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* Jalopnik…
As adept as Carvana has proven itself at vertically stacking cars, it’s falling short in the transfer-of-ownership portion of its used car buying experience — which some would argue is the most important part of that experience. Complaints from customers in multiple states, usually around failing to provide titles and sometimes even telling customers to drive on a series of expired out-of-state temporary tags, have finally caught up with the company. Its dealer license in Illinois has been suspended, and the state’s Secretary of State Police department say there’s no ETA for the startup to get it back.
* Auto News…
Illinois Secretary of State Police temporarily blocked Carvana’s dealer license on May 10 because the company failed to properly transfer titles for vehicles it sold and misused issuing out-of-state temporary registration permits, said Henry Haupt, an Illinois Secretary of State spokesman.
The Secretary of State’s police department opened an investigation into consumer complaints about Carvana in February, Haupt told Automotive News. The investigation spans about 90 signed complaints, Haupt said. He said he couldn’t provide an exact date as to when Carvana might see the suspension lifted.
* Sun-Times…
Spokesman Henry Haupt said the office suspended Carvana’s license to operate in Illinois after investigating consumer complaints. He said Carvana failed to get buyers their titles within a 20-day period specified under law and in some cases were four to six months late.
He also said Carvana unlawfully issued buyers temporary vehicle registrations from another state. The out-of-state registrations were issued as replacements for temporary registrations in Illinois that expired after 90 days, Haupt said. […]
He said some Carvana customers were ticketed in Illinois for expired registrations. Those customers should pay the fines and the Secretary of State will work with Carvana to get them reimbursed, Haupt said. He had no estimate on when Carvana’s business license might be restored. […]
The Phoenix-based company last week said it was laying off about 2,500 workers, or 12% of its workforce, and its top executives would give up salaries for the rest of 2022 to fund severance. It had reported losing $506 million during the first quarter of 2022, a deficit six times higher than its result from the same period in 2021.
The company has similar problems in other states.
* The Question: Have you ever bought, or would you ever consider buying a car online? Explain.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 2:53 pm
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I have not. I would consider buying a new car online but I don’t think I could buy a used one without looking it over in person.
Comment by Mason born Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:01 pm
I would never buy I can I haven’t driven.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:11 pm
Never have. Never will. Especially a used car, but even a new one I must drive and inspect before accepting delivery. Way too much money at stake. If there is a problem I want people at a physical dealership to get it solved.
Comment by Captain Obvious Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:14 pm
I would have to check out if the company had its act together first. I bought a new car one time from a dealer in Wisconsin and had no problems. They collected the proper Illinois taxes and license fees and put a Wisconsin temporary plate on the car. A couple weeks later the permanent Illinois plates were delivered to me. A couple weeks later Jesse White sent my Illinois title. The only difference I noticed was the Wisconsin dealer sold me the car for $2000 less than the cheapest price I found in Illinois. All the Illinois dealers had almost the same “lowest price deal”, I think they all had some sort of informal agreement to stay in line with each other.
Comment by DuPage Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:28 pm
Doubt I would on a used car…but think this is going to be the way manufacturers/dealers are going to go for the most part.
For the most part the new Toyota Sienna I bought 2 months ago was “bought on line.” None were on dealer lot, got to see one that had just arrived, already bought and claimed. Salesman showed on computer style types of Siennas in their varying production phases, we picked one out that met what we wanted, he showed us the time when it would be arriving ( which I thought likely chance ) and low and behold it came in on time.
Now we are sold on Toyotas, had a Sienna about 20 years ago, and wanted one. Also, realized if we wanted one this was the way it would be. If you notice on the tv ads for new cars many now state in the voice over about ordering the car. I’m sure dealers like this more than having lots on the lot which cost them money unless they move quickly.
Comment by Product of the '60's Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:29 pm
I haven’t, and probably wouldn’t.
I’ve always thought those Carvana vending machine buildings were a bad gimmick and can’t believe cities approved their construction. Long after Carvana goes belly up. those monstrosities will be standing there, a testament to a failed company.
Selling cars through a vending machine. I bet that sounded good in the pitch meeting. In real life, it’s a bad idea.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:32 pm
I tried to purchase a through Carvana. I naively thought having the right to refuse a car upon delivery and the ability to return a car within a ten-day window for a credit towards another one of their cars provided enough protection.
Lucky for me, Carvana never was able to deliver the car I ordered after they asked to reschedule delivery seven times. I ended up purchasing another car from a brick-and-mortar location.
Comment by Boyd's Ghost Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:39 pm
That was a NEW car from a NEW car dealer. It had 3 miles on the odometer. A USED car would be a different story. I would be very unlikely to take a chance like that on a USED car, especially if they could not show me they had proper paperwork for the car.
Comment by DuPage Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:40 pm
I bought a used car online from Shift. No Illinois license. The car was in Dallas. I flew down for the day to do an inspection though the staff there said that was an anomaly. The condition of the car was close enough to what was described with a few more dings and scratches than advertised. I was told upfront that it would take about 60 days for the title which turned out to be pretty accurate though the plates only took a few weeks. All in all I was satisfied with the transaction.
Comment by Original Rambler Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:40 pm
This is probably going to come down to a generational thing. Millennials and Gen Z are probably more likely to make major purchases unseen and online than their parents and Gen X. That said, as a Boomer, I could see myself purchasing a new car online, but only in comparative shopping for the same make and model that I’ve already looked at and test driven at a traditional dealership.
Comment by Commonsense in Illinois Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:41 pm
I wouldn’t buy anything I can’t test drive first.
That said, I have bought older vehicles thru Ebay years past. But, they were more project cars.
