Our New Van + Buying through CARVANA

Guys!  Have you heard of Carvana? We just bought a new car through them TOTALLY ONLINE and it was a wonderful experience!!

After driving around a rented mini-van for a week last November, I finally succumbed to the family pressure fact that our family would be a good candidate for one. (plus, I was driving said rental due to a broken rear axel of our trusted SUV.   It had been a GREAT reliable car, but it was a 2004 and we felt like we should sell).

Looking back to when we bought our Lexus SUV almost 6 years ago,  I would say we got screwed at the dealership [somewhere in an Atlanta suburb]. We thought they were giving us a good deal with the trade-in, but really what they do is adjust the cost of the car you are buying, etc.  PLUS, the whole process took us ALL afternoon.  Ain't nobody got time for that! 

A friend of mine had been driving around her black Honda Odyssey and it was growing on me. She visited several dealerships looking for the right car/deal. 

She said "if I ever buy another car, I will do what my neighbors did and buy from Carvana.  They didn't even have to leave the house.  They bought the car online and it was delivered to their house."

Yes! That sounded easy.  I told Ernesto that I wanted a BLACK Odyssey and this is how our car buying discussion went:

The first thing I did on the Carvana site, was type in the VIN number of our Lexus. I checked the boxes of any extra features that were not identified with the VIN, and in a couple minutes, I was told EXACTLY how much they would give me for the trade in!  This is too easy.....

WHAAAAT?  $7400 for a 2004?! Hell yeah!!

Searching was super easy too.  Our trade-in value was already applied towards new purchase price PLUS we scored a $500 off referral bonus from my friend neighbor.  (He got $100 cash for giving us the referral-isn't that awesome?)

In the search I specified:  mini-van > Honda > Black
Several options popped up.

  We didn't look anywhere else.  I guess we aren't a researching kind of couple.  BUT! The prices were straight forward and when you are buying a new car, pricing is pretty much the same, unless the car has issues.   PLUS,  there was not a person there to confuse things.

Done and Done.  Carvana told me "YOU'RE A CAR BUYING GENIUS!"  and two days later, this nice lady pulled up in our driveway with our new car!

The kids were super excited and ran outside.  We all did.  It WAS exciting!

She took our trade-in for a quick spin down the road and that was that! "Looks good!"

We went over the paperwork and she reminded us that we had 7 days to return the car with NO PENTALTIES or questions asked.  (Basically a week test drive, if you will.)

In less than 30 minutes, she drove our old car off into the Sunset.....

...and our new car turned into an Imaginext playground.  Seriously.  The boys played here the rest of the night.

I have only driven it to target (a mile away), but Ernesto did all of the carting of kids today and said it was AWESOME!  What a difference!   Ok, if driving a new car with bluetooth, keyless entry and auto everything gives me the title of "soccer mom" Ill take it.  I am surprisingly not feeling like I have "given up" but I'm seriously going to have to step up my MILF game. LOL

Anyhoo, if any of you are in the market for a new car, I highly recommend buying through Carvana AND don't forget to contact me so I can send you a referral code for $500 off your purchase.