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Thread: Carvana

  1. #76

    Default Re: Carvana

    Quote Originally Posted by Filthy View Post
    CarMax and Carvana buy all of their inventory from the EXACT same places that Bob Moore, Bob Howard, Smicklas, Hudiburg, Eskridge and all of the other OKC area dealerships secure all of their inventory from. The exact same pool of cars, dealer auctions, factory off lease sales, rental fleets. Period. There's no magic sauce, that CarMax or Carvana sprinkles over their inventory that makes them better/nicer/less prone to mechanical malfunction.

    At the end of the day, CarMax and Carvana are great business models, because they cater to individuals who are scared/insecure and/or nauseated by the thought of having to deal with a real live salesperson. And clearly, there are a lot of those individuals out there. So kuddos to them.

    But the fact remains the same, one of the main reasons CarMax and Carvana are such great business models is that they hold their margins, by offering their no haggle/no hassle experience. On a like/like apples to apples comparison, 9 times out of 10, you can step foot onto any pre-owned lot here in OKC, and walk away with a better out the door final price on just about any make and model car, that is just as nice, or possibly even nicer than whatever Carvana has to offer.



    Easiest example-

    Lets say there are a handful of 2016 Lexus IS cars at an auction. (Offered by Lexus Lease return)

    Carvana buys one, and Eskridge Lexus of OKC buys one. (2 cars, sitting right next to each other, at th same auction, with pretty much exact same history. No accidents, perfect carfax, blah blah....etc. Just for fun, let's say they both pay exactly $25,000 for their cars.

    Carvana sets their profit margin at $4,000 and parks it in a vending machine, and online for a No haggle/No Hassle price of $28,998.

    Eskridge Lexus of OKC sets their profit margin at $7,000 and parks theirs on their lot and online for a price of $31,998.

    This is where you enter in the two different types of consumers/personalities/mindsets.

    The CarMax/Carvana type B consumer, will see both posted online and seeing that the Carvana price is already a great deal. They will go and buy that car, and be happy with their purchase, love the total experience, and tell everyone that will listen how great of a deal they got. (Paying $28,998)

    The traditional type A consumer, will see both posted online and agree that the Carvana price is better. However, they decide to also head down to Eskridge Lexus, to see what they can buy that one for, before making a buying decision. Walking in, telling the Dick Cheese sales guy or manager, that they know that Eskridge only gave $25,000 for the car, and they can either sell it for $25,500 and put a deal on the board...or lose a customer to the Lexus store in Dallas. They will then buy that car, and not feel like they need to tell everyone how great of a deal they got. (Paying $25,500)

    Rinse/Repeat
    As a Carvana customer, I will dispute any notion I'm the least bit hesitant to argue or fight any dealer or salesperson. That's a ridiculous and stupid generalization. And I will further dispute that there were as many as ten local alternatives available when I purchased. The closest legitimate local alternative was a twice-wrecked version at a Drive Time lot with more miles and listed at a higher price. Local Lexus dealers didn't have the color/interior combination I wanted at all at any price; what inventory they did have were easily several thousand dollars higher, primarily due to the "Certified Pre Owned" moniker which is largely an ad gimmick.

    I go into a car negotiation knowing what I think is a good deal before I start haggling. Yes, Carvana is no haggle, but my own research convinced me the price I paid was not one with your out-of-your-butt $4,000 profit margin. Heck, even a cursory glance at similar vehicles months after my purchase tells me I got a more then reasonable deal. Yeah, it's always possible I got screwed somehow, but I don't think so.

    I've stared down salesmen with take-it-or-leave-it offers, bought used, used to buy new, and have estimated dealer take prices within $100. So I'm not the frothing idiot you seem to be rendering as the typical Carvana customer. And I'm not saying Carvana is the be-all, end-all, either. It worked for me.

    The point, as I've made before, is that Carvana has differing profit models and margins for different cars, and each person has to do their own homework up front. If you do or don't buy from Carvana, neither translates into some type of character flaw.

  2. #77

    Default Re: Carvana

    Quote Originally Posted by SoonerDave View Post
    what inventory they did have were easily several thousand dollars higher, primarily due to the "Certified Pre Owned" moniker which is largely an ad gimmick..
    Depends on the manufacturer. Ford's CPO extends the drivetrain to 7 years and 100k miles. Basically the extra price is paying for longer warranty but also gives more room for negotiation. We did it on daughter's convertible mustang and paid for itself when we needed some work done. On my other daughters convertible bug....CPO added 2 years and 24k miles to the original warranty. both times I negotiated a deal where I felt I didn't pay anything more because of the CPO but hard to tell as I was buying almost new cars with less than 10,000 miles on them so not a lot of comparison models. For me it is worth it as the extended warranty will last through their first couple of years in college so they can just take it to the dealer if a problem.

    The other consideration is finding the vehicles sometime. I wanted one year old with less than 10k miles. I found 2-3 VW convertibles in the country that met the requirement ans also in one of the color schemes my daughter wanted. Found several mustangs but once again....it was difficult to find one with what we wanted on it and still not be a rental return with higher mileage or stripped down model. Carvana would have been great because I spent more than $299 flying to chicago and flying to Austin to get the cars.

  3. #78

    Default Re: Carvana

    Jeep, can you give any advice on buying used from an out of state dealer? I am in the market for a car that was a low volume model that I am sure i will have to travel to to get.

