Carvana Sold a Stolen, Damaged Vehicle and Would Rather Just Forget About It

Carvana’s 150 point inspection can’t seem to catch some pretty significant problems, such as STOLEN and damaged vehicles. A Denver man has entered into an arbitration lawsuit with Carvana after the online retailer sold him a vehicle that was stolen from Hertz rental company 7 months prior, several states away.

After completing an online purchase of the car from Carvana, Dennis Atencio says that a repo truck showed up in his driveway to haul his beloved car away. The disgruntled customer was later able to get his car back, but the problems didn’t stop there. In what turned out to be a post-sale, stolen vehicle inspection, the owner found that the vehicle had previously been in an unreported accident and had sustained significant damage that Carvana had not “noticed” during their so-called 150 point inspection. CarEdge always recommends a pre-sale independent inspection for exactly this reason.

Carvana’s contract language makes it so that customers can’t sue the online retailer. However, Dennis is seeking other avenues of legal recourse. To make matters worse for Dennis and other Carvana customers, the point-of-sale is technically out of state in most scenarios, so state regulators rarely have any jurisdiction over Carvana. Consumer protection attorney Matt Osborne told The Denver Channel that buying from Carvana is really like buying in the Wild, Wild West. 

A Troubling Trend For Carvana

Dennis’ problems are just the tip of the iceberg. An ongoing class action lawsuit against Carvana alleges many missteps the company has taken when interacting and selling to their customers. The most appalling accusations are the multitude of title and registration issues that prevent Carvana customers from legally driving the vehicles they’ve purchased. Now you can add ‘selling stolen vehicles’ to the pile of problems. 

Despite what the annoying mom in Carvana’s Super Bowl ad has to say, proceed with extreme caution if you are considering buying from Carvana or any online vehicle seller.

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