So full disclosure, I’m not a car guy in case it wasn’t obvious. I’ve owned only one car for most of my adult life and that’s the 2004 Honda CRV which was a hand me down from my parents. I never wanted a vehicle to define me nor did I want to carry a car payment. These days, I’m a bit more domesticated so I was looking for something sensible for a family of 3. At first, we were going to purchase another CRV but then the Kia Sorento caught my eye. Without going too deep into my research, the Sorento checked off a few boxes for what I was looking for: affordability, great tech features, and high safety ratings. I guess owning a Kia now defines me some ways - reliable with uh, a great warranty?

I ordered a car from my phone and they delivered it to my house. This ain’t your Dad’s dealership.

After realizing a new car was out of our budget, we decided to buy used and that’s where Carvana came in. I wasn’t interested in haggling and negotiating at a dealership plus the model I wanted - a 2017 Kia Sorento SX Limited - was not available at any local inventory. I also had two friends who recently used Carvana and both had good experiences. Here I’ll break down my experience into three parts: the ordering process, the delivery and post purchase conclusion.

Seriously. I ordered a car from my phone while standing in my kitchen. Think about that.

I’m happy to say the order process was almost exactly as advertised, but I did a lot of due diligence in minimizing any potential issues. First I spent a lot of time browsing the Carvana app - first casually but then seriously when it came time to purchase. This allowed me to see the frequency of available inventory and which trim levels were most popular. The Kia Sorento SX-Limited is the fully loaded trim level which made its availability a lot more rare. So when I did find one with low mileage I decided to hit the button. I started the ordering process on the Carvana app but then continued on my laptop to make things a little easier. Because I was purchasing in cash, I simply logged into my bank account through the Carvana site which gave me instant approval for financing. I also wanted to do a trade in for my 2004 Honda CRV so all I had to do was upload a photo of my mileage, title document and input the VIN number. I got an instant discount for the trade in as well as $500 off from a referral code. After that, I received a one week delivery date and that was it. I think I spent no more than 45 minutes from beginning to end. Easy.

I traded in my old car and got credit without talking to a human. Amazing right?

Next was the delivery which I’m happy to say, was all very easy and pleasant. I didn’t receive any communication from purchase date to the day of delivery which made me nervous but about an hour before arrival, I received a call from Carvana and the delivery driver was on her way to me from Detroit. They arrived about a half hour early and the car looked really impressive. It was washed, clean and even smelled brand new. They took a picture of my driver’s license, insurance information and let us go for a test drive. We took it for a spin and it ran just as expected. As we were doing this, the Carvana reps loaded our Honda CRV onto the truck with no questions asked. We didn’t get it washed or do any heavy cleaning inside which was fine. They took it as is. The only issue we found on the Kia were the front and passenger side windows had a dark heavy tint which wasn’t great for visibility. The rep took a photo and the next day, we got a message saying they’d reimburse the tint removal for up to $200. Amazing. Also the best part about Carvana is that if you decide you don’t want the car, you have 7 days to return it.

A 7 day money back guarantee after buying a used car is kind of the best thing ever.

Overall, the Carvana experience was a success. We got the car inspected on the day after delivery and it passed with flying colors. That’s when we decided we’d keep the car. There really is no comparison between buying the exact car I was looking for online versus doing the annoying back and forth at a dealership and settling for something that I didn’t really want. Now granted, my experience was unique in that I traded in a car that I already owned and paid cash so I can’t really speak on what its like to finance through Carvana or your bank. But it really was that easy. If you are skeptical about using Carvana try to do what I do and look for a car that’s only 2-3 years old, with 20-22 thousand miles and has only one owner from a personal lease and not a rental. Click the Carfax info on the Carvana site and see which state it’s from. There you’ll find out if its ever been exposed to snow or other weather elements. Basically do your due diligence like you would with any other major purchase and you’ll probably have the same success with Carvana as I did.

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