Disclaimer: We have no affiliation with Carvana and weren’t paid to say all these wonderful things about them. They have just been a really great company in our experiences.
A few months back I wrote that we were considering selling one of our vehicles and becoming a one-car family. Well it is official! Mrs. Doughmaker and I have been living with just our van since November and it has worked really well so far.
Why We Sold
With both Mrs. Doughmaker and I working from home, continuing to pay for car insurance and a monthly car payment for a car that we were now only driving about 300 miles a month just didn’t make sense. We have a second vehicle, a van that fits our whole crew so we didn’t need the sedan. When I did the math, it became clear what we could save:
Monthly Car Payment $260.00
Monthly Car Insurance $42.33
Total cost $302.33 plus maintenance and depreciation in value
Mrs. Doughmaker and I will likely be working from home for many more months and removing these vehicle expenses from our budget allows us put that money into savings instead.
The Standard Car Dealership
I enjoy negotiating and I don’t mind spending my day at a dealership if that means I get a good price on a vehicle. When we originally bought our car, Mrs. Doughmaker was eight months pregnant and wanted to come along to look at the cars with me to help make a decision. That ended up being a mistake. Our total time spent at the dealership to buy a vehicle was probably over 6 hours. They knew that if they kept us there long enough we would give in on some things. After 6 hours, my very pregnant wife was just over it and we settled just to get out the door.
A few weeks back I got an email from that same dealership stating that they would like to buy my vehicle and that they were offering better prices than normal. They also claimed that I would not need to do a trade in order to get special pricing. I was pretty sure that was their way of trying to get me to show up at the dealership.
I reached out via phone to discuss what they might be able to offer for my vehicle. Utilizing their website to get an estimate on their price for my car, it came in around $8,500. When I spoke to their sales representative she told me to come down stating she believed that they could give me 22% over that price (approx. $10,300) as long as the car was in good shape. I set up an appointment for the following day.
The Carvana Model
Let me back up a bit. In 2018, we used Carvana to buy our van and it was an amazing experience. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just highlight some quick points on their business model.
- No haggling; the price you see is the price you pay.
- If you like a vehicle, you can reserve the vehicle for a short time to make a decision.
- All vehicles are accident-free.
- The website provides great overall pictures, but they also make sure to point out each small dent, chip or tear on the vehicle.
- Once you make a decision, you set up a time for them to meet you at a location of your choosing even at your house.
- You get an opportunity to drive the vehicle for a test drive before accepting the vehicle.
- Each vehicle comes with a short warranty and a 7 day, money-back guarantee.
But back to the selling. Before I responded to the dealer’s letter, I decided to check in with Carvana to see if I could sell my vehicle outright to them. I could and the process could not have been easier. I submitted my car information and they spit out a price for me that was locked in for 7 days.
There are some caveats they they will review the vehicle once they come to pick it up (make sure it runs, make sure the check engine light isn’t on, etc.) but overall it seemed like I had a starting point for negotiations with the car dealership appointment I had scheduled.
Back to the Car Dealership
My appointment was a little over an hour away. I showed up at the dealer and met with a representative pretty quickly. He took my keys and drove my car around the dealership for about 2 minutes. Once he parked, he asked me what price I was hoping to receive for the car. When I explained that I received a quote for $8,500 online and was hoping to get $9,000 or more, he flatly said “I can’t come anywhere close to $8,500.” When I asked him what he could do, he stated he didn’t even want to put a number on it, but I should come back if I wanted to be more realistic. I was confused and frustrated. Over two hours of my life wasted.
Carvana for the Win
Back to Carvana I went. I had 5 days left on my locked-in price to get the information they needed from me. A few uploaded pictures and documents and we had set up a time for them to come pick up the car, all handled online. Within 24 hours my car was officially picked up from our home. The Carvana rep took a quick stroll around our car, had us sign some documents and loaded up our vehicle on their truck. She was probably at our home for a total of 15 minutes. As stress free as humanly possible – oh, and they paid us $8,500.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking to buy or sell a vehicle, I strongly urge you to consider Carvana. It feels like they are quickly moving into the 21st century while car dealerships are stuck in the past. Utilizing their services online feels “current day” and it’s a much more streamlined process than a walk into a car dealerships office. Also, the constant feelings of being swindled at a dealership were completely absent from the process. It truly is a great option.