  4. #79

    Default Re: Carvana

    All Certified Pre Owned means is that it's guaranteed that the car was in fact pre owned.

  5. #80

    Default Re: Carvana

    I think most of us on this thread lately appear to be "Baby Boomers", and I don't think Carvana is geared toward us. I think their market is the Millenial. Their ad featuring the Millenial young lady looking at the red GLA via a 360 image on her phone, while the tag line says "You can buy a car while binge-watching your favorite show". They want convenience and appliance.

    I think the post war era gave birth to the love of the automobile in America. And car buying as big game hunting was a big part of the overall experience for us "Boomers". The Carvana and Car Max models go against everything we were trained to believe. I recall reading that Carvana is an offshoot from Drive Time, or some other large traditional dealer group. They think there is a market for it, the only question is how large that market is.

  6. #81

    Default Re: Carvana

    ^^^ I think there is a lot of truth to that. Back in the day, there were a lot more customers who were not only brand loyal, but dealer loyal as well. And they stuck with that dealer for all their vehicle purchasing history. That's not the case any more.

  7. #82

    Default Re: Carvana

    Quote Originally Posted by rezman View Post
    All Certified Pre Owned means is that it's guaranteed that the car was in fact pre owned.
    It appears from the post by Jeep it meant more than that.

  8. #83

    Default Re: Carvana

    Dob. I think you hit on something there. I have noticed the aversion many of this generation have of even talking on the phone, let alone negotiating a deal.

  9. Default Re: Carvana

    Quote Originally Posted by Thomas Vu View Post
    26900 listed price for carvana
    25000 listed price for dealer
    difference of 1900
    .10 * 26900 = 2690
    2690 > 1900

    If you want to take your anecdotal scenario and broadly apply it to everybody, that's your deal.
    Convenient you're leaving out that you can haggle with the dealer (which i did) and get a much lower price (which I did).

    I was comparing what I actually paid at the dealer. Since you can't haggle with Carvana I know their price is not going to change. Who cares what the difference is online. It's what you pay that tells the story. I just assumed we all got that.

  10. #85

    Default Re: Carvana

    Quote Originally Posted by BBatesokc View Post
    Convenient you're leaving out that you can haggle with the dealer (which i did) and get a much lower price (which I did).

    I was comparing what I actually paid at the dealer. Since you can't haggle with Carvana I know their price is not going to change. Who cares what the difference is online. It's what you pay that tells the story. I just assumed we all got that.
    Call it what you want to make you happy.

    You also assume that everybody that walks in would get the same deal. If I were to guess, I thought you weren't aggressive enough with your haggling. Middle of the road deal. Some people could get better, some could get worse. We'll never know.

    Again. If you want to take your anecdotal scenario and broadly apply it to everybody, that's your thing. I'm not going broadly assume things across the board.

  11. #86
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    Default Re: Carvana

    Quote Originally Posted by rezman View Post
    All Certified Pre Owned means is that it's guaranteed that the car was in fact pre owned.
    Most certified programs means the car was subjected to a multi-point inspection on critical issues and other items like minimum tire tread, etc. is met. Should be the things you would take a car to a mechanic to inspect. Should carry some assurances.

  12. #87

    Default Re: Carvana

    ^^ Certified pre owned... certifies that the car has been pre owned.... get it?

    Any way. I agree as you said, multi-point inspection of critical items that should be done when you take the car to a mechanic. Things that should be done anyway before the vehicle is put on the dealer’s lot. But how do you know for sure unless you have it checked out. While there may be some benefit, IMO certified pre owned is a sales gimmick that benefits the dealers more the the customer.

  13. #88

    Default Re: Carvana

    Certified is no check engine light. (that or they pulled the bulb)

  14. #89

    Default Re: Carvana


  15. #90
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    Default Re: Carvana

    ^Seems like it has been at this stage for a while now. Maybe progress that I am missing. Will be interesting to see when its finished.

  16. #91

    Default Re: Carvana

    Glass is on all four sides of the tower's first three stories. HVAC units are on the rooftops. Several lift trucks were on site today.

  17. #92

    Default Re: Carvana

    nm. Tried to post pics, but came up rotated/messed up. Will try again later.

  18. #93

    Default Re: Carvana

    Okay, let me try this again. This isn't the greatest pic ever, but was taken on the fly about a week or so ago. They'd started putting up the glass panels and the trim on the tower and the lower delivery area was mostly finished structurally.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  19. #94

    Default Re: Carvana


  20. #95

    Default Re: Carvana

    Construction looks complete.


  21. Default Re: Carvana

    I bought a car from their website 2 weeks ago. It was my best car buying experience ever.

  22. #97

    Default Re: Carvana

    They've already loaded some cars into the vending machine.

  23. #98

    Default Re: Carvana

    The trick to burying from a carvana vending machine is to buy car that is behind the car dangling from the edge so that you get two cars for the price of one. The only issue is that one of the cars will require "light" bodywork after it crashes to the ground.

  24. #99

    Default Re: Carvana

    Quote Originally Posted by jn1780 View Post
    The trick to burying from a carvana vending machine is to buy car that is behind the car dangling from the edge so that you get two cars for the price of one. The only issue is that one of the cars will require "light" bodywork after it crashes to the ground.

    This happens when the car gets stuck and you have to shake the machine.

  25. #100

    Default Re: Carvana

    Cars inside the vending machine are cars that have been bought. The cars aren’t for sale.

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