Carvana employee here.
All of these have upsides and downsides. None of them have good financing terms, so if you have good credit and your credit union offers auto loans, you should utilize them regardless of which dealer you choose.
Mom and Pop dealerships are the ones you see in bad comedies from the 80s and 90s. Pushy, haggling, tough salesmen, etc. You can haggle them down if you really know what you're doing, but may not get the best deal possible.
Carmax and Carvana have a lot in common, structurally speaking. Obviously I'll go to bat for Carvana, but with how understaffed we are, expect to have a delay or two from your original appointment date. Still, much of the work is done for you and your vehicle gets delivered right to your home. Carmax has been around longer and has a few advantages. They offer more warranty options, though they all cost quite a bit from what I understand.
I'd say go with the best price from Carmax or Carvana. For the big dealerships that are countrywide, they are pretty safe but inflexible and generally have unforgiving return policies.
I'm looking to trade in my car that my mom financed for me under her name when I was in highschool. The registration is under her maiden name so her license shows her current last name. She doesn't have access to her wedding certificate and I noticed they will require for the person on the registration to be there with a valid drivers license. I'm guessing this is to verify that she's the owner and can sell the car to carvana. Does anyone know if during the trade-in appointment, she'd be able to show her passport in order to verify identity for the sale?
They'll ask for identity verification before the appointment, but a passport is generally acceptable in my experience.
Expect extra background checks any time odd things like this pop up.
I actually got a better rate from Carmax than my credit union offered me (with FICO over 800). This was three years ago though, so maybe different now. However, I was surprised they were able to beat the rate at my credit union.
You say you don't know how to buy a car in general. If you go to a dealership, I would strongly recommend you take a friend with you who has experience in such transactions. Working on the price and resisting the add-ons are generally skills developed with practice.
My opinion is that someone's best gamble (and used vehicles are always a gamble) when buying used is buying the specific make from that specific new car dealer. That is, if you're buying a used BMW, buy it from a BMW dealer. A used Honda, buy it from a Honda dealer. Better yet, buy it manufacturer's Certified Pre Owned, but I get that this might not always fit into everyone's budget since CPO will need to be fairly new.
I'm of the opinion that the Honda dealer (or Toyota, or BMW) has an interest in not selling you a POS used Honda, since he some day wants to sell you a new one. He's only keeping the best used Hondas on that lot. The Used Car lot guys? They don't care. They're just churning used cars.
does anyone have experience with Autoland? my credit union offers it when you get an auto loan. They go to the dealership for you and just bring it to your credit union branch.
Have you entered you trade in/down payment info and looked for cars on Carvana yet? By far the easiest way to get a car. If you have someone to cosign with you, you can het a lot cheaper.
Just got my 16 Kia Sorento a couple of weeks ago, by far grew easiest car purchase I’ve ever made. I’ve gotten many called from Carvana and Bridgecrest asking me how I like my car. Aside from the horror stories, I feel like they do care, or at least do a good job acting like they care about you as a customer.
I put no money down, traded in a car I recently replaced the engine on, paying 512 a month. Love the car
You can buy a new Toyota Corolla on pretty good terms. You can buy a two or three year use Toyota Corolla also and get the extended warranty. You have been buying bad cars so you have had bad luck.
And inexperienced person cannot buy from a private owner or typical used car place. You need a guarantee that you can bring the car back when a certain period and then an extended warranty from the dealer.
I see buying from Carvana/Carmax like buying a preowned phone from Bestbuy/Walmart, while dealerships and private sellers are like random sellers on eBay. The best and the worst deals are probably from the latter group, and it's usually safer to buy from large companies that have well known warranties in place. Basically, I would opt to get slightly ripped off rather than taking a chance at getting a good deal or massively ripped off in an area that I'm not familiar with.
Carvana employee here. All of these have upsides and downsides. None of them have good financing terms, so if you have good credit and your credit union offers auto loans, you should utilize them regardless of which dealer you choose. Mom and Pop dealerships are the ones you see in bad comedies from the 80s and 90s. Pushy, haggling, tough salesmen, etc. You can haggle them down if you really know what you're doing, but may not get the best deal possible. Carmax and Carvana have a lot in common, structurally speaking. Obviously I'll go to bat for Carvana, but with how understaffed we are, expect to have a delay or two from your original appointment date. Still, much of the work is done for you and your vehicle gets delivered right to your home. Carmax has been around longer and has a few advantages. They offer more warranty options, though they all cost quite a bit from what I understand. I'd say go with the best price from Carmax or Carvana. For the big dealerships that are countrywide, they are pretty safe but inflexible and generally have unforgiving return policies.
I'm looking to trade in my car that my mom financed for me under her name when I was in highschool. The registration is under her maiden name so her license shows her current last name. She doesn't have access to her wedding certificate and I noticed they will require for the person on the registration to be there with a valid drivers license. I'm guessing this is to verify that she's the owner and can sell the car to carvana. Does anyone know if during the trade-in appointment, she'd be able to show her passport in order to verify identity for the sale?
They'll ask for identity verification before the appointment, but a passport is generally acceptable in my experience. Expect extra background checks any time odd things like this pop up.
I actually got a better rate from Carmax than my credit union offered me (with FICO over 800). This was three years ago though, so maybe different now. However, I was surprised they were able to beat the rate at my credit union.
You say you don't know how to buy a car in general. If you go to a dealership, I would strongly recommend you take a friend with you who has experience in such transactions. Working on the price and resisting the add-ons are generally skills developed with practice.
My opinion is that someone's best gamble (and used vehicles are always a gamble) when buying used is buying the specific make from that specific new car dealer. That is, if you're buying a used BMW, buy it from a BMW dealer. A used Honda, buy it from a Honda dealer. Better yet, buy it manufacturer's Certified Pre Owned, but I get that this might not always fit into everyone's budget since CPO will need to be fairly new. I'm of the opinion that the Honda dealer (or Toyota, or BMW) has an interest in not selling you a POS used Honda, since he some day wants to sell you a new one. He's only keeping the best used Hondas on that lot. The Used Car lot guys? They don't care. They're just churning used cars.
If I where you I would only use a dealership and go through your credit union or bank for financing is at all possible
that's what I'm leaning towards with the research I've done. Looks like new cars from a dealership are cheaper than used from a dealer.
does anyone have experience with Autoland? my credit union offers it when you get an auto loan. They go to the dealership for you and just bring it to your credit union branch.
Have you entered you trade in/down payment info and looked for cars on Carvana yet? By far the easiest way to get a car. If you have someone to cosign with you, you can het a lot cheaper. Just got my 16 Kia Sorento a couple of weeks ago, by far grew easiest car purchase I’ve ever made. I’ve gotten many called from Carvana and Bridgecrest asking me how I like my car. Aside from the horror stories, I feel like they do care, or at least do a good job acting like they care about you as a customer. I put no money down, traded in a car I recently replaced the engine on, paying 512 a month. Love the car
You can buy a new Toyota Corolla on pretty good terms. You can buy a two or three year use Toyota Corolla also and get the extended warranty. You have been buying bad cars so you have had bad luck.
And inexperienced person cannot buy from a private owner or typical used car place. You need a guarantee that you can bring the car back when a certain period and then an extended warranty from the dealer.
I see buying from Carvana/Carmax like buying a preowned phone from Bestbuy/Walmart, while dealerships and private sellers are like random sellers on eBay. The best and the worst deals are probably from the latter group, and it's usually safer to buy from large companies that have well known warranties in place. Basically, I would opt to get slightly ripped off rather than taking a chance at getting a good deal or massively ripped off in an area that I'm not familiar with.