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 3:56 pm
I negotiated a purchase with a dealer online (viewed that car, decided on a price, completed financing) and then picked the car up at the dealer. I was able to inspect and test drive the car. Best purchase experience I have ever had. The car was exactly as described and presented. I am not sure that is what you mean by online, but that was as close as I have been. The dealer being honest made the difference.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 4:13 pm
I haven’t, but might give it a try. I want to drive a car before I buy it, but the most miserable experience for a consumer is dealing with a salesman in a dealership.
Comment by Telly Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 4:17 pm
Our last two cars we purchased were new and I used Sam’sClub TrueCar vehicle finder. It was over 4 years ago. Back then it was the most awesome car buying experience I’ve ever had. Way below dealer invoice. I had to go 2 hours away to get them. Before looking I test drove at our local downstate dealer. Once I confirmed what we wanted, I found the cars online. I offered the local dealer to match the price and they said they couldn’t touch it. The dealer affiliated with TrueCar contacted me by email. A few more emails finalized the deal. All I had to do was nail them down in writing what the out the door price would be to make sure of no surprises. No hotseat sales drama. I even traded in a vehicle on one of the deals. That needed a couple of phone calls to wheel and deal on the tradein allowance, but that was it. They simply looked our tradein over when we went to get the new car to confirm it was as I said it was. No drama. Of course they did try a little last minute sales pitch on extended warranties and other stuff, but I politely said no and that we would be sticking to the agreed OTD price. Out of curiosity I checked the site today. Totally different ball game of course. Asking prices over MSRP. No thanks. We are blessed we don’t need to buy a car in this market.
I would never do the same type of deal with a used vehicle sight unseen. Unlike new, used cars are apples to oranges.
Comment by Cornerfield Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 4:26 pm
GM is going to offer used cars from all their dealers through one GM site. Some are just used, some are preowned Certified where they are used but still have some factory warranty plus an extra year of factory warranty. The used car is shipped from one GM dealer to your local GM dealer for pickup. I’m looking at it.
Comment by Trying to be Rational Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 4:40 pm
No I haven’t and I would not consider it. I refuse to buy clothes online, let alone a car.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 4:40 pm
I’m the kind where I have to look it over, pop the hood, kick the tires, look under it, test drive it on hills, in traffic, etc. before I even think about it. But maybe that’s just me; I have several friends that have bought online and survived.
Comment by Space Cowboy Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 4:54 pm
I’ve also located a number of classic cars online over the past 20+ years, but they were all from private sellers. Always went and looked the cars over … they were a mixed bag, but 2 of them came home with me.
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 5:01 pm
I found my last three cars on-line, but always went and looked at and test droved them before I bought them. I even travelled out of state for one of them.
But, I don’t think I would ever buy a car sight unseen over the internet.
Comment by G'Kar Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 5:20 pm
I found a bargain vehicle at a dealer online, went to Wisconsin to look at it, and after a test drive bought it. My youngest son bought a truck he found online from a private seller on a rainy day, should have looked underneath where the frame was bent. Was thankfully able to straighten it out with a press at the body shop later on, and all things considered he got a bargain…but could’ve gone either way.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 5:57 pm
I know many people who have bought online and no regrets at all.
States like Illinois should blow up the legacy complex car title system and replace it with a simple, digital system that involves zero paper.
Comment by David Thompson Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 6:15 pm
===States like Illinois should blow up the legacy complex car title system and replace it with a simple, digital system that involves zero paper.===
Agree 100%. Well said. I think this is the best use of distributed ledger technology. It doesn’t work as money, but there are other very useful applications, especially in public record systems.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 7:54 pm
I’ve bought two vehicles from private parties out of state- jumped on a plane and the owners picked me up. The vehicles were as described, and so I paid, and drove home. But in both cases that was more than ten years ago- I would be more cautious now- the world just feels much less honest these days.
Comment by West Sider Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 8:13 pm
I bought used from a rental car company — I got to rent the car for three days, and if I liked it, I just kept it and went ahead with the purchase process online. If I didn’t like it, I returned the car and paid for the rental. It was *perfect.* The convenience of online but with all the no-obligation test-driving of a rental car.
Comment by Suburban Mom Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 8:42 pm
No I would not buy a car online. I might do some comparison shopping at dealer websites. But I would never buy a car sight unseen.
Comment by thoughts matter Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 9:51 pm
I have bought and sold multiple vehicles with Carmax and Carvana. I enjoy the process and how customer-centric it is. However, in my 5 encounters with Carvana of selling two and buying three, I had title issues on the purchases. One was easily resolved but the other two were nightmares and I told Carvana in 2020 that I cannot do business with them until they get this resolved. Obviously, it has only gotten worse. I still do business with Carmax and purchased one this year.
Comment by Lurker Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 10:08 pm
Bought two used cars thru EBay motors, they were sold via Springfield and Clinton dealerships and have been outstanding successes.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 10:39 pm
I have never purchased a car online. I have shopped for cars online. I would be willing to complete the entire transaction online if it would allow me to avoid the routinely awful interaction with car sales people who with rare exception do everything they can to make the process of negotiation opaque before they try to trick people into paying up front for a bunch of insurance products and service plans they don’t need and hiding it in the cost of the loan.
I would need for there to be a lot more regulation in the market before I would be willing to purchase a vehicle sight unseen online.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, May 17, 22 @ 10:40 pm
We bought a used Chrysler Pacifica a year ago and it has been great. Had only 36,000 miles. It was clean and mechanically totally fine. I think we got a pretty good price, too. I definitely would do it again. We spent some time looking at possible cars online, so maybe the research in advance of the purchase was a factor.
Comment by Keeping Track Wednesday, May 18, 22 @ 2:21 pm