Trade-in vs. CarMax vs. Carvana

[NightOwl]

Tesla offered us an amount for a trade of $29,500. We declined the offer and are still deciding whether we want to keep the Volvo or sell it. But we checked with Carvana, who has given a sight-unseen offer of $33,000. So we checked CarMax, who offered $30,000. Seems like a fair difference between Carvana and the others.

Has anyone on here had any experience selling to Carvana? Do they do this and then drop their offer later? Or is it legitimate?

thanks,
Kevin

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[Nobell32]

Yeah I sold two cars to Carvana they are very straightforward and easy to deal with.

 

[TheDrivenGarage]

Carvana is awesome to sell to and I had no issue when I sold my 4runner to them. Do you not get the tax benefit of trading it to Tesla in your state?

 

[SteelMyHeart]

Tesla offered us an amount for a trade of $29,500. We declined the offer and are still deciding whether we want to keep the Volvo or sell it. But we checked with Carvana, who has given a sight-unseen offer of $33,000. So we checked CarMax, who offered $30,000. Seems like a fair difference between Carvana and the others.

Has anyone on here had any experience selling to Carvana? Do they do this and then drop their offer later? Or is it legitimate?

thanks,
Kevin

I sold my Model Y to carvana. Very easy, all online and they barely looked at the car when I dropped it off. They wired me the advertised payment within 48 hrs.

Carmax was lower for me to. I've now sold to both carmax and carvana and both are easy but I found carvana easier. They even offered to pick up my car at my driveway for an extra $90. Totally legit.

 

[Speedr]

@NightOwl, unlike every other dealership/company on the planet, Tesla does NOT want your trade-in. They really want to just sell new cars. They literally take them directly to the Auction, which is why they only give you rough book (wholesale) for your trade. Other car dealerships make most of their money on the sale of used cars from (not New).

I've never traded in a car to Tesla (but bought 5), and I'm in Florida, with 6% sales tax, which means another source buying my trade-in needs to be 6% higher than Tesla...and it always is. KBB has worked well for me in the past as well, since they shoot your car to multiple dealerships that bid on it.

BTW, not saying Tesla is bad for this, just that they don't want to sell anything that isn't a Tesla (plus, it wouldn't look good selling gas cars).

 

[txtravwill]

Tesla offered us an amount for a trade of $29,500. We declined the offer and are still deciding whether we want to keep the Volvo or sell it. But we checked with Carvana, who has given a sight-unseen offer of $33,000. So we checked CarMax, who offered $30,000. Seems like a fair difference between Carvana and the others.

Has anyone on here had any experience selling to Carvana? Do they do this and then drop their offer later? Or is it legitimate?

thanks,
Kevin

Carvana is the easiest, usually offers the most. As long as you are within their timeline, within the mileage amount which is fine, and represented the car relatively like it is, then they are super easy to deal with. Pretty much drop a car off, get paid pretty quickly.

 

[jf64k]

Carvana is awesome. Super easy process. They always offer higher in my area (SoCal) than any other.

Zero hassle. They came to me to pick up the car. Looked it over, started it up, let it run for a bit. Done. I had the money in my account within a day or two. I've sold three cars to them over the last few years.

 

[NightOwl]

Yeah I sold two cars to Carvana they are very straightforward and easy to deal with.

Thanks. If we sell then we may just go ahead and use them in that case.

 

[NightOwl]

Carvana is awesome to sale to and I had no issue when I sold my 4runner to them. Do you know get the tax benefit of trading in in your state?

Just edited this answer because I understand what you mean now.

 

[NightOwl]

Keep in mind that trade-in reduces your sales tax on the new car and $3.5 higher offer from Carvana could end up less advantageous, depending on the sales tax rate. Plus the hassle of selling to third party, extra paperwork, etc. Also, if you read the purchase agreement with Carvana, they could lower the payment after receiving the car if they decide that the car is in worse condition.

In my opinion, $3.5 is not enough to be considered for selling to third party

Ah, I forgot about the tax benefit. Good point!

 

[NightOwl]

@NightOwl, unlike every other dealership/company on the planet, Tesla does NOT want your trade-in. They really want to just sell new cars. They literally take them directly to the Auction, which is why they only give you rough book (wholesale) for your trade. Other car dealerships make most of their money on the sale of used cars from (not New).

I've never traded in a car to Tesla (but bought 5), and I'm in Florida, with 6% sales tax, which means another source buying my trade-in needs to be 6% higher than Tesla...and it always is. KBB has worked well for me in the past as well, since they shoot your car to multiple dealerships that bid on it.

BTW, not saying Tesla is bad for this, just that they don't want to sell anything that isn't a Tesla (plus, it wouldn't look good selling gas cars).

You make a valid point. Thanks.

 

[NightOwl]

Keep in mind that trade-in reduces your sales tax on the new car and $3.5 higher offer from Carvana could end up less advantageous, depending on the sales tax rate. Plus the hassle of selling to third party, extra paperwork, etc. Also, if you read the purchase agreement with Carvana, they could lower the payment after receiving the car if they decide that the car is in worse condition.

In my opinion, $3.5 is not enough to be considered for selling to third party

I think in this case, in our situation we come out ahead with Carvana after further consideration.

 

[NightOwl]

Carvana is the easiest, usually offers the most. As long as you are within their timeline, within the mileage amount which is fine, and represented the car relatively like it is, then they are super easy to deal with. Pretty much drop a car off, get paid pretty quickly.

Thanks. I think we may go this way if we decide to sell it.

 

[NightOwl]

Carvana is awesome. Super easy process. They always offer higher in my area (SoCal) than any other.

Zero hassle. They came to me to pick up the car. Looked it over, started it up, let it run for a bit. Done. I had the money in my account within a day or two. I've sold three cars to them over the last few years.

Nice! I guess they’re making money somehow given the model they use. Or burning through investors’ cash, lol.

 

[Dazureus]

I sold my '16 Model X to Carvana when I got my Truck. It was really easy to do, only requiring the title (mine was clear) and license. Payment was handled ACH via Plaid and there was a $200 pick up fee. Carvana gave me ~$20k for my 8 year old, near 100k mile Model X while Tesla was only offering about $16k for trade in. 6% sales take in my state would only equate to around $1k difference in sales take for a $16k trade in. It took about 2 days for the money to land in my account.

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