Carvana is a name that suggests the awakening and enlightenment that comes from buying a car and having it delivered to you.
After “waiting for it to work out before announcing it,” a woman took to TikTok to show her Jeep Grand Cherokee purchase being wheeled out of the delivery truck. But is she already experiencing buyer’s remorse?
The 14-second video comes from creator Sammyop (@sammyopamp), put up on TikTok on Nov. 11 and drawing nearly 800,000 views as of Monday morning. To the tune of “Storm Coming” by Only Monsters, she shows the moment the car truly became hers.
The on-screen caption declares, “I bought a car from Carvana against everyone’s advice.” But did she misstep? Or did she make the right move?
One expert’s reasons to avoid Carvana
Justin Fischer, writing in the CarEdge blog, advised against buying from Carvana for three key reasons.
First is what he dubbed “skyrocketing profit per vehicle.“
“Carvana’s gross profit per vehicle has seen a significant increase,” he contends, pointing to a recent earnings report showing “their profits per car sold rose by an astounding 61%.”
It goes on to say, “While Carvana’s total revenue dropped by 25% to $2.6 billion, their gross profit per unit increased. How did they achieve this? By inflating their car prices. Carvana’s financial success is relying on uninformed buyers to make purchases without realizing they’re being overcharged.”
He also contends that Carvana’s prices are too high, saying what he said in the first point a slightly different way. “The company obviously tosses a few thousand dollars onto the price tag as an unofficial ‘convenience fee’ of sorts,” he claims. “In some cases, they’re selling used cars at nearly the same price as new ones.”
He uses a 2022 Ram 1500 Crew Cab with 12,667 miles on it, going for $45,990 with a (by design) non-negotiable price.
Finally, he claims that Carvana has a “concerning track record of selling vehicles with serious quality issues,” including selling stolen cars and—pulling from a 2022 Daily Dot article—noting that “a former Carvana manager alleged in a viral video that Carvana doesn’t inspect for vehicle damage when buying cars.”
What do people online think?
Some commenters expressed reservations about Carvana.
“Bought a Jeep on Carvana,” someone shared. “2 bad decisions at once.”
“Take it straight to [a] mechanic and get it checked out,” advised another. “They will pay to fix anything but you need to do it quick.”
Someone else remarked, “Respectfully, Carvana isn’t the issue, it’s going to be the number of problems you’re going to have with the Jeep. since Stellantis took over, their reliability has gone through the floor.”
That prompted the creator to respond.
“My last Jeep was 20 years old, our family owns car shops. We’ll be ok,” she said. “Got the same car but newer. My husband drives a Dodge that’s 15 [years] old. My mom drives a new GMC and is at the shop every month.”
@sammyopamp Was waiting for it to work out before announcing it #newmomcar #momcar #carshopping #carsoftiktok #carvana #dealership #grandcherokee #momsoftiktok #momlife #fypツ ♬ Storm Coming – Once Monsters
The Daily Dot has reached out to Carvana and Jeep via email and to the creator via TikTok direct message.
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