had paid $25K for 2 years ago. This would also save around $1900 in taxes here in Tennessee. Not save I guess, just not eating paying taxes again. All good so far. She declined delivery, as there's a pickup center about 12 miles from our house. We arrived and the staff was friendly enough. Got her license to copy for the paperwork and gave us the keys to the Beetle for a test drive. We do a walk around, car looks great for a 2018. A few dings here and there but nothing you wouldn't expect from a 5-6 year old car. Carfax is clean with regular maintenance.
Out on the road she gets up to about 45 mph and lets off the gas to prepare to stop at a light. Cue a repetitive thunk that feels like we popped both front tires. Our legs are visibly moving with the thunking. I previously had a 2005 Honda Element with a little transmission shimmy shake around 45 mph, but this was on a different level. We drive it for about 15 minutes and are able to replicate the behavior at lower/higher speeds every time she lets off the gas. Take it back to the store and the employee there cancels our order no problem, so thanks to them.
That being said, I have never test-driven a car that drove worse, and I've been to some sketchy car lots in my 37 years. Can't believe they would buy that Beetle, let alone allow a customer to drive it. It might be the exception to the rule, but you don't have a second chance to make a first impression. Sounds like the trouble Carvana has run into as a dealer is well-founded. Of note, their best financing offer was 11% interest. You read it right. My wife has had an 800+ credit score her entire adult life. We went to our bank and they offered 5.5%. Of course, we didn't have to finance this car at all so it was a moot point but...just gives you an idea of the Carvana business model. A place to that really tries hard to bill itself as "the new way to buy a car" but is pushing the same lemons off the lot at a crazy rate as you would expect from any used dealer.
Headed over to Carmax (where I've bought/sold cars before) and of course the experience is night and day. Their offer is about $700 lower, but we we're able to find a 2021 Kia hatchback, local car, one owner, with 14k miles. Car was in immaculate shape. With the general thirst for SUVs in this country, our trade equity held up well, and we only had to finance $9800 at 4.95% interest. I think right now the only deals to be found are on 'uncool' hatchbacks and 4-door sedans. Could not believe they beat the bank rate on a used car, but there you have it. We won't pay any of that interest. We'll take about 21 months to pay if off and avoid the finance charge altogether while making comfortable (for us) payments of around $350/mo. We ended up reducing the amount of our debt by about 50% and the length of our term by 60% vs. the CRV, which is what we set out to do. Car drives great and has plenty of room. Still have 5 years left on the manufacturer's warranty as well.
Sidebar: I had considered trading in my bare bones XL EB Mav when the price hit $30,556 on Carvana and maybe getting an old Frontier 4X4 on the cheap, as I only paid $19,180 at Granger, but after actually testing out the Carvana process, I'm glad I didn't bother. Also have to say that while my wife was doing her thing at Carmax, I sat in every midsize truck there, and the interior space and comfort of the Mav can't be beat. Colorado/Canyon has what feels like a lot less room in the back. I can't see out the windshield of a Tacoma without having the seat on the ground basically. The Ridgeline is comfortable enough but twice the price. Happy I hung onto Marty the Mav for sure. It just fits my tall, gangly build better than anything out there.
